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Triathlete Magazine Starting Lines - Your Steadfast SeasonWinter. Snowflakes will fall, freezing rain will pelt your windows and the wind chill blowing over the icy roads may direct your training to the treadmill or the spinning room. Jack Frost may even give you a great excuse to wrap up in a warm fleece blanket on a big leather couch in front of a wood-burning stove with a great movie or Ironman video— even if it is a challenge to convince your significant other to watch Ironman for the fourteenth time. This winter, you don’t really have to hire a driver and buy a van outfitted with a windtrainer in the back for your commute to work. You don’t even have to follow the path of endurance pioneer and Ironman super-athlete Dan Powell, who swims in thin, ice-covered lakes with a dry suit on [video clip, 11.4 MB], and you don’t have to get up when the dark mornings of winter tell you to sleep in. But you do have to remember that as long as your heart is beating, there is no such thing as an “off season.” Seasonal cycles in your life and with the climate will inescapably offer what you request from them. If you ask for an excuse not to train, or if you ask for a well-thought-out rest and solid base training schedule to gear you up for next year’s race calendar, then so it shall follow. The clock is always mov-ing you closer to your next race, sec-ond by second. This year, challenge yourself to do more than just rest as the days grow shorter and desserts look sexier. Mark your course, steadfast and true, and direct your life toward your goals for next season. Don’t waiver. Don’t let yourself off the training hook. Give yourself a head start. Plow through this off-season with the resolute determination to arrive in your next racing season strengthened from your activity and pursuits this winter. We may all need some time off for mental and physical recovery, but this year, get back into it sooner and stay dedicated to the same course that charted you to the sport of triathlon. Don’t wait until January to make your New Year’s resolutions. Don’t wait until you’ve added a layer of winter insulation to make the right choices at the grocery store. Take your mountain bike to a snow-covered mountain trail, open your mouth and hydrate with a snowflake. You’re a triathlete. Train Smart, |
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