Training
Holiday Maintenance By Ray Orchison
Going on holiday does not mean you have to stop training or lose your fitness , so use these handy tips and workouts to keep your legs ticking over this December , and then hit the road running in January .
Holidays are a great time to rest , relax and recover from the months of long working hours and stress , and they ’ re a great time to catch-up with friends and family . Unfortunately , they ’ re also a great time to get unfit ! The holiday season starts long before the actual days off work , with company functions and Christmas parties lasting late into the night . This rolls over into a two- to three-week break where we end up consuming copious amounts of food , unhealthy snacks and far too many drinks . Before we blink an eye we find ourselves in January , several kilograms heavier and feeling as unfit as we did the day we first started running . But the solution is simple : Keep an element of training in your holiday .
There really is no excuse for letting yourself go completely during the holiday season . If you ’ ve had a long , hard training year and you have a big year ahead of you , then a little bit of additional rest will do you good , but I would strongly advise against doing absolutely nothing at all , as this simply puts you on the back foot coming into January .
For those who are planning to run an early year marathon or ultra , then the holiday period is a crucial part of your training , and having a few extra hours in your day is great for getting some solid training done . Personally , I find it both exciting and motivating getting up early on my holiday to get my training done in new and unfamiliar surroundings . It ’ s also a little less selfish if your training is done before the rest of the family wakes up , and you can then devote the balance of the day to them . On that note , here are five suggestions to keep both your family and your body happy .
yourself some indulgences . Of course , that doesn ’ t mean you have to eat all the biscuits , chocolates and shortbread …
4 . Eat less , enjoy more : One of the biggest problems with the holidays is not the type of food on offer – that is only a small element – but rather the amount of food we consume . For some reason , we simply go overboard over the Christmas season . So , instead of eating until you pop , dish up smaller amounts of what ’ s on offer . This way , you still get to try everything and you still get to partake in the feast , and you will enjoy it far more than if you ’ re so full you feel sick for hours afterwards .
5 . Allow yourself time to de-stress : This is probably the most important aspect of a holiday . Take time out , allow the cortisol levels in your body to return to normal , and give yourself the chance to think about the exciting opportunities to come in the year ahead .
Maintaining fitness levels
Three to four days per week during your holiday should be more than sufficient to keep things ticking over and allow you to start the year with a solid base on which to build the new running season , but if you ’ re really pushed for time , here are three shorter training suggestions you can use to burn those extra calories and keep your fitness levels ticking over :
1 . Take the stairs : Forget the elevator in your hotel and hit the stairs . Start with a short warm up and then run the stairs to the top floor and back a few times . You ’ ll be surprised at how quickly you build up a sweat .
1 . Plan your day : Reduce your training volume and agree with your family when the best time will be for you to quickly fit your session in , so that you don ’ t eat into valuable time together .
2 . Make it count : Where time is an issue and your training session has to be short , get the most bang for your buck . In other words , keep the intensity up . Just because it ’ s a shorter session than normal , doesn ’ t mean you can ’ t get a lot out of it .
3 . Be disciplined in your binges : If you ’ re really going to suffer a case of FOMO because you can ’ t eat biscuits , chocolates or your Gran ’ s shortbread , then allow
2 . Jump-lunge repeats : Jog for 10 minutes to warm up , then do jumping jacks for 30 seconds , go straight to fast running on the spot for one minute , then do walking lunges for 20 metres out and back . Follow that with a minute ’ s rest and then perform another two sets , starting with the jumping jacks . Finish with a very easy five-minute cool-down jog . Total time : 25 minutes .
All this will allow you recharge those batteries and start the new year firing on all cylinders , ready to achieve your running goals .
Ray Orchison is a South African-born running coach and therapist . He has completed the Comrades Marathon eight times , with a best of 7:08:52 , and also boasts personal bests of 33:55 for 10km , 1:14:17 for 21.1km and 2:48:00 for the marathon . He has completed USATF and NAASFP coaching courses , and provides personalised training programmes to his clients . Now based in Perth , Australia , you can find him at https :// runetics . com . au .
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