Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 121, August 2019 | Page 46

I would like to share a few training
methods that help carry me
through the darker days:
1 Hit the treadmill: There is
THE
WINTER WAY
You can’t feel your toes, your hands are ice blocks, you’re
covered in goose bumps, and it feels like you’ve walked
straight into a freezer, because the air is hurting your face.
You’re not in a happy place... I think this is the struggle
every athlete faces when they step outside for training in
winter, but as they say, nothing worth having comes easy.
I
n my books, winter is the
worst time to train. It’s
usually dark and freezing
when you head out, and
healthy food habits become
almost impossible to keep.
But training has been the
one thing I’ve done my
entire life, because there
has always been something
to train for, like the next big
event, or a global meet that
I need to be prepared for.
2 Train in the afternoon: For
those who are fortunate enough
to leave work between 3pm and
5pm, I suggest you hit the road as
quick as possible once finished
working! I have gotten into the
habit of training at about 3:30 in
the afternoon, as soon as I get out of work, and it has been a lifesaver. The bonus is
that you tend to catch the last rays of the afternoon sun, so it isn’t that cold.
3 Layer up: Being an absolute self-proclaimed pro at this, I layer my clothes as
much as possible. So when I do head out to train in the early mornings or evening,
I leave the house properly prepared. Then during the session, I can simply take off
whatever outer layers are necessary to cool down but still be warm.
4 Focus on your goals: As I said, moving back home and taking on a work schedule
that has nothing to do with my sport has been an adjustment, so choosing races
and fitting them into my already full schedule has been hard. I also had to adjust
my goals, and this meant my goals as well as my races got more specific, and also
more long-term. The thing is, working towards a long-term goal is a bit more difficult
than keeping up with short-term goals. It takes even more focus, determination,
commitment and mental strength to see them through – and those are just words until
you find a way to live up to them.
Having long-term goals, like training to do your first marathon or chasing a new half
marathon PB, or for me, trying to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, is something
you have to prepare yourself mentally for. Therefore, setting smaller, intermediate
goals to help you stay focused on the bigger goal is a good start. By smaller goals, I
mean really small. Training for a local race, for instance, which offers a good way to
challenge yourself and measure your performance according to your training goals.
This way you get the training done, stay on track with your goals, and mentally get
stronger as time passes.
Quirky Winter Fixes
I also have a few personal, and sometimes quirky habits to help me cope with winter
training:
• Wearing a buff on my head to cover almost everything but my eyes when I start
training in the cold, dark mornings. This really warms me up the fastest!
• Wearing extra thick socks in training, because I struggle with extra cold feet in
the winter.
• Having room temperature water in my bottles instead of water from the fridge.
• Sleeping with my heart rate monitor underneath my pillow, so that it is warm
when I put it on in the mornings. I cringe when I think of how cold that thing can
be against my bare skin!
This was especially the
case when I was still a
student a little less than two
years ago in Johannesburg,
but coming back home to
George, starting a job and
all that adult stuff, I’ve had
to be very picky and very
specific as to what I have
entered and trained for. And
since then, I have found that there have been periods in my training where I had to
force myself to look at the long-term goal, and remind myself why I was doing this.
And both years since returning, this has happened when winter arrived.
Now I know I am definitely not the only athlete out there that struggles to keep up
with training while it is cold and dark outside, especially in ‘Cold and Wet’ George, so
46
ISSUE 121 AUGUST 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Race Walker Anel Oosthuizen is a multiple SA
Champion and Record Holder, and represented SA in the women’s 20km at the
2016 Rio Olympics.
WALK
THIS
WAY
By Anel Oosthuizen
nothing worse for me than having
to go and train alone in the cold
and dark at 5am, so in winter I do
my easy, early morning sessions
on the treadmill in the gym. Not
cold, dark or alone – and there’s
music!