Training: A new winter strategy

When asked for three tips for becoming a better cyclist, Eddy Merckx famously said, “Ride your bike. Ride your bike. Ride your bike.” I’ve been following the master’s advice for the past 10 years. It was easy because I was living in the subtropics and could pretty much ride all year.

When I moved to Michigan last year, I planned to cycle outside throughout the winter, and I was pretty successful at riding whenever possible. But there were long stretches when I couldn’t. I forced myself to head down to the pain cave in the basement to ride the rollers, but I didn’t do that enough. My plan was to start training like a maniac in March, but we didn’t have much of a spring. Throughout the summer, I felt like I was constantly two or three months behind where I should be. My training never got on track.

The lesson learned: Now that I live in a winter wonderland, I’ve got to be more serious. That’s what the frigid weather does; it focuses the mind and inspires one to be more disciplined. So to better maintain my fitness, I’m running again. Gasp, yes, I’m running. Well, Bernard Hinault used to do it in the off season.

It’s too icey to run in the morning and too dark in the evening. So I’m running home from work. It’s fantastic, so far. I take care of my workout and commute at the same time. The distance is about 8 kilometers so it’s a decent workout.

The only problem is that my clothes are piling up in my cubicle. It looks like a changing room at the end of a busy Saturday at Macy’s. The plan was to run every other day and to take the clothes home on the off days. But it’s so easy for my slacks and suits to get wrinkled on my bus commute home that I’ve just been leaving them at work.

To maintain my cycling fitness, I’ll hit the rollers during the week, usually on Wednesday, and go out for rides on the weekends. I forgot how much running boosts the cardio fitness, and it really shows on my roller workouts. I couldn’t be more delighted about this.