Probably by now, your family and friends already know about and live with your training addiction. As Francis says, 30' a day is all you need. Running is the most cost-effective (highest TSS/minute), along with trainer VO2 intervals. As Lew Hollander (oldest man to finish Kona) said, when asked his secret to longevity, "Go anaerobic at least once every day."
It's the holidays, so nobody is allowed to stress over a little slip in fitness. Family time can be precious and that's a great week to chill
Until you're stuck with the in-laws.
If you're at home the Zwift 10K race is a great idea; short and sweet. If you're travelling, hit the treadmill for 30 minutes but make it intense. Something like: 10-minute warm-up, 10 minute BO, 10-minute cool down. Same workout can be done on a bike, elliptical, or rower
Your call as to whether to put eggnog in the water bottle
Do the EN Holiday Challenge! LOL. Its been proven that you won't lose much fitness after two weeks of no exercise and the fitness you do lose will come back in several days after resuming workouts. Try to schedule your workouts through out the week. You're less likely to workout if you're trying to fit it in after the day has started. The bigger problem, at least for me, is over indulging on food. Keep portions small and no thirds. Enjoy the foods you like but in moderation. In other words, don't eat half the pie one day and the other half the next day, but a thin piece of pie every 2-3 days is ok.
I have an olympic distance triathlon on 7 January 2018. That's keeping me focused on my OS workouts and my diet. My guilt-free 2 week transition food binge is over and I'm back on myfitnesspal with laser focus. I'm going to enjoy being with family this Christmas but I don't have to be eating to do that.
I need to be comfortable with my current fitness, and address an injury that’s been giving me a negative attitude. There are plenty of big numbers flying around (particularly with the rise of Zwift), and sometimes its easy to let frustration and a bad attitude result in missed workouts and poor eating habits. Patience, dedication, and caution will bring me up-to-speed by mid JOS. Pumping out 7-10 x 30min workouts a week... and for better-or for-worse, there are some informal periods of intensity that qualify as “anaerobic.”
What a great time of year to gain and maintain perspective. I'm guessing that most of us started this journey simply because we wanted to be fit and live a healthy life. As we progress our competitive spirit begins to drive us and we are doing things we never imagined. Then the "next thing" looks possible. So we look ahead and look at the inspiration around us and begin to wonder what else we could do. I agree with @John Culberson. You see these huge numbers people put up and can be inspired or intimidated to the point where you think "I'm not even in this game". Outseason and Holiday time is a great time to think about what are MY goals and what do I need to do to work within the band width I have to get there. How can I knit this into my life and still do all the other important things I need to and want to do. With this in mind the question becomes what do I do to continue my fit and healthy lifestyle through this time of year. Maybe for a short period that means we have a little less focus on the next race or event, enjoy the fact that we are fit and healthy and recognize that it is important to us that we stay that way. With this simple idea in mind it's a little easier to make better decisions at the holiday party because because we want to get up the next day and do something to enjoy our fitness without the pressure of possible failure if we have little too much fun and can't quite hit the exact numbers for the day to get us to our "next thing".
I do a healthy breakfast and a green smoothie every day. This helps keep cravings and binging in check. If I have a setback at dinner, I make sure to have a extra healthy dinner the next day to balance things out. Resisting the urge to throw in the towel for the whole month, and allowing bad choices to snowball is the real challenge for me.
Don't worry about what others are doing. Find something that you can make fun, consistent, and reasonably active on a daily basis. For example, Zwift racing with other ENrs is BIG fun, it guarantees anaerobic intensity, it keeps you out of run jail and it is so darn flexible in terms of when you can find a window to do it.
Fun, consistency, short bouts of intensity, flexibility = a productive, sustainable, safe winter plan.
Former Navy Seal Kirk Parsley who served as a Medical Officer at Naval Special Warfare has dedicated his profession to teaching people to SLEEP! He observed the Seals getting injured and not recovering because of lack of sleep. He didn't have to prove it in a lab - he observed it in the field. Don't be that sleep deprived SEAL.
Not getting sick and keeping a strong immune system will get most of us to January 2nd 2018 healthy and fit enough to keep building. Maybe FTP won't be bigger but it won't be less!
I'm with @Paul Curtin. I like my inlaws but Christmas can be a pit in at their farm so I just have to manage the days around the stop. My family it's one and done for about 6-8 hours maybe something later in the week if everyone's around but it's all good.
Comments
Zwift 10k races
avoid alcohol & sugar
Until you're stuck with the in-laws.
If you're at home the Zwift 10K race is a great idea; short and sweet. If you're travelling, hit the treadmill for 30 minutes but make it intense. Something like: 10-minute warm-up, 10 minute BO, 10-minute cool down. Same workout can be done on a bike, elliptical, or rower
Your call as to whether to put eggnog in the water bottle
Keep doing what you know is right and it will turn around!!!
~ Coach P
What a great time of year to gain and maintain perspective. I'm guessing that most of us started this journey simply because we wanted to be fit and live a healthy life. As we progress our competitive spirit begins to drive us and we are doing things we never imagined. Then the "next thing" looks possible. So we look ahead and look at the inspiration around us and begin to wonder what else we could do. I agree with @John Culberson. You see these huge numbers people put up and can be inspired or intimidated to the point where you think "I'm not even in this game". Outseason and Holiday time is a great time to think about what are MY goals and what do I need to do to work within the band width I have to get there. How can I knit this into my life and still do all the other important things I need to and want to do. With this in mind the question becomes what do I do to continue my fit and healthy lifestyle through this time of year. Maybe for a short period that means we have a little less focus on the next race or event, enjoy the fact that we are fit and healthy and recognize that it is important to us that we stay that way. With this simple idea in mind it's a little easier to make better decisions at the holiday party because because we want to get up the next day and do something to enjoy our fitness without the pressure of possible failure if we have little too much fun and can't quite hit the exact numbers for the day to get us to our "next thing".
Fun, consistency, short bouts of intensity, flexibility = a productive, sustainable, safe winter plan.
SS
Former Navy Seal Kirk Parsley who served as a Medical Officer at Naval Special Warfare has dedicated his profession to teaching people to SLEEP! He observed the Seals getting injured and not recovering because of lack of sleep. He didn't have to prove it in a lab - he observed it in the field. Don't be that sleep deprived SEAL.
Not getting sick and keeping a strong immune system will get most of us to January 2nd 2018 healthy and fit enough to keep building. Maybe FTP won't be bigger but it won't be less!
Sleep well Team EN
At the farm it's about getting the toboggan up the hill with the kids on it is one options. I could go running on the grid road or drive in to town and run around the 1 block of pavement they have. Yes Patti's parents live in the boonies with the farm about 1 mile from Handel SK, census population of 20 in 2016.
https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Handel,+SK+S0K+1Y0/@52.0595844,-108.6919162,16.5z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x530f0e18df011525:0x28f8dc74eacbc870!8m2!3d52.0598139!4d-108.6930813?dcr=0