NicoleLast month I answered a question about the off season (the time of year when you are not actively training for a race). This week I decided to follow up on that and list some things you can do. Most off seasons are typically the fall/winter, but yours might be different. Some of this list is inspired by the things to do out in Colorado, which of course has it’s unique terrain. But even if you don’t live here, I’m sure you can come up with some other great things to do that aren’t on this list!
- Go for a hike
- Get on your mountain bike
- Try a cyclocross race
- Get a team together and run one of the many 200-mile relays (Ragnar relays, Hood to Coast, Bourbon Chase, etc).
- Run the fun runs with your local clubs (eg. Jack Quinn’s Running Club in Colorado Springs)
- Go for a ride on a cruiser bike or join in on a cruiser club ride
- Participate in computrainer races
- Cross-country ski
- Downhill ski
- Snow shoe
- Try winter duathlon/triathlon
- Find a local race or race series to run in
- Focus on your nutrition and get new healthy habits to incorporate when you are back into a higher training load
- Try a strength training program to work out muscle imbalances and improve strength
- Take swim lessons
- Go rock climbing
- Get with your local triathlon club and participate in the USAT National Challenge Competition
Get out with your friends and family! Off season is there to help keep fitness you earned during the race season, but to also to do some things you might not normally do when you are training. So grab your family and friends and go do something different!
I’ll be heading out in the morning to run in the Bourbon Chase relay this weekend. If you want to follow my team’s progress, we’ll tweet where we have cell signal. Just follow @GrlsHeartRockts on twitter. I’m also having a great time in a local cross country race series. And Carmichael Training Systems is having a free computrainer series at their Endurance Sports Club next month so I think I’ll have some more fun with that. Happy off season adventuring!
What do you do in the off season? Please leave your comments below. If you have questions that you would like to see answered in the ‘Ask the Coach’ column you can post them in the comment section. You can also contact Coach Nicole on facebook, twitter or via email at nicole@neoendurancesports.com.
Coach Nicole is the founder and head coach for NEO Endurance Sports & Fitness, a Colorado-based endurance sport coaching company. She is a USAT Level 1 Certified Coach and also coaches triathlon for Team In Training. Learn more at https://neoendurancesports.com/.
Nicole
