Training in the Snow

When training in the snow wether it is running or biking you need to take extra precautions.  We all now the dangers of the cold tmperatures, so we need to make sure we dress warm enough to get through our workouts.  Besides dressing warm enough you need to look a little deeper into the workout and into the conditions outsides.  You want to make sure you keep your eyes ahead of you surveying your running surface but especially watching the vehicles you might be sharing the roadway with (remember to run towards traffic and not with it).  If the temperatures are below freezing watch for icy patches, these are spots in your workout were you can easily get injured if you are not paying attention.  Treat every wet spot on the roadway as black ice or an icy patch.   Take your time and run under control over these areas.  If there is a vehicle around you when approaching a questionable area stop, and let the car pass you then proceed with care.

When biking in cold conditions, it is very important to dress warm, don't forget to take wind chill into consideration when dressing to bike.  Can get very chilly.  Brrr!!  So dress warm, very warm.  If roadways are wet and is close to freezing Do Not go out.  You do not want to risk wrecking your bike and potentially really hurting yourself from skidding on an ice patch.  Pretty straight forward.  One other major obstacle you might encounter while biking in the winter is road cinders and road debris.  When it snows road crews hit our roads with salt and cinders.  As the snow melts and cars use the roads the salt and cinders make their way to the shoulder of the road (our biking lane).  These small pieces of road debris act as marbles, making it very hard to control your bike when trying to handle a corner/turn.  So take your time and be aware of any areas that might present a problem.  Constantly survey the road surface in front of you, to prepare yourself for what you might encounter. 

Train hard but be smart and know when to be patient!!  Enjoy the these winter training months!!