Set up new training goals

Our new training goals were to simply stick to our weekly schedule. Now that we no longer have races to train for, the could technically mean no more weekly training schedules or workouts. But it doesn’t mean we have to stop. We have chosen to stick to our weekly training schedule, but made sure to dial back the intensity and mileage. We have dialed back because we don’t want to be constantly stressing our immune systems with hard workouts all of the time.  

Challenging ourselves with time trials

I wish I had started doing time trials earlier in my racing “career”. This is such a fun way of being able to measure and see a measurable growth in your fitness. Every few weeks in my training rides, I’m asked by my coach to put down 20-minute “best-effort” so I make sure to hustle to try and beat my previous numbers. If I didn’t have these mini-trials/challenges, we’d probably pick something like improving our 5km time or getting a personal best time for a particular workout. 

Variety in our workouts

We are huge fans of the Peloton app and find there is plenty of variety in all the different workouts offered. It’s one place to go to find different workouts with different instructors. It is subscription-based but well worth the money. There are also other apps like Nike Training Club, Adidas Training app that also offer great workouts for free. The Lululemon website has lots of free content like yoga classes.

Use social media and challenges

We are big fans of “badges” and “achievements”, both physical with race medals as well as digital. We mostly use Strava to keep up with different challenges. Justin wears an Apple Watch to keep track of his activity and closes his rings on the daily. If you repeat rides on Peloton, you have the option of racing your previous rides! And you can also aim for personal best via output for different ride durations.  

Just keep swimming…

We have been following this approach since March, and it has kept us moving! We are really excited to see the visible improvements in run times as well as strength gains. We cannot control a lot of what is happening to us, but we can control how we react. Movement and fitness is something we have the ability to take charge of.

We’ve also been extra careful with current and new workouts. RMTs and physios aren’t currently accessible, so we’re making sure to exercise with caution. A few weeks ago, I was doing my usual workout. I must have been feeling pretty good afterward, so I think I may have skipped my post-workout stretches and also slept funny later that night. The combination created some neck pain that lasted a few days, which was really stressful. I did a lot of stretching and had to incorporate a heat pack and Biofreeze for a number of days, and the pain finally went away. But it was a great reminder to be cautious with our workouts.

Thoughts? Let us know below!

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