Winter Woes & Adaptability,
February has been especially brutal. The Northeast has been getting hit with a lot of bad weather. I was up in Boston the week after they got their first big snow storm, and it made me very thankful for New Jersey- because at least the roads here have been clear. During the winter our club is spread out a lot. This year a group of the guys were able to get funding to travel to Flagstaff and train at altitude. This time of year that part of Arizona is a hub for elite distance runners. The majority of the girls stuck around this area though and trained where ever we could find a place. My training log is peppered with treadmill runs and cross training, which is a good option if you just can't get out- be smart, I promise that a few days on the bike or elliptical won't hurt your fitness, but you can always throw a heart rate monitor on to keep tabs on things to make sure you're some aerobic work in. The fact of the matter is that the winter is tough no matter where you are. The weather throws a wrench in training, the days are shorter and the sun just doesn't seem to want to come around as often. All aspects of training require you to be adaptable but this time of year takes the need for adaptability to new heights. Our training weeks have had almost no continuity. One workout will be at Princeton University, the next an early morning at the Armory in NYC, another on a Sunday evening at Rutgers… but the thing is that no matter the situation, things get done. All you can ever do is the best you can with what you are given, and thankfully we have at least had places to get inside for our faster workouts. Although my indoor season hasn't gone near as I had hoped, something I am trying to piece together thoughts on to share later, the weather hasn't slowed people down. There have been some incredible races put together and it has been fun to watch people get after it, I've attached some races of NJNYTC teammates, that feature many elite athletes and entertaining finishes to provide some added motivation to get your workout in despite the weather!
http://www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45365&do=videos&video_id=133683
(Women's MILE: NJNYTC- Steph Charnigo)
http://www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45365&do=videos&video_id=134257
(Men's 1000: NJNYTC-Declan Murray, Liam Boylan-Pett)
http://www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45365&do=videos&video_id=133051
(World Record Women's DMR: NY- All Stars Made up of NJNYTC athletes Steph Charnigo, Katie Holdridge, LaTavia Thomas, Nicole Tully)
http://www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45365&do=videos&video_id=133049
(American Record 2 MILE: Paced by Heather Wilson NJNYTC)
http://www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45365&do=videos&video_id=132411
(Women's 2 MILE: NJNYTC- Nicole Tully, Ashley Higginson)
***some of the best advice I got was from a mentor and teammate Lauren Bonds (a grad of Hutch) told me to become a student of the sport- races are a great way to learn athletes and race tactics!
