220’s Winter Training Advent Calendar (Part 23)

142 Keep Healthy

The secret to performance success is consistent good health. Simple interventions, such as washing your hands, are super effective.

143 Take the Opportunity to Rest

Getting in extra weekend naps rather than more training is just common sense when you’re tired and the weather is crap.

144 Clear the Chores

Do more than your fair share of chores for once. And taking care of those long-overdue DIY tasks frees up time come race season.

145 See the Daylight

Short runs outdoors at lunchtime get you that much-needed does of Vitamin D. I’m also a fan of light boxes, which many pro athletes have also cottoned onto.

146 Do Your Admin

Get stocked up with training consumables like nutrition supplies, spare inner tubes and tyres, brake pads, heart rate monitor batteries, cleats and so on. More time saved come spring.

147 Have an Equipment Makeover

From swim to run, check your race-day equipment. Goggles scratched? Helmet got any cracked polystyrene? Race shoes bottomed out and smelly? Now’s the time to replace them.

Matt Baird Editor of Cycling Plus magazine

About

Matt is a regular contributor to 220 Triathlon, having joined the magazine in 2008. He’s raced everything from super-sprint to Ironman, duathlons and off-road triathlons, and can regularly be seen on the roads and trails around Bristol. Matt is the author of Triathlon! from Aurum Press and is now the editor of Cycling Plus magazine.