Summer is such a fun time to enjoy the great outdoors in Michigan. Sometimes, it can be easy to have a little bit too much fun! As we juggle busy summer events such as weddings and graduation parties, along with the invites for beach days and down-river floats, it can be easy to let training fall by the wayside. Here are some of my tips for staying in shape while still enjoying everything summer has to offer.
1.) Be proactive. If you are planning vacations or work tips, it’s a good idea to put those in your training schedule as soon as you know about them. It sounds commonsensical, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to forget about the effect travel has on training. You probably shouldn’t try to get off a 5 hour airplane ride and roll right into VO2 max efforts. If you schedule your workouts appropriately, you can focus your intensity training to occur prior to travel. This allows you to enjoy your trip and use it as a recovery period.
2.) Be flexible. You may not be able to take a bike on vacation with you. However, there are other ways to stay fit and have fun. One of my favorite things to do on vacation is to rent a bike or go for a run. You get to really immerse yourself in a city in a way that you just can’t replicate in a vehicle. As a bonus, you may become the person in your travel group that knows where all the cool cafés are! There are a huge number of shops that rent bicycles. A pair of cycling shoes and shorts takes up very little room in your suitcase. If you go through the effort of packing them, you will be far more likely to call a shop and rent a bicycle for a day.
3.) Be intentional. Everyone has different goals. For some people, racing at their very best is the focus of the year. If that’s you, set your intentionality on limiting external distractions. You may need to say no to that beach day invite if you already took an easy day for the week. However, for many of us (myself included), the goal is to squeeze every last drop of fun out of the summer. If that’s the case, then understand that sometimes training will look a little different than the ideal. Sometimes your aerobic rides will be replaced with fun hikes or a quick bodyweight workout in a campground. That doesn’t mean you will be out of shape come November. If you continue to focus on maintaining general bike fitness, the Iceman specific race fitness can be honed in on during September-November.
4.) Be coachable. It is very hard to be unbiased in assessment of oneself. I strongly recommend a coach to help you get the very most out of the time you can commit to training. A coach is not a necessity for having a great time at Iceman. However, if you want to really maximize your training benefit, a coach may be the missing piece of the puzzle.
I hope you have a fantastic summer filled with bikes, friends and fun!
Thank you to our 2023 Iceman Ambassador Elaine Sheikh @elaine_muskrat