Winter Training and Motivation: Athlete Focus
The temperature is cold, and the days are shorter. Struggling to maintain the motivation for training or orienteering regularly? You're not alone. Getting yourself out on cold dark mornings and evenings takes a lot more motivation than it might do in July.
Pick up some tips and see what makes up a typical training week for some of our top elite athletes this winter with our elite athlete focus feature series.
Athlete's club: Airienteers
Athlete's age: 26
British Orienteering Elite Sprint Champion 2017, and competing for Great Britain in the last 3 World Championships (22nd best result).
Monday: An easy run (~40mins on road) and a Hot Yoga class. |
Tuesday: Training with my athletics club (Leeds City), rotating between road, track and hills. Typical sessions include 5 x 5mins (75sec) road loop, 10 x 70sec (50sec) on the track, and 10 x 90sec hill reps with jog down recovery. |
Wednesday: Orienteering (usually a 1 hour night score event run by AIRE). I use this as a combined tempo run and technical session. |
Thursday: A 60min steady road run, plus some core/strength work. |
Friday: Either a rest day or an easy run. |
Saturday: Training on grass with my athletics club. A typical session: 12min threshold (2), 6 x 2.5min (90sec), 6min tempo, plus strides or hill sprints. |
Sunday: Orienteering or a long run (90min), depending on what’s available locally. |
Over winter I aim to run approx. 80km a week.
I try to orienteer at least once a week. Usually, this is night or forest orienteering over winter and then I’ll switch focus to sprint in February.
“What if I fall?”
“Oh but my darling, what if you fly?”
Thank you, Alice. British Orienteering and members would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best with your training throughout the rest of the year.
Elite Athlete Winter Training Series of Interviews
More information - here.
Interview #1: with Charlotte Ward - here
Humberside and Lincolnshire Orienteers, Sheffield University Orienteering Club
Interview #2: with Kris Jones - here
Forth Valley Orienteers, Swansea Bay Orienteering Club, Lillomarka OL, Swansea Harriers, Dundee Hawkhill Harriers