Fair weather cycling

So we had a novel experience this morning. It rained.

Okay, to be fair it was more of a drizzle, and while that doesn't sound particularly exciting, it isn't all that common in Perth at the moment. As Winter approaches though it is undoubtedly going to become more and more common.

Despite the drizzle this morning I headed out for a bit of exercise. It was tempting to jump back in bed, but it really wasn't raining that heavily and, other than the discomfort, there was no great reason to skip the session, the rain posed no danger to me.

On the whole, over my years of doing sport I have always tried to have an attitude of get out and do it, no matter the weather. Over time I moderated this a little to get out and do it, no matter the weather, as long as it is safe, but on the whole I have got myself out the door rain, hail or shine. With the advent of smart trainers like Wahoo Kickrs I started jumping on the trainer instead or riding outdoors during rain, but I tried to not let the weather be an excuse of skipping a session.

The reason for this stubborn attitude is pretty straight forward, sport rewards consistency and consistency in training doesn't care about the weather. I have written numerous times about the importance of being consistent in training. The people who get quality work done, day in, day out over a long period are the people who do well. It is as simple as that, no other trick. When you watch the Olympics nobody there has had an easy path, nobody is there on talent alone, everyone there has worked very, very hard. No shortcuts, no silver bullets, no tricks. It is for this reason that training in unpleasant weather is important.

We are pretty lucky in Perth, we are blessed with amazing weather for most of the year. It doesn't snow here, it doesn't even rain that much, there is very little to stop us training outside. However, despite that it does get a bit wet and miserable here for a couple of months over Winter. It can be very tempting to hibernate during those months, however, for a triathlete hoping to drive consistent improvement, training on during Winter is something they need to be doing. It may not be a lot of training, it may not be that hard, but it needs to be. This consistency will allow continued improvement year after year.

It may not be pleasant, but it works.