Rugging up

Might be time to start digging out my proper winter clothing I think. I know it is very hard to tell year to year, but my gut feel is that we have had a very mild autumn so far. Not a lot of rain, some cold mornings, but nothing too epic. Certainly warm enough that once you are out and doing work you end up feeling fairly comfy. On the whole it hasn't been too bad at all.

However, now the Winter is around the corner I think I might have to start thinking about the chilly season a bit more (strongly resisting the urge to use a certain Game of Thrones quote here). Perth obviously has fairly mild winters compared to the rest of the world, but it does get cold enough to make a warm bed seem like a darn nice place to be in the early mornings. Throw in a bit of darkness and training can feel like an uninspiring option. That is about the point we are getting to now, where getting out of bed and doing exercise is seeming harder and harder.

Hence my comment about sorting out the winter clothes. The common quote that there is no bad weather just bad clothing choices might be a cliche, but it also happens to be very correct. The cold should never really be an excuse to not be doing exercise, or at least not in a climate like Perth. If it is too chilly then put on another layer or two. If you get hot during the session there is always the option of taking it off again. In fact finding the balance between being comfortable at the beginning and being hot at the end vs being chilly at the beginning and comfortable at the end should be about the biggest challenge you face in Perth winter training. Being too cold to get out the door at all shouldn't even come into the conversation.

As I always say on this blog, sports reward those who train intelligently and consistently. Winter is too big a chunk of time to sit on the side lines if a person is truly keen to progress. It is also a great time for building base and strength without the pressure of racing. Sure it might be dark and cold, but if you are properly prepared those things shouldn't be a barrier at all. The benefits of winter training are too good to be put off by a little bit of cold.