Your race was cancelled? stay calm, stay positive - tips to keep your training going

There is something at the moment on the news and around the world that we can’t escape at that of course is the Coronavirus.

This virus has caused chaos around the world, with countries struggling to control this and some countries even gone into a lockdown. Many of events so far have been cancelled, clubs postponing training until further notice and so on. It is tough times and a situation none of us expected or has gone through in our lives. So I wrote a blog on how to keep fit, motivated and what you can do if you’re in lockdown and can’t leave the house to maintain some sort of fitness.

As an Athlete and Interim Head Coach of Canterbury Harriers I share your frustration with all your training and plans up in the air, please note that no training is a waste. Being part of clubs has changed my life and helped my health and wellbeing and mentally, I have made lots of friends too, so it will be hard for a lot of us through this difficult time.

Firstly we must listen to guidelines set by the government so that this can pass quickly. It’s important to Stay Calm, stay positive and keep moving forward we can beat this together. If your struggling for motivation just do something even if it’s just for 10 minutes get out go for a run for example. If you’re not feeling it after 10 minutes just go home but it’s likely your stay out much longer whatever you do, that’s the first step.

Like many of you my targets, goals and season plans are now all up in air, training was going well getting ready for my first important race in May and then the virus struck.

It's ok to feel disappointment about races being cancelled and goals not achieved, but we are all in this together but we can beat this and we all in this together. At the time of writing this I have been fortunate to train as normal will no pool or gym closures but I am getting prepared for this. Safety is so important so I will do what I have to do to stay well and safe. So with races being cancelled, parkrun cancelled, clubs runs cancelled etc I therefore had to change my training up as it would be too early to peak for the European Sprint Triathlon Championships in Augusts and not knowing if that will go ahead as I can see this being a long period . Don’t think your training as gone to waste because your race was cancelled etc. No training is a waste, firstly by training you’re looking after your health and wellbeing, mentally helping, boosting your immune system and keeping fit. So it’s important to keep training if it’s safe outside alone or in doors.

The pools and leisure centres closed in the UK by the government order on Friday 20th. So how can you maintain your swim fitness? Well the problem is unless you have your own pool, it will be a tough one, so you could work more on another area such as running and cycling and focusing more on that. I started swimming in 2012 and have really swam consistently since with only a few weeks off from it each year from my end of season break, so like many of you it looks like long periods of not swimming is on the cards. However a lot of swim training is also done in the gym where you can also do this at home. Swimmers call this land base training; you can do a lot at home, even if you don’t have any equipment. If you already go to the gym you will likely being doing some of these exercises below to make you stronger and keep injuries to the minimal.

So things like press ups, Sit ups, V Sit ups, Plank, Side Planks, Jumping lunges, Dead Bug, Thread the needle, Alkeanas, Glute bridge, shoulder wall slides all will help you for your core and swimming. If you have a resistance band you can do Dead Bugs with a band and that will help your core and give your arms some resistance. You could add squats, now don’t overdo it but you can produce a circuit a such as press ups, sit ups and Planks x10 reps of each and then do 3 sets and maybe add squats, Sit ups, Dead bug in the same format. There is plenty of strength videos online that will keep you strong and with some small Carido workout. Just make sure when searching the internet you look at the right form and copy it as you don’t want to get injured and the workout must be what you think will help you. So not going to the gym isn’t bad at all, for runners and cyclists you could even add a few more things in like squats, clams and scissors etc. You can google these and your find them on YouTube.

So those can be done without weights and if you have got weights you can use weights for some. So you can see there is a lot you can do without equipment. This will help with your strength and some fitness.

What about running? Well this very much depends if you are allowed out your home the UK government have but restrictions that you can excises once a day outside your home such as a run alone or with a family member. If you have a treadmill then you can pretty much do all your runs on the treadmill no problem. If you are allowed out the house then you can go running and you do your own session but maintaining a safe distance from the public.

If you only run with your club then you might need some sessions. Good sessions I like are mile reps 3x1 mile rep with 3 minutes recovery between the reps and a warm up and warm down either side, easy runs and long runs will get you through too, but I am sure you know what sessions you can do. If you don’t have a treadmill and not allowed out the house but can get into the garden perhaps you can run up and down your garden? If it’s to small what about doing drills and working on your running form? Good drills I like are high knees, A steps, heel flicks, strides., theses will help your form a lot but of course your running fitness won’t be the same.

It’s important your training does not go stale so just because you’re not training with others or racing you can change your training up.

If you want to do easy runs, time on feet is a good way to train. You could increase you runs by 6-9 minutes each week for three weeks and then hold for three weeks so for example if you start from 60 minutes then go 1 hour 6 minutes, 1 hour 12 minutes, 1 hour 18 minutes and hold that 1:18 for two weeks. Then have a recovery week cutting back to 60 min run or less. Easy runs should be easy and don’t worry about pace the slower the better makes you more efficient and faster in the long run. A rough guide on heart rate zones is around 60% your heart rate max no higher any higher you’re over training into different zones such as going in to threshold zone etc. Easy runs in theory you should be fresh legs not sore at all the following day and you can run hard. If you don’t know your heart rate max, zone 2 is the right zone, it might feel slow but your body adapts and pace will come down my coach Mark Sheperd always stresses the importance of zone2 training. When you do have a recovery week keeps the intensity the same but reps low. So Example if you normally do 6x1k reps then cut that down to 3 to 4 reps. If you want to stay connected with people which is so important you have mini competitions with friends via Strava for example, that can help with motivation.

Lastly cycling this can be done easily indoors with your bike/exercise bike. Your bike will need a turbo trainer or rollers etc you can pick them up cheap now and you can do training just like you would outdoors, there are plenty of programs you can follow and even virtual rides will keep motivation and even hook up with friends and training buddies online for some friendly competition.

That’s how you can still train but you need to keep motivated there is a few things you can do simple one is have a break and a recovery week , use this time to think about what you want to achieve and focus on in the coming months. There is nothing worse than pounding your body all year round and then only resting once you’re broken.

Remember that somebody believes in you.

This somebody could be a coach, manager, trainer, fellow athlete or loved one. They will have the belief in your ability that you currently may not have. There is no harm in asking them for reassurances.

Think in positive ways at all times. Positivity can be developed by assessing each day (training) and competition sessions. Assess your own positivity through forms of achievement through technique, practice and movement.

Thinking positively leads to better mind and body balance. Positive thinking enables the neural pathways within the mind to operate with clarity and purpose.

Understand that it can be done. Embark on each task as a champion by having a clear and defined plan. Achieve your task step by step. Do not take on a big task and expect to complete it quickly. Have patience and believe in yourself.

Stay in control of the controllable. Maintaining the controllable builds self-confidence because it provides you with a sense of focus and directive. Remember that you can never control what others are thinking/doing but you can control what you are achieving. There are a range of variables within running that can lead to performers losing sight of the controllable. External factors/influences will only hinder performance and must be beaten.

Recall previous success. A mantra that I use is related to distance travelled. Think about previous successes that you have had. What did that feel like? How were your emotions during this time? Further, how confident did that make you feel? Recall is a positive mechanism to enable one to re-build confidence as it associates with belief.

Set short-term goals. Most athletes suffer from low self-confidence because they allow the issue(s) to prolong and as a consequence fail to deal with problems head on. To overcome these issues, set short-term goals that will enable the flow of confidence (no matter how small) to start. Through constantly achieving your short-term goals you will build your levels of self-confidence like a snowball growing bigger. Short-term goals should be related to processes that can be achieved.

The World Situation is bad however, exercise wise it’s not all bad, you have lots of options with what you can do if facilities shut or if you go in to lockdown. I believe it’s important to keep smiling, keep positive in order to move forward as we can beat this but most importantly stay safe. Motivation might be tough but I hope the tips help, setting small goals each week and taking each day as it comes in this climate is a good way to go. I will be posting videos to help with training on my YouTube Channel link HERE please check it out and subscribe