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Sarah Hill
Jul 14
8 min read

We’re in the depths of winter. The sun might be riding earlier, but the temperatures are still dropping, and well – the challenges are staying in shape are not getting any easier! But don’t despair. It is a challenge we experience each and every year, and looking back at our track record, we seem to come out alright each time.

How can we make this year different? If we look back on our new year’s resolutions, how many of them have you achieved? Are you working towards a particular fitness goal? Are you feeling the progress? The halfway mark through the year is the perfect time to revise those goals, reset into where you are right now, and get back into the swing of things.

It might be cold, dark and wet in the mornings, but a huge positive that came out of the infamous 2020 pandemic lockdown was the exponential improvements of indoor training equipment. Quieter smart trainers, massive internal upgrades to paid third party training platforms, free virtual training options for Training Peaks Premium users and coaches of all kinds willing to help you along the way.

You don’t necessarily need an event to get you out of bed and into the gym. You do, however, need some form of a goal. Urgh, that word gets used way too much, but it’s true. A... G.O.A.L. provides you with purpose. Purpose provides you with a direction. And direction – evolves into quantifiable progress.

If you didn’t know what the acronym for G.O.A.L was, here’s my take:

Go Out And Live

That’s more attractive, isn’t it? Amazing what perspective can do.

Let’s talk about the most attractive discipline on the market at the moment -> Gravel. You’ve probably read a ton of articles on it, but when you sit back in the office chair looking out into the darkness of 6am winter, I’m sure the last thing you feel like doing is sitting on a bike for 4-8hrs riding on a gravel road. If you’re a Capetonian, riding on cold, wet gravel also sounds absolutely miserable. But is there a way to correctly prepare for a gravel event that starts say… end of winter?

The short answer is yes. If you want to know how, keep reading.

To circle back to the Smart equipment, we all have gathering dust in our garages, offices, or bedrooms. There is a way to make it fun again. It’s a collaboration of prescribed training, motivation to reach that G.O.A.L., opportunity to catch up online with friends, and see some muscle perk up underneath that warm winter layer of “skin”. Instead of just looking the part, what if we actually felt the part too?

Now let me tell you, you’re not going to feel the part from the first ride. An hour on the indoor trainer will bring out a couple aches and pains, but consistently showing up is going to be the behavioral change that will influence that sense of satisfaction. Just because you might feel like doing something today, might not be the same way you feel when your alarm goes off at 5am tomorrow. This is a shaping technique in the behavioral therapy toolbox. Psychological training at times can begin with the physical behavior first– que “fake it till you make it”.

Shaping Behavior Change: Reinforcing Progress Step by Step

After about two weeks, you’ll really start to feel the difference. Waking up will be easier, training will become more exciting, endorphins will fuel the motivation for self-improvement. You need to trust the process. So, I’m going to make things easier for you!

Race to the Sea is coming up on September 6^th. Even if this race is not on your radar, it’s a good time to be back into shape to ride with your mates outdoors. With 8 weeks to go, why not them working on your G.O.A.L.? Let us make the most of what we’ve got, together.

Step 1: What would you like to achieve in the next 8 weeks?

Let’s not focus too hard on the numbers, but it does help to have something numeric to work towards. There’s nothing quite like a count down…

- I want to finish riding 100mi of gravel

- I want to get a personal PR at Race to the Sea.

- I want to get a new FTP up Franschhoek Pass.

- I want to lose 2kg so I don’t have to carry it up Franschhoek pass.

- I want to be able to ride 80km of gravel with my friends.

- I want to set a good example for my kids with exercise.

- I want to commit to 8 weeks of consistent training.

- I want to build my fitness up to being able to ride 80km again.

- I want to find discipline again by waking up at 5am three times a week to train.

- I want to use my training to get an early night’s sleep during the week.

- I want to use my training to cope with the winter blues this year.

- I want to use my training as a stress management during this busy winter.

Step 2: Make your training space inviting.

Far too often our indoor training set up is in a freezing cold area where the fan is blasting and if you’re not looking at a laptop screen you are staring at a concrete wall. Take a look at your training environment. What could you do to improve your space? Think back to when you were a teenager and would decorate your walls with posters. What motivated you back then? Something as simple as having a towel rack, warm up jersey, and water bottle stand next to your equipment can help make you feel like you don’t have to trek through the darkness to prepare yourself. When you wake up, you want to have a routine that can easily transition you into your training space with no inconvenience. I’ve been playing around with the Xiaomi Wi-Fi bulbs where you can set your own sunrise time and #LightUpyourMood. Biggest impact is the color of the light… warm light seems to give off more summery vibes. Face your equipment towards the window, get some natural air coming through other than just your fan. Music is everything – if you’re an early bird it means the quality of your EarPods really matter! Write down a list of training space improvements that would help look forward to stepping into that space.

Step 3: Starting The Training Plan.

Now to make your life easier, our family at The Threshold are going to provide you with your first two weeks of training. It’s a no nonsense, get straight to the point kind of training plan that will only work with your commitment and knowledge of your perceived exertion. The reason we ask for these two psychological ‘buy-in’s’ is because you are going to decide how long you need to warm up and warm down for. The rest is plug and play. We suggest doing a minimum of 10-15min warm up, or my personal favorite warm up is the INEOS Pre-Race Warm-up (20min). It covers all basis and ensures that the heart, lungs and legs are warm before getting into the hard work.

Now if you are completely new to online training, please ensure you have done some form of power test to get all your zones correct BEFORE you start your two-week intro training. If you’re looking for something short and ‘sweet’, a Ramp Test is good, if you have more time to sit in the pain cave, the 20min FTP Test is ideal.

For the main set, we will provide a color coding like what you see here on to make things easy. You might even find similar workouts on the third-party platform that you are currently using (Training Peaks Virtual, Zwift, Rouvy, MyWhoosh, etc etc) – even better! It saves time and helps you get those legs turning. If you’d prefer us to load it directly onto your Training Peaks profile, email coach Sarah directly with her email address linked below:

sarah@thethreshold.co.za

The warm down is equally important and should focus mainly around getting that heart rate back down to lower zone 2 or ideally, zone 1. To allow that parasympathetic nervous system to calm the body and mind will help set you up for success instead of burnout. The more you look after the body the more it will look after you.

Time for the GET ME BACK ON THAT HORSE program. (Remember each set requires a warmup and warm down depending on the amount of time you have available).

Key For Zones:

Recovery

Endurance

Tempo

Threshold

VO2

WEEK 1

Monday Strength / Yoga / Pilates / Easy Run

Tuesday 3 x 15min Endurance Ride using full Zone 2 Range

Wednesday 5 x 2min Ramp Ups ending in Zone 4

Thursday 2 x 20min Endurance Ride at 85 - 90 rpm

Friday Strength / Yoga / Pilates / Easy Run

Saturday Long Outride or Zone 2 Indoor Set

Sunday Rest / Family Day

WEEK 2

Monday Strength / Yoga / Pilates / Easy Run

Tuesday 5 x 4min Ramp Ups ending in Zone 4

Wednesday 3 x 20min Endurance Ride using full Zone 2 Range

Thursday 5 x 20s Max Force Sprints

Friday Strength / Yoga / Pilates / Easy Run

Saturday Long Outride or Zone 2 Indoor Set

Sunday Rest / Family Day

Step 4: Fuel yourself for what you’re doing.

In the first two weeks of being back into training, it’s advised to let your body settle into it before you try cut carbs or diet or any of those other fads that we know don’t event work. Your body is going to go through a natural calorie deficit anyway, so don’t make it harder than it needs to be. You can use those two weeks to set up an appointment with a certified nutritionist if you are looking to improve the quality of your calorie intake, alternatively, you can take a couple days and write down what it is that you eat over a couple days and at what time you consume those eats and drinks (I always suggest Sunday, Monday and Tuesday). Once complete, circle what could be improved on – this could be the timing of the meal, or the quality of that drink. Avoid crossing out all the “bad stuff”, as there’s a reason why you felt like an ice-cold coke or added 2 sugars to that 4^th cup of coffee for the day. Listen to what your body is trying to tell you first. Then write down what an ideal day would look like for you in terms of fueling correctly for the type of training you are doing. Spend a couple days tweaking this an observe how the body is responding to the newfound attention…

Learn to listen to your stomach and digestive system.

Step 5: Feedback, Feedback, Feedback

There’s no point in putting yourself out there if you’re not going to review your own progress during the 2-week commitment period. After each session, it’s critical to debrief with yourself (often during the warm down is a good time!). How did the session effect the body? Where is your head at post workout? Did you fuel correctly, or could you add something to fuel/hydrate you better? Did the training positively impact your working day? Did you sleep enough? How is the recovery? The feedback questions can go as in-depth as you’d like. If you had a coach, the feedback input would go either via Training Peaks comments or text, but if you are just getting started there’s no reason why you can’t self-reflect. This training journal can set you up for success before you decide to take those next steps, and hey – it could even provide your next coach from The Threshold with a great foundation to work from! The most important thing is for this process to feel fun, challenging, and rewarding in some way.

In order to Go. Out. And. Live., we need to enjoy to the process of putting ourselves out there and doing the hard work. Don’t let the depths of winter prevent you from being the best version of yourself.

Let the fitness journey compliment you along the way.

If you found this article interesting, click on the following links to find out more about our:

- Training Programs and Coaching with The Threshold Coaching

- Mind Shift Performance Coaching with The Threshold Coaching

Until next time!

Sarah Hill

Founder of MindShift Performance w/ The Threshold Coaching

The Threshold Coaching High Performance Coach

Union Cycliste Internationale Level 1 Accreditation

Professional Mountain Bike Association Level 2 Air Accreditation

Masters in Sport and Performance Psychology

Bachelor of Science (hons) in Sport and Exercise Science