Training in the rain

The weather elements are certainly limiting factors when doing any outdoor activity.
Cold, rain, wind, snow, fog or scorching heat… are factors that condition our training sessions independently of the sporting activity that we practice.

I recognize that there are activities that are worse than others depending on the weather element at the time and for example it is much worse to ride a bike when it is raining than to run. Likewise, it is much worse to run in the heat of summer than to ride a bicycle.

Faced with adverse weather conditions of any kind, those athletes who engage in various sports activities or have the cross training as a regular weekly resource to vary the activity, have an advantage over those who only practice one sport.

For example, a cyclist, faced with cold, snow, wind or rain, can choose between the road bike, the mountain bike (less speed, then less cold) or the indoor cycling as alternatives. El strength work can also be an alternative, although depending on the time of the season, neither it is not possible to abuse it. For this reason, surely one day or another, one ends up getting wet, coming home cold and soaked and cursing that front that has come to water everything.
Luckily, the cyclists’ equipment has improved a lot and it is now possible to suffer less from the inclement weather, in order to continue training, despite living in places with certainly harsh winters.

On the other hand, a runner has a better time against the cold and the rain since as there is less speed and the shoes do not get as wet as the water raised by the wheels, they suffer less. Even so, I know a few who think that water is acidic and like the Gremlins, they do not do well to get wet.

One of the worst activities to choose on a rainy day to train are all those related to skiing. Both cross-country skiing and mountain skiing are terrible in conditions of rain. Not only is the snow slower, but everything is heavier and you feel colder than if it were snowing 10 degrees below what you are when it rains. For this reason, here it is necessary to quickly climb the height to reach the snow line or do another activity.

In any case, whatever your activity, the rain (unless you do canoeing, rowing, swimrun or any other activity medium aquatic) is a bit sticky to go out to train. Almost no one likes to get wet or cold. The objective of this blog post was therefore not to encourage the staff to go out to train but to explain that IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to go out to train once in the rain and in somewhat bad conditions. Otherwise, if you get caught in a competition, what are you going to do? What equipment are you going to take? are you going to be warm enough? what do you need to cover yourself more? How long will that goretex last in the rain?

You will be able to answer all these questions and more without hesitation in a training situation and later, in the race, they will enable you to make good decisions to compete in the race in the best personal conditions despite the bad weather conditions . Because did you know that you could get dehydrated if you wear warm clothing incorrectly? What do you lose performance if you are cold?

So, I recommend that despite the rain you go out to train, explore the limits of your equipment and assess whether you need more or less clothing in your next competition. At the end of the day, training is about that, knowing that you are well prepared in any circumstance and not leaving anything (or at least the least) to improvisation.