Stay motivated!
motivator. an Ironman isn’t everyone’s cup of
tea, but setting a modest goal this winter might
just be the difference between a healthy and
not-so-healthy emergence into spring.
Train for summer in the depths of winter
ottawa triathlon Coach rick Hellard says that
if people don’t want to set a race as their goal,
they can do other things. He suggests finding a
BY jOANNE STEVENTON
sport that requires a good fitness level and pursue
it this winter, or just make a consistent effort to
CONtRARy tO sOME of the amusing rumours that originate south
shovel the driveway every time it snows.
of the border, the typical Canadian doesn’t spend their winter
“make the effort to get out the door for the
dwelling in igloos and rubbing elbows with polar bears. however,
workout, even on the not-so-nice days,” he says.
whether we like to admit it or not, life at the 43rd parallel is pretty
“as long as the conditions are not dangerous,
they are rarely as bad as expected.”
darn hardcore in the winter months.
even the best meteorologists have a hard
Between last november and march, ottawa matter what mother nature had in store! time predicting the weather for the coming
experienced 119 days of subzero temperatures, when the white stuff became too much of an week, never mind the coming four months. It’s
and was buried under 447cm of snow. That’s obstacle for his running shoes, he simply traded best to look at it this way: like death and taxes, a
enough to make some of the most seasoned them in to pursue his original passion of cross- long cold winter is a certainty in this
athletes want to trade in their running shoes and country skiing. city. Set your goals early, and get
energy bars for a pair of moccasin slippers and a “The running was hard because of the snow, ready for some serious or just
four-month supply of potato chips. but the skiing was great.” plain old-fashioned fun by
although 2007-08 was nearly a record- as part of his training for the Ironman, Cullen training this winter.
breaking year in terms of snowfall, it didn’t participated in the Canadian Ski marathon
seem to deter the runners from throwing on the in February, which is a two-day race covering
spandex for their evening runs, or determined 160 km of track. He admits he had to bail at
cyclists from making the most of the dry sunny the 120 km mark, but only because of his poor
days on Colonel by Drive. choice of wax.
early goal-setting theory suggests that having He went on to complete the national Capital
a specific, challenging, yet attainable goal leads marathon, rideau lakes Cycling Tour
to better overall performance. It could even be (a two-day bike trip to Kingston and back),
the secret ingredient to staying motivated during a couple of olympic-distance triathlons,
the dreariest time of the year. and a few meech lake swims thrown in
Somewhere in the midst of last year’s for good measure. all of this was a
blizzards, chugging along faithfully to his training primer for his Ironman, which
regime was ottawa City Councillor alex Cullen. he successfully completed in
He says that without his goal of completing the ottawa on august 30 in a
Ironman in 2008 he absolutely would not have respectable time of 14 hours
trained during the winter. 13 minutes.
“last winter was definitely a challenge. on at age 57, Cullen sets
some of those runs, you weren’t just battling an intense example of
cold and snow, you were also running the risk how goal setting
of injury,” Cullen says. “But the winter training can act as a great
portion clearly was needed.”
He was inspired to start training for an
Ironman after he completed his first half-
Events I’m training for this winter
Ironman in 2007.
“To my surprise I enjoyed the experience,”
□ Winterlude Triathlon
he says. “That’s when the idea came into my
January 31, 2009
head. If I can do a half-iron in seven hours
maybe I can do a full-iron next fall.”
□ The Winterman Marathon
In addition to his busy
February 2009
schedule as a municipal
□ Canadian Ski Marathon
politician, Cullen had to find time for
February 7-9 2009
his weekly workouts of running, spinning classes
and early morning swims with the masters club
□ Cumberland Duathlon
at Carleton university. all of this training was
May 2, 2009
crucial for him just to complete his Ironman – no □ National Capital Race Weekend
Y

X
C
-
Z
ONE

B May 23-24, 2009
T
O
P
HO
www.OttawaOutdoors.ca OTTAWA >> WINTER 2008/2009 21
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