What To Do When Weather Interferes With Your Training

It’s been raining a lot here in Singapore lately. And while rain isn’t too much of an issue, the lightning that often accompanies it is.

Just this morning, I had to cancel a 1:1 coaching session because the lightning made it too dangerous to swim.

This got me thinking about how weather impacts training. 

Most endurance athletes are type A. They want to train, and they get incredibly annoyed when something gets in the way of that plan. I’ve had several emails from frustrated athlete’s asking if they should make up a session or what else they can do when it rains.

First off. It can rain on race too, so if you avoid training in the rain because you don’t want to get wet and uncomfortable, or you don’t want to dry your shoes or clean your bike afterwards, you’re just soft.

If you never become familiar and comfortable in that environment, you will never be prepared for when you have to race in those conditions. That’s a problem.

If the rain is torrential or there’s lightning, and your safety is at risk, you will need to adjust your plans.

You can’t control the weather, so there is little point worrying about it. As an athlete, you must always focus on the things within your control. 

Ideally, that means changing your approach and still doing some form of training. Consistency is the ultimate performance enhancer, so even if you can’t do exactly what you want, doing something is almost always better than nothing. 

In that regard, let’s look at what you can do in the event of poor weather.