Quality underwear

There aren´t too many triathletes in Sweden. Not to many triathlons either. In fact, the season when one might consider triathlon as part of the outdoor agenda is a sparse three months. That´s in the south of Sweden though, in the north the summer only last about two days. Three on a good year, if you sleep in you might miss it.

However short it may be, this time of year is really great in Sweden. The sun shines day and night and everything is lush and green. Life in general is a cakewalk of BBQ´s, soft icecream, midsummer feast with pickled herring and what not. And the training? Training is awesome! Especially for triathletes! You can train all day…and night!

Unfortunately, it´s the other nine months that present a problem. I wish I could say that the dark winter is the perfect time of year to hibernate, watch old movies, eat chocolate and tell tall tales about great workouts of times past. Well, it is…however I´ve come to suspect that other triathletes actually do train even during winter (can this really be true?) Obviously, being a committed triathlete in the north means dragging your butt out even in the dark parts of the year come ice, snow or cold. Or all three. Together.

Don´t get me wrong now, I love training in Sweden. My home in Borås presents me with a beautiful and clean natural environment to train in and challenging partners in all three disciplines. What more could one ask for? Yeah right, 20 centimeters less snow and a really great set of underwear!

As long as we´re on the topic of clothing there are some issues to be considering while training in a cold or moist climate. Do invest in some proper clothes fitting the purpose. And here´s the low-down of how and when :

-Dress in layers. The first layer closest to your body should be in a material that stays dry even when training hard i.e transporting sweat away from your body. The second layer should be slightly thicker and basically serving the same purpose as layer one whereas the third layer should be continuing to transport away your inner moist while being resistent to wind and rain.

-Don´t wear clothing made of cotton. Cotton gets wet and heavy and cold and will make you the same. Do wear synthetic material taylor-made for the job. Crafts clothing is made of polyester, lycra, CoolMax or a combination of the three.

-Protect your head and hands at all costs. You lose heat through the head and want it covered by a good hat.

-Make sure you have the right functionality of the clothing at hand. Craft have specific garments for all kind of outdoor activity and with seams in the right places and compression around the proper areas.

-Wear shoecovers on the bike. It keeps the feet from getting too wet and cold.

-Wear a reflective vest if your clothes aren´t already equipped with it so cars, trucks and bears can spot you in the dark.

-Don´t forget your fluidbelt. Just because it´s cold doesn´t mean you don´t sweat.

Finally, there´s a mental advantage to training in a harsh climate. I do enjoy a beautiful summer day much more when they aren´t in abundance. Training in the dark, in the cold and in the snow is great for the head (as long as you don´t slip and hit it, that is). It´s what we in Sweden call “foreheadbone-training”. It´s the kind of training when conditions are bad-going-on-worse and your spirit and mind is put to the test. How much do you want it? Your feet are numb, there´s ice hanging from your helmet and your waterbottles are frozen but hey, bring it on! Make it through a solid winter of training and your forehead will be thicker than ever and you´ll be ready for whatever may come your way during the season. Only thing is, I wonder if my helmet will fit me this year…?