Introducing… the pain corner!

With the year now well underway I decided that, in spite of the fact that I’m currently almost solely focused on running and weight training, it was time to set the bike up ready for a few spins here and there. And, as the Amsterdam winter weather is not always a cyclist’s best friend, that meant getting the indoor trainer ready.

While I would have obviously loved a proper full-on pain cave in the style of Andy Potts or the Lovatos, unfortunately Amsterdam real estate rental prices (and the fact that the missus and I quite fancied an apartment that looked like a home rather than a bike shop) meant that such exercise awesomeness wasn’t possible.

However, I’m pretty pleased with my pain corner.

The home trainer is set up (this time with a proper home trainer wheel and tyre – I learned my lesson after destroying a normal tyre on the trainer in Dubai!). 

I have a nice (currently snow-filled) view which almost helps me to forget that I’m sweating away like an idiot in an upstairs bedroom, as well as space for the iPad, Kindle and MP3 player (attached to my super-cool, not-yet-released-officially Philips sports headphones) to help while away some of the longer, steadier rides. 

As the body temperature heats up, I can simply open the window or, if that’s not enough, there’s a good fan to help circulate that cold air.

The trainer is going to feature much more predominantly in my programme this year. This is really for two reasons: firstly, it is far less time-consuming than taking the bike out which, in turn, means that triathlon training can be fit more easily around other aspects of my life; secondly, as I’m concentrating on 70.3s and less, then many of my bike workouts will be a maximum hour in length, working on increasing speed and power, rather than the long endurance rides needed for Ironman.

Pro triathlete Andy Potts' pain cave!

While knocking out three hours or more on the home trainer sounds about as much fun as having my head kicked-in (longer rides will still be done on the roads), I really enjoy using the trainer for shorter sessions with different effort levels and incorporating plenty of short, sharp intervals to keep it painful but interesting.

This is the 'pain garage' of married pros Amanda and Michael Lovato.

I’m somewhat flying by the seat of my pants (love that expression!) this year, creating my own programme, schedule and periodising based on what has worked in the past and what I think will work for me. As with the rest, this short, hard turbo trainer focus may end up not working out and, next year, I’ll go back to a more traditional programme, but I really feel that you have to keep changing things up as a triathlete – for motivation and sanity’s sake, as much as for seeing improvements.

Of course, there are some who like to follow the same schedule year-in year-out because they know it works for them, but I tend to have a touch of ADHD about me in all that I do, so – like a swimming, biking, running Madonna but without the flappy skin on the elbows, or the conical boobs, or the embarrassing granny dancing – it’s all about reinvention, evolution and moving forward for me. It’ll work or it won’t, but I enjoy the experimenting.     

If you fancy building your own full-on pain cave (or you're just looking for a bit of inspiration for a little pain corner like mine), check out these videos: