Winter Base Building: Endurance + Strength It’s What I’m Actually Doing Right Now

January and February training isn’t glamorous. There are no races on the calendar, no flashy workouts to post, and honestly—some days it’s just cold, dark, wet, and your bed is calling louder than the urge to get your workout in. But year after year, this is the phase that makes the biggest difference in how strong, fast, and durable I feel later on.

Winter base training is where I slow things down on purpose. Not because I’m “taking it easy,” but because I know this work matters.

Why Base Training Matters, Even When It Feels Boring

Base training is about building the engine and the structure that holds it together. For me, that means prioritizing aerobic work, lifting consistently (and lifting heavy), and keeping intensity in check—even when my brain wants to go harder.

When I’ve skipped or rushed this phase in the past, I’ve paid for it later with nagging injuries, burnout, or fitness that peaked too early. When I fully commit to base work, everything else feels easier. My aerobic pace improves, my strength feels more stable for longer, and I can handle higher training loads when it actually counts.

Right now, my weeks are simple: a few steady endurance sessions, 3–4 strength days, and at least one day where I truly back off. Simple doesn’t mean easy—it means intentional.

Strength Training: Less Ego, More Payoff

Winter is my favorite time to lift because I’m not trying to “maintain” strength around hard workouts—I’m actually building.

When I’m really pushing the scale, I stick to a few key lifts: squats, deadlifts, clean & jerks, snatches, thrusters, pull-ups, bench press, and Turkish get-ups. These are my big-ticket items. I always complement them with accessory movements where I’m not lifting nearly as heavy—but I’m still working hard. These movements aren’t fancy, but they’re functional and fierce—and I feel fierce after doing them.

What’s changed over the years is how I load them.

Instead of defaulting to 3 sets of 10 or 2 sets of 15, I now spend most of my time lifting heavy and sub-max. I live in that 6–8 rep range with clean reps and good control, and then about once every four weeks I’ll go for a true max lifting day. I want to finish sessions feeling strong—not wrecked.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that strength training works best when it supports endurance, not when it steals from it.

The biggest mistake I see (and have made myself) is doing too much “strength endurance” lifting and not enough true heavy lifting early in the season. Winter is the time to build a solid strength base that will carry you through the year—and to work on your limiters so you don’t end up on the injured reserve all season.

Aerobic Endurance: Yes, Even Indoors

If you train through winter, you’ve probably had the “Do I really need to do this easy session?” debate with yourself. I still have it.

Most of my endurance work right now lives in Zone 2—easy enough that I can breathe through my nose or hold a conversation. And yes, a lot of it happens indoors. Bikes, treadmills, walking, and stair climbing all count.

Every time I commit to this work, the same thing happens: my pace improves without forcing it, my recovery gets better, and harder sessions later don’t feel nearly as overwhelming. It’s not exciting in the moment—but it shows up later in a big way.

Mobility: The Unsexy Glue That Holds It Together

I’ll be honest—I don’t do long mobility sessions. What does work for me is consistency.

I spend 5–10 minutes every day working on something. Usually, it happens right when I’m about to fall into a social media scroll loop. Instead, I drop the phone and focus on one of my limiters. I do it with intention and actually pay attention to how it feels.

This is not fun—I’m not going to lie. It’s hard work, sometimes just as mentally challenging as a max lifting day. But when I stay consistent, the gains stack up fast.

I prioritize hips, shoulders, upper and lower back, and ankles. When those areas feel good, everything else feels better. On the days I skip this, I notice it immediately in my lifting and running mechanics.

Mobility isn’t extra—it’s what allows me to train consistently without feeling beat up.

What a Real Winter Training Week Looks Like

Right now, my week isn’t perfect—and that’s kind of the point.

I’m hitting 3–4 strength sessions, 3–4 endurance sessions, and sprinkling in technique work during each workout. Some weeks are better than others. The win is consistency, not perfection.

Are You Training Too Hard Right Now?

If you’re constantly tired, irritable, or feel like every session is a grind, that’s a sign—not a badge of honor.

I’ve learned that when winter training starts to feel heavy, the answer usually isn’t more effort—it’s less intensity. Backing off now doesn’t make you weaker; it sets you up to train harder later.

And sometimes, it’s not about backing off—it’s about adding variety. Here in California, winters aren’t always cold or wet, so I’ll mix in mountain or gravel bike rides when the thought of another 3–4 hour road ride makes me want to sleep in instead of jumping out of bed excited.

Slow, enjoyable work builds strong athletes. I remind myself of that often.

Winter Nutrition: Don’t Underfuel the Quiet Season

One thing I have to consciously manage in winter is fueling. When it’s cold and I’m training indoors, hunger cues aren’t always obvious—but recovery still matters.

I focus on consistent meals, plenty of protein to support strength work, and staying hydrated even when I don’t feel thirsty. When I do this well, my energy, recovery, and mood are noticeably better.

Measuring Progress Without Chasing Numbers

During base season, I don’t obsess over the scale or PRs. I pay attention to how training feels.

Is my heart rate lower at the same pace? Am I lifting with better control? Am I recovering faster between sessions? Those are the wins that matter right now.

Winter training isn’t about proving anything. It’s about showing up, stacking small wins, and trusting that the work you’re doing—quietly and consistently—will pay off when it matters most.

And from experience: it always does.

Back-to-Back Race Planning: Triathlons/Events

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Whether you’re looking to use a race as a means of focus to get fit and healthy, or the races you really want to do just happen to be a few weeks up to a month apart, training for this will require some special attention. It can be done, but you need to set yourself up with a plan well ahead of time to make sure to give yourself enough time to peak, and also rest and recover from the training necessary to make this possible.

Quite a few years ago, my first year of racing triathlons actually, I got signed up for a Full Iron Distance (140.6 miles) Triathlon, but had never even participated in a triathlon before. I knew it was going to be a lot to get ready for a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a full marathon. So I decided to sign up for all the triathlon distances in that year (Sprint, Olympic, 70.3 and 140.6) in order to get ready for the big one. I’d been coaching athletes mostly in cycling events, road racing, criterium, and time trial, and I had a new athlete who was doing triathlons. She's the reason I signed up for the race! Luckily I had 7 months to prepare for it. With the triathlon season starting in April and my big race in July, there was the potential for multiple races happening within a short period of each other.

I look back now and can reflect, and objectively recognize and understand learning points that I gained from that experience. The amount of work I put in that year was incredible, and NOT what I would be able to do now as a masters athlete. My recovery between hard bouts was poor, and my nutrition questionable. It made me start thinking, “How do endurance athletes race events successfully back to back?” Well I learned a lot, and have been using that experience to help my athletes plan for seasons where you may have several races clumped up close to one another.

Plan Well Ahead of Time

Before you even start training for your events, you must plan out your season to build up for a big event or events. Identify which event(s) are most important to you, and which are more of just the experience event. This may be Nationals, an Ironman sanctioned event, a world championship or the local event you want to win or PR in.

Once you’ve decided, then you can address how you want to treat all your events throughout the season. Do I want to be competitive in that distance? Do I want to finish in a certain time? Are there qualification requirements to get into the race(s)? Has your nutrition and hydration been a pain point for you? Etc.

To help you organize your races/events there is this wonderful labeling system for this sort of thing. They are labeled as “A,” “B” or “C” events based on how important they are to you. You can have more than one “A” race in a year, but you have to really be sure there is enough time between them to prepare for each one adequately. More importantly, after one of these “A” races, you’ll need to recover, rebuild and then re-peak.

Lastly you need to make sure that mentally and emotionally you have committed to these race labels, not just on paper. I’ve seen athletes say that an event is only a “C,” but then their nemesis shows up at the event and they go all out, throwing their hard work and recovery plans out the door. It’s best to keep to your plan as best you can for the best possible outcome.

Manage your Load

I use the Annual Training Plan (ATP) on Training Peaks to help build a season, and it’s the perfect management system. The ATP will allow you to plan out when your build, transition, peak and recovery times will be. It will also allow you to track your amount of weekly stress and compare it to how you feel you are recovering. With that information it will allow you to figure out how much training is needed to peak for your “A” race, and any other races that may be close to it, and also how much recovery you will need to make the peak the strongest possible.

When building your ATP it is helpful if you have some prior training. This allows you to see how much training you were capable of and how long it took you to recover from it. Even if you don’t have prior info, you can still plan out your training, you will just need to be patient as it may take some time to figure out your capabilities.

Many of my long course athletes like doing an ultramarathon or marathon event during the winter or early season to help boost their running fitness. As a coach I can argue both ways if it is beneficial or not, but if it is not your main race, why shy away from doing a long bike ride the day before to simulate racing? Equally, remember that each triathlon distance or endurance event brings with it different physiological stresses that have to be trained for. What you have to be good at for long distance triathlon racing is very different from the sprint or standard distance races.

Recover Right

When you race, you are pushing your body to the limit. Things like carbohydrate storages will be low and cortisol will be higher than they would normally be. If you don’t recover properly, you could end up ill, injured, fatigued or lose interest all together. Racing is exhausting both physically and mentally, and a recovery phase can bring you back to form and feeling stronger than before.This is how we allow our bodies to adapt to the training we just put it through. Think of it this way, Build, Peak, Race, Recover, Build from a higher level of fitness, Peak higher, Race better, Recover, Repeat.

The truth is, no matter how much pre-planning you have made, you can never fully estimate how you will fare after the event, especially if the event in question is long distance. When you are racing back-to-back events, don’t have unrealistic expectations of “smashing” each race. Treat the race with the priority it deserves based on your goals. Then the recovery process becomes much easier. Most importantly, listen to your body, not your ego. Your body may need more recovery than the plan gives, you’ll need to let your coach know and adapt the program as necessary.

Equally, if you have decided to train straight through one race to your next event, do exactly that, put in the big overload sessions as planned. Don’t shy away from them because you are tired. You had planned to be! Stick to your annual plan.

Often doing some familiar workout loops can help you compare yourself using time, speed, power or RPE. Your local loop lets you know how well you are feeling and performing so you can gauge your fatigue and overall performance level better.

Pay Attention to Signs of Over-Fatigue or Injury

I can’t say this enough, listen to your body. If you feel a niggle, address it, talk to your coach, don’t just follow the plan blindly. All aches and pains are information, and this information is useful. If you keep on struggling to hit targets, you may be going too hard too soon, or it may be time for a recovery week. Maybe you are more tired than you anticipated being at this point in the year, maybe your nutrition is in need of a check in. Make sure you bring this up with your coach, don’t just keep following the plan without saying something.

When you're training for these goals, you’re putting stress on your body, and it needs to be given time to recover. This will allow you to look at what you were doing, see if it was enough or not enough, and you can learn something new about yourself in the process.

Going back to my first year of racing and all the events I did within a 2 month span - I recall even now the comment of a teammate that I obviously heard but for whatever reason chose to ignore - probably because I was 35 and invincible - ,“Are you eating enough and getting enough recovery?”

Summary

At the end of the day, if you have plenty of time between events, you will want to reset and rebuild into the second event. However, if you only have a few weeks between your big events, you’ll most likely need to favor one over the other, and that would be something you went over with your coach in your annual training planning meeting.

The period in between two back-to-back races can literally make or break your season, so you’ll have to pay attention to both your training data and your body's overall energy or fatigue then make your decision based on both of them. This is where a coach can really help you through giving an objective perspective to help you keep on track for your “A” race(s).

USA Triathlon Coaching Certification

WOW, two in one week! I'm actually just making up for missing the last two months. As many of you know I took a few seminars in January. One of which was the FRC seminar that I just wrote about, but if you missed it you can read about it here. The other course I took was the USA Triathlon Level 1 Coaching Certification.

Okay okay I know many of you might not be into triathlons. That's okay. I'm not either. I prefer Duathlons (Run-Bike-Run). Unless it doesn't involve a swim with sharks, murky cold waters or rippling currents. Right that is possible just not that often here in California. I digress.

How did I get into triathlons you're probably wondering. It all started in 2011. My dad passed away suddenly. I then stopped racing bicycles and I was starting to lose my love of endurance sports. At that time I was coaching cycling both individuals and at Santa Clara University. I had a client who wanted to do a triathlon, and she asked me if I would do it with her. I thought this sounded like a great way for me to get back into something more regular, so I agreed. Little did I know she signed me up for an Ironman distance event. WHAT???? I had never even done a triathlon let alone have to do one that will require me to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and then run a full marathon, all in one day. Oh right and I also didn't know how to swim at that time.

To not let me client down I learned how to swim (actually taught myself), I started riding LONG distances, and got back into running. Before I got to doing the Ironman event, I thought it would be fun to participate in one of each of the other distances that are offered in triathlons. That year, 2012, I participated in my first triathlon or each distance, and even won one of them.  The big event was in July and my Aunt from New York came out to support me. My client started the event but wasn't able to finish. I was able to not only finish the race but do it standing up but also in day light. Through all the training and racing I did that year, I met lots of amazing people. I met people who inspired me by their athleticism, dedication, and some who were 80+ years old and still competing.

Since that time I have loved being part of the triathlon/duathlon community for all the amazing people I have met, and for all the fun places it has allowed me to go. Through my adventures I have awakened my travel bug and now been to a few new places here in the US, and I even competed in the World Championships in Odense, Denmark in 2018 representing Team USA.

What I love on a more personal side is the time I get to spend trying to get faster as and "older" athlete. I love challenging myself to see how much I can still improve and compete against the younger crowd. In getting myself to those levels I really enjoy the time to myself when I am out there doing my long rides and runs. It becomes MY time. My time to be alone, escape from my pets, and also disconnect from all electronic devices and reconnect with myself. Through this time of reconnecting I have not only become more healthy due to my time spent training, but also grown in so many more ways. 

Because of my immense love of triathlon and the world of multisport, I really wanted to do something to give back to the community that helped me become who I am today. Coaching is something I have enjoyed in the past and look forward to enjoying it once again. 

In addition to now being a certified USA Triathlon coach, I can now not only prepare you for your next endurance event, but I can also help you do it and stay injury free with the added new mobility knowledge through my recent FRC training.

So to get the ball rolling I am offering a special 4 month training program FREE. This program will be specific to whatever sporting event you want to train for. It includes the specific training toward your sport with programs delivered through Training Peaks, and is valued at $600-800.

This program is for anyone from the serious multi-sport racer to the person who just wants to finish their first 5k or marathon without getting injured. To enter the drawing, all I need is a summary of the event you want to train for, and why you should be picked to receive the free program. Please keep it to 1000 words or less. 

If this sounds like something you or a friend might be interested in please send me your application summary no later than March 20th to velofit@gmail.com. Thank you for reading, and don't forget to send me your summary. 

Book Review: The Feedzone Cookbook (Fast and Flavorful Food for Athletes)

Book Review: The Feedzone Cookbook (Fast and Flavorful Food for Athletes) by Dr. Allen Lim and Biju Thomas

Who would know how to better feed hungry athletes than the chef and scientist who nourished the pro cyclists during the Tour de France?  Dr. Allen Lim and chef Biju Thomas share 160 of their energy-packed, wholesome recipes with elite and non-elite athletes alike in this amazing cookbook.

With recipes targeted specifically with food timing in mind: pre-workout, workout, and post-workout, this book covers it all using common ingredients such as rice, eggs, sugar and salt.  There are also many vegan and gluten-free recipe options.

Many of these recipes are designed to fuel hard-working athletes with high-calorie demands, and hence are unapologetically low-fat or low-calorie.  Lim and Thomas also encourage readers to use their recipes only as a foundation and to freely experiment with different ingredients to find out what works best for the individual athlete.

My favorite section of this book was the “portables,” which were originally designed to give riders an alternative to pre-packaged bars and food. Lim and Thomas discovered that after consuming only sweet, dense energy bars, cyclists would develop a bad stomach, or as they refer to it as, “gut rot.” This led to the birth of the infamous “Allen’s rice cakes” which are made from a mixture of calrose white rice (easily digested carbs), scrambled eggs, (protein), bacon (provides fat and a savory flavor), brown sugar and soy sauce.

Personally, I’ve been using Accelerade gels and ClifBar shot blocks for years to fuel me on the bike and run, so my tastebuds were yearning for something different- something sweet and savory- like Allen’s rice cakes.

I’m not a huge fan of bacon, so I opted to test out the Levi Leipheimer-approved Chicken Apple Sausage rice cakes. The ingredients were simple- calrose rice, chicken apple sausage, eggs, brown sugar and low-sodium soy sauce.

I scrambled the eggs and cooked the chicken apple sausage together with the seasonings.

Afterwards, you mix everything together with the rice and press firmly into a rectangular pan.  Let it sit for 15 minutes and then cut into small rectangular squares.

Lim and Thomas recommend wrapping them in parchment-lined aluminum foil, or Martha Wrap.  I settled for aluminum foil, which was rather difficult to unwrap with one hand while riding.  In the future, I may use snack-size Ziploc bags for ease of opening.

These fit nicely into the back pockets of jerseys, and are ready-to-eat.  For those inquiring about the food safety component, the authors write that the rice cakes are prepared normally at 7am, wrapped and left unrefrigerated in the van, and the cyclists eat them anywhere from 12pm-5pm without having food safety issues.  Also, you can store extras in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

These rice cakes were a nice change from the sugary gels and gummies, and my tastebuds and stomach were happy during my long bike ride.  I actually looked forward to eating “real food” to fuel my muscles while riding and did not have any G.I. issues.

As athletes, we are constantly bombarded with new diet trends, food products and supplements claiming to make us faster and stronger.  I admire Dr. Lim and Thomas’ utilization of real foods that can easily be purchased at a local store or on the road when traveling for a race.  Their goal in their own words- “is to optimize and thrive- to use real food as a real weapon.”  In my own words?  I would definitely want these two at my Feed Zone during a race and handing off rice cakes to me, so having this cookbook in my kitchen already makes me feel like a pro.

-Written by Julianne Kanzaki, MPH, RD

B.L.I.N.D. Date Bars, by Julianne Kanzaki

“There’s nothing worse than almost marrying someone, breaking if off, and having to start over with a blind date.  It’s like failing your senior year of high school and having to go back to kindergarten.”
 -Cindy Chupack

Nutritious B.L.I.N.D. Date Bars for your Endurance Training and Racing

~By Julianne Kanzaki

Ahh, the month of February.  Heart-shaped chocolates and truffles.  Romantic dinners with wine and red roses.

However, for those individuals whose significant ‘others’ take the shape of a bike, a running trail or a pool, perhaps now is a good time to start thinking about ‘dating.’

At the peak of Ironman training when I was juggling double-workout days and working full-time, it was hard to properly fuel my workouts given my time constraints.  As a result, I would go into a training session either starving and burn out too soon, or I’d eat a substantial snack that would in turn, need substantial time to digest.  By that time, the sun had set, and so had my motivation.

Enter, the blind date.   A colleague of mine noticed my dilemma and kindly shared her creation- a mixture of natural energy consisting of dates, lime juice and nuts.  Oh, the joys of simple nutrition!  I appropriately nicknamed them B.L.I.N.D dates (Blended Lime juice In Nutty Deliciousness). 

Just as real-life blind dates can sometimes be a pleasant surprise, these little creations were surprisingly delicious, and served their purpose well.  Not only were they easily digestible, but the energy from the dates was quick-burning, and the monounsaturated fats and protein from the nuts kept my stomach satisfied.  They conveniently fit into a gym bag or into the back of a jersey pocket for energy on the go.  Try it for yourself!

B.L.I.N.D. Dates

Original recipe developed by Praveena Kumar, MS, RD

-2 c. nuts (almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, pistachios)
-2 c. pitted dates
-1/2 c. dried sour cherries
-2 Tbs. flaxseed
-juice from 1-2 limes

Directions: Using a food processor, combine the above ingredients.  Add enough lime juice to bind the ingredients enough where they can be easily rolled into balls. Enjoy!

Feel free to get creative with this basic recipe…try adding a scoop of protein powder, other dried fruit, shredded coconut, or even morsels of carob or chocolate for a sweeter variety.

Love is complicated enough.  Keep your nutrition simple.  Happy “dating!”

-Written by Julianne Kanzaki, MPH, RD.  Nutrition questions or comments? Feel free to contact her at fusion.nutrition@gmail.com