Remaining focused on Winter, and being ski fit, while living and working on the beach means the next 8 months are going to be challenging. I’ve never been a fan of other people’s publicizing of training regimens, unless you are a personal trainer and especially not my own. For me training is an intrinsic, personal and relatively private activity. In this instance though, I am doing it to hold myself to account. I have often said what my off-season goals are and the response has been, ‘Yeah sure, that’s what you said last time. I’ll believe it when I see it…’ Well, as Bullwinkle said, ‘This time for sure!’

The ultimate goals I have is to pass the NZSIA Trainers Cert exam and the ski element of the NZSIA Telemark Level 3. These are the best part of a year away.

How do I break these overarching end goals in to smaller, more manageable parts that are relevant for both, Summer here and now, and Winter in the future? For both disciplines, maintaining technically accurate mechanics at speed and in variable terrain requires exceptional lower body strength, core stability, and plyometric control. They also require cardiovascular stamina and aerobic fitness at altitude.

There are various outdoor pursuits which can help with Winter that can be done in the Northern Illawarra area. Trail and beach running, swimming in the ocean pools, cycling on the bike paths and strength training at the local gym.

Trail Running in the area has a few facets. First, there is a local, non-competitive, timed 5 km run every Saturday morning. This run is relatively flat along the bike path next to the ocean and will serve to gauge my progress generally. Then there is Beach running, while flat will add some variety with an increased ‘collision time’ (time during which the foot sinks in to the sand, mimicing snow) and will give a thorough work out of the legs. There are also various trails up and along the Illawarra Escarpment for terrain diversity. I aim to run a Half-Marathon in May 2018 in 1 hr 15 mins.

Along the coast there are 8 Ocean Rock Pools and 2 Olympic swimming pools using ocean water. My swimming has never been the best, however, there are a couple of goals I would like to achieve here. First, is to swim 10 laps in the Olympic pools, in 10 minutes. For me, this is quite ambitious, but not unachievable. The second, is to swim 10 laps in all 10 pools. I have attempted this before and got as far as 2 pools and that is as far as it has got.

I have timed the ride between home and work as a sprint and cycled the bike paths with the family. As far as cycling goes this will be used as a form of cross-training and I will time the commute 3 times a week.

Strength conditioning and core stability are best trained in the gym, while plyometrics will be trained at the local sports fields. Even though skiing is very leg-centric, it is important to train the whole body. My upper body is particularly weak and this needs to be rectified. I can barely do 1 chin-up so to aim for 10 by May, as a start, is realistic. As for other base line, starting points, I need an initial assessment before setting further targets.

So there it is, a Summer of training and setting some ambitious yet achievable goals to get involved with over summer and autumn. I prefer to train outside and in a variety of sports. The area we spend summer is lends itself to training and it would be prudent of me to take the opportunity while we are here. As well as spending time with those I need to spend time with!