Winter has arrived in all its glory and last Friday, I’m pretty sure I heard the collective wail of every cyclist in Ireland.

“Why?”, you may ask.

Well, in the words of those cuddly little Meerkats;  “Simples”.

The change in weather means that most racing cyclists will have to start using their indoor trainers. For those not familiar with the equipment, its a treadmill for the bike.

So basically, you are pedaling for 1 / 2 / 3hours+ without going anywhere :-)

For some reason,  I don’t have the same aversion to these contraptions as others, who will do almost anything to get away from using them.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t exactly love the turbo trainer but I also don’t mind doing my workouts on it and sometimes even look forward to it.

This got me to thinking (for a change, yes) and wondering why it’s such a source of pain to some people, or even better, how can you motivate yourself to using it with less hate.

I firmly believe that if you don’t like something, you won’t give your best. You’ll do just enough to finish the task.

So, how do you start to like something ?

Attach a goal to it.

If you can relate the indoor trainer to something more positive, like a personal goal, I’m convinced that the workout will “go faster”.  You will also most definitely be able to push yourself that little bit more if you have a concrete goal in your head and to try and make the most of the time spent on the IDT.

Practice your pedal stroke.
Practice your aero position.
Try and find your optimal cadence.
Learn to live with the constant pain of hard efforts, so you can recognize this during races and KNOW that you can handle it.

All of these things can help to pass the time and if all else fails, you will be left with the positive effect of having completed a workout, rather than put it off for another day.