The holiday season is a sneaky one.
It’s dark, it’s cold, the calendar fills up faster than your sink does, and if you’re a parent, there’s the beautiful, chaotic swirl of holiday traditions, sugar highs, sugar crashes, and no one knowing what day it is. But winter can also be the season that quietly rebuilds you. It can replenish you, ground you, and set you up for the adventures waiting on the other side of the holidays.

If you’re someone who loves endurance sports (like me)—running, biking, paddling, skiing—this time of year isn’t about crushing mileage or chasing PRs. It’s about creating a foundation that gets you through the holidays feeling strong, steady, and still connected to your body… not overwhelmed by everything else happening around you.

And here’s the part I didn’t expect after becoming a mom: my fitness actually improved, even though my training time shrank. Before kids, when I had endless hours, I’d spend long training days drifting through miles without real intention. Fun, yes, very. Productive? Not always. Once motherhood arrived, I had to strip it all down to what actually worked. I no longer had time to overtrain and honestly, that was a gift.

Endurance athletes are notorious for pushing too hard when life speeds up, and the holidays are basically an all-you-can-eat buffet of stress, joy, logistics, and fatigue. This is not the season to white-knuckle your way through training. It’s the season to support your body, simplify your routines, and stay consistent in a way that feels good.

So below, I’m sharing my six simple winter training strategies to help get us through the holidays feeling strong, grounded, and nowhere near burnout.

1. Think “Consistency Over Intensity”

Forget monster workouts. Winter is the time for:

• Easy miles
• Low aerobic training
• Strength training
• Play and mental rest

If you only have 30-45 minutes, it counts.
If it’s an easy jog around the neighborhood with your kids on scooters, it counts.
If it’s a strength session in your living room while dinner cooks, it counts.

Winter base isn’t sexy. It’s steady.

2. Use the Three-Workout Rule

If life gets wild (because… kids +holidays OR work holiday functions), aim for just four key sessions a week:

• One long aerobic session (Zone 2)
• One strength workout
• One interval/ high intensity workout (bits of zone 4-5)
• One skills or “fun” day (trail play, skiing, hiking, family adventure)

Everything else is optional bonus credit.

This system keeps forward momentum without the guilt and I find these four workouts are super easy to stick to. And then if you are able to do anything extra, it gives you an added boost of success and internal high fives.

3. Keep Intensity Minimal

Intensity is an energetic tax.
In winter, that tax should stay LOW.

Sprinkle in short pickups if you crave speed and if it will help you get out some much needed stored energy, but don’t build your winter around intervals. Save the spicy stuff for after the holidays.

4. Tend to the Pillars Moms/Parents Usually Ignore

Winter is when recovery actually matters:

• Sleep (as much as your life allows)
• Nutrition (fuel the cold, don’t under-eat)
• Hydration (yes, even when you’re freezing)
• Mobility

This is how you stay strong for months. My Go To's for these are 4 Hour Fuel for my one longer base workout, Gnarly Protein + Collagen for post workouts and Movement Vault for my daily mobility routine.

5. Let Motherhood Lead the Training, Not Derail It

Kids want to sled? Great—carry the sled back up for your “hills.”
They want to build a snow fort? Cool—that’s your functional strength.
They want a cozy morning? Amazing read and craft with them and run later, or count it as recovery.

Winter base training thrives when your life and your training aren’t fighting each other.

6. Celebrate the Slow Burn

You won’t see huge fitness spikes in the holiday season.
But if you do it right, you’ll feel grounded, you'll feel prepared and when the first of the year hits
—you’ll take off like a rocket.

Base season for Mama's is about playing the long game. And the long game always wins.