January 2002 Training

FasterSkierDecember 9, 2002

Torbjørn’s
January Training
I trained 41.5 hours in January: 5.5 hours of running and walking,
34 hours of skiing and 2 hours of weights. My highest week was 12 hours
and my lowest week was 6.5 hours. The month contained only one race;
I did 5 distance workouts where I spent at least 15-20 minutes in zone
3 or 4, plus 3 x 7-8K pace workouts, one interval session and two short
speed sessions.

It was the second month in
a row that I prioritized the races of the skiers I am coaching instead
of my own racing and training.
I spent ten days in Bozeman, Montana at the US national championship
waxing skis, giving splits and feeds in the long races. I got to ski
every day, but the long days of showing up at the stadium at 7AM and
going home at 3 or 4PM, follwed by an evening coaches meeting and waxing
skis at night kind of wears you down. I ran around doing something all
day. I skied between 15 and 30 K each day but did not do any structured
intervals, pace workouts or speed during Nationals. Some of the skiing
was hard since this is the only way to really test glide and kick, you
try to ski like in a race.

I also tried to ski a least
one lap on the competition course after the races were over and sure
some of these workouts were intensity 3-4.

The Hard Sessions
I felt tired and sluggish the
week after nationals (I came home the final day late at night after
driving for seven hours) and focused on easy training for the next five
days.
Then I chose to do 2 pace workouts during the next three days (one on
Saturday and one on Monday). The reason for this was the lack of racing
I had experienced from missing two weekends of races by going to Nationals.

On Wednesday the same week
(10 days after getting back) I also did an interval session: 2 x 4 minutes,
2 x 2.5 minutes and 1 x 1 minute. The following day I did 50 minutes
of continues uphill at intensity 3(pretty hard when you go that long).

I was trying to gear up for
The Boulder Mountain Tour on February 2nd and not worry about the local
race series’ Same Day Pursuit race on the 26th of January.

I rested on February 25th
and skied well in the pursuit the next day. I didn’t feel sharp,
but was consistent in both races. I had great skis in the skate part
and raced the classic race on "harries" and that worked OK
even if it was a little slick. The rest of the skiers used Klister or
klister covered. Gordon Lange was not there and I won my age group by
more than 8 minutes and was 4th overall. In my competitor’s defense,
Gordon and I are probably training the most specific and systematic
of the group.

The Boulder Mountain Tour
I included this race in this
report even if it was on February 2nd. After the pursuit I took it easy
up to the Boulder Mountain Tour. This included 2 days off, 2 short easy
distance workouts and only one hard session: a 2 hour skate workout
on the Olympic trails in tough "snow storm weather" on Monday
the 28th. I did most everything that week as well: drank plenty of water,
ate fish twice, took my vitamins, stretched well three times, didn’t
gain weight and overall felt ready for the Tour. I also thoroughly used
my second best X-Mas present this week; a battery powered nasal and
ear hair trimmer. Gordon’s comment for the rest of that week (and
probably for the rest of the winter) when I told him was something to
the effect of; " Torbjørn, is that you? It looks like you, but
you look so different!"

The point is, I felt ready
for the race.

The forecast called for cold
conditions at the start, with low to medium humidity and increasing
humidity and temperatures during the race. Before the start I tested
my skis and opted for a pair with Solda F-10 Green covered with SOLDA
S-20. The temperature was –15C at the start with sunny skies and
no wind. The humidity was 40%. I also chose a pair of skis with medium
structure, thinking that that should work great at the end of the race
when it warmed up and the humidity increased. The start went well, I
got a decent position and was around 35th after the first 2K’s
I moved up behind Gordon and the group he skied in, the 25-32nd place
group. My skis were only OK at the start in the shade but were gliding
great in the sun from 5-15K and I felt super, ready to duke it out at
the end with my group. Hey, I’m the Utah winter games Sprint champion!

We (the group) were now skiing
in 22nd to 28th place having passed a few skiers that had been dropped
from the front group. Then the bad thing happened. The conditions the
last ten-kilometer along the river were bone dry, no humidity and my
skis that had the right wax but not the right structure slowed down
considerably. This wasn’t one of the old stories about the skis
that slowed down when I got tired because I wasn’t tired and hadn’t
been tired since the first 2 K’s.

I couldn’t stay with
my group even in the downhill part while drafting other skiers and the
race was over as far as trying to beat the skiers in my group. Gordon
skied on SOLDA HP 05 and fine structure and had good skis the entire
race. He won our age group (45-49) and placed 23rd overall. I was 2nd
in the age group and 27th overall. There were 94 skiers in our age group!
Gordon was 1.43 ahead of me and I was 5.25 ahead of third.

I was disappointed about
not being there for the sprint with my group, but pleased with how I
felt. My preparations had been good and I wouldn’t have changed
a thing. There was probably a 50% chance that the grind would have worked
out great and you got to take chances if you want to succeed. I’ll
go for the same next time and might do great. By the way, Justin Wadsworth
won the race and skied on SOLDA S-30. He used fine structure.

February Training and Other Races
I will be busy during he Olympics
trying to help and support Beckie Scott and Justin Wadsworth. I will
also be testing kick and glide waxes as well as structure on the Olympic
course throughout the Olympics. There will not much time for structured
training, but I should get some serious skiing in! My days will start
at 5-6 AM driving out to soldier Hollow before the crowd arrives. I’m
counting on going home around 4PM or later. I should even loose some
weight! The next races I’m considering are the Great Race in California,
the 25K in West Yellowstone, Montana and Master Nationals. At this point
the Olympics just seem a lot more important.

I suggest that you look at
what I wrote about January’s hard training to find ideas for your
own training in between races for the rest of February.
Have fun and hope to see you guys at some races!

Torbjørn

FasterSkier

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