The last of the snow is melting off your ski trails. Skiers around the country are putting the storage wax on their skis while simultaneously eying the rising mercury of their thermometers. As the warm spring days beckon us outside, too many skiers step out their front door and into a trap. The “spring-time trap” has hit most of us in our training at one time or another. Feeling fit from a year of training, you decide to go for jog. Two hours later, you can barely walk, and you sit on the couch for a week trying to recover. Skiers train hard from summer through winter, and it can be hard to pull back in the spring. Most of the injuries that I see are from lifting, running, and roller skiing. Too much of these activities can be very dangerous if you have not been doing them through the winter.
Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “I know better than to do that. I ease into my training slowly each spring.” Still, there is a need for caution. This trap can also catch you later in the year. What I am referring to is a limited palate of training activities. You may ease into your running and roller skiing, but if this is all you do for training in the off-season, you may have troubles in the fall. I used to start running and lifting in April and add some roller skiing later. These are the best kinds of training for skiing, but I would do them exclusively for so long that I was sick of them by the time fall arrived. Each season my training suffered at this time of year.
I have since discovered a great way to start my training in the spring. Each year I try to discover a new activity. Trying something new is a great way to motivate your self. Spring is also the perfect time for this. Your training does not have to be very serious, so you can spend time learning about your new- found sport. Then, when your training becomes more serious in the summer and fall, you can spend a day or two each week with your new activity to keep things fun. I believe that finding new activities for myself has been the largest contributor to my increased training hours each year. I think running and roller skiing are great, but when that gets old, I love having a long list of other activities to refresh my attitude towards training. You may not become great at every activity you try. Don’t let this get you down though. I enjoy learning about new sports even if I am not very good at them. If you already do many different things, it will probably be fun to try one more. I challenge you to try something new this spring. Let me know if it helps your skiing. Here is a list of some new activities that I have tried, and some that I would like to try in the future.
</font></center><BR><br />
Overnight hiking trips- good long slow distance<br />
Swimming- I sunk like a rock<br />
Mountain biking- trees kept jumping in front of my bike<br />
Road biking- no obstacles to ride around! last year’s new activity was a big success<br />
Rock climbing- great for strength<br />
Ice climbing/ Mountaineering- this year’s new activity, I’ll keep you updated<br />
Kayaking- yet to try this one, but it looks fun<br />
Surfing- I swear I will try this some day.</p>
<p>Do you have some other good training activities that should be added to the list? Send them to me (Erik) at <a href=mailto:n_c_h_c@hotmail.com)
n_c_h_c@hotmail.comLate season skiing can also be a nice way to put off running for a few more weeks. (If you live in the right part of the country, or get a lucky spring snowstorm)
