The race season has already started for some elite level skiers, while most racers get their season debut in late November, December or early January. The first races of the season are often a struggle, especially if you haven’t done the optimal training for racing which is time-trials or pace workouts.
By struggle I’m talking about having a hard time skiing technically well, not being able to find a good start speed and finding yourself starting way too hard and filling up with lactate or being  conservative, but not being able to pick it up. Starting way to hard is more common than starting too easy.  The problem is that you don’t know your own capacity. Here are some ideas on how to add this racing element of time-trials and pace workouts to your training. The benefit will be being able to ski faster from the first race and continue to race faster all season. Why? You are now training to race faster and not training only to improve your capacity.
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/oldsitearchive/upload/041110Time-Trial002.jpg width=440 height=330 border=1><br />
<BR><font size=1 face=verdana>Team TorbjornSport member Anders Haugen in a 1.5kilometer uphill sprint time-trial in East Canyon near Park City, Utah on November 5 (50 Fahrenheit, no wind, great conditions, and lots of lactate)</font></center><BR><BR><center><img decoding=)
Recommended reading Â
Check out this book on www.torbjornsport.com  (http://www.torbjornsport.com/store/books.html ) if want to learn more about training methods and training ideas
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/oldsitearchive/upload/041110HowTo.jpg width=260 height=250 border=1><br />
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How To, When To, Why To: A Norwegian Model Training Guide<br />
$20.00<br />
By Torbjorn Karlsen and Ruff Patterson<br />
The most important book for Masters, Elite skiers, and juniors ever printed in English. We worked with several Norwegian National Team coaches, Olympic Champion Bjorn Daehlie, and a former member of the Norwegian Junior Team and National Team to create this version of our popular training guide. The manual includes many photos. This book includes training programs, suggestions, and example weeks for each month of an entire year for Master, Advanced, Elite, and Junior athletes. Also covers all aspects of interval, distance, speed, and strength training, as well as heart rate testing, altitude training, and peaking. We've also included excerpts from Bjorn Daehlie's book “The Hunt For Gold.” Also included is information about how he trained as a junior, including training logs; and how he approaches training in general. He shares his views on why he succeeded as well. An excellent guide for your own training! 2000 Edition</p>
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