My training has been going very well this year. I am training more conservatively than I did last year but i am still putting up fairly high volume and average two intensity sessions a week. I trained 75 hours in May and 80 hours in June.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING DIFFERENTLY THIS YEAR THAN IN THE PAST?
I have gone back to the program that I was on for the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
WHAT ARE SOME TESTS WITH FITNESS THAT YOU ARE DOING AND WHAT ARE YOUR RESULTS (STRENGTH, RUNNING TIME TRIAL, ETC)?
I don't like testing. I never feel that the results give any concrete evidence of real improvement. Because of this I have elected to do far less testing this year than in previous years. I would rather spend my time training. I won a 5k running race in June that my brother was in. He is a former all-0american runner so any time I beat him in a running race I know my fitness is good. I have also felt very strong in all of my intervals and over-distance sessions. The longest workout of my year was a six hour run in the white mountains with my brother. We ran from the Franconia falls parking lot to the top of Mount Garfield. Then we ran over Mt Lafayette, Mt Lincoln, Mt Haystack, Mt Liberty, and Mt Flume before looping back to our car. In the days following, I was very pleased with how quickly I recovered from this workout.
YOU RECENTLY ATTENDED THE NENSA ELITE CAMP IN HANOVER. HOW DO YOU THINK THE KIDS WERE LOOKING? WAS THERE SOME YOUNG TALENT? WHAT DO THOSE KIDS NEED TO WORK ON THE MOST TO BECOME WORLD CUP STARS?
There was a lot of talent at the elite camp. The kids in the East have made huge strides in technique and the large turn-out for the camp was encourageing. However, it looked to me like many of the skiers could be training a lot harder and better. The sooner our coaches and juniors recognize that skiing is a year round sport, the sooner the US will be a real international power in XC skiing.
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