Power and Speed

Given the preponderance of base training I did last year, this season we’re stepping up the intensity a lot sooner and with more volume than ever before. Perhaps the three greatest focuses we have for this dryland season are: power, speed, and anaerobic capacity. While these three go somewhat hand-in-hand, the ways in which to train them vary greatly, and it’s most important to not overlap workouts so much that recovery becomes minimal.

(the hill is steeper than it looks)

One of the real key workouts we’ve struck upon is hill sprints. For several years now we’ve done these on foot: 8-10 x :10sec all-out sprints or bounds up a steep hill, sometimes with poles and sometimes without. But we’ve increasingly thought that introducing more specificity into the exercise can be nothing but a good thing. This spring Scott scouted a great, black-topped hill outside of Winthrop that is perfect for this workout. Even better, it’s relatively light on traffic so Brian and I were able to ski side by side in the sprints. One of us would classic and one would skate to allow for room. The benefit of this method is that the classic skier tends to get off the line faster and hold a bit of a lead, giving the skater someone to chase.

We’re also back on the track three times per week, adding a lot of speed training into the mix. The goal is to not enter this season as I did last year, with great aerobic fitness but zero speed or power. Balance, baby!