2020 Marathon Training Tips #3 - 1/6/2020

from Caitlin & Adam of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project

This winter, Craftsbury Green Racing Project athletes Caitlin Patterson and Adam Martin are offering weekly guidance via an email newsletter, to help you prepare for the Craftsbury Marathon or any other ski marathon. We (Caitlin & Adam) hope that this will be useful for those training for their first ski race as well as veterans of many previous marathons. Click here to subscribe to the newsletter.

Each week, we will explain a suggested workout and a technique tip that we feel is important to think about. While this newsletter will not constitute a full training plan, we hope that you can incorporate these suggestions into your preparation in order to arrive at the start line with more confidence in your efficiency and fitness!

The Workout: Speeds!

Speed sessions improve efficiency, top speed, and can increase comfort at race pace. In addition to the benefit for sub maximal speed, improving top speed can benefit race starts, responding to mid race pack opportunities, and sprinting to the finish line.

How To:

Warm up: 15 to 30 minutes easy skiing

Pickups: Ski as fast as possible while maintaining good form for 10 to 20 seconds. Then ski at a very easy pace for 2 to 4 minutes until you feel fully rested. Repeat this 10 to 15 times.

The speeds can be performed with different techniques, on different terrain, and starting from a stop or at speed.

Common speed types we use on the GRP include:

1. Accelerations: While easy skiing, gradually pickup the pace over 5 to 10 seconds until you reach your top speed. This type of speed can help you focus on better technique since it allows you to accelerate in a more relaxed manner.

2. Starts: Beginning from a stop, double pole or ski as quickly as possible to your maximum speed.

3. Over-speeds: Begin a speed immediately following a downhill. This allows you to focus on skiing fast without first tiring out getting up to speed.

Cool down: 15 to 30 minutes easy skiing

When:

A full speed session like the one outlined above can be performed every 1 - 2 weeks. Additionally, it will also be helpful to include 2 to 4 speeds in easy distance sessions throughout the week. 

Why:

There are several training adaptions that we hope to accomplish with speed workouts. First, stressing the nervous system in a different way can improve movement efficiency. Second, the all out exertion can increase the maximum number of motor units that can be recruited at once. Finally, speeds focused on turnover can increase this capacity. Overall, we hope to increase our top speed and efficiency at lower speeds.

Technique Tip: Drive the Knees Forward

In all ski techniques, it’s important to keep the ankles flexed and the body leaning slightly forward. A forward lean from the ankles, rather than standing purely upright, helps the skier maintain momentum in the forward direction gliding down the trail. 

Picture driving the knee forward as a helpful cue. Accompany the knee drive with a soft flex of the ankles that brings the shins closer to the skis — by a soft ankle flex, I’m referring to the fact that the ankle joint remains loose and ready to absorb bumps in the trail, rather than being fixed in one position. Knee drive applies to classic striding and double poling, as well as to skating; when it’s coordinated with the rest of the body’s movements, knee drive will be beneficial to the skier’s efficiency.

Below are two film-strip series of images, taken from a video of your author Caitlin skating this past week in Houghton, Michigan. 

In this first series, I’m climbing a steep hill using the V1 technique. Look at the left leg, farther from the camera. In the left-most image, the leg is nearly straight as it finishes pushing off the snow. Then as we progress to the right, I step forward onto my left leg for the next stride. After the foot touches down, the shin and knee push forward farther. However, a key point is that the hips and the shoulders come forward with the knee - I do not sit back, but stay with my weight on the balls of my feet and the whole body leaning forward. These images were taken during a fairly high speed skiing pass, so don’t be discouraged if you can’t get your body position quite as far forward, but go for the same concept!

In the V2 series below, my legs similarly start off fairly straight in the left-most frame, as I’m standing tall at the top of the stride. As the body begins to crunch over the poles, the knee of the right leg drives forward and I push off the left leg. The right knee continues to drive forward, pushing the shin over the ski, and carrying the hips and shoulders along too.

Consider having a friend take a video clip of you as you practice knee drive, and then see how your form looks compared to these film strips.

Your Authors

Caitlin Patterson is a member of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project elite team and the US Ski Team. She is an 8-time US National Champion, a 2018 Olympian and a 2019 World Championship team member. Caitlin considers herself a distance specialist, racing primarily 5k to 30k events, but loves the high-paced action of sprint heats too.

Adam Martin is in his third year training and racing with the Craftsbury Green Racing Project. He has started 8 World Cups and raced in the 2019 World Championships. Last year Adam won the freestyle Craftsbury Marathon. He is supported by Fischer skis and boots and Swix poles.

The Green Racing Project is an elite team of post-collegiate athletes who train and live in Craftsbury, Vermont. Their athletic dreams are supported by the Craftsbury Outdoor Center and Concept 2. In return for this support, the athletes engage in professional development by working on a variety of projects at the Outdoor Center.

Questions or Feedback?

Send feedback about this newsletter, or requests for future content, to caitlinpattersonskier@gmail.com. While we can't promise to respond to every request, we'd love to hear what topics are most interesting and write content that will help you become more comfortable on skis!