2020 Marathon Training Tips #7 - 2/3/2020

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!

While the 2020 Craftsbury Marathon is complete, we will continue to share training tips for several more weeks, through the American Birkebeiner. 

The 2020 Craftsbury Marathon brought two great days of racing. Full results are listed here, and photos from both days can be found on the Craftsbury Outdoor Center's facebook page.

The Workout: L5 Intervals

If you aren’t planning on racing this weekend, it is a good opportunity for some very high intensity, short intervals to balance out slower marathon race pace sessions.

Warm up:

Ski for 20 minutes at an easy pace.

Commence one 5 minute interval at moderate intensity.

Recover and include 2-3x 15 second speeds.

Intervals: 2 sets of 4-5 repetitions of 60 seconds with 2-3 minutes rest between intervals

Find a section of flat and uphill terrain that will take you one minute or more to ski up at a very fast pace. For each set, aim to ski the total 4-5 minutes of on time at the fastest possible pace. Ski easy for 10 minutes between the 2 sets.

Cool Down:

Ski easy for 10-15 minutes.

Timing: This is a demanding workout. It’s important to plan plenty of rest before, so your body is capable of executing it well. Additionally, it will be valuable to take at least 2 to 3 easy days afterward to allow your body to recover and supercompensate from the workout. Generally, I recommend utilizing this type of workout at the time of year when you want to be in your best race shape.

Physiological Adaptations: 1 minute intervals stress both the aerobic and anaerobic (with and without oxygen) energy systems. From the aerobic stress, this workout will induce similar types of adaptations as the longer L4 intervals discussed two weeks ago. In addition, the stress on muscle cells' anaerobic energy production causes the concentration of several key enzymes to increase, improving anaerobic capacity. Finally, these intervals will test the body’s ability to function under and to clear high lactate levels. 

How 1 minute intervals improve a 2 to 4 hour effort: Skiing demands very high exertion to climb hills quickly and allows brief periods of rest on downhills, so even long marathon efforts are often filled with bouts of anaerobic work. Furthermore, these intervals will also stress the aerobic metabolism which is clearly relevant to all parts of a marathon.

Technique Tip: High Arms and engaged Lats

As I’ve skied around Seefeld, Austria this week, I’ve crossed paths with hundreds of skiers. There are always “technique” thoughts floating around in my mind as I ski, little voices reminding me of the technique cues that I’m personally working on - what my coaches and I have talked about, and what I have witnessed in other racers and would like to emulate to improve my own skiing. Many of these cues are essentially the technique tips that Adam and I have been writing out these past weeks. However, in light of preparing for this newsletter, this week I’ve tried to observe the skiers around me more than usual, through the lens of technique. What broad themes do I see among the varieties of skill levels, the range of skiers from recreational tourists to expert World Cup racers and everyone in between?

One notable theme that stands out is the position and motion of the arms. I would encourage all skiers to start the poling motion with high arms, and to focus on the range of motion that keeps the arms always ahead of or even with the body. The most experienced skiers I see on the trails start their poling with high hands, often at shoulder level in classic and closer to eye level for skate. Many of the beginners or developing skiers never bring their hands higher than about chest level, and sometimes the arms swing back beyond the body. To miss the top part of the arm swing is to miss the opportunity to apply power to a complete poling stroke, and it often results in a skier remaining in a perpetually bent-over or crouched position.

In our week #4 blog, Adam’s technique tip on pole timing introduced the importance of poling. The position of the arms seriously affects how much power a skier can apply through the poles, and is an important complement to timing. The modern skier keeps his or her arms gently bent at the elbow, and applies power when the hands are in front of the shoulders, dropping the body weight onto the poles. The range of motion of the arms extends from hands in front of the face, to the hands even with the hips; the arms very rarely pass behind the plane of the body.

Elbows should be gently bent and pointing outwards throughout most of the arm swing; imagine holding a physio ball or a large watermelon at chest level by wrapping your arms around it. Flaring the elbows slightly outward enables greater engagement of the shoulder muscles and “lats”, the colloquial term for the latissimus dorsi muscles. The lats, which extend along the back from beneath the shoulder blades to the top of the pelvis, are the largest muscles in the upper body. In order to ski with power and efficiency, it’s crucial to involve these and other large muscles. By keeping the hands high and the elbows flared outwards, you can utilize full body involvement and bring greater power to your skiing.

That said, when you are beginning to experiment with higher hands to start the poling motion, it may feel uncomfortable or difficult at first as with any technique change. It’s incredible how weird and uncomfortable it can feel at first to move the hands up even an inch; keep at it through exaggeration and mental attention to the details of what you are trying to achieve. The muscles and range of motion can take a while to develop, but if you keep practicing on every ski, you’ll soon make the adaptations needed.

Your Authors

Caitlin Patterson is a member of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project elite team and the US Ski Team. She is a 9-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!