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| Engadin Ski Marathon Training | |
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| Before the start. If you wander off for a pee, make sure you don't forget where you left your skis! |
No, I'm not going to tell you how to become an elite cross-country ski racer. But if you are thinking of entering the Engadin Ski Marathon, or have already entered, then you'll probably want to do some training.
I am sure most professionals would say you should train 6 days a week, and that as soon as you start you're already behind schedule, but sod 'em. You should try for 3-4 sessions a week if possible, at least for the final couple of months before the race. Aim for 2 intensity sessions (fast runs of 2-3 miles, cross training or weights) and 2 endurance sessions (longer slower runs, 6-10 miles).
Most important, in the final month before the race, try to do at least two really long runs, swims or whatever. On the day you will be on skis for 3-5 hours. If you know you can keep going for 90 minutes, you can be confident of finishing the course: you'll get nearly half-way round before really going into new territory. Adrenalin and bloody-mindedness will do the rest!
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Your training will need to focus mainly on aerobic fitness. It doesn't really matter whether you run, jog, swim, row or shag, as long as you can get your pulse rate into the appropriate 'training zone' and keep it there.
Personally I stick to running: not only are you getting aerobically fit, but also it helps condition the posture muslces for spending a few hours on your skis. Plus in the gym you get to watch Midriff Television (MTV). Anyway, I hate shagging.
The majority of your endurance training should be 'Easy Running' or the equivalent of whatever form of exercise you choose. Easy Running means holding your heart rate at in the 'Training Zone' of 60-75% of your Maximum Heart Rate for as long as possible. Exercising at this pace is almost entirely aerobic, with fats being the predominant energy source and glycogen being utilzed to a lesser extent. In the case of complete beginners, this should be the only form of training for the first 3-6 months. The professional way to make sure you are in the correct Training Zone is with one eye permanently on your heart rate. For most people this is too geeky. But it is worth knowing the theory and developing a feel for whether you are in the right zone.
Calculating your Maximum Heart Rate is easy. It slows down with age, babies can reach a heart rate of 220, old people only 160 [what happens then?]. Work out what yours should be:
- Adult women 209-0.7*age
- Adult men 214-0.8*age
You will note that men start better but degrade faster than women. At 50 they have the same heart max rate! You also need to know your resting heart rate. For most people this is somewere between 60 and 80 bpm. Measure it by taking your pulse when lying in front of the telly watching a party political broadcast.
Say you want to calculate what heart rate you require to be just inside the Training Zone, ie at 60% effort level, then the formula is as follows: (Max - Resting)*60% + Resting
- So if you are a 38-year-old male, your Max would be 214-0.8*38 = 184
- And if your resting heart rate is 54
- Then the Heart Rate to train at 60% would be (184-54)*0.6+54 = 132
One particularly important training session should be the weekly long run (or swim, or whatever) which improves the fat-burning (and therefore glycogen-sparing) ability of the body and increases the tolerance of the muscles, tendons, skeletal system to prolonged exercise. As you get closer to race day, harder workouts (75-85% of Maximum Heart Rate) can be interspersed with longer Easy Running sessions training to follow a 'hard day/easy day' routine, allowing the body to recover and adapt to the stress of faster-paced workouts.
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You don't have to do weights in preparation for cross-country skiing, but it definitely helps. The forces involved are not huge, so you don't need to bulk up, but they are repetitive, so it's worth giving the muscles a fore-taste.
Even two or three good weight sessions will protect you from the worst. You know you can have horrible muscle pain on day three of a ski holiday and be absolutely fine on day five. Cross-country skiing is no different - why not get that out of the way while still at home?
You should focus on the following muscle groups. Focus on 2-4 exercises per session and do them properly. 3 sets of 12-20 reps is plenty, with weights adjusted so you can only just finish the third set.
- Back/posture. Cycling, rowing and running longer distances will all help strengthen your posture and improve your endurance. You can use weights too: squats would be the classic exercise, or check what specialised machines your gym has.
- Back/"pulldown" muscles. When you pole, the main power comes from your stomach and upper back. Any sort of "pulldown" machine in the gym will give your shoulders a good workout.
- Stomach. When you pole, the power is translated through your stomach. Easiest excercise is situps (but make sure you have someone show you how to do them properly: you only sit part-way up these days to avoid injury, and you may need to relearn which muscles to use). If in the gym, you may find some weird contraptions or weights machines that help you focus your efforts on the correct deep abdominals.
- Triceps. Again, used heavily in poling. Easy excercise you can do at home: triceps lifts (bum and hands on one chair, feet on another, slide your bum off, lower it to the ground, push back up. Repeat millions of times or until Eastenders finishes).
- Legs. Your legs don't experience huge and unnatural forces, so there's no need to do vast numbers of leg presses. You may want to do one or two sessions of leg presses if you have been sedentary for a few years, just to wake up the muscles. But don't go mad.
- Legs for skaters - adductors & abductors. You will be working your legs laterally, not just back and forward and we don't do this a lot in normal life. So your adductors and abductors can quickly get tired unless you train them. These are the most tedious machines in the gym, but worth using.
- Legs for classickers - hip flexors & psoas. At the end of each "push" step, you glide for an instant, but then have to pull your leg and ski forward using these muscles. At home, try attaching a weight to your foot, say a skiboot+encycolpaedia (not CDRom) and do reps lifting your knee to your chest. In the gym, there should be a hip flexor machine: a pad rests just above your knee; you hold your torso steady and pull your knee up against resistance. You can also turn round, put the pad behind your knee and use the same machine to train your hip extensors & glutes, which are used in the "push" phase on snow.
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It is possible to train using roller-skis. You see people on the sides of roads doing this in Scandinavia all the time. They are, of course, barking mad. Or are they?
To find out about roller-ski training in London's Parks, contact www.rollerski.co.uk/
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The very best training before the race is, of course, to get on skis and give it some wellie.
If you are going skiing anywhere in Austria or Switzerland during the winter this couldn't be easier. Ask in the tourist office, they will give you a map of the 'loipen' (loops). Go to almost any rental shop and ask for the relevant kit (skating or classic). The kit is much cheaper to rent than alpine, it should only set you back about £10-12 per day. What I did last year was rent some for the week I was alpine skiing, and went out every evening for an hour or so.
It's much harder if you are going to France: lots of the bog-standard resorts have a X-C loop, but it's barely used and the shops don't rent kit. If you persevere you can usually find some local enthusiasts. eg in Val d'Isère, the only shop with even vaguely decent kit is Intersport (by the Solaise nursery slopes). Call them on +33 (4) 79 06 00 72.
Alternatively, these resorts in France do have good X-C facilities:
Meaudre-Vercors in the Dauphine Isere. They advertise over 100 km of
cross-country tracks as well as alpine ski possibilities.
Telephone - 33 (0)4 76 95 20 68
Fax - 33 (0)4 76 95 25 93
Web site: www.meaudre.com
E-mail: infos@meaudre.com
Autrans in the Dauphine Isere. They advertise over 160 km of cross-country
tracks as well as alpine ski possibilities.
Telephone - 33 (0)4 76 95 30 70
Fax - 33 (0)4 76 95 38 63
Web site: www.ot-autrans.fr
E-mail: autrans@alpes.net.fr
Les Saisies in Savoie. The site of the cross-country events of the 1992
Winter Olympics. They advertise over 80 km of cross-country tracks as well as alpine ski possibilities.
Telephone - 33 (0)4 79 38 90 30
Fax - 33 (0)4 79 38 96 29
Web site: www.lessaisies.com
E-mail: info@lessaisies.com
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Make sure you taper off your training in good time! Aim to hit your longest/most intense sessions at the end of Feb or at latest the first couple of days of March.
The final week you should only do low intensity jogging or equivalent and allow your body to recover. You will also need to aclimatise as you will be competing at altitude, so aim to take 2 full days of complete rest before arriving, or you will start your alpine training tired.
Some people have found it really helpful using a personal trainer in their build-up. It may seem expensive at £35 per session, but having a professional design a programme and make you stick to it can be very helpful.
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