Pump up the volume!

I've never been a big base mileage guy.  Back in the day when I was racing my bike full-time (20 years ago?!!) I felt that intensity was the key to success.  I reasoned that getting to the finish line was not the problem, making the break was.  What I didn't know was that there were more subtle things going on physiologically that allow us to tolerate repeated bouts of the race-making intensity efforts.  This is what so-called base training is all about. 

The Scandanavian ski coaches have known forever that the foundation we lay before and maintain during the season is what keeps us winning and tolerating repeated bouts of training and racing.  There's a strong belief amongst these coaches that too much intensity and not enough slow and easy will eventually damage our ability to go hard.  This damage occurs at the cellular level and resistance to it must be developed over time. 

There are so many great champions whose success is linked to huge volumes of training.  This is no coincidence.  Mark Twight addresses this topic in astute detail in his essay, "TNSTAAFL" (There's no such thing as a free lunch).  As a result of learning all this I've become a base mileage guy.  I've forced myself to go longer at a slower pace.  Phil Mafetone has written volumes on this topic and has trained some endurance heavies to great success.  That's not to say I don't go hard.  I simply do so less frequently and with fresher legs when I do. 

To this end, I've had some great ski days this year.  One weekend saw me cover 16,000 vertical feet on 25 Short, skiing powder in my race boots and slightly wider skis.  I used a race transition mentality to keep moving and make each day under 5 hours.  Seven laps on Edelweiss was another afternoon which added up to over 8,000 feet in under 4 hours.  The most ambitious day was last Sunday where my wife and I each did 6 laps on Snow King, with me throwing in a half a lap at the end so I could watch my altimeter turn over 10,100 feet.  That was about 4:15 for the day.  Now, most rando races last a little over 2 hours so I'm doubling that time and vertical feet skied on these big days.  I like to think that I'm getting very efficient at the distance, making my race day a very reasonable effort, indeed.  Time will tell.

For now, I'll continue down this path because the feedback I'm getting when I ski pushes me in the same direction.  Most of this feedback is subjective.  I'm not good at measuring stuff.  On the other hand, I can look at race results and decide whether things are better than last year or not.  The results from the first race at Targhee are encouraging.  You can read about it here.

This weekend is the second test of the year, a rando race in Whitefish, Montana.  I'll keep you posted.

Brian