Training Log - November 15-21
Wednesday, November 24, 2010 at 01:09AM I am fully poaching the idea for this post from Jared at SLC Samurai. I'm sure most readers are at least slightly curious about what we are actually doing in training when we're not writing about it. Putting it here will create at least one post each week and may provide a spring board for more in-depth pieces when ideas are scarce.
November 15-21
This week marks the beginning of methodical training for me this winter. I've certainly not been couch surfing but there has been no rhyme or reason to my training. I have always maintained that, for weekend warrior athletes like me, end-of-the-season burnout is really a mental phenomenon, not a physical one. We rarely get the kind of hours that, say, a pro cyclist might get that can actually require a physical break from training at the end of a long season. For me, I simply unstructure the training, mix in some other activities and tone down the max efforts. This "relieves" me of the need to train and I come into the next season physically ready and mentally fresh.
My training up until now has been a mix of regular cycling, some hikes in the mountains and on Snow King (our local 1,500' stair master ski hill), and regular trips to the weight room. For about 10 weeks, I was lifting upper body in addition to my steady diet of dead lifts, lunges and squatting movements. Two weeks ago, getting tired (and worried) of seeing 180 lbs on the scale in the morning, I decided to cut out the upper body stuff. I also cleaned up my diet just a little, forgoing my too frequent indulgences in chips and cookies. I love that shit but they are completely useless calories.
This first documented week of training still has a mix of activities since I could still ride and there was not enough snow on the King to ski after work. A few friends with more forgiving schedules have been skiing up on the Pass and in the Park for a week or two but I had not yet. This week, all that changes as we are getting completely nuked by a bad-ass winter storm. No excuses now.
There is a slight sense of urgency to all this as the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Championships are early this year in order to use them to select the team going to Worlds. Falling on January 8th, that means I only have eight weeks to prepare for this beat down. Now, I have no aspirations of making the team for Worlds but I do have the desire to at least perform well. If I'm on a good day, I may see a top 15 but if a big Colorado contingent shows, I may get pushed further down the line. I took last year off from the sport (except for Targhee) so I really don't know how I will stack up. Truthfully, I was not going to race at all but I think the committed training focus dovetails nicely into the cycling season. So, I will at least race that weekend and perhaps more. We'll see. But for now, time to put in the work.
Monday off My typical rest day which works well for me since it is also a busy clinic day at work.
Tuesday 2.5 hours, 3,000' vertical Two laps up the King in running shoes through ankle deep snow. I wore a 20 lb vest and 7.5 lb ankle weights. Hard not to breath hard with that load and I was at sub-threshold the whole time. I did some 30 second running (if you can call it that) efforts that brought me up to threshold farlek style. Good pummeling.
Wednesday off Work and nasty weather conspired against my flagging motivation.
Thursday 1.5 hours Bike ride, easy rollers. Slightly harder than recovery pace. Then weight room, 1 hour, heavy deads, Bulgarian split squats, 30 rep back squats x 2 sets. Felt strong, split squats felt less awkward.
Friday 2 hours Bike ride, rolling, more effort, fartlek sub threshold.
Saturday 2 hours, 2,000' vertical First day on skis. Weather was nuking. Old Pass Road but bailed at the top due to heinous wind/whiteout! Mostly sub threshold breaking trail.
Sunday 4 hours, 6,500' vertical Ski, Old Pass Road to 3 laps on Edelweiss, easy.
Totals 13 hours, 11,500' vertical
Pretty good week considering I took an extra day off in the middle. I didn't count the vertical on the bike. Had I trained on Wednesday I would have gotten the critical 15 hour training week. Although I have no science or other data to back this up, something important seems to happen to recreational endurance athletes when they get at least 15 hours of training in a week. If you are serious about doing your best, strive to get this volume and it will pay off if your training intensities are allotted properly. I would be interested if anyone reading out there feels similarly. Some folks can do it on 8-10 hours but they are more talented than I and will still suffer when distances go up whether it be a long race or a staged event.
I actually have this week off from work so I will try to get some big volume in in addition to my first intervals of the season. Yeehaw! - Brian
Reader Comments (4)
Hi Brian,
Speaking of weight, what is your opinion of the ideal body fat % for a ski mountaineer to be carrying around in-season?
Ralph
Hi Ralph,
I would say that it's the same for most high level endurance athletes which is next to nothing! Seriously, I would venture that most of the Euro dogs are running between 2% and 4% BF. If you don't have a six pack you are too fat. It may sound extreme but to compete with or at your best you need to be lean. Most recreational cyclists, for instance, don't realize that many of the top Tour de France cyclists diet and cut weight to get down to racing weight. It's a fine balance between keeping the engine fueled and getting rid of excess flesh so you can climb with the leaders. Definitely psychotic!
2-4%. Jesus Christ! What about the off season? Do you think that the Euros lift at all? Thanks for putting up your training log. Great insight on the 15 hour week, as well.
You know, I would seriously doubt that the Euros are in the gym during the season. If it's anything like elite cycling, they are stuck in tradition and weight training just isn't part of that program. Only recently have we seen more pro cyclists getting stronger with weight training but most stop once racing starts. I know of only a few pros who lift year around. And this in a sport where there is a serious power component with sprinting. Skimo has much less of that if we disregard the downhill moments.
As for BF%, I bet most of those skinny fuckers are pretty lean year 'round. Most are involved in some other heavy breathing sport like ultra trail running or MTB racing. Most are also very aware of what their weight is doing in the off-season and adjust diet and training accordingly.