Taper / Sharpening intervals
By Andy Newell
Skiers taper their training before championship races so we can feel our best on race day. Check out the entry Ready On Race Day - Peaking 101
Daily training during a taper can look different based on a lot of individual factors such as:
- Athlete's total yearly training volume
- How much racing an athletes has done this season
- Distance of the races they are peaking for
My advice for anyone thinking about a season taper or sharpening for a big race is to keep it simple.
I think a lot of athletes and coaches can over-think tapering and peaking, especially junior aged coaches who work with U16 to U20 skiers. Younger athletes, who do not carry a lot of training volume throughout the year, don't need much of a taper. Simply reducing each practice by15-25 mins for 5-7 days before a championship can be just right for most young skiers.
The more important question is what kind of intensity should exist within a taper? I think having a few strategic 'big' interval days just before the taper is worthwhile. A big 50+ min L3 day for older athletes or better yet a longer distance race or 20-30km TT provides a great aerobic training stimulus before we cut back on volume. When we reduce daily training time 5-7 days before the championships, we should taper our interval sessions as well. This means reducing the total interval on-time during our sharpening sessions. Instead of doing 6 x 4 mins during a typical L4 session an athlete might reduce this to 4 x 4 mins during the taper to lighten the overall load of the session. I often tell athletes that during a taper you always want to be left wanting more after each interval session, not feeling spent. If you follow this simple rule you'll be just fine on championship day!
I use the term sharpening intervals to describe sessions like this. Sharpening interval sessions can combine L3 and L4 or just L4. It's less common to prescribe pure L3 sessions in the 5-7 days of a taper since our bodies just do not have the time to make a positive adaptation in such a short amount of time. Instead our interval sessions can have more of a 'pacing' type feel to prepare for the particular demands of our priority race. Here are some examples.
Reverse ladder L3/L4/ sprint int mix
2 x 6 min L3, 2 x 3 min L4, 4 x 30 sec
3 min recovery for all
L4 controlled
4-5 x 3 min, building from L3 into L4 as intervals progress. targeting a distance race pace
Short duration L4
5 x 2 min w/ 2 min rest, older athletes can scale to 2 sets of 5 x 2 min at L4 (sprint pace but not max effort)
I really like short duration L4 intervals to get athletes ready for 10k efforts and sprints. At a recent training camp in Norway I saw several US Ski Team athletes use similar interval structures. The goal of these sessions is to simply practice time skiing at our 'dream' race pace. Implementing a set break is important to maximize the quality of each interval.
