Late Season TRaining Tips

March is for racing April is for resting is a saying I like to use this time of year. This mantra is not meant to encourage skiers to totally destroy themselves with fatigue in March instead it’s meant to remind us of the overarching macro-cycle of yearly periodization we should strive for in our training. 

If an athlete is sick, tired, burnt out, by all means PLEASE rest in March but for the majority of skiers I recommend trying to get in as much racing as possible during this month. In last week’s training plan (week 45) I mentioned that the L3 session prescribed would be the last of the year. This is because from now until the end of the season we want to primarily focus on L4, racing, and high intensity rather than building an aerobic base. This is why I encourage young skiers to race as much as possible in March…. Racing is just more fun than doing intervals and great for their development. 

This is also why during the month of March we virtually abandon the easy, medium, hard classification of weeks. If our focus is on racing and high intensity our remaining training days will be occupied with very easy shorter-distance workouts and light speed training making the structure of each week very similar. Each week will focus on an intensity (hopefully a race or two) and fairly low hours. 

Why do we want to push our anaerobic capacity in March? This training theory is based on the principle that a skier really should rest in the spring. Taking a good rest period of at least 2 -3 weeks during the end of April will help a skier re-set and be in a position to absorb an entire summer’s worth of training. Both the timing and restfulness of this break is very important and sets a skier up for a successful macro-cycle periodization which will help them reach their peak again next February. 

Simply put, this rest in April NEEDS to happen in order to be successful next season. We have probably all heard the phrase from a doctor ‘the stronger you are going into surgery the stronger you will be coming out’ and a ski season works the same way. The more high-end anaerobic fitness we can build at the end of this season before a training break the more fitness-potential we will have next season. 

If your season has been a rocky one it can be common for skiers to be frustrated and feel out of shape this time of year. Unless a skier is totally cooked in March virtually everyone can benefit from getting in a few more hard races at the end of the season. If a skier has struggled with fatigue and did not race well, I encourage them to really take some time away from intensity and rest in March but this DOES NOT give them a pass to then turn around in train a bunch in April. This a common mistake and the best way for a skier to continue down a bad path of inconsonant race seasons and poor periodization.

If a skier felt like their fitness tanked during the last half of the race season the worst thing they can do get impatient and over-do training in April, this will just set them up for the same cycle of maxing out their fitness in the early season struggling again in February and March.