By Andy Newell
When in the final weeks of the race season I sometime find it harder and harder to motivate for interval days, ESPECIALLY if all the competitions are over for the year (thanks COVID) If there are no more races to train for but the skiing conditions are still great… what should I do?
It’s common after a long winter to begin to feel some monotony in our training routine which is why this time of year I like to keep things fun. For me, Intersection intervals have been a great solution for maintaining or even continue to improve fitness during spring skiing workouts.
From a physiological standpoint this workout makes a lot of sense as well. We have talked about the importance of spring interval training and if a skier is going to be doing intervals in March and April the workout should likely be L4. This year's no exception. We still have two full weeks of March left and many of us can continue to improve our 'race' fitness our recovery period.
This interval session works well during April as well. Adding in some low volume (Not a lot of on time) L4 every 10 days during April will really help maintain our Vo2Max so we can start the new training year off on the right foot. That intensity can come in the form of a time trial with friends or in this case a fun new way to execute intervals at your local ski area.
Warm Up:
15 minutes easy skiing
5 minutes L2 building into L3
X3 10 – 15 second accelerations
Intervals:
Each interval will vary in length, ski any section of trail and rest at each major trail intersection. Recover down to L1 (or until you catch your breath) then continue on, using the next section of trail for your next interval.
This usually means intervals will vary in length from 30 seconds to 8 minutes. It kind of depends on how the trail system is mapped out but it usually works out really well.
Continue skiing new sections of trail until you reach 20-25 minutes of ‘on time’.
Goals:
This workout is great is so many ways. First of all it’s fun, but it also trains a lot of important racing skills we should be working on this time of year. Being able to read terrain and react is so curtail while racing and this session will help improve our ability to do so and adjust our pace accordingly. If the distance from one intersection to the other is fairly short your interval pace can be all out L4. If it’s going to take several minutes this workout forces us to see the terrain in front of us and determine how hard we can go without blowing up. In most cases it will be a combination of controlled L4 and all out L4.
If you have a group of skiers this session can be done in groups of 3 or 4, adding a fun competitive element to the workout. Each interval turns into a mini race to see who can get to the next intersection first. A great way to work on drafting, tactics, passing, and all the elements we need to be strong mass start skiers. A perfect spring workout for kids!
No snow left at home? This workout can also be done bonding or hiking with poles at the local ski area.
