(above... raw footage from BSF L3 fast finishes session)
This month our featured threshold session is a great late summer, early fall workout. I am always a fan of progressing workouts throughout the off-season and not getting stuck in the same routine. June, July, and August in my opinion make up the bulk of our aerobic base training phase. We have focused on building in a high volume of training hours and controlled intervals.
When I say controlled intervals I’m referring to working within the right training zone during interval sessions. 2-4 mmol of lactate for L3 intervals, and 5-10 mmol of lactate for L4. Most elite level skiers who are looking to race their best mid-winter have logged far more L3 throughout June, July, and August than L4. Many athletes have kept their interval sessions entirely L3 to this point other than the occasional time trial, rollerski race, or running race.
This time of year elite level skiers begin to shift gears, actively planning L3 AND L4 workouts during a standard training week. Since we have been focused on skiing controlled and relaxed in most of our L3 workouts the past few months I think it can be easy to get complacent at that skiing speed and forget what it’s like to actively accelerate out of our threshold gear. This is a perfect workout to break that habit and can be very productive for distance skiers and sprinters alike.
Session: L3 with fast finishes
Best done on skate or classic rollerskis
Warm Up: perform a pretty standard warm up for L3 intervals but throw in a few 10-15 second speeds at 80 – 90 % max effort as part of the warmup.
20-25 min – easy skiing
5 min L2
5 min w/ 3-4 x 10-15 second speeds building in intensity
Interval:
Find rolling terrain that finishes with a flat section of road. Loops are great or out and back. Ski each interval in a controlled threshold pace (3 mmol, or 3-6 heart beats below lactate threshold) but accelerate into a sprint finish for the last 20 seconds. Work on having a distinct change in pace even after having skied at threshold for the past 6-8 minutes. Focus on good technique during your sprint finish even under fatigue. Take a slightly longer recovery than you would during traditional L3 intervals.
Example:
4-5 x 8 min w/ 20 seconds fast at the end of each interval
3-4 min rest between intervals
Goals:
Log a good 40- 50 minutes of on-time in threshold and also have enough recovery between each interval that the finishing sprint does not compromise the other intervals. It can be easy for the finishing sprint to bump your lactate up into an L4 range, but having slightly longer recovery and keeping the sprint under 20 seconds will help keep preserve the L3 integrity of the workout. Focus on finishing sprint technique and having a distinct gear change.
This sessions is great to do in groups in order to race each other in the last 20 meters. If you have a big group on hand coaches should be mindful to mark out a ‘start zone’ for the final sprint to discourage the group from ramping up the L3 pace throughout the interval. The goal should be to maintain controlled threshold pace unlit the very end of the interval.
