March Intervals: L3 bump
Training can look different for athletes this time of year depending on how much racing and individual has done. For a skier who has incorporated a substantial taper into their training in order to race a big marathon or a big championship the first thing we need to do is rest up for a few days. This can seem strange to rest after having not trained very much over the past few weeks, but we can’t disregard the stresses of racing. Sometimes its best just to take a few easy days before jumping back into training.
For those of us who have tapered for an important week of racing and still have several weeks of racing left in the season, a great interval day to plan is what I call an L3 bump session.
Most of the interval training we have done during our peaking phase was a combination of L3 and L4 training without a lot of sustained ‘on time’ in either zone. When you think about it race days are often the same way with a combination of L3 during our warm up and a mix of L3, L4B, and L4 during our race with our heart rate bouncing all over the place.
This is why it can be a good idea to mix back in some very controlled threshold training after a rest period. This will help us prolong our racing fitness through the spring races.
Session:
4-5 x 7 minutes controlled threshold L3
3 minutes rest between intervals
Warm Up:
20 minutes easy skiing
5 minutes L2
5 minutes skiing with x4 20 second accelerations
Intervals:
This session should feel familiar to many of the L3 session done throughout the summer. Nothing fancy, try to ease into each interval and keep the heart rate and pace consistent and below anaerobic threshold. Find rolling terrain and focus on technique and transitions.
Goals:
If we think of our fitness like a pyramid, L1 and threshold making up the base with L4 and speed at the top, sometimes we need to check back in with the bottom of our pyramid. This session is designed to give us a small efficiency ‘bump’ to the bottom of our pyramid so we can sustain several more weeks of racing without toppling over:)
For skiers who have been doing a lot of racing returning to a controlled L3 pace can feel quite slow and sometimes it can be tough to hold back the pace. Try to force yourself to ski controlled and efficient.
Lactate goal: 3-5 mmol
