UVM Journal: Intro by Zigs

by Chris Ziegler
October 6, 2005

Welcome to a new section of skinnyski.com, a weekly article on skiing, life, and the University of Vermont ski team.  Eric Carter and I, Chris Ziegler, will be writing each week, about anything that may be of interest to skiers, and giving updates on the Catamount ski team. 

Here at UVM, the ski team is in their fifth week of team practice.  We have been doing strength training, rollerskiing, bounding, and running.  All essentials of the fall training regimen.   Our team has been traveling away from campus for most all workouts, with the exception of strength workouts, which we do here in the varsity gym.  We have been bounding at a loop over in the UVM owned Jericho Research Forest, rollerskiing at the Jericho Ethan Allen Biathlon range, and a road near Bolton Valley Ski Resort.  We have done a couple of long run/ski walks, one at Mt. Hunger and one by Bolton and Cotton Brook. 

Since it is now October, and the leaves are starting to come down, (it is still quite green in Vermont, but I heard that the leaves have turned quite a bit already in the Minnesota) it is time to start thinking about snow and dusting off the ‘ol skis once again.  After all we could be seeing a little white in little more than a month, depending on how well the snow gods will favor us this year.  Getting into a skiing mindset now, will help you later on in the winter. Many of you are way ahead of the game here, but I am sure there are some that are still in cycling, running, swimming or whatever modes.  It is time to start looking at some race schedules, set some goals, make a plan, and start ski training.  

One of the first things to do when thinking about the upcoming ski season is find the races or events that you would like to participate in.  Maybe it’s the Birkie, Noquemanon, City of Lakes, or some other race; now is the time to plan. For many of the bigger races, registering now may save you some cash, and may put a little bit more commitment into your training.

Next, you want to have some sort of a purpose for the year, some goals that will get you get you out of bed and onto the trails at 6 am in 20 below weather.  Goals are an absolute necessity for anyone who wants success in skiing, they are the driving force behind all the training and planning.  Pick a race or couple of races that are most important to you or your team, and set a goal for those races.  For me this year, it is to ski on the carnival team, and establish myself as a collegiate skier.   Next, establish some baby steps to help guide you through the season to the big race.  Having a way to measure your training progress throughout the year is key, and that is the purpose of these baby goals.  Here, we have had a number of time trials, one at the beginning of the season as a tryout for the team, and this week, a 10k skate rollerski time trial at Jericho.  I use this as one of my baby step tests.  It helps me compare myself to my teammates, and get a feel for where I am at on the team.  It should be fun.  Look out Anders.

Once the races and goals are established for yourself, start formulating a training plan that at least gives your training some sort of a rhythm.  Maybe your not into being overly structured, very understandable considering some people’s overly busy schedules, but having a plan of some sort and sticking to that plan will help yield great results.  Personally, I’ve had a seasonal training plan each year for the ski season for three years now, with the help of my good friend Jay Richards, and having that really guided me to success.  First of all, it is essential to have a weekly volume plan for the season, to know how much training each week.  Then, to take it to the next level, plan out specific types of workouts, such as base, lactate threshold workouts, hill intervals, and others.  

With these types of workouts, intensity is important.  A heart rate monitor is the best device to measure intensity on a daily basis, but perceived level of exertion, as a simpler technique, is still better than just going how you feel everyday.  Most skiers on the team here use HRM’s everyday, but we also do blood lactate testing at least once a week.  That testing has really helped me know where my lactate threshold is, and base my heart rate zones off of the lactate readings.

The last step is to actually get out and train.  Everyone is in his or her own unique situation right now.  One group I know well is high school skiers.  Many high school skiers are probably running cross-country, and if you are, good for you, I did the same.  So keep focused on that, but if you want a leg up on the competition, start doing some strength workouts on your own, and maybe squeeze in a little bit of a rollerskiing on a weekend.  For some of the other skiers out there, get out rollerskiing.  Long, base intensity double poling is a great way to start out, for those of you who have not been on the rollerskis in a while.  Hill bounding is also a great workout, which I was introduced to when I got out here.  So for those of you who don’t know what bounding is, like I didn’t, find a ski buddy that knows how to bound, and have them give you a lesson.  There are many different levels of focus right now on skiing right now from person to person, but the basic idea is to get out training!

If you take anything from this article, remember, races, goals, plan, and train.  I hope this will help some of you get a jump of what might be your best season ever.  Do what it takes to get out there and train, find a buddy, buy an ipod, or trick yourself into thinking that you are just out to take a nice, long tour of the fall colors.  So go have some fun!  And in the words of my friend Kip, “peace out.”