The third week of training went fairly well with only a conditions-induced hiccup buying me an extra day off on Thursday. I also tested my dedication, forgoing the office Christmas party for training late into the evening on Friday night. I found myself doing two laps up Old Pass Road after a late night at work on a gorgeous night with lots of fresh pow. I was missing great food and company but after Thursday's big melt off and really crappy skiing conditions which had me turning for home after 10 minutes, I did not feel like I could afford to miss another training day. It was actually pretty satisfying skiing down the final run by headlamp through untracked snow and getting to the car at 10:30 pm. I was pretty sure no one else was training then.
I wanted to get some bigger days on the weekend but ended up getting more average 5-6,000 feet. One day my partner got blisters and decided a second lap on Wimpy's was a bad idea and Sunday I simply got a late start due to some work issues and the conditions got crappy with some warm temps. I also struggle with the need to go longer. I mean, our races are three hours max so why train six? It's fun to get 10K vertical but it is not necessarily intelligent training time spent. The increased fatigue carries over into the following week and may impact quality training during interval sessions. What's more important here? With the race looming just weeks away I'm going to keep my eye on the prize and save the longer days for after the event. For now, there is really no need to ski longer than 4-5 hours getting near the 8,000 vertical feet I'll see at Nationals in January.
Monday off
Tuesday ski Snow King, VO2 max intervals - 3 x 5 minutes, HARD! 2 hours, 3,000 ft., then weights, 1 hour, front squat 205, split squat 135, plyo jumps
Wednesday ski Snow King, easy recovery, 2:20, 3,600 ft.
Thursday off
Friday ski Old Pass Road, 2 laps, 1 lap tempo, 1 lap easy, 2:25, 4,000 ft.
Saturday ski Wimpy's, sub-threshold, sustained, 1.5 laps, 3:15, 5,000 ft.
Sunday ski Mt. Taylor, 2 laps, easy, 3:20, 5,900 ft. then weights, 45 min., dead lift 325, split squats 135, 3 x 30 rep squat sets with 135
Totals 15 hours, 21,500 ft.
Overall, it was a good week. I skied deep pow on Wimpy's Saturday on race gear. Pretty entertaining. It's really not bad as long as you don't have to cross too many tracks. Definitely puts the burn on the quads which is great prep for racing. Being on super light also allows you to be super annoying on the skin track. Even if you try to be pretty chill about it like I do, people are inevitably irritated about the speed with which you catch and pass them. I'm not sure if they have the wits about them to see the ridiculously little skis I'm on as I go by. It's funny how irritated people get. Not sure what that's about. - Brian