TMS Blog

Well, it’s on. I have 17 days until the Great Ski Race, and I need to train big time. I’ve put in more than a handful of days on the Nordic slopes this season, but certainly not enough to handle all 30 kilometers and 1,600 vertical feet. Some say, “Oh, you’ll be fine.” Others warn of the course profile: 11 kilometers of steep uphill to start, then down, down, down, and a final uphill push to top it off. I’m a little nervous, considering racing isn’t exactly my style. As a child, I used to hate being chased so much that when my brother would run after me, I’d drop to the ground and cry. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen on March 6.

Anywho, here are some tips I’m gonna follow for my belated training; they’re paraphrased from a Winter 2009-10 Tahoe Quarterly article written by Brad Rassler, who interviewed experts like Ben Grasseschi, then the head coach of the Far West Nordic Ski Team, and Kevin Murnane, general manager of Tahoe Cross Country, where the race kicks off.

Grasseschi recommended a 5-out-of-7-day weekly training regime. This new coat of powder isn’t exactly helping me start, but I suppose it gives me a day to map out my plan of action. I’ll plan to start tomorrow, Thursday, unless it’s still dumping snow.

Days 1 and 3: Long and Slow. I’ll be adding an hour to my anticipated race time, and keeping my workout at a conversation pace.

Day 2: Very Short, Very Hard. After a 15-minute warm-up, I’ll work on sprinting at a “race pace” for 10 minutes at a time, for no longer than 30 minutes of sprinting.

Days 4 and 6: Kinda Long, Kinda Hard. On this day, I’ll plan to skate for 90 minutes with a few bursts of high-intensity skating thrown in.

Day 5: Power Yoga. Now this I can handle!

Day 7: Rest. Ahhh… except that the next day, I’ll start it all again for Week 2.

And let’s say it doesn’t stop snowing, and my training plan is foiled? Here are a few race-day tips from the pros: 1) To start, find your rhythm and don’t worry about passing. Wait until the Fiberboard Freeway to kick it in. 2) Apply the right wax; Tahoe XC has a wax clinic before the race so be on the lookout for it and attend it. 3) Downhill technique is important, too! We’re all so focused on the up that we forget we can make up time on the down.

See you at the Great Ski Race! Do you have any Great Ski Race training tips we missed? I need all the help I can get!

“Holy crap this race was nutty,” wrote Reno resident and frequent Tahoe adventure racer Elaine V. on her Daily Mile update. Thanks to her Garmin Forerunner stats, I was kept in the loop on her Fourth of July Run to the Beach 10k performance, despite being 15 or so miles away on the West Shore. Here’s a look at the 10k race profile she posted on Twitter. Check out that elevation hike starting just before mile 2, ack!

Not only was there runner road kill on the start’s single track, but once battling intense up- and downhill sections, competitors had an uphill, loose sand route to the Kings Beach finish. Tahoe Mountain Sports owner-extraordinaire David Polivy was at the finish line snapping some shots. Congrats to all the winners (2010 race results should be posted online soon), and check Big Blue Adventure’s upcoming events to test your mettle.