Working Man's Secrets to Success

By introduction I have been a Masters skier for a few decades and like anyone else, very hopeful about the racing season as it unfolds.

During this time, I have been a fulltime father of two very athletic/competitive kids who didn't share my passion for cross country skiing. I also coached youth soccer year round for ten years as well as having this pesky thing called a job. A job, as in wearing a suit and tie everyday to work. It seemed to always get in the way of things especially when business travel cropped up unexpectedly, i.e. Mon/Tues (Seattle) and Wed/ Thursday (Denver) and the Boulder Mountain Tour 32k race on Saturday. Sometimes when this happens just trying to relax is the best thing you can do.I'll refer to "The Jacked Up Old Man" (Duncan Douglas), who is probably one of the best masters skiers in the world, who is also a loving and proud father of 4 and a physician who works odd hours. He knows he has hours of managed chaos and stress and then race time. He focus' on these moments of going "tranquillo" in his mind. Translation, find the time to shut off the noise of the many voices inside your head constantly telling you of all the things you have to do or haven't done. Anyone who knows Duncan knows he has a mind that goes at warp.....and sometimes at warp speed.

Life has a funny way of throwing a knuckleball the best laid out plans for quality training on your favorite ski trail.

Some basic rules I have followed over the years to ensure a good ski racing season and positive winter experience :

1. Skiers are made in the summer, if you haven't put in the time, do not attempt to overtrain on your skis over the holidays as it will leave you pretty flat and possibly sick.
Moderation would be the key.

2. Stay regular, I'm not ready for metamuscle fiber supplements yet, but I know if I can't ski for a few days, I will try and find a spin class for cardio or lift weights for strength. Sometimes this can be more beneficial that just logging k's on ski's. Think of cross training as a good thing.

3. Keep your weekly routine on ski's mixed, i.e. two days for speed/cardio another day for distance/endurance then other days very easy and working on technique. Do not try and mix these work outs together due to time constaints or it is more than likely that you will
leave your best efforts in training and not at the races. I know this as in "been there...."
Sometimes you won't have time to do all of the above, so prioritise which days are going to work for the upcoming week as in is it distance, technique or speed that you are working on this week? Yet due to time you can only pick one.

4. Speaking of technique, many masters skiers always worry about training time and completely overlook efficiancy. Making the ski glide the most efficiant way is always going to make you a faster skier over any distance. I see many masters skiers absolutely killing themselves in race with the heart of a lion yet they have poor technique. It is something that will make them exponentially faster if they would just slow down and get it right first before attempting to ski fast. Once again...."been there...done that..."

5. Watch your weight and diet. At night after maybe you have had a good work out after
a hard day at work, you are famished. Have a big plate of carbo's to eat and I assure you that you will wear it the next day. Carrying it around is like taking a penalty lap in biathlon. Yes I have carried the weight around as well. A wise man named Ian Harvey
once impressed upon me that the correlation of how well you do at the Birkie can often be equated to the size of your butt. I know this also to be true.

Good luck and remember to smile and be thankful to be able to particepate in such a great sport as cross country skiing.

Cheers, Dave