Cross Country Skiing

The number of hours spent training each year is unique to each athlete and should be tailored specifically to their needs. Quality of training is more important than quantity, and it is important to make sure you are properly recovering from your training.
 
Transcript: "This is different every single year. We actually dropped my hours in the Olympic year to help me do kind of a four-year super peak cycle. This year, it will be around 875 hours a year. However, the one thing I will tell, especially young skiers is it really-- the hours that you train is super individual. It will be different for every single athlete. It will probably be different every year of your life. And I think it's really important to make sure that it's quality hours. Don't just chase the number. Don't just chase bigger and bigger hours. Make sure that what you're doing in those hours is right for you and that you recover from it, because it's recovering from the hours of training, that is where the magic is going to happen. And that's where you're actually going to get faster and stronger."

My go-to pre-race meal is bananas, toast, eggs, honey, and NEVERSECOND gels and sports drink.
 
Transcript: "Go-to pre-race meal? Well, in Europe it's whatever you're given, or what you have available. But my go-tos are bananas, maybe a little less ripe than this overripe banana. I like bananas, they settle easily. The other thing I really like is just good old toast. Usually, you can find bread and just about any country we're traveling to. Personally, I know oatmeal is really popular, but for me, that doesn't sit well. And so, I think in the end, it's whatever sits well. And I've found toast, eggs, banana, honey sits super well. And if none of that is working, then I use my NEVERSECOND gels and sports drink to make sure that I'm getting enough calories for the day. But I think, in the end, whatever settles well and makes you feel good before the big race day."

My favorite place to ski is in the Dolomite mountains of Rome, Italy. It has gorgeous groomed trails, rustic huts, and sunny skies. Plus the people are so nice and the food is amazing!
 
Transcript: "My favorite place in the whole world to ski. And this is a hard one because I've gotten to ski in a lot of amazing places. But I would have to say [INAUDIBLE] Rome, Italy remains my favorite. It's up in the Dolomite mountains. It's absolutely gorgeous, you step out the door, and you're on the ski trail. And there are so many kilometers of gorgeous groomed trails. There's all these rustic little huts up in the mountains. So you could pack a little backpack with snacks and ski from one hut to another. I think that's pretty cool. I love that kind of culture. And the fact that in Italy it's often sunny there. And the people are so nice, and the food's amazing. It's honestly quite hard to beat."

In the winter I like to do cross-country skiing, in the spring I enjoy dance classes, and in the summer we do a lot of trail running, gravel biking and swimming. We also roller ski to train for cross-country skiing.
 
Transcript: "This is the super fun part. We get to do so many things. Cross-country skiing because it's so aerobic, anything that gets your heart rate going really works as great cross training. So in the spring, I do a lot of dance classes, which I very much enjoy. In the summer we do a ton of trail running. We also do a lot of gravel biking, sometimes swimming when it's really hot. And of course, a lot of roller skiing to train for cross-country skiing in the summer."

Roller skis don't have brakes, so the best way to stop is by stepping or snow plowing. However, it's important to know the terrain and hills you are skating on, so that you can safely come to a stop.
 
Transcript: "Yeah. So roller skis don't have brakes which is the one huge drawback to them. So the big thing is you can kind of Step so you can stop with one leg as your skis go in and the stuff with the other legs. You're kind of doing this weird little chicken waffle side to side that kind of slow you down. You can also try to snow plow which is where you put your skis in words like the letter a and you really push hard against the outside of the ski that will slow you down. But if Going down a really fast. He'll you won't be able to stop at that rate of speed. So it is best to know where your roller skating and make sure that you're familiar with the hills and the terrain. And that you can roll to a stop that you're not going down a really Steep Hill into a stop sign. For example."

Yes we track our training and Recovery with data. We use it to calibrate how the athletes feel they implemented training with what the data tells us, to monitor current training loads, and to more accurately plan future training loads. We also look at recovery parameters like MSSD data and a standard deviation of the seven-day moving average to assess the athlete's readiness.
 
Transcript: "Brett asks, do you track your training and Recovery with data and if so what do you do with it? Good morning, Brett. Yes we've used first be to collect our training and Recovery data for the past 15 years and in particular, in the last five years or so. The science has been very clear in those athletes, who tracked, the training, loads and Recovery with HRV data tend to perform better than those who have just used a plan program. We use the data to calibrate how the athletes feel they implemented training with what the training data tells us particularly for Less experienced athletes. This helps them to learn and dial in the proper training. Intensity to achieve the desired training effect, we use the data to monitor the current training loads and to more accurately plan the future training, loads, Many coaches, use H, km or mileage, to measure the training. None of those metrics. Can accurately describe the total load of training. There are many methods to measure training loads that are used by different software platforms, but they all use some measure of intensity and duration. Then we also look at the recovery parameters. We typically do a three-minute test in the morning and then in assessing the athletes Readiness. We look at the Baseline, are mssd data and a standard deviation of the seven day. Moving average to determine the athletes of adaptability to training and whether adjustments in the program or delay of a hard session need to be addressed"