2020 Marathon Training Tips #4 - 1/13/2020

from Caitlin & Adam of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project

This winter, Craftsbury Green Racing Project athletes Caitlin Patterson and Adam Martin are offering weekly guidance via an email newsletter, to help you prepare for the Craftsbury Marathon or any other ski marathon. We (Caitlin & Adam) hope that this will be useful for those training for their first ski race as well as veterans of many previous marathons. Click here to subscribe to the newsletter.

Each week, we will explain a suggested workout and a technique tip that we feel is important to think about. While this newsletter will not constitute a full training plan, we hope that you can incorporate these suggestions into your preparation in order to arrive at the start line with more confidence in your efficiency and fitness!

The Workout: Specific Strength

Warm up: Easy ski 15-20 minutes, skate or classic. After this easy ski, stop in a stadium or in a wide spot of the trail where it is firm enough to stand. Take off your skis and poles and do some mobilization exercises, such as the sample routine below, to ensure that your muscles are warm and ready for repetitions.

Mobilization routine:

10 lunges with each leg

10 deep squats

10-20 shoulder rotations with pole (Grab a ski pole with both hands, spaced greater than shoulder width apart. Bring pole to hips, then raise it overhead and repeat this motion 10 times. Or, bring one arm high, the other arm low, and rotate the pole around your body in a way that feels comfortable and mobilizing to the shoulder joints.)

10 jumping jacks

10 torso rotations (With feet firmly planted and arms out to side, slowly rotate torso and head to one direction as far as is comfortable, then switch to other direction)

Workout: 45-60 minutes of double poling only.

Recommended terrain - moderate and rolling, but including notable hills to provide a challenge.

Recommended gear - skate skis and classic poles, but you could use any combination of gear. You may want to consider skate poles if your target marathon is a skate event.

Make sure to keep your core engaged, keep your arms tracking forward and back, and return to a full upright position after each double pole throughout your workout. This workout should be muscularly taxing, and it may require you dip into some Level 3 (moderately hard) skiing in order to get up hills; however it should not be completed at what feels like an intense pace. Focus on slow and steady, smooth motions to keep going without stopping and with good technique for the whole workout segment, if that’s possible for you.

Cool down: Easy ski 30 minutes. If your arms are really tired after the double pole, consider doing several minutes of legs-only skiing while you let them recover, but make sure to do some full-body skiing as well to re-coordinate the movements.

Purpose: Build ski specific strength in the upper body through repetitive motions. Challenge yourself by double poling up some large hills, so that in your chosen marathon, the hills won’t seem so bad when you’re able to use arms and legs both. For both skate and classic skiers, double poling workouts are great to throw into your repertoire, potentially as often as once a week. Double poling builds upper body strength, so that your upper body is more prepared for the constant output required by a long marathon event.

Caitlin Patterson (#102) double poles at the front of a train of women during the 20k Mass Start classic at US Nationals in Houghton, MI. Photo: Reese Brown

Technique Tip: Pole Timing

Try jumping forward while swinging your arms downward or sprinting while moving each arm forward with the same leg. It feels awkward and inefficient, doesn't it? Unlike these natural movements, the timing in cross-country skiing, especially at first, can benefit from conscious direction.

Consider these pole timing cues within each skiing technique.

Striding: Plant your pole at the same time or slightly before you kick with the opposite foot.

Double Poling: Try planting your poles earlier than you ordinarily do. Aim for the feeling that you are catching your body weight on your poles, and try to keep your poles under your body weight through the poling movement.

V1: Plant both of your poles at the same time or slightly before you set your forward leg on the snow.

V2: The same cues for double poling also apply here. In addition, try planting your poles when you begin pushing with one of your legs.

The following drill allows you to practice proper double pole and V2 timing before you begin skiing. Find a space where you are free to step forward. Begin by swinging your arms forward until you are off balance. Now try to initiate a mock poling movement before you take a step forward. Once you understand the correct feeling, see if you can replicate the timing on skis.

In these pictures, Adam demonstrates the drill with a light medicine ball. If you want to use a ball to help imitate the poling phase, choose something that isn’t bouncy, so that it doesn’t rebound and hit you.

Your Authors

Caitlin Patterson is a member of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project elite team and the US Ski Team. She is a 9-time US National Champion, a 2018 Olympian and a 2019 World Championship team member. Caitlin considers herself a distance specialist, racing primarily 5k to 30k events, but loves the high-paced action of sprint heats too.

Adam Martin is in his third year training and racing with the Craftsbury Green Racing Project. He has started 8 World Cups and raced in the 2019 World Championships. Last year Adam won the freestyle Craftsbury Marathon. He is supported by Fischer skis and boots and Swix poles.

The Green Racing Project is an elite team of post-collegiate athletes who train and live in Craftsbury, Vermont. Their athletic dreams are supported by the Craftsbury Outdoor Center and Concept 2. In return for this support, the athletes engage in professional development by working on a variety of projects at the Outdoor Center.

Questions or Feedback?

Send feedback about this newsletter, or requests for future content, to caitlinpattersonskier@gmail.com. While we can't promise to respond to every request, we'd love to hear what topics are most interesting and write content that will help you become more comfortable on skis!