The Craftsbury Marathon is one of Vermont’s most grueling Nordic ski races on some of Vermont’s best trails. For first-timers, training for the race can be daunting. While it’s easy to search the Web for information on training for a running marathon, information on ski marathon training remains somewhat elusive.
All of us toying with the idea of skiing Craftsbury are lucky that long-time expert skier Dr. Peter Harris of Newport is willing to help. Harris has skied 16 Craftsbury Marathons and won his age group a few of those times. “The race is one of the finest ski marathons in the nation,” Harris says. “It is a hilly, sometimes wild ride of a course that is not to be taken lightly!”
Whether you’re a seasoned racer or just getting started with Nordic racing, Harris has a training plan that will give you what you need to complete the marathon: endurance, strength, and mental toughness. Of course, he cautions, this plan is for someone who is in shape, and has been running, biking, and hiking throughout the summer and fall. If you only start training now, you may be too late. But, there’s always next year (start now!).
Here’s an overview of Harris’s training plan and a week-by-week training schedule, starting with the first week in November and going right up to the race on January 31, 2009. The schedule is
specifically for the 50-kilometer distance, but you can still use it for the 25-kilometer race, and if you follow it carefully you’ll feel really great if you choose to do the more relaxed 25-kilometer tour.
ENDURANCE
For endurance, you will do a combination of distance and interval workouts. Unlike a running marathon, in which your heart rate stays a constant 120-140 beats per minute, in a ski marathon, with a succession of hills, you will alternate between a sub-max heart rate and a recovery heart rate, thus you will need intervals to be ready to work and recover. The distance workouts should be done at an easy, conversational pace. On interval days, run or ski easy for 20 minutes to warm up, then do the prescribed intervals hard, so that you are completely breathless at the top, then recover to where you breathe more easily before starting the repeat.
STRENGTH
The main strength you need is core (abs) and double-poling muscles, mostly lats and triceps. Craftsbury has a lot of double poling in, and you need to be ready to push, over and over. For abs, don’t just do the standard 50-100 crunches, find an abs workout online that takes 10 to 15 minutes and leaves you groaning in the fetal position. That will make a difference. For double poling, you can double pole on roller skis (best) or at the gym you can do a succession of dips and lat pull-downs. Do some, then do some more; make sure you feel it. Do either the double poling or gym work two to three times a week.
MENTAL TOUGHNESS
Your mindset is a key component in a race like the Craftsbury Marathon. When you are climbing Ruthie’s Run at 32 kilometers and your body is screaming to give it up, you need the toughness to keep kicking and gliding. Here’s how to train this:
First, when you are training, have the toughness to do the extra loop. Don’t quit at one hour, 45 minutes if the workout calls for two hours.
Second, train in all conditions. Raining and sleeting? Get out there. Dark? Go work it.
Third, ski some races. There are four great classic races leading up to the marathon. Go ski at least two of them. Get your race face on. You can get information at www.nensa.net.
And last, visualize. Imagine yourself feeling strong on the final hills, catching and passing your closest competitors. Every time you train, picture it.
Obviously the best training is on snow, skiing classic, not freestyle, since the marathon is a classic event. If the conditions are terrible and all you can do is skate ski, then do it. If there is no snow, then roller ski. No roller skis? Run. Run the treadmill if you need to. Hate running? Then mountain bike.
THE SCHEDULE
Here is what you need to do week by week to be in your best ski marathon shape. Each week, do three abs workouts and two double pole arm workouts (three sets of max rep dips, max rep lat pull downs, or roller board). At a minimum, there is one distance workout a week and one interval workout a week. Pre-season, do the distance on roller skis (or run, or mountain bike, not road bike) and do the intervals as hill repeats running, preferably with poles. Fill in the rest of the week with shorter, easier workouts of your choosing, but not more than six days total a week. If you can only find time for the prescribed distance and intervals, that is fine.
WEEK #1, NOV. 1-8
Register for the Marathon! It is cheaper now, and it might fill up!
Distance: One hour, 15 minute easy run, roller ski, or mountain bike.
Intervals: Five, two-minute hill repeats on foot. You can do these on the treadmill: max incline, six-mile-an-hour pace for two minutes, then walk at four miles an hour for two minutes rest. Adjust your speed if needed. Don’t forget your strength workouts!
WEEK #2, NOV. 8-15
Distance: One hour, 45 minutes.
Intervals: Four at two minutes, with a three-minute interval sandwiched in the middle.
WEEK #3, NOV. 15-22
Distance: One hour, 45 minutes. Don’t be ashamed to walk some if you need to.
Intervals: Same as last week. Bring on the strength workouts!
WEEK #4, NOV. 22-29
Enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner, but first, do a distance workout of two hours.
Intervals: Hill repeats—three at two minutes and two at three minutes. Don’t forget strength!
WEEK #5, NOV. 29-DEC. 6
Distance: Two hours again. If it is truly icy and nasty out, go to the gym and do 30 minutes each on the treadmill, elliptical, stationery bike, and stair climber.
Intervals: Two minutes, two minutes, three minutes, four minutes, two minutes.
WEEK #6, DEC. 6-13
Start looking for snow. Get up to Mount St. Anne in Quebec if need be.
Distance: A long, easy ski of two-and-a-half to three hours. Repeat another long ski of two hours.
Intervals: None, but keep doing strength.
WEEK #7, DEC. 13-20
Distance: Two long skis of two hours each.
Intervals: One short ski interval workout on varied terrain, five at one minute each.
WEEK #8, DEC. 20-27
Christmas vacation! Good time for a couple of long skis of two hours each. No intervals. (Thank you, Santa Claus.)
WEEK #9, DEC. 27-JAN. 3
Now you really need to bring it on!
Distance: One long ski of two-and-a-half hours.
Intervals: Five by three minutes on varied terrain. Keep doing strength!
WEEK #10, JAN. 3-10
Distance: Long ski of two-and-a-half hours.
Intervals: Five by three minutes of steady climbs (hill repeats). Heart rate should be maxed at
the top.
Jan. 4: Ski the Craftsbury Classic! Keep doing strength.
Jan. 10: Ski the Bogburn race. It is the most fun race in New England!
WEEK #11, JAN. 10-17
Since you just did the Bogburn race, take Monday and Tuesday completely off. This is your last week of arm exercises for strength. Try to squeeze in a couple of short-distance skis.
Distance: One three-hour ski. Take it easy and enjoy the scenery!
Intervals: Do four brief, one-minute hill repeats.
WEEK #12, JAN. 17-24
Distance: One two-hour ski and a couple of shorter, easier skis.
Intervals: None! Keep doing abs, but no arm
workouts.
Jan. 19: Race the Geschmossel at Bretton Woods.
WEEK #13, JAN. 24-31
No later than Tuesday, do a 5K to 10K ski at race pace ski. If you are in great shape and can recover well, ski the White Mountain Classic 30K in Jackson, NH (if you do that, skip the race pace workout). Eat well, with plenty of carbohydrates all week. Stay well hydrated. No skiing on Thursday. Ski easy on Friday and test some wax. No strength workouts this week.
JAN. 31
Ride to the start of the Craftsbury Marathon with your game face on, knowing that you are in the best skiing shape of your life. Have a good one, and good luck!
Sky Barsch is Vermont Sports’ Reader Athlete editor and is training for the Craftsbury 25K tour, mostly for the food they serve up along the trail. She can be reached through her website, www.skybarsch.com.
Peter Harris is a primary care physician practicing in Newport, VT. He has been an active Nordic skier for 40 years and still competes in Masters events. He is the co-founder and president of the Memphremagog Ski Touring Foundation.
- Login or register to post comments
- 4952 reads
- send to friend
User Comments
Craftsbury Training Plan
Thanks for the article on the Craftsbury training plan. After just a month, I'm feeling stronger already and I'm getting psyched-up for the race. Thanks again and here's to some fresh new snow!