Prepping for Races

As I've mentioned in other posts recently, I'm getting set to race the
City of Lakes Loppet on 2/3/08 in Minneapolis. It's my first race in a
long time, and I'm wondering if any RSN readers could offer advice -
either direct from experience or of other resources (books, training
websites, etc.) - regarding good prep for the race (35km freestyle),
especially regarding tapering my training to be sharp on race day (how
to balance distance and intensity training as the race gets closer)
and prerace diet (what we used to call "carbo loading"), etc. I'm not
looking to scorch the race, just to finish decently. Any advice is
appreciated. Thank you.

Christopher

I'm a wave 1 Birkie skier, so no expert, but here's what works for me.

#1. Don't lift weights or do intervals in the 2-3 days before the
race. When I ski, I definitely can notice if I've lifted weights the
day before. My muscles are just drained.

#2. I continue to ski up until the day before the race. Maybe not
always the day before, but defintiely two days prior. If I take too
much time off (three days or more) I don't feel energetic. Bottom
line is; starting about 4 days prior to a big race, all I do is
gentle, light, short workouts.

#3. As far as nutrition, I don't really have any suggestions. I
carbo load, but don't really know if it make a difference.

#4. Don't kill yourself in the first few k's of the race. During
last year's COLL, I started WAY too fast because I thought I was in
better race shape than I was. I had a great summer and fall for
training, and it was my first race of the season. Just was too
overconfident. The first 5-7k of the COLL is pretty tough. It's
quite hilly.

#5. I think races are so much more mental than people realize. Some
people train on their race wax, but I prefer not too. I want to be
warming up for the Birkie/Vasaloppet/etc and realize I have the
fastest wax job of the year. That alone is a HUGE confidence
booster. Knowing I have great skis. Same thing with starting too
fast. If I go too fast and start getting passed by people who are
ultimately faster, it's a blow to my confidence. If I start out
slower, and slowly build up my pace, I start passing people one after
another. Mentally that's awesome for me, knowing I'm only passing
people, and not getting passed. Whatever I can do to keep my mind
thinking I'm doing well!

#6. When I race, I keep telling myself three words. Technique,
rhythm, and momentum.

On Jan 13, 10:57 am, tassava wrote:
As I've mentioned in other posts recently, I'm getting set to race the
City of Lakes Loppet on 2/3/08 in Minneapolis. It's my first race in a
long time, and I'm wondering if any RSN readers could offer advice -
either direct from experience or of other resources (books, training
websites, etc.) - regarding good prep for the race (35km freestyle),
especially regarding tapering my training to be sharp on race day (how
to balance distance and intensity training as the race gets closer)
and prerace diet (what we used to call "carbo loading"), etc. I'm not
looking to scorch the race, just to finish decently. Any advice is
appreciated. Thank you.

Christopher

I'm a "recreational" racer: I race in mostly long-ish races (~50k'ers)
with the goal to finish, have fun and do as well as I can, given the
time and interest I have in training, and my attitude that skiing is a
reacreational, fun sport, not necessarily dedicated to competition.
That's where I'm writing from.

My principles: The week before a signifcant event, I tend to train a
little less, and definitely don't do intensity within 4 or so days
ahead of time. I ski up until the race, doing slow, easy workouts and
use it as an opportunity to concentrate on things such as downhill
technique, RELAXING, and balance and other technique minutae. I often
take the day before off completely, but mainly because I don't train
every day anyway.

Carbo loading: the way I understand it, carbo loading the day or two
before a race does virtually nothing. One should taper training
effort (time and intensity) for several days and maintain the normal
diet. The body will then tend to store as glycogen the carbs that
would have been burned under the normal training, but aren't because
of the taper.

Really concentrate on hydration for at least a couple-three days ahead
of time. Get the body totally soaked, and that takes a while, not
just the morning of the race.

The morning of the race, hydrate a lot up to an hour before the race,
then quit. You'll pee a couple of times, but the bladder should be
reasonably empty at race time. Then, just before starting drink and
then make sure you drink enough during. I've never had a urination
issue doing that, and I drink a lot during race.

Eat a good balanced protein, carb, fat meal about 2-3 hours before
race time. Nutrition during the race is your own call: I tend to eat
a gu-type thing just before the race and then every 45 minutes
during. My 50 k times are pretty slow (3 1/2 - 4 hours) and therefore
I tend to eat more than the fast skiers - I'm out there longer! But
to each his/her own.

A 35 K race shouldn't be hugely taxing in terms of food and drink, but
if you've ever bonked or cramped up, you'd tend to be very careful
(and eat and drink a LOT), like me. Probably too much, but it works.

Race pace: Like the other guy said, if you're goal is not to win the
race, it's MUCH, MUCH more fun to finish strong, and pass people the
last half of the race. This requires really going slow at first: if
you think "hey, I'm really going too slow", it's probably about right.
If you're thinking, "man, I'm feeling like I'm really going fast",
chances are you're getting caught up in the excitement and starting
too fast. Gauge yourself on the second half. I personally take a lot
of pride in (1) not getting passed the last half of the race and (2)
passing a few other people, especially within the last 2 K and (3)
looking good coming in among the crowd at the end 8-).

Good luck, have fun - please report back. I'd like to do COLL
sometime and am curious how it is and how it goes.

On Jan 13, 4:26 pm, Camilo wrote:
On Jan 13, 10:57 am, tassava wrote:

As I've mentioned in other posts recently, I'm getting set to race the
City of Lakes Loppet on 2/3/08 in Minneapolis. It's my first race in a
long time, and I'm wondering if any RSN readers could offer advice -
either direct from experience or of other resources (books, training
websites, etc.) - regarding good prep for the race (35km freestyle),
especially regarding tapering my training to be sharp on race day (how
to balance distance and intensity training as the race gets closer)
and prerace diet (what we used to call "carbo loading"), etc. I'm not
looking to scorch the race, just to finish decently. Any advice is
appreciated. Thank you.

Christopher

I'm a "recreational" racer: I race in mostly long-ish races (~50k'ers)
with the goal to finish, have fun and do as well as I can, given the
time and interest I have in training, and my attitude that skiing is a
reacreational, fun sport, not necessarily dedicated to competition.
That's where I'm writing from.

My principles: The week before a signifcant event, I tend to train a
little less, and definitely don't do intensity within 4 or so days
ahead of time. I ski up until the race, doing slow, easy workouts and
use it as an opportunity to concentrate on things such as downhill
technique, RELAXING, and balance and other technique minutae. I often
take the day before off completely, but mainly because I don't train
every day anyway.

Carbo loading: the way I understand it, carbo loading the day or two
before a race does virtually nothing. One should taper training
effort (time and intensity) for several days and maintain the normal
diet. The body will then tend to store as glycogen the carbs that
would have been burned under the normal training, but aren't because
of the taper.

Really concentrate on hydration for at least a couple-three days ahead
of time. Get the body totally soaked, and that takes a while, not
just the morning of the race.

The morning of the race, hydrate a lot up to an hour before the race,
then quit. You'll pee a couple of times, but the bladder should be
reasonably empty at race time. Then, just before starting drink and
then make sure you drink enough during. I've never had a urination
issue doing that, and I drink a lot during race.

Eat a good balanced protein, carb, fat meal about 2-3 hours before
race time. Nutrition during the race is your own call: I tend to eat
a gu-type thing just before the race and then every 45 minutes
during. My 50 k times are pretty slow (3 1/2 - 4 hours) and therefore
I tend to eat more than the fast skiers - I'm out there longer! But
to each his/her own.

A 35 K race shouldn't be hugely taxing in terms of food and drink, but
if you've ever bonked or cramped up, you'd tend to be very careful
(and eat and drink a LOT), like me. Probably too much, but it works.

Race pace: Like the other guy said, if you're goal is not to win the
race, it's MUCH, MUCH more fun to finish strong, and pass people the
last half of the race. This requires really going slow at first: if
you think "hey, I'm really going too slow", it's probably about right.
If you're thinking, "man, I'm feeling like I'm really going fast",
chances are you're getting caught up in the excitement and starting
too fast. Gauge yourself on the second half. I personally take a lot
of pride in (1) not getting passed the last half of the race and (2)
passing a few other people, especially within the last 2 K and (3)
looking good coming in among the crowd at the end 8-).

Good luck, have fun - please report back. I'd like to do COLL
sometime and am curious how it is and how it goes.

PS: the start slow strategy. I want to add that, in my experience and
opinion, starting slow more than pays off with speed at the end. I
don't think my times are slower because of it, but rather faster.
Again, the penalty for completely dying or bonking can be huge, while
cruising along with plenty of reserves the last 1/2 to 1/3 can really
gain time.

In addition to the other advice, I'd suggest
- get there in plenty of time to allow a warm up. The race starts up
the front hill and has decent climbs the first several K, which is not
the way to warm up for most of us mortals. You can also keep warm in
the chalet pretty much right up to your wave start time, along with
everyone else
- there will be feeds on the course; check the map
- often the COLL is really cold, so prepare for that possibility well in
advance
- the uphills on the middle part of the course are mostly midwestern
variety quick and steep, so you might want to practice some of those
- the latter part of the course is on the lakes, so plan on a lot of V2
and open field

tassava wrote:

As I've mentioned in other posts recently, I'm getting set to race the
City of Lakes Loppet on 2/3/08 in Minneapolis. It's my first race in a
long time, and I'm wondering if any RSN readers could offer advice -
either direct from experience or of other resources (books, training
websites, etc.) - regarding good prep for the race (35km freestyle),
especially regarding tapering my training to be sharp on race day (how
to balance distance and intensity training as the race gets closer)
and prerace diet (what we used to call "carbo loading"), etc. I'm not
looking to scorch the race, just to finish decently. Any advice is
appreciated. Thank you.

Christopher

Christopher,

I've come to the conclusion that tapering for skiing doesn't work for
me. I just get flat. If you have not been racing, I wouldn't worry
about tapering. You may just de-condition. I think tapering really
depends on you having periods in your training, and taking the last
periodization to a higher level, resting, and then racing. I would
just try to feel good on race day. My normal "taper" for the Birkie is
to take COLL weekend off. (A better weekend for my taper would be
Mora, but I really like that race.) It seems it takes me a while to
get rolling again after a break, so I usually race the weekend before
the Birkie also and do intervals the week of the Birkie. This is not
what people would normally call a taper (such as cutting all forms of
training in half.)

If you have not raced this year, probably the best thing you can do is
race this weekend. Yeah, it'll be cold, but racing really improves
speed and recovery from hard efforts. It seems you can't get that
workout without strapping on a number. Even with intervals in my
training, it seems my third race is about the time I start feeling
good.

All the stuff others have said makes sense, but I've broken most of
those rules on race day and had a good race. The last COLL I raced, I
got a bad start, went like hell for 5 km (chasing like a mad man),
caught a good group, and was constantly yo-yo-ing off the back. Peter
kept looking back thinking I was dropped and the chasing killed me,
but beating me up seemed to hurt the other guys more. On the last
lake, guys in the pack started dieing and I was able to easlier go by
half the pack at the finish.

-I like to do some skiing with a few pickups the day before a race so
I'm loose on race day. Usually two days prior is my rest day.
-Carbo loading works when you fast (I believe it's) because you're
inducing the fat burning system. Without a fast, just make sure you're
well fed starting a couple days before the race. If you pigout, you
may gain weight.
-Go ahead and carry a water bottle. When you hit the lake, you can
drink on the golf course and lakes and won't have to stop at the food
stations.
-There's quite a few steep hills in the middle of the race. You may
want to ski those before race day.

Jay

I"ve found my best marathons and long races come when I race a marathon the
weekend before, then during the week the only day I ski is Wednesday ( nice
long easy 1.5-2 hours ) with the other days totally off !!

JKal.

"Bjorn A. Payne Diaz" wrote in message
...
Christopher,

I've come to the conclusion that tapering for skiing doesn't work for
me. I just get flat. If you have not been racing, I wouldn't worry
about tapering. You may just de-condition. I think tapering really
depends on you having periods in your training, and taking the last
periodization to a higher level, resting, and then racing. I would
just try to feel good on race day. My normal "taper" for the Birkie is
to take COLL weekend off. (A better weekend for my taper would be
Mora, but I really like that race.) It seems it takes me a while to
get rolling again after a break, so I usually race the weekend before
the Birkie also and do intervals the week of the Birkie. This is not
what people would normally call a taper (such as cutting all forms of
training in half.)

If you have not raced this year, probably the best thing you can do is
race this weekend. Yeah, it'll be cold, but racing really improves
speed and recovery from hard efforts. It seems you can't get that
workout without strapping on a number. Even with intervals in my
training, it seems my third race is about the time I start feeling
good.

All the stuff others have said makes sense, but I've broken most of
those rules on race day and had a good race. The last COLL I raced, I
got a bad start, went like hell for 5 km (chasing like a mad man),
caught a good group, and was constantly yo-yo-ing off the back. Peter
kept looking back thinking I was dropped and the chasing killed me,
but beating me up seemed to hurt the other guys more. On the last
lake, guys in the pack started dieing and I was able to easlier go by
half the pack at the finish.

-I like to do some skiing with a few pickups the day before a race so
I'm loose on race day. Usually two days prior is my rest day.
-Carbo loading works when you fast (I believe it's) because you're
inducing the fat burning system. Without a fast, just make sure you're
well fed starting a couple days before the race. If you pigout, you
may gain weight.
-Go ahead and carry a water bottle. When you hit the lake, you can
drink on the golf course and lakes and won't have to stop at the food
stations.
-There's quite a few steep hills in the middle of the race. You may
want to ski those before race day.

Jay

On Jan 14, 7:14*pm, "32 degrees" wrote:
I"ve found my best marathons and long races come when I race a marathon the
weekend before, then during the week the only day I ski is Wednesday ( nice
long easy 1.5-2 hours ) with the other days totally off !!

JKal.

"Bjorn A. Payne Diaz" wrote in ...

Christopher,

I've come to the conclusion that tapering for skiing doesn't work for
me. I just get flat. If you have not been racing, I wouldn't worry
about tapering. You may just de-condition. I think tapering really
depends on you having periods in your training, and taking the last
periodization to a higher level, resting, and then racing. I would
just try to feel good on race day. My normal "taper" for the Birkie is
to take COLL weekend off. (A better weekend for my taper would be
Mora, but I really like that race.) It seems it takes me a while to
get rolling again after a break, so I usually race the weekend before
the Birkie also and do intervals the week of the Birkie. This is not
what people would normally call a taper (such as cutting all forms of
training in half.)

If you have not raced this year, probably the best thing you can do is
race this weekend. Yeah, it'll be cold, but racing really improves
speed and recovery from hard efforts. It seems you can't get that
workout without strapping on a number. Even with intervals in my
training, it seems my third race is about the time I start feeling
good.

All the stuff others have said makes sense, but I've broken most of
those rules on race day and had a good race. The last COLL I raced, I
got a bad start, went like hell for 5 km (chasing like a mad man),
caught a good group, and was constantly yo-yo-ing off the back. Peter
kept looking back thinking I was dropped and the chasing killed me,
but beating me up seemed to hurt the other guys more. On the last
lake, guys in the pack started dieing and I was able to easlier go by
half the pack at the finish.

-I like to do some skiing with a few pickups the day before a race so
I'm loose on race day. Usually two days prior is my rest day.
-Carbo loading works when you fast (I believe it's) because you're
inducing the fat burning system. Without a fast, just make sure you're
well fed starting a couple days before the race. If you pigout, you
may gain weight.
-Go ahead and carry a water bottle. When you hit the lake, you can
drink on the golf course and lakes and won't have to stop at the food
stations.
-There's quite a few steep hills in the middle of the race. You may
want to ski those before race day.

Jay


I'd add my voice to those who are encouraging you to get a race in
before COLL. I love this race but as others have said it can be pretty
intense and challenging early on. It is hard to stay under control
with the initial climb, subsequent hills and the buzz of a big event.
If you are a Twin Cities skier there are at least three good races the
weekend before COLL that will have much smaller fields and be 8-13K
shorter. You can get used a mass start again, try out your feeding
plans and get a sense of the pace that you want or can sustain. On
Saturday the 25th the 25K Governors Cup in Little Falls( about 2 hrs
west). This is hilly course with a flat 2-3K at the start and finish.
Also on Saturday there is a 10K/20K at the Balsam Branch Trails
between St. Croix Falls and Amery, WI. about 10-15 minutes past
Trollhaugen. This is one of my favorite trail systems, decent climbs
and rolling trails, some great skiable S turns coming down. On Sunday
The Marine on the St. Croix race at William O'Brien Sate Park is
scheduled. I think this is a 12.5/25K classic or skate. While I have
not been out there this year the grooming at this state park has been
getting rave reviews. This course might provide a little more flat
skiing than the other two but there are good hills in the park. Any of
these three races would provide you with good preparation as would the
Pepsi.

John OC

It's fun to read other people's pre-race rituals and race strategies.
Here are some of mine.

I also tend to start too fast. Even when I know I'm going too fast, I
have a hard time pulling myself back to a pace I can maintain. It's
really problematic in long races, where it's advantageous to quickly
find a group of people skiing at your pace. I have many stories of
starting the 58K Vasaloppet too fast and having to drop back from my
group at 15K. At that point I'm burned out and alone, destined to ski
the bulk of the race with no company and no drafting, as people I can
ski with zoom by me.

To help rein in my itchy skis, I have learned to trust my heart rate
monitor. If I'm more than 5bpm above my AT early in the race, skiing
on flat terrain, then I need to slow down. Following this rule has
made long races much less painful, much more enjoyable, and my times
are better too.

I read an article a while ago about race start strategies and the
importance of getting all of your energy systems engaged, especially
aerobic systems. If you start too fast, your body will jump into
anerobic mode which cannot be sustained. At that point it's very hard
to get your aerobic system functioning at capacity. Adequate race
warm-up can help with this too.

I try to have an oatmeal breakfast on race day, ideally a couple of
hours before the race. In addition to having good nutritional value,
this helps loosen things up so I'm carrying a load of **** up those
hills. Take note of the importance of eating will before race
start!

The COLL is a fun race. I don't know of a hill profile posted
anywhere, but it's probably out there in cyberspace. If not, it's
hilly, then flat, then hilly, then flat. The second hilly portion is
the real challenge. Once you get on the lakes, it's a long V2 to the
finish.

Let me second that and say "Thank you!" to everyone who's posted. I've
garnered a lot of knowledge about how to prep for the COLL (and other
races), and pretty thoroughly revised my tapering plans for the race.
I really appreciate the advice! If you see me at the race, I'll be the
guy going really really slow for the first half. (As a matter of fact,
I've lucked into a little, low-key race here in Northfield, MN, this
weekend - a 3-person classical relay that should be good for some
intensity work.)

Christopher