Race Resources

Racing and Training Resources

These are a collection of articles from over the years with lots of good advice on training and racing.






Apres-ski practice yoga

If you are unfamiliar with yoga or yoga postures, go to a yoga class. You can also check the database at Yoga Journal for instruction on how to do a particular pose.

Many skiers find your hip flexors, adductors and quads are a little tight. Try doing some low lunges (knee on the mat), Warrior I, Warrior II, and Bound Angle.

Another good resource are yoga videos online. I recommend checking out these free videos by Sage Rountree (I studied with her – she specializes in Yoga for Athletes).

Happy Skiing!

Tamsin Douglas


Foam Rollers

Foam rolling is a great way to increase range of motion both before and after training. There is also evidence that it helps with recovery. See the articles below for more information.

Foam rollers aid workouts?
This is how we roll

Another benefit of the roller is that you can roll out your muscles at home after practices on inclement nights.

Foam rollers – what size?

Foam rollers come in different sizes and even travel versions. I own three – a full-length foam version, a trigger point version and a handy travel size one. The travel ones are more portable and are usually hollow so you can stuff them with things like socks so they don’t take up much room in your luggage.

If you buy a large one, you may want to get some yoga mat straps to carry it sling-style.
XCCM SHOP
Where can you buy them?

Pretty much every outdoor store sells them MEC, Bushtukahm, Fitness Depot and the Running Room. Prices range from $25 to $45. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, you can even buy a foam cylinder from a craft store like Michael’s.

Natalya


Summer Ski Storage

Eventually – numerous weeks from now, as I write this – the ski season will end. But before you jump on your bike or kayak or into the pool, or on to your running shoes, spend a little quality time with your friends who have served you so well this winter. They will thank you for it.

Skis need to be thoroughly cleaned – both kick and glide zones. Use a scraper to get as much of that wax or klister off the kick zone and then use wax remover (this is the only time I use that stuff all year) and then polish with fiberlene.

The glide zones should be cleaned by “hot waxing” and then aggressively brushing them (I use a steel brush). Now they are clean. Melt in a soft wax, attach them with ski ties (do NOT compress and bind them at the camber), give them one last hug and store them somewhere cool and dry.

I like to stuff my boots with scrunched up newspaper to keep them dry and to hold their shape. They, too, need to be stored somewhere cool and dry.

While you are at it, maybe this is the time to sharpen and clean your scrapers (using wax remover) and cleaning your brushes (with a shop vacuum ideally, or a regular one), maybe even go through your wax box and get rid of that dried up klister or that gummy can of red touring wax you know you will never use again.

No doubt there is more information on line and many of you will have your own routines, but the main point is to clean your equipment and prevent your ski bases from oxidizing or drying out by keeping the pores filled with wax.

Brian Ray


What to do the week before a race

This was originally posted on January 15, 2013 by Natalya

Are you planning on racing this weekend? If yes, you need to modify your training program somewhat.

You last day of intensity should be on Tuesday if your first race is on Saturday. Wednesday can be an easy day or moderate day. Two days before you first race, e.g. Thursday, take the day off from training (no strength either) and get ready for the race (prepare the clothing you will need, your race bag, what race food/drink you will need, clean your skis and glide wax them). Get a good night’s sleep two days before the race, because you will probably be nervous and getting ready the night before and won’t sleep as well. On the day before the race, you can go for a short ski (e.g. 30 min) and do some tune-up sprints 3-5 x 30 sec sprints with 2 min or more rest between. You could go ski the course and practice the tricky parts, so you know them. If your race is classic, you can put on your base binder the night before, but wait for race morning and being on site to see the snow, before you put on your actual race wax. Give yourself lots of time to arrive at the race site, find parking, test kick waxes, apply final wax, warm up, hitting the outhouses, and getting to the start area, taking off your warm-ups, taking energy drink or food if necessary and getting to the start line. Write down a schedule for yourself starting the day before the race right up to the start time. You will be nervous, so rather than having to think about where you should be when, just follow your schedule. Get to the start line with 5 min to spare. And then smile, go hard and have a blast.

After your race, put on your warm-ups right away, get some food and liquids into you to recover as quickly as possible. The most important thing you can do to recover from your race is to eat a mix of protein and carbohydrates right after the race, within a 60 minute window. Every 5 min you delay eating lengthens your recovery time by a much longer margin. Do a short cool down ski and then go home and continue with your recovery routine (shower, change, eat again, stretch, etc), particularly if you are racing again the next day. Congratulate yourself, take stock of how your race went and what you might do differently to improve the next time, but don’t dwell on the past or the race you just did, particularly if you will be racing again soon.


Race Advice From Coach Natalya

Race Advice (Written in 2014, its long but well worth the read)

  • Identify 3 objectives that you wish to improve upon in your race. After each race, evaluate what you learned from you race and revise your objectives for your next race.
  • Get a good night’s sleep two nights before the race. You will be nervous the night before and getting prepared, so you won’t sleep as well. Two nights before is what counts.
  • The day before your race do an easy ski of perhaps 30-40 min (for masters) if you have time and throw in a couple of short tune up sprints. Use easy terrain with no steep hills.
  • Eat an elite athlete’s supper with lots of protein and carbohydrates to build up your reserves. Keep a record of what you eat for prerace suppers to find out which one is your best pre-race meal.
  • Glide wax your warm-up/test skis and race skis the day or night before or even two nights before. Prepare the kick zone of your classic skis by cleaning them, sanding them, and putting the appropriate base binder on if that is what your coaches suggest. Wait till race morning to apply the proper kick wax.
  • Pack your ski bag with everything you need the day or night before. Prepare your clothing, food, and water bottles. You will need a change of clothing for immediately after the race and a change for the travel home. Bring a towel, extra clothing and spare toques, gloves, buffs, etc . for the weather. Prepare a lunch bag for the finish line recovery nutrition, cool down nutrition and travel home meal if applicable
  • Write down a little schedule for race day so you know what to do when and so you don’t have to think about it. It will remove the stress. Start with the race start time and working backwards, fit in getting to the start line, your warm up, your wax testing, going to the bathroom, signing in, finding parking, driving there, packing car, dressing, eating breakfast, getting up, etc. Keep this schedule with you and stick to your schedule.
  • Relax the night before at some point. Have a warm bath, do some easy stretching, and have a tea. Go to bed early and get 8+ hours sleep.
  • Eat 2.5 to 3 hours before your race start. Eat an elite athlete’s breakfast, like 1-2 eggs or some cottage cheese for protein, large flake oatmeal with raisins, dried fruit, nuts, fresh fruit. Avoid fats, meats and milk before races. Don’t eat within 2 hours of your race start and don’t drink fluid with sugar content between breakfast and your warm up. But you can drink water or tea before your warm up. Drink at least one bottle of your water or energy drink during your warm up.
  • Get to the race site with plenty of time to follow your schedule (1.5 hours to 2 hours) and allow more time for classic races to test your wax and apply the race wax before the warm up.
  • Consult your coaches for the kick wax recommendation and ski on the course to test your kick wax before adding the final layers. Get away from the start area, where the snow will be skied in and different than snow out on the course.
  • Make sure you know the course. Check the course map, and ski the course if you can to memorize it. Do it the day before or arrive earlier to ski the course (if it is a short course). Think about how you will ski each section. Don’t rely on course marking or marshalls to let you know where to go if you can avoid this, because they can make mistakes and are not responsible if you go off course and get disqualified. You are responsible for knowing the course.
  • Start your warm up with enough time to get your warm up in and have 10-15 min to get ready at the start-line. Warm up sufficiently ! Don’t try to warm up during the race. You will lose time. During your warm up, start drinking your sports drink or water if you prefer and hydrate well before the race. Carry a bumbag with the things you need before the race like your wax, cork, puffer, gels, sports drink, etc. And drop off a small backpack or bag at the race start area before your warm up with dry gloves and toque if you wish to change these after your warm up. You can use this to store your warm ups in during the race.
  • Warm-up routine for masters for a short race of 5-15 km: 15-20 min zone 1, 5 min zone 3, 3 min zone 1, 5 min zone 3, 3 min zone 1, 1 min zone 4, and get to the start area, but keep moving.
  • Spend as little time as possible at the stadium before your start. This will keep you focused on your race and little time to get nervous or to cool off after your warm up.
  • Get to the start area at least 10 minutes before your start. Drink your sports drink, eat a sports gel and take care of any last minute adjustments. Take off your warm ups with 5 min to go and get to the start line. Move to stay warm. Be at the start line with at least a few minutes to go or earlier if you need to get a good position.
  • Start your race with a big smile and be positive. Have fun. Use your cue words or mantra to stay positive, to focus on technique and to stay focused and motivated!
  • Start your race as hard as possible (you have to be well warmed up to do this), unless it is a very long race, such as a marathon or loppet. You will have a faster time by starting harder. But stay relaxed and calm, particularly in a mass start where poles can get broken because people are too aggressive. Look for the openings in the pack and slip through.
  • Build your speed up during the race and try to get a negative split if doing two laps. Pick a spot near the end of the race where you will go for broke and go as hard as you can to the finish line.
  • Be confident that you have done all the right training and that you are in the best possible shape you could be at this point in time.
  • Push yourself. It is supposed to hurt; it’s a race! Enjoy it. Focus on your technique, not on whether you are hurting.
  • Think about how to gain time on each section of the course, like good poling before down hills, gain time on down hills, low body position on downhills and in fast corners, weighting the outside ski on the down hills, or being in or out of the track, keep speed up after hills, ski harder before rest sections, increase speed and frequency up short hills, use high frequency if you are tired, ski the hard parts easier to prevent from overtaxing your muscles, but ski the easy parts harder to gain time.
  • Look ahead of yourself and push yourself to finish each section of the race as fast as you can. Race yourself to the top of every hill and around every corner. Look for seconds. Try to glide an inch further every stride, add a few extra pushes at the tops of downhills, take the shortest line around the course. Push your limits. Race on the edge or your ability. Otherwise you are going too slow. Attack the race. A good race won’t just happen to you. You have to make it happen.
  • Talk to yourself. The voice in your head should be helping you race your fastest, telling you what to do, what technique to use, what’s coming up, to stay relaxed and positive, etc. Use your cue words to focus on technique and to motivate yourself. Tell yourself you are not tired – you have lots of strength and energy left, etc.
  • Stay relaxed during your race, keep your body loose and fluid and think positively.
  • Go fast right now. Think only about what you have to do in each few seconds of the race. Don’t worry about what you did at the start of the race or what’s coming up in 5 minutes. However, if you are in a mass start race, you should be aware of the skills of the skiers around you and think ahead to a spot on the course where you can exploit their weaknesses.
  • Go harder when you get to the point where you decided to go for broke! Finish your race with nothing left in you at the finish line. Finish with a big smile and positive thoughts.
  • As you cross the finish line, start thinking about what needed improving, your muscles or your motor, so you know what to concentrate on in your training (e.g. more muscular short speed intervals of steep climbing and double poling sprints or long aerobic hill cardiovascular intervals).
  • Then, you should get your warm-up clothing on right away. Eat your finish line recovery snack right away and rehydrate. Go inside and change into dry ski clothing for your cool down. Take your recovery nutrition and fluids with you and consume them. Each 5 minute delay in eating after your race will delay your recovery by 30 minutes! Do a 20 min cool down ski on easy terrain. Evaluate your own race without looking at the results and write this down. Focus on your feelings and thoughts about your effort in the race.
  • After your cool down, put on more clothes. Have a shower and change as soon as you can to help with recovery. Have a recovery meal. Take a warm bath and stretch. Get a good night’s sleep and start your next race preparation!


Warm Up Routine (long race)

Warm Up Routine (long race)

  1. Note that new research shows that too many short hard efforts before a race are detrimental to performance, so don’t do many hard sprints.
    • 15-20 min zone 1
    • 3 min zone 3
    • 3 min zone 1
    • 2-3 x 20 sec sprints with 2 min recovery
    • Ski to start area and keep moving as long as possible
  2. If you find you perform better well into the race, you probably need to do this longer warm up and gradually work up into zone 3-4 race pace.
    • 15-20 min zone 1
    • 5 min zone 3
    • 3 min zone 1
    • 5 min zone 3
    • 3 min zone 1
    • 1 min zone 4


Warm Up Routine - Sprint race

  • 25 –30 min zone 1
  • 3 min zone 3
  • 3 min zone 1
  • 5 x 10 sec sprints with 1 min recovery
  • Ski to start area and keep moving as long as possible


Sample Race Day Schedule for Coupe Skinouk

  • 07:00 - Get up
  • 07:15 - Eat breakfast
  • 08:00 - Dress
  • 08:20 - Pack car
  • 08:30 - Drive there
  • 08:55 - Find parking
  • 09:00 - Pick up bib
  • 09:30 - Test waxes
  • 10:00 - Go to the bathroom
  • 10:15 - Warm Up
  • 10:45 - Get to the line
  • 10:53 - Take off warm ups
  • 10:58 - Race Start


Sample Race Day Schedule for Gatineau Loppet

  • 5:30 - Get up
  • 5:45 - Eat breakfast
  • 6:15 - Dress
  • 6:40 - Pack car
  • 6:45 - Drive there
  • 7:00 - Go to the bathroom
  • 7:10 - Put on boots
  • 7:15 - Test waxes
  • 7:40 - Put final kick waxes on
  • 8:00 - Go to the bathroom
  • 8:10 - Warm Up
  • 8:45 - Get to the line
  • 8:50 - Take off warm ups
  • 9:00 - Race Start