Hi Steve.
I have finally got my life situated enough that I can dedicate serious time to randonee racing. I plan to race quite a bit this year and want to train accordingly. I was hoping you could share with me some
training ideas, whether they be specific exercises, workouts or even a general outline, anything would be appreciated. Also, if you know anyone else who would be willing to share their workouts I would be grateful for their contact info.
Thanks!
Jon Crowley
Well Jon, these days I feel like I should be asking myself the same question, since most of the summer all I’ve been able to muster up are maintenance workouts, with the occasional fartlek thrown in without any structure to it. But fear not young randonneer, there is still time to whip yourself in shape for a successful rando racing season.
Like most all highly aerobic sports, one should definitely have a good fitness base before going into interval or high-intensity type training (ie, high heart-rate) for rando racing. Luckily, trail running, mountain biking and other activities keep us from falling too far behind during the summer months and we can usually hold our own for a long day in the backcountry by the time winter arrives. I feel that when training for rando racing, one really needs to mostly focus on higher intensity workouts, since we generally get our endurance during our play days when we are truly backcountry skiing.
I like to train in the same spot (or couple spots) for consistency, so that way I can compare results from one workout to the next and see if things are improving. Training with your race gear is imperative, so you can experience how flimsy and non-supportive it actually is. And if you don’t have a race specific set-up yet, get one…and make sure it is super-light, because weight definitely matters. Unlike Black Diamond’s slogan “it’s all about the down“, with rando racing, it’s all about the up and the uphill sections are mostly where the races are won or lost. Transition training is a must because it’s a lot easier to gain time on a competitor by putting you skins on than by chasing him down on the skin track as your heart jumps out of your chest.
There are many different types of interval based workouts out there, but one workout the seems to do the trick for me and doesn’t take up too much time is the 30-30. Pick an uphill slope, one that you can do this entire exercise on without having to descend is preferred. After a warm up and for a total of 30 minutes, sprint for 30 seconds…and then cool down for 30 seconds…repeat. Very simple really and a great way to boost your fitness.
Got any rando race tips of your own for Jon?
Feel free to leave them in the comments section.
Steve, how many 30/30 repeats to you start with, and how many do you work up to? Although I am not training to rando race, for general fitness I do 2 minutes hard, 1 minute easy for about 30 minutes total to try to get in shape for ski season on a uphill trail behind my house.
Tony,
You do as many as you can to start out with…with 30 minutes being the entire length of the exersize…plus warm up and down of course.
Steve,
Tell Cary that we expect a full feature article with detailed training plans…and also why “Wolf Mother” is the only music to train with.
z
Try hula hooping with different sized hoops, gets yer core strong. I think doing long mtn bike rides, long hikes, and lotsa rock climbing. Just build yer base. Having fun is the key, it will make you faster.
“Wolf Mother”? Is that a new Pearl Jam song? I didn’t know Cary was a fan.
Check out tabata intervals. Research done on this. They are 20/10 intervals. When not on the hill, at home, or wherever. Burpees with push-up and jump. Trying knocking out 100 of those.
tabatas=20sec hard/10sec rest
It’s interesting to see these “revving the engine” type exercises getting more attention these days. To bad gas costs so much. 😆
Tony,
I’m totally gunna kick your ass on the up this winter.
-D
In Philly?
My money’s on Tony.
…maybe.
I think doing you’re specific sport is of course best. Mixing it up like randosteve says..If your looking for something to do at home, with hardly any equipment. For some really kick butt stuff check out RossTraining.com. And check out Ross’s vid’s…
PERIODIZATION.
buy a book on it and learn it, live it, and love it.
The main idea is that you can’t jump right into anaerobic workouts. spend your early season building a BASE. do lots of biking, running, swimming, whatever floats your boat. lots and lots of gentle miles.
after you have a good base you can worry about your speed. endurance comes first.
once you have a base, i like descending intervals.
ex: sprint 2 minutes, rest 2 minutes.
sprint 1.5 minutes, rest the same
sprint 1 minute, rest 1
sprint 30 seconds, rest 30
15 and 15
5 and 5
after a set of these, you should not be able to move, breathe, and you should feel like death. take 10 minutes at a lower heartrate, then do some more.
Racing the gas town grand prix road race and getting my ass kicked thinking i was eighteen again!got my heart rate up!
thanks for all the suggestions guys. does anyone supplement these workouts with weight training? if so which lifts best target the demands of racing? anybody ever try outdoor resistance training like heavy skis with ankle weights, sled towing or poling without using your legs?
Does any train with Roller Skis in the offseason? I got a pair of Classic style and use then for uphill only. I walk down after.
I also have some classic roller skis. I’ve actually been thinking about mount some Dynafit bindings on them…so the movement is identical to rando.