By Teemu Virtanen
The transition period from the winter season to the summer one has ended, at least in most parts. Some athletes are still clocking in long hours by doing various off-season activities and enjoying the perks of their relaxed outdoor exercising. Others are starting their more serious training aiming to build the endurance base over the summer.
This spring, you have been able to read many articles about the importance of summer training for long distance skiers and to find out what workouts certain Pro Team athletes use to get themselves in shape for the new season.
In this article, we continue digging a bit deeper into our athletes’ training programs and pick up selected summer training methods and specific workouts for your reading pleasure. These can help you when you start putting together your training plan but keep in mind that these examples are from the best long distance skiers in the world and you may have to adapt them to fit your personal preferences.
Morten Eide Pedersen, who just transferred from Team Kaffebryggeriet to Team Nordic Athlete from Finland, has used roller-ski races for intensity training over the summer. Due to the restrictions set upon us by Covid-19, there are no roller-ski events in the coming months, which means that Morten and our Pro Team athletes need to find other methods to keep their race pace intact.
“Even if I’ve done roller-ski races in the summer, I have always focused on endurance but using different methods,” Morten proclaims. “I’m a firm believer in variety. You can train more if you exercise in many different ways. Block training works well for me when I do intervals if the aim is to increase my capacity. Of course, my intervals vary between high intensity and controlled threshold intervals depending on the training period.”
La Venosta winner Astrid Øyre Slind from Team Koteng loves a special challenge that combines physicality with the beauty of the nature.
“My favorite summer session is running ridges,” Astrid says enthusiastically. “Awesome views, easy running with good friends, and a little twist of adrenaline is the perfect combo! I like to find new places to run, but some of my so far favorite ridges are in Switzerland, where my best friend has a cabin. The mountains around there are beautiful, wild, and runnable at the same time.”
Team Ragde Eiendom’s superstar Petter Eliassen seems to like the same type of workout as Astrid. He says that his favorite training session in the summer is a 3-4 hour run in the mountains, which he does once a week. For intensity, he tends to do interval sessions that consist of 4×15 min double-poling on roller-skis or 6×6 min running up a hill with poles.
His teammate Oskar Kardin says that really long double-poling workouts, 4-6 hours, on roller-skis with low intensity are great for building up the endurance base while 6 x 10-minute uphill intervals at threshold or 3 x 20 minutes double-poling with short sprints develop speed and threshold capacity.
Lager 157 Ski Team’s Øyvind Moen Fjeld mentioned in an earlier article that he likes long double-poling ski sessions in the forest with trees covered by snow under the sun shining from the blue sky. But he also likes similar workouts on roller-skis as there is a chance to enjoy the nature around in its summery splendor. These long workouts are very good for building endurance and increasing one’s mental capacity.
His Pro Team is also known for their extensive “Vasalopp-pass” workout in the summer where the team members mimic the world-famous ski race and create an internal race-like exercise that lasts about 4-5 hours and includes a good variety of sprints and intervals much like the race itself.
This type of workout is extremely taxing and physically demanding, but you can adjust it and make it your own by taking certain elements of the “Vasalopp-pass” workout and insert them into your long endurance exercise. For example, you can do a long cycling or roller-skiing session where you increase your speed every once in a while; add intervals that can last from a couple of minutes to a period of 10-20 minutes. Additionally, you can add short sprints here and there to break the monotonous rhythm of your long day on the road.
These are just some examples of various effective workouts that you can do in the summer. The most important thing is to spend a lot of hours training with low intensity and build the best possible endurance base so that you can easily switch to more intensive training when the fall season kicks in.
Alexander Panzhinskiy, Team Robinson Trentino:
“My favorite kind of training is an interval session. I like it because it is very close to race pace, but you don’t need to use 100% of your power. Also, I like that kind of training because I don’t need to go slow and instead I can train my power. This way, during and after intervals, I can get a better feeling about my current shape. I use interval sessions like 3×20 minutes or 6×8 minutes. These longer intervals are great for developing aerobic power, especially for me because I am a sprinter”.
Stian Hoelgaard, Team Koteng:
“Strength training has always been an important part of my training. I think it is important especially for younger athletes. When you reach a certain age and level, I think you have to prioritize and look at your strengths and weaknesses. This year, I have not actually done any strength training. I was not sure that it was going to work out well, but I needed to make some changes, and then I could take time and energy for other things in my training, which I think worked out pretty well”.
Morten Eide Pedersen, Team Nordic Athlete:
“In recent years, there have been several competitions throughout the summer, mostly roller-skiing but also some running events. Therefore, my training has been adjusted to this. Otherwise, I split my training into separate periods with a focus on different parameters that I need to improve”.
“The biggest part of my training is endurance but using different methods. My thought is that you can train more if you exercise in various ways. Intervals, I train either in blocks or for the maintenance with 2-3 sessions in a normal training week. They can vary between high intensity and controlled (threshold) intervals depending on the training period. Strength training is always a part of my weekly program, either maximum and core training”.
“Double-poling intervals at threshold – 6 x 10 min, with 1 min break. This exercise aims to give you a high speed that you can keep up for a long time. Running intervals: 6 x 5 min, with 2 min break. It aims to improve and increase your capacity”.
Emilie Fleten, Team Koteng:
“My summer training is varied but involves mostly running and roller-skiing. I train well, but I try to keep in mind that the most important training takes place in the fall”.
Photo: Børre E. Helgerud.
