A Perfect Storm of Stress

Life often does not deal us the hand we expect. This was made abundantly clear to me over the past 2 weeks of training and racing with the MOD Squad.

During the past 6 months of training daily with these three talented athletes I have gotten to where I can sense their energy, mood, state of rest and fitness just by watching how they move, act and look. What I have seen over the past months of intensive training is a continual building of strength, speed and fitness that has reinforced my ideas on how we train. By carefully monitoring the quality of the individual workouts and the recovery from them we have been able to walk the razor’s edge in preparing them to be their best.

Training for a speed/endurance sport like XC skiing at the highest levels demands that the athletes continually evaluate how much more work they can handle without over taxing themselves to the point where they can not recover in a day or so to do the next demanding workout. This ability to adapt to the carefully applied stress is known as the training effect and it is what allows for remarkable advances in fitness from week to week and month to month. Failure to allow for the training to be absorbed by the body will result in a state of profound fatigue. This condition is known medically as the over training syndrome (OTS). Despite its prevalence in elite endurance athletes, its complexity defies easy explanation.

The hormonal responses to stress do not differentiate between physical or psychological causes. During very demanding training periods the rest needed by athletes is primarily needed to counter the stress reaction of the body to the training load. If there is too much stress, from whatever the cause, the body will fail to adapt to it and decline into a state of fatigue that goes well beyond the normal sensations of tiredness that athletes learn to live with during training.

We have been very successfully at delicately balancing the stress/recovery cycles with all three of the MODers this season as they made significant increases in their training loads and reached new heights of fitness.

As November opened we embarked on what was planned as our last major hard training block of the preseason when we held an 8 day training camp on snow at Silver Star. While it imposed a very high (perhaps their highest of the season) training load on the skiers, it was with in their limits IF everything went as planned.

As the Scottish poet Robert Burns famously noted: “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley.” As we concluded our training camp our much loved and respected dear friend, mentor and teacher, Sean McCabe finally lost his battle with cancer. While it was not unexpected, this was still an immense blow for all of us.

As the coach it falls to me to adjust the training load according to how the individual is adapting to it. During the next week to ten days I failed to take into full consideration the effects of the stress of Sean’s death coupled with this very intense period of training. All summer and fall I have continued to be amazed at how well they have been absorbing their training. As a consequence I have had to redefine the limits of just where the razor’s edge was. My guard was down during this time and when another young friend and classmate of Sadie and Erik died the following week we were dealt another blow.

Leading into a big race series like we headed into at West Yellowstone last week there is naturally a large amount of performance anxiety. And this year with all the build up and all the fabulous training they have been doing, expectations were especially high. Piling this on top of the two deaths on top of the training load meant a distinct lack of adaptation during this critical period by all three skiers. Once an athlete realizes that he is in a slump or flat, the stress increases with his anxiety, creating a downward spiral.

Recognizing the signs and symptoms of OTS often eludes many coaches and athletes. I pride myself on my sensitivity to over training. I pound into the athletes I coach the need for a very conservative approach to resting and adaptation to allow the training to soak into the body before adding more stress. I was blind sided by the multiple factors coming into play simultaneously that week and could not see the train wreck before it was upon us. Once I did come to grips with the reality of the situation I pulled the plug and we only raced two of the races at West Yellowstone. I have put all three skiers on enforced rest till they are ready to train again.

Having spent uncountable hours watching them train I know very well what they look like when performing their hard workouts. I can see their long powerful strides, their quick explosive bounding or rocketing double poling. I saw none of this in these races. They were not themselves. Sluggish and flat are the words coming to mind.

The only cure for OTS is rest. Since their bout of over training was relatively short and mild, I expect that they will bounce back quickly. It is just a shame that all these things conspired to occur at just the wrong time to give us the results we have worked so hard for in the first races.

On an individual basis we will get back to training and the racing only as is appropriate for each skier.

Sprint Pictures

Sadie

Sam Erik

Sam and Sadie before the start

Race #1: West Yellowstone 1.4K Classic Sprint

For our first official race as a team and ensuing report, we'll try a collaborative blog. Following is an account from each of us on how the race went. Enjoy!

Sam's race:

After three days here in West Yellowstone, at an altitude of ~6500ft, and with hundreds of fellow skiers and racers milling about, the excitement and anticipation is palpable. We of MOD decided to ease into the week and have only skied about 3 or 4 hours total since arriving, which meant that this morning we were absolutely raring to go. The first race of the season was a 1.4k classic sprint qualifier, meaning that instead of the usual sprint format where a qualifier leads to several heats to determine the overall winner, they just run one interval-start race and the winner of that is the day's champion. The course was not a usual sprint course: instead of the steep ups and downs that most sprint courses have, this one was basically a gentle uphill grade the entire way, with a few short downhills. Rather unimaginative. Anyways, I warmed up as usual and tried not to let the nervousness of the upcoming race get to me. I knew my fitness was high and my potential equally high, but both were untested in a race situation. 

I got to the start and prepared myself. My warmup had been decent but I opted not to do a few short intervals during it, fearing that I would over-work myself. That, I believe, turned out to be a mistake. Out of the start I scrambled hard and settled into a quick double pole. Coming into the first downhill corner I realized the tracks were not the best place to be, and stepped out just in time to get to the outside of the corner and check my speed on the icy tracks. I wobbled into the ensuing uphill and double poled hard. This sequence was repeated on the next short downhill. I was feeling decent but I could already tell my usual snap was not there; I was forcing things. On the one hill that was worth of striding I sought to stretch my foot forward and settle into a nice long powerful stride. I missed the first few kicks and struggled to get upright. Finally doing so, I really tried to relax into it, and crossed the line knowing I had missed a good finish. The racer who started directly behind me (15sec intervals) crossed right after me, meaning I had lost almost 15 seconds to him. That solidified my fear that the race was not to be my best. 

It was the first race of the season, and there are many more to come. Because of our anticipation and belief in our fitness it's tough to know it was a poor race for me, but having experienced many ups and downs in my skiing career thus far I know I can turn things around. Next race is Saturday; time to make it happen.

Erik's race:

The first race of the season is over. I ended up 35th overall and second junior. I didn't feel really good, but I'm sure most people out there didn't. I started out at a conservative pace thinking that I would try to build into it. The second hill into the race was a striding hill, my plan was to really put it down on this hill. It defiantly didn't happen, my weight was back and I wasn't able to really get into a good rhythm. Now I'm just looking forward to the distance classic race on Saturday.

Sadie's Race:

After just seeing the results list, I am feeling pretty good about my first race of the season. I wouldn't say it was a strong race for me, but it is still early season. The past couple of weeks I have been struggling with feeling flat after a really hard week of training with a stressful week of recovery following. I finally got out yesterday for a ski that I was able to do some speed and train "hard" for the first time in a couple of weeks. I wasn't expecting much from today, but just to get that "first race" out of the way. The course was different than most of the courses that I have raced in the past...fast downhill corners, lots of transitions, and longer than most sprint courses I have skied. I felt strong but not too snappy. I am assuming that will come as I start training again and feeling better. Today was a strong field with lots of top Canadians as well as many top US skiers. I took 10th place, 13.6 seconds out of the leader- a canadian skier. Considering how I felt racing, I am pleased with this result. I will be racing Saturday for a distance classic race next. With my first race of the season out of the way, I am looking forward to what will become of saturday. Until then..... Happy Thanksgiving.

An Unconventional Overdistance Workout

After a solid fall of nose to the grind stone training for the MOD Squad it seemed appropriate that we take advantage of being home for a week between training camps and a recent dump of snow in our little mountains that ring the Methow Valley to have some serious fun while getting in a bunch of vertical and a few hours of skinning.

So after a nice high intensity classic ski workout yesterday we shifted gears and shifted gear; switching the ultra light RCSs for some stout Alpine Touring boards. The snow pack is still bit lean with only about a meter and half on the ground so we headed up to Maple Pass which is predominately covered with heather and slide alder with only a smattering of rocks, so lends itself to early season tours before we get the serious snow that allows us to ski the big terrain. With the highway still open our access was easy and we put skins on right next to the road.


Touring up through larches and firs under a cloudless sky made us glad to be skiers. We just plain love to ski; up hill or down hill doesn't much matter to us especially when the day looks like this. We often have to pinch ourselves, saying "We live here!"Erik followed by Sam and former Methow racer Chad Honsinger wearing his still stylish PNSA JO suit try gamely to keep up with their coach.

Well, as the saying goes; What goes up must come down and down we did go for a couple of great runs in perfect powder.
Erik rips into the first bowl while Sam and Chad plan their attack.
Sam shows that intrepid powder hound and team mascot Max a trick or two.

After a quick lunch wherein Erik defied that ancient adage of never eating anything bigger than your head while smearing much of his three burritos onto his face, we were ready to take one last run back to the car.

Burrito Boy gettin 'er done as the sun shines on happy skiers. Gotta love that cold smoke and warm sun. Just a typical North Cascades day. SHHHHHH! Don't let the secret out.

We kept the fun short. Honest coach; it was just a 4ooo' day. REALLY! Yes, we'll be ready for another interval session bright and early tomorrow.

Scott

Silver Star Part 3

The first Silver Star camp came to end Sunday afternoon, after an intense morning workout. This last week was a great chance for us to test out the technique we have been working on all summer. Sometimes it comes as a surprise when you don't have that 100% kick that you get on rollerskis, but this year was by far the best transition I have experienced. Here is a video of me striding during one of the interval sessions.

Silver Star, pt. 2

We're now five days into our Silver Star camp, and things are looking great. We've already logged four intensity sessions, two strength sessions, one OD and three distance workouts. Recovery is supreme, thanks to our nightly home-cooked meals (Sadie and Erik's lasagna last night would make any Tuscan nonna jealous...) and ample sleep in our spacious condo.

(Note the jar of Marshmallow Fluff on the counter - supreme recovery food)

Conditions at Sovereign Lakes Nordic center have been pretty darn good for this time of year, largely thanks to their efforts every day to keep the trails rolled and turned over to prevent excess death-cookie formation. Today's workout was threshold training; we skied the World Cup loops for about 30min at a pace that was probably just below our race pace. I'm definitely feeling more comfortable with the altitude today than I was on Tuesday, and already the neuromuscular adaptations to on-snow skiing are becoming apparent.

We've been able to get out on our new Fischer boards this week and do some testing, and we're pretty psyched with Hallsey's picks for us, especially given their performance in these rather funky snow conditions.

Yes, we're a bit biased in our ski brand selection.

It's also been great skiing up here with a few other of the country's top athletes. Brayton and Marshall from XC Oregon have been up here since Monday and Garrott and Matt from CXC Team Vertical Limit are up here as well. Everyone's looking very strong at this early point in the season and the excitement is palpable as we're all preparing for the upcoming races in West Yellowstone and accumulating points which may lead to an Olympic berth! More to come...

Silver Star

Today was our third day of skiing in Silver Star. We heard there was snow up here so we took advantage of the fact that it is only a five hour drive from Winthrop and headed up to Canada. The snow in the Methow quickly melted last week after a rain storm came through and freezing levels rose pretty high. The skiing here is pretty good. The snow cover is thin, but plenty to ski on! There are very few people up here, so it has been great, we have the trails all to ourselves. We ran into a couple of athletes from the midwest, and the Canadian National team as well as some biathlon teams are supposed to show up today- so we will soon have more company.

Top of Silver Star Mountain

We spent the first couple of days adjusting to the altitude, skiing easy and working on our shift to snow technique. Today we had a good interval hard distance workout. Erik and Sam started at the bottom of the mountain and by the end of their hard 45 minutes made it all the way to the top of the mountain! It was tempting to just ski down the alpine runs to get back down- but the snow is not quite right for that. It was a beautiful day, perfect tracks, which made it hard to turn around and come back down after our hard skiing. We will spend the next four days getting in some more intensity, volume and enjoyable skiing! Here are some pictures from our interval workout today.

First race.... three weeks from tomorrow!

Training hard- resting well!