Multi Sport Athletes - XC Running

By Andy Newell 

This time of year many skiing athletes also run cross country. We have athletes and coaches ask us all the time whether running xc is adequate preparation for the ski season. I am always a fan of developing well rounded athletes, so generally speaking I think combing xc running and xc skiing competitive seasons is great! Especially for younger athletes.
As athletes make the jump to an elite level of skiing it will become more challenging to balancing the physiological demands of duel sport competition, but for most U16 and U18 athletes it can be a net positive.
XC running provides a really effective and fun way to get in L4 intensity training and race pace intensity in the fall. It's a great team sport that keeps skiers in touch with the racing mindset in the offseason. Racing is one of the best ways to log sustained L4 intensity and built fitness. Doing a lot of running races in September and October will certainly get you fit.
The obvious cons are in order to be competitive during the running season, xc runners must log the majority, if not all, of their fall intensity running instead of rollerskiing. This drop in ski-specific training volume can have its implications on specific strength, technique, and training skiing efficiency come winter. There is a great simple saying in sports physiology: You get good at what you do. Meaning, sport specificity does play a major role in peak performance and will become more imporant as athletes mature.

Since the xc running season infuses a lot of L4 intensity into the fall schedule athletes and coaches should plan accordingly to periodized their training. This might mean adding more easy distance training and less intensity into certain period of the summer and fall. The best outcome for athletes will include open communication between athlete, running coach, and ski coach so that training plans can be coordinated well in advance.

The bottom line is that if an athlete wants to be competitive in skiing as well as xc running they are going to need to log SOME ski specific training during September and October. Even if you are the fittest athlete in the world you still can’t afford to take two months off from rollerskiing. I recommend skiing athletes discuss and option to have 2-3 ski specific workouts per week, this might mean convincing the xc running coach that it’s ok for skiers to do a rollerski working instead of running practice mid-week.

Depending on how much racing the xc runners are doing it often does not make sense to add in any additional roller skiing intervals but try to focus on rollerskiing distance training, especially double pole, to maintain upper body strength. If an athlete can get in one skate rollerski per week and one DP only workout per week this will help them maintain ski specific fitness. When competitive XC runners are competing virtually every weekend, use rollerski sessions as easy distance training and a way to balance intensity distribution in the fall.
Once running season is over athletes must also adjust their training during the beginning of the ski season (November, December) and having open communication with the skiing coach can go a long way. It's common for all high-school and college coaches to want to make the most of their team training time. This sometimes means a lot of speed work and interval days to 'get in shape' for the ski season.
I encourage ski coaches to review the training logs of their duel-sport athletes to better understand their intensity distribution over the fall. If XC running athletes have finished their season averaging 6-10 hours per week, 3-4 of which are at high intensity, chances are they need a break from interval training. If XC running athletes have been competing consistently for 5-6 weeks with races each weekend, they might need a break from high intensity in November or December as they transition to snow.