But I digest...
I'm still fairly new to skiing, and that brings me back around to the title of this post. I skied a little with Dave Bridges today. He was already skiing when I got to Elm Creek and had probably done maybe four loops. I skied a loop on my own and then joined the pack for a about four laps. Then I rested. Dave Christopherson showed up and we skied maybe four laps together. I took a little break and rejoined them when they came back around. We skied maybe two more laps together - something like that. Then I broke off and skied an easy lap by myself while they kept on going. This is when it dawned on me. Dave Bridges probably puts in at least 40k everytime he gets out! That's 4/5ths of a Birkie everytime he skies! I pointed it out to him. Nope. He didn't deny it. The two Daves were still skiing when I pulled out of the parking lot.
Bear with me. This is my point. Over the course of the whole winter my longest ski was 40k and it took me over three hours. When Dave goes out for his three hour "over distance" workouts he probably manages to get in 50k. (he did the Birkie in 2h 20m)
Most marathon plans have you doing at least two 20 milers before your marathon. The top marathoners do those 20 miles in under three hours. If you don't happen to be a top marathoner you still have to do those 20 mile runs. Sure you might finish the full 26.2 come raceday but you might not be able walk for a few days after. I know this for a fact.
It's the same thing with skiing. In order to ski fast you need to put in the distance. It doesn't matter if you do eighteen three hour OD workouts but cover only 20k each time. You need to at least come close to 50k. But here's the catch. In order to get there you need to be fit enough and ski well enough. As Dave said, I'd better get cracking this summer. Thanks a lot Dave.
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