Here's some background on how I got started and how I'm progressing.
My first race was in Jan 2006 at age 36: 10k, classic, interval start, Leavenworth WA. I didn't train for this at all. Wanted to just get started and see what the scene was like etc. Race time was about 49 minutes (quite slow).
2006-2007 season:
Next race was the following year in Feb 2007. Another 10k classic. I did some training but it wasn't very organized and not so much ski specific. My training and race prep was severely derailed by my work schedule. I worked crazy hours in the days leading up to the race and my time was lousy.
2007-2008 season:
I did a fair bit of cycling during the summer and thought I was in decent shape but when I got on skis I did not feel very powerful (I'm blaming it on lack of upper body workouts). I started keeping a log of my training. Race season got derailed by work schedule again and I did not make any races except for a couple Wednesday night headlamp time trials at the Cabin Creek sno-park near Snoqualmie Pass WA.
2008-2009 season:
I added hill bounding intervals and strength workouts to my training. I also moved up to waxable skis (my previous races were done on nowax). I did the Spokane Langlauf race (10k classic) in 39min 9s. I actually won my division with this time. I guess none of the fast guys in my age bracket showed up to race that day. This season was a big improvement even though my training didn't start until October due to a busy summer involving a move to a new house.
2009-2010 season:
Started training in April. Been doing a mix of strength, intensity, and distance every week. Recently signed up for the CXC Academy web site in order to get more training information and it has given me a very detailed plan and lots of new training activities. My wife gave me a heart rate monitor for my birthday so I'm starting to use that to do my training at the proper levels. I've obtained some old roller skis (free from someone in the ski club) over the summer and am starting to use those for workouts. If I don't get derailed, this is shaping up to be my best ever season on the training front. I'd like to see my 10k classic time down to under 36min. Another goal for this year is to do at least one skate race.
I did some research when I started to look for off-season xc traing about 2 years ago. Apparently, xc skiing uses specific muscle groops that are rare in many of other popular sports, like cycling and swimming. It turns out that running use the closest muscle groups as xc skiing. So you would hear stories in the ski camps that runners do not have sore muscles after first training in the season but cyclists do.
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