How To Train

Alright, these blog is really just me expressing how I need to train and what I do in training. This year is a little different for me because of many different things. First this is my first year out of high school. Secondly, it is my first year with a job. And third it will also be my first year of college (in January).

I love skating and I didn't have to get a job but skating doesn't exactly have the money flowing in, plus I am 18, plus I can't train for skating all day because I would wear myself out so I decided to replace at last some of the time I'm used to spending in school I would get a job and be productive (basically I'm trying out this responsible adult thing).

College is an easy one for me it's a complete necessity in my opinion (at least for me). I don't think college will be as difficult for me as some have tried to explain that it will. I'll be finished college way before I've ever been finished high school so I'll have more intense training before tryouts and such but also I'm not going to the same class everyday which I think is my style.

For me this is where How To Train comes in. This year has to be more and harder and smarter then last year plain and simple. Every year I've skated I've picked it up more and more with my training and I don't plan to stop now. When I was first getting really good (2006 when people started knowing me) I lived on the slideboard. I mean I literally lived on the thing, had it the floor of my bedroom right next to my bed. Homemade if I might add (still the same one I use today). I used it about everyday. Sometimes I'd get for over an hour on the thing and I liked it that way. This year I'm going to get back to that same idea. For me the slideboard helps with getting all of my power through my hips which helps in the straight away plus it's easy to practice technique on which is my primary focus this year.

I plan on getting to the point where I wake up, eat breakfast, then have a session on the slideboard (everyday) then going to shower, go to work, etc, then another session at night (in addition to normal practice).

What I love the most about where I am at right about now in terms of myself and skating is that I'm 18 years old and I know what to do everyday (training wise) just by listening to my body. I know when I need a day off and when I can hit it hard which I think is pretty rare.

Enough of that stuff this is pretty much how I plan to train depending on when certain events are (tryouts, etc)

Now until December - won't even try to hit 100% at all, solely technique. Only skating indoor and using the slideboard.
December through March will still be solely technique but outdoor will begin regularly for me in December, I'll continue on the slideboard. I'll be at the stage of training where I'm no longer doing circles but I'm not training direly hard either. I'll be working on getting my shape right for outdoor meaning skating long, slow, and exaggerating the skating position so I will be comfortable being in it for long periods of time in the spring and summer when it counts. Somewhere in this time frame I will begin lifting weights again.

April and May will be when the weather starts to break so I'll be going a lot harder outdoor but still having specific practices dedicated on my technique (this will be new at that time of year for me) I'll begin skating outdoor more then once a day in May (most likely) on top of my indoor and slideboarding. In this time frame I will most likely have really long practices outdoor on my skates.. at least an hour.
**Side note*** if tryouts are in June then everything gets shifted back.. April and May will be intense training like the next phase:

June up until residency/worlds I will be skating at least twice a day outdoor every day plus the indoor and the slideboard. My outdoor training will be a mixture of simulating races (at full speed), intervals, sprints, catch the pack, a few technique practices (mostly when my body tells me I need a rest), and a few really long skates. This time period is when I really am going hard all the time. I'll still be lifting up until a week before tryouts and then I will resume after tryouts. I'd like to still get on the slideboard but skating so many practices outdoor I may not need the slideboard unless it rains or something.

This year I am also going to put a lot of dedication into my nutrition especially starting in about March/April. Overall my underlying goal almost never changes year after year, it is to reach new heights that I've never gotten to before. Only this year I'm trying to skip a few years and take a much bigger jump then I have in the past.