Training Zone
Cross (Country) Training
Run training in the winter can get tiring and monotonous. It’s cold, there’s snow everywhere and icy streets and sidewalks force runners to tread cautiously, making it difficult to get into a groove. Why not break the monotony by ditching those slippery streets and hitting the trails for some cross-country skiing?
There are two styles of cross-country skiing. In classic style, you perform a kick-and-glide motion, sliding your legs forward with your skis parallel to one another while swinging each arm forward in the opposite motion of your legs, similar to running.
The second st yle is called skate skiing. Here, you propel yourself forward by pushing off the inside edge of one ski while keeping your other ski f lat to achieve the desired glide. While maneuvering your lower-body, you use both poles to dig into the snow on either side of you as you push off with your skis.
Both types of skiing are low-impact and highly effective alternatives to running, and both sports use many of the same muscles, so it’s a good trade-off. In addition to working your calves, hamstrings, quads, glutes, hip f lexors and core – all key muscles for running – you’ll use muscles in your upper body that you don’t in running for additional support. Finally, cross-country skiing is a great cardiovascular workout. If you do end up deciding to cross-train on skis this winter, you won’t have to worry about losing any running fitness while you’re out on the trails. If you’re still not sure that skiing can help your running, take a look at Therese Johaug, a Norwegian skier with three Olympic medals and three times as many world championship medals to her name. In August 2019, Johaug ran in the 10,000m at the Norwegian Athletics Championships. She won gold in 32:20.86 – a championship record and fifth-fastest time ever run by a Norwegian woman.
Canadian Olympic skier Anne-Marie Comeau has also found success in running. In 2017, Comeau, who runs for Laval University in Quebec City, was named as the Quebec Student Sports Federation’s cross-country rookie of the year. Just a few months after her rookie running season came to a close, she went to Pyeongchang, South Korea, to ski in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Besides being a great workout that will help you keep your fitness levels up, cross-country skiing is also just plain fun. You get to go out on trails, speed around tight corners and down snowy hills. If you’re getting tired of the same old running routes on icy streets, take a break from running without skipping a training day and head outside for some cross-country skiing. You won’t regret it.