When Kilian Jornet started training for skimo racing when he was 13 years old, he worked with two coaches. One coach provided training plans each month, and the other conducted technical training (e.g., how to stride and glide, avalanche courses, and general mountain skills). Between the ages of 13 and 17, Kilian was immersed in this kind of structured training. As a teenager, Kilian didn’t just train; he describes himself as being obsessed with training. He would frequently run 25 kilometers to and then back from school, or he would cycle 60 kilometers to find snow and then do his…
Author: Uphill Athlete
Kilian Jornet talks to Steve House about his childhood. His father, a mountain guide, introduced him to the mountains at a very early age. By the age of 3, he was doing ski ascents and descents of nearby mountains, and by the time he was 5 years old he was climbing 3,000-meter (12,000-foot) peaks with an ice axe and crampons.
The MAF method, short for Maximum Aerobic Function, is a third option for determining Aerobic Threshold (AeT). It’s quick, easy, and we promise that you won’t break a sweat! This is a method that we recommend for those who have never engaged in organized aerobic training. It uses a simple formula that Dr. Phil Maffetone developed over 30 years ago. The MAF method gives a conservative estimation of an individual’s AeT. With this method, your aerobic base training will be most effective if you use the resulting number as the top heart rate for Zone 2. The calculation is simple:…
Endurance is the ability to maintain a high rate of work output for long durations. But what powers that output? What is it that fuels the muscle contractions that propel you through hours of climbing or racing? The answer is a single molecule: ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Training for endurance is, at its most fundamental level, an organized method to increase your muscles’ rate of ATP production. This article provides a simplified overview of how your body produces energy for movement, how the two metabolic pathways interact, and why the aerobic system is the foundation of endurance performance. For deeper treatments…
This DIY Anaerobic Threshold test will help you determine your Anaerobic Threshold (AnT) heart rate, which will be useful when it comes to monitoring your effort and training load. WARNING: This test is hard! Working at your anaerobic threshold means you’ll be working at the hardest effort you could sustain for maximum 60 minutes. For the runners in the crowd, think 10K race pace. Plan to do this test when you are well-rested, ideally at least three days after any hard efforts. It can be done either on a steep treadmill (15 percent), a steep uphill, or, if you are…
We rely heavily on something we call Scott’s Killer Core Routine, as detailed in Training for the New Alpinism. This is a progression Scott Johnston developed and fine-tuned over 25 years of training world-class cross-country skiers. Many of his athletes competed at the Olympic and World Cup level, so we’re confident in the efficacy of this program for endurance athletes. We’ve modified his time-tested routine here for ski mountaineering and skimo racing. Ski Mountaineering Core Training: How to Do Scott’s Killer Core Routine 1. To learn the exercises, start with one time through the circuit per workout. 2. Do the…
The Problem: How Do Mountain Athletes Measure Intensity? Swimmers use race pace. Track runners use splits. Road cyclists use power meters. Rock climbers use grades. Each of these sports has a relatively straightforward metric for monitoring how hard you are working during training. Mountain athletes do not have this. The effort required to move through mountain terrain depends on factors that change constantly: steepness, altitude, surface conditions, weather, pack weight, snow depth. A pace that feels moderate on a groomed trail at 5,000 feet becomes brutal at 14,000 feet in wind-loaded snow. There is no fixed external standard you can…