Speed endurance training – develops capacity, speed, and mental resources
What is speed endurance training? It’s simply the effort level at which your body can remove as much lactate (a byproduct of carbohydrate burning) as it produces. Your body’s lactate removal is at the same level as its production, meaning you don’t yet feel the dreaded lactate-induced muscle stiffness.
Speed endurance training and race pace are different. The key difference is that when you race at full capacity, your body exceeds the aforementioned limit, leading to rapid fatigue. However, in speed endurance training, you can maintain the same pace steadily for at least 20-30 minutes, and preferably much longer. It may not feel comfortable, but you ski or run slower than your normal race pace. If you train based on heart rate, this falls into zone 4, which is 85-90% of your maximum heart rate. Many zone 3 workouts can also fall into this category, especially if your speed increases towards the end of the workout, according to an article published in Maastohiihto.com.
Running coach Jack Daniels describes a speed endurance run – also known as an anaerobic threshold workout or lactate threshold workout – as a pace about 25-30 seconds per mile slower than your normal 5 km race pace. For Europeans accustomed to the metric system, this translates to about 15-20 seconds slower per kilometer. Keep in mind that Daniels is speaking about running, which is not exactly the same as skiing, but his statement serves as a good benchmark for skiers as well.
Why should we do speed endurance workouts and who really benefits from these sessions? Naturally, all long-distance athletes should regularly perform these exercises. Exercise scientist and coach Pete Pfitzinger states that runners aiming for success in distances over 15 kilometers benefit the most, and as we know in cross-country skiing, most races are longer than this.
“For athletes competing over 15 km, the physiological adaptations of the workout are most specific to the demands of these races. Improving the lactate threshold is only a minor benefit in a 5 km race, as it’s run well above the lactate threshold. However, on longer distances, your performance is primarily determined by your pace at the lactate threshold. So speed endurance runs offer a direct benefit for longer distances, for both beginners and elite athletes.”
Based on this statement and various studies, this type of training is extremely important for all Ski Classics professionals, elite skiers, and serious recreational competitors. However, it may not be easy to determine the exact type of training each individual should do to achieve their best results. Naturally, the length, intensity, and pace of the workout depend on the athlete’s performance ability and overall capacity. Many professional athletes can maintain an effective speed endurance pace for 60-90 minutes.
Regardless of the length of the workout, it’s appropriate to perform warm-up and cool-down periods before the actual intense training, or you can start the exercise much slower and accelerate after about 20-30 minutes of skiing, running, or roller skiing. Many running websites recommend a typical 20-minute warm-up, 20 minutes of speed endurance training, and a 20-minute cooldown. Beginners should exercise caution when starting speed endurance training. To reach the speed endurance level, of course, a lot of long basic endurance training is necessary, ensuring that the athlete’s aerobic base is strong enough for this more demanding level.
Here is a more detailed example of a good speed endurance workout for a “beginner.” You can warm up for about 20 minutes, which means going at your normal long-distance pace, then start the speed endurance training about 30 seconds slower per kilometer than your so-called race pace and continue for about 10 minutes, the next 10 minutes you can go 25 seconds slower than race pace and the last 10 about 20 seconds slower than race pace. Essentially, you increase your speed every 10 minutes, but only the last 10 minutes are done at the speed endurance training pace as defined above (a mix of zones 3 and 4). If you feel you have enough energy at the end of the workout, you can go for a short time at race pace or slightly slower (zone 4).
Another good example of a speed endurance workout is the so-called “cruise intervals” or speed endurance intervals. Instead of focusing on a certain speed for a certain period, you can do the speed endurance workout in intervals with a short 30-60 second recovery. This formula reduces the psychological difficulty of the workout while maintaining the aerobic benefits, allowing for a greater volume and may help prevent excessive speed, which can lead to overtraining or fatigue. This method has been used by Ski Classics skier Morten Eide Pedersen, for example.
Experienced and fit long-distance skiers now do long speed endurance workouts, which are rhythmically varied. This so-called Vasaloppet pass workout is usually a 3-5 hour exercise in skiing or roller skiing, during which various intervals, speed runs, and speed endurance segments are performed. Different Pro Teams have their own exercises, where the intensity segments vary according to the skiers’ habits and fitness.
For example, Team Ragde Charge did a roller ski workout at their Mallorca camp, where they first skied two hours at Vasaloppet race pace or even slightly faster, followed by a tough interval workout. The intervals started at 10 minutes and decreased by a minute until the last sprint was one minute long. The recovery between sprints was one minute. Lager 157 Ski Team often does a similar workout, but with more and varied intervals and speed endurance segments, while the intervening skiing is at basic endurance pace.
Finally, how often should these workouts be done? This is a good question, and again it depends on the athlete’s performance ability, capacity, and where they are in the training season. A good rule of thumb is to do a speed endurance workout at least once a week or even twice, but the aerobic base must be strong enough for productive speed endurance training. Adequate recovery from these demanding workouts is extremely important, and exercises should not be done when tired or in poor condition. For ambitious fitness skiers, speed endurance training is a good way to increase speed and capacity, leading to more demanding training such as sprint and VO2max boosting workouts. Before starting VO2max training, the athlete must have both a strong aerobic base and the ability gained from speed endurance training to ski or exercise at maximum level.
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Quotes and references: Runner’s World