From an Email I just wrote to the Devo crew, but good advice to all:

Finally at this time of year, particularly with the traveling that occurs around the holidays, we are often more susceptible to illness than normal because of the introduction of new pathogens into our environment.  Having watched many athletes struggle with sickness for extended periods of time in the winter (sometimes months) because they never give their body a chance to recover, I want to encourage everyone to skip training or races and take time off if they are sick.  Compounding this in Fairbanks is the fact that we have lots of cold, dry weather which when combined with respiratory infections, greatly increases an individuals chances of developing Exercise Induced Asthma.  Having seen a couple of athletes over the past two years work with EIA, I can assure you that it is a nuisance to deal with.  In the Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science of Cross Country Skiing, put out by the International Ski Federation (FIS), I have a sentence highlighted from the chapter entitled ‘Medical Aspects’ written by Ola Ronsen, MD:

“If one particualar piece of advice should be emphasized it must be the precaution of not exercising in cold weather while having symptoms of respiratory infections - even for several days after the fever and fatigue has passed.” (p.121)

And a little further thought (not in the email):

Often times people ask about cold weather masks for training.  Personally, while I don’t have one (yet) I think they are a good idea.  The same chapter mentioned above, also mentions that the risk factors “contributing to EIA are: high intensity of exercise, exposure to cold and dry air, respiratory infections, allergens and dust, air pollution, fatigue and stress.” (p. 122)  While I (a ski coach, not a pulmonary medical specialist) don’t think training with a heat/moisture exchange mask is a miracle cure-all or a replacement for avoiding other risk factors (such as training in polluted areas (like the valleys at certain times during the winter), or ignoring the above advice about resting or training inside when recovering from illness), it seems logical to minimize the risk factors involved.  While the masks have only been available overseas in the past, Beaver Sports has begun carrying them this year for about $45.  At the very least, breathing through a neck warmer or balaclava on the coldest days is highly recommended.

DOT is an acronym borrowed from USST Head Coach Pete Vordenberg from an article he wrote on Team Today a couple of years ago. He summarizes the case for why the most valuable training that an athlete can get is from a coach who is there watching the athlete as they train each and every day. If you look around the world of skiing, you will see that an unduly large proportion of the major national teams’ rosters are made up of athletes who have come out of programs that train together with a coach on a nearly daily basis for most - if not all - of the year. In Norway it is often the ski academies like those in Lillehammer, Hovden, Geilo and Meraaker; in Sweden the names are different (Jaerpen, Mora, Torsby, Solleftea, Gaellivaere), but the idea and results are nearly the same. Same goes in Finland, Germany, Austria and so forth. In the US if you look at the ranks of athletes on the US Ski Team or in the top few slots on the results at JOs they are peppered with athletes that spent/are spending their junior years at programs like Sun Valley SEF, Bridger Ski Foundation, Stratton Mtn School, Burke Mountain Academy, Gunstock Nordic Association, Auburn Ski Club, Mount Bachelor Ski Education Foundation, Alaska Winter Stars, and APUNSC, to name a bunch. As you can imagine, it is no mistake that FXC is built on the principle of frequent training under direct coach observation.

Every technique in skiing can be broken down into a cycle, and the momentum a skier generates with each cycle is the fundamental building block of his or her performance on the snow. Link together some powerful cycles and you have speed, extend that speed long enough and it can be considered endurance. Power, speed and endurance are all things that happen in the real world, and are not developed on a sheet of paper, nor in a computer program, nor on past results lists, but in the here and now of training each and every day. So why not get the most out of the here and now? There is nothing that will help you do that more than a coach who is there, watching you train, watching how you do things, day in and day out. No bells and whistles will ever top that, no matter how fancy the heart rate monitor, how many cool graphs you can make in your training log, or how many lactates you take. Skiing takes place in the real world (at least for now), the one governed by the laws of physics, so you’d better make sure your training is getting the job done in the real world too!