Six races completed, one DNF, and a couple races 
I went to but did not start, a week in Puerto Rico.
It was an interesting season.

When I started my journey with Torbjorn, my goal was to race faster. I was a little unclear whether I actually achieved my goal and was somewhat nervous when I started analyzing my log. First, I used the performance calculator to determine how much faster I'd have to be to be in the top three at each race:

My times varied wildly, from 9.8% to 20% behind the average of the top three finishers in the races. Still, my top three race finishes this year were better than my top three races last year. And my average performance was 1.1% faster than last year (14.0% compared to 15.1%). So, overall, goal accomplished.

My fastest race, the Hanson Hills 20K Freestyle, was the one and only race where I started relatively easy, then picked up the pace at the halfway point. I'd been training this way all year and Torbjorn stressed doing this in races. Maybe this strategy works - I should have listened to Torbjorn for the rest of my races!

I also did the "No Frills, All Thrills 5 Mile Trail Run" last weekend, and took 2 minutes off last year's time - that also said I was in better shape this year.

What would I have done differently?
I've thought about my training and race season quite a bit. I felt I did not do enough long distance training the months before and during racing season. I felt unprepared to do a 50K race and decide not to do one. Next year it might be prudent to give up an intensity session or two for a long distance session in October, November and December.

I didn't have much left for a Sunday race after doing a Saturday race. One Sunday I even DNF (my legs were TOAST after the Boyne Highlands Michigan Cup 10K Classic - I had nothing left for the next day's freestyle). That said, one weekend I had a great 22K skate race, and felt very comfortable doing an 8K classic race the next day. Why was this weekend different? (Neither of these two races were my best).

I think I reduced my training hours too much during the season - I needed to do more training during the week. The reduction in hours was partly due to motivation (lack of), from work, from worry about a winter when my resting heart rate seemed high, from not enough snow to ski but too much to rollerski.

The biggest reason may have been this: I felt guilty training Monday through Thursdays during race season since I knew I'd be gone to races Friday, Saturday & Sunday. I knew my wife would rather have me around home. I need to figure out a way to train and not alienate my wife.

I also need to keep up with strength training during the season. By the end of the season, I was getting sore legs from diagonal stride races and post-season from runs and strength sessions.

I also think I need to do more ski-specific strength training - doublepole or no poles for an hour.

I did great training through mid-October. I had training problems starting in October - I was unable to get my heart rate as high during intervals as I had during the previous several months. I also seemed to have a higher than normal resting heart rate. Maybe I couldn't handle that many interval sessions in a month? If I feel this happening again, I'll reduce the number of intervals and make sure my distance skis are easy.

I lost a little confidence as the racing season approached. It would have been better to have some early season racing to get the jitters out and build confidence - even if they were only running races. Some racing would also make training more meaningful. And training time trials are not enough - I need to compete against others.

My classic racing suffered in early season because I had almost no in-track skiing opportunities. Maybe I need to plan my vacation schedule this coming year to so I can head somewhere that has tracked snow during early season.

What am I planning on doing next?
There are a few things I'm definitely doing before I get back on snow:

• It's time to get my skis stone ground - I know they're not holding wax as well as they should. I also need to understand structuring better.
• Uphills still give me the most problems. Uphills is where I lose races. I need more work on uphill technique.
• I skied much faster in the winter when I thought about "falling" onto my poles to initiate my pole plant. I need to focus on this while rollerskiing this coming summer so it's a reflex by next winter.

Was it all worthwhile?
Was the money spent with Torbjorn worth it? During the summer training season, definitely. Torbjorn completely changed the way I trained. Although I'm not sure it was all for the best, I know more about my body's ability to handle stress, I have a better understanding on interval training, and I'll be better informed for the coming training season. 

During the race season? The coaching was not as helpful. There was less instruction or coaching, and I felt less able to take advantage of the coaching offered. This wasn't necessarily Torbjorn's fault - I was being pulled in several different directions, felt stressed about training time, was not sure how to adapt his instructions into my setting, and choose not to take advantage of some of the coaching. (You may have noticed that I stopped publishing of my monthly training plans in the winter months. Hard to write about your plans when you're not sure what they should be or how much time you'll have...)

If there's one part of my life I need to resolve, it's trying to juggle work, family, training and racing during the winter time.

What about you?
Time for you to sit down and think about what you did right, what you did wrong, what you want to do next, and what you have questions about. Put it down on a piece of paper. Make sure you read it several times over the next year. Use the experience gained from this year's training and racing to help you make better informed decisions in the coming year.