September Discoveries
A couple things I noticed during September: 

First, I found I can't get my heart rate to max when doublepoling or doublepoling w/ kick- I can just get it to within 5 beats of max, and only for a few seconds. This was discovered during a couple of the classic intervals sessions. Torbjorn said this is not unexpected: "Your max heart rate is lower while double poling compared to running or diagonal skiing (fewer muscles involved)." What implications does this have for training? "Go by feel or adjust the scale down by 5-8 beats" when doing intervals - training zones change depending on what kind of exercise you're doing.

I was also worried that doing a weight session one day would not allow me to have a quality "quality session" the following day - my muscles would be too tired. Both Torbjorn and J.D. Downing (at the NordicSkiRacer Fall Dryland Race Camp) said - if I may paraphrase - "Nonsense!" They were right: I can have a good "quality session" even if I do weights the day before. Still, there we're some days when I had no choice: It was either weights after the quality session, or no weights for the next several days. In the past - and most of this year, I've lift the same amount of weights in each set. I now occasionally use a "build up" approach - starting with an easier set of weights and adding more with each set. This change has probably helped my muscles from being totally toasted during a following day quality session. 

Finally, if I take Claritin-D for allergies, my resting heart rate the next morning is up 5-6 beats. It doesn't appear to hurt my training short term (I don't take the meds more than 2-3 days).

I feel stronger and faster. 

October's Plan - Halloween Scary? 
Torbjorn has increased the number of quality sessions for my October training plan to thirteen. And some are harder or longer than September's already heavy load. Now that's scary. The plan calls for both rollerski and running time trails at race speed. 

[Digression: For you folks just getting into training mode, thirteen interval/pace sessions is too many to start with; I've been building up all year. I started with just four in the month May, built to seven in June, eight in July, nine in August, and eleven in September. If you try to do too much to early, you'll either injure yourself, burnout, or peak in December and decline the rest of the season. Avoid the "hot out of the gate" syndrome described by J.D. Downing in this month's "Fall Training and Conditioning: Do's and Don'ts" training feature on the XC Ski World website. Be warned. End Digression]

Torbjorn wants everyone to be on rollerskis for up to 50% of their training time this month - time to get specific! My plan actually calls for about 60% and Torbjorn said I might substitute in a little more running.

Sure is Dark Outside
October also brings one of my least favorite days of the year - the end of Daylight Savings Time. Soon, it'll be running and rollerskiing at night. Since we have tons of bike paths in southeastern Michigan, it's not too much of a problem to rollerski - it's a competitive advantage! 

People who are not so lucky need to be much more careful. In past years, groups of us would meet in a well lit hospital parking lot to train, or train on quiet neighborhood or light industrial streets. Reflective clothing is a must; headlights and taillights might be recommend for the road.

But it's not time to back off training. Darkness or light, it's time to train!