Season Management: Choose Your Races Wisely

I was talking to a top junior from back East I work with last week over Zoom about his race season so far. He was really excited about his results to date, but also expressed how he was already starting to feel a bit “cooked” from all of the racing he was doing. I asked how many races he’s been in this season, and he said around 20. I almost fell out of my chair! That’s 20 races in the first six weeks of the race season!! Extrapolate that over a race calendar that runs from late November to late April (five months) and we’re talking more than 70 races!! Now, realistically, with breaks and training blocks, that number will likely be smaller, but even if you knock off ten, 60 races is still a crazy number of races in a season. I remember, back in the day, that Nate Bryan, the outstanding racer from Vail, held some sort of record for having 62 starts in a season.

What is driving this absurd amount of racing? As always, but perhaps with the volume turned up following the lost COVID seasons, racers feel constant pressure to seek out opportunities to lower their FIS points. First-year FIS athletes are doing everything they can to dig themselves out of the 999 weeds. Juniors and seniors in high school are angling for increasingly limited and competitive college ski team slots. PGs are trying to keep their ski-racing careers alive for another year. Coaches feel compelled to give their young charges as many starts as possible. And parents want to get as big an ROI from their kids’ ski racing to justify the costs (just imagine if you calculated the ratio of dollars spent to FIS points lowered!).

More generally, our ski-racing culture is driven by FIS points as the singular measure of success, particularly at the junior level. Lowering FIS points is the equivalent of survival in our “dog eat dog” sport. What is a bit absurd is that unlike World Cup points, which are cumulative so there is real incentive to race as often as possible, lowering FIS points only requires two races per event, so quality opportunities should trump quantity. Oh, and don’t forget the COVID-19 response of scheduling two races in one day (which I’m actually supportive of). Finally, at an even broader level, our U.S. culture worships at the altar of “more is better.”

But, in ski racing (and so many aspects of life), more is definitely not better, and, in fact, more can do more harm than good. If a racer is feeling burned out in January, imagine how he or she will feel in March and April when many of the biggest races are? Physically drained, mentally spent. Additionally, a tired body and an unfocused mind is a recipe for increased risk of injury in a sport that already has rates of injury that are off the charts.

Of course, there are some races that racers must enter in the absence of some very compelling reason such as a serious injury or COVID-19; for example, qualifiers for higher race series. When confronted with “must-do” events for which they aren’t entirely prepared, all racers can do is to prepare as best they can, give their best effort, and hope for the best.

Tips for When to Race

It is incumbent on coaches to not fall pray to this plethora of pressures they must feel to build a packed race schedule for their racers. Rather, they must focus on what is best for their athletes physically, mentally, and emotionally, and in terms of their long-term development. Here are a few tips that everyone involved in race scheduling should follow:

Never race just because there is a race next weekend.
Only race if there is a specific value or purpose (e.g., skiing well, experience, good point opportunity).
Never race if racers are tired, sick, injured, or feeling unmotivated or distracted.
Only race when life outside of ski racing (e.g., school, family) supports racers’ efforts.
Only race if racers are prepared, technically, tactically, or mentally, to take advantage of the opportunity.
Never race as a means of regaining confidence (usually the opposite happens).
Never race in the hopes of getting out of a slump (usually racers just dig themselves into a deeper hole).
Never race simply because there is a good point opportunity (racing with the singular goal of lowering points usually creates expectations and pressure that kill those opportunities).

Racer Self-care

Too often, when mid-March rolls around, many racers are already thinking about hanging up their skis, going on Spring Break, and breaking out their mountain bikes, sailboards, or golf clubs. Going into the last six weeks of the race season with that attitude pretty much guarantees an unproductive and unsatisfying conclusion of the season.

Racers themselves need to be proactive and reactive in their self-care during the season to ensure that they stay physically healthy, mentally motivated, and emotionally excited till the very end of the season. Here are some tips that racers can follow to prevent burnout and respond to early signs:

Focus on quality training while getting the necessary volume.
Take mandatory rest days each week (particularly after a race series).
Maintain a consistent physical maintenance program.
Eat healthily.
Fuel well during training sessions.
Hydrate consistently.
Establish consistent quality-sleep patterns.
Limit social media (a time and energy suck).
Take naps when tired.
Listen to your body and mind and respond accordingly (e.g., take a day off if you’re feeling tired or unmotivated).

One of my favorite quotes from Mark Beaumont, the world’s leading adventure cyclist (we’re writing a book together) is: “Listen to your body when it is whispering, so you don’t have to listen when it is screaming!”

The goal with both thoughtful race scheduling and active self-care is to have racers “stay in the game” physically and mentally from the start to the finish of the race season. The result will, hopefully, be that, however many races they compete in during the season, racers will be maximally prepared to take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself for a strong effort, fast skiing, a good result, improved points, and another step toward their season and long-term goals.

Want to make mental training a part of your winter training and race program? Here are a few options: