Running During A Ski Vacation

Charlene_1985

On Jan 21st, I am going on a 5 night ski trip to Big Sky, MT. (Yay!!!) I'm curious as to how you would adjust your workout schedule. I am running about 30 miles per week as I'm getting back into things after hurting my hip (non running injury) in July. We will be skiing 4 days, Sunday-Wednesday. Saturday and Thursday are travel days. I'm a hard blue/easy black skier but the resort is set up beautifully where you really don't have a lot of "pushing yourself to the lift" moments. I am not actively training for a race right now, just trying to regain my fitness after taking 3 months off from running to heal. My 10K times are around 54 so I'm pacing 8:45 for that distance. I currently run 6,4,6,off,5,9,off. My first travel day is an off day, so I will miss the 6,4,6,off,5 part of a week if I don't run on the treadmill at the resort. I'm usually first on the lift in the morning with a few quick potty and snack stops. I'll catch the last lift up before it shuts down. so I ski all day. How would you adjust your schedule? Time wise, I want to enjoy my evenings with a nice dinner with my other half and not spend an hour on a darn treadmill, but I also don't want to lose some of my progress. Weight loss is not a concern for me, just the training part. Thx. Happy New Year!

lorrpb

I would enjoy t h e trip and resume my running schedule when I returned home.

juliet3455

@Charlene_Marie_723 My personal experience is that after 2-3 days of Hammering the Hills hard a running workout might be more work than reward.
I would suggest that you might want to think of it as a cut back week - reducing your distance to reduce the risk of re-injury.
Maybe 5, 3, 4 ?? After a few over-use injuries I have become more aware of the true value of rest days and routine changes.

My Christmas Schedule had me travelling every 2nd day so it was like a mini cut-back rest period. So after 5 days of no running I went out Thursday for a 10 km with fresh legs, that turned into a 16 because I met a friend on the Trails and we just kept on running & talking about future Races. This felt fine while doing it, on Friday it was a planned 7 km that was a struggle as my legs were tired. Saturday was a planned 20 km, with fresh snow, poor footing/traction I reduced it to 6 km as my legs were just destroyed. Today was a unplanned Running Rest Day as some times it's better to step back. Spent the day walking and 45 minute swim.

Charlene_1985

Thanks for the tips. I'll use it as an active recovery week and go from there. The 8000' base elevation where the resort is will help make up for a decrease in the distance. Maybe I'll just run 4 2.5 milers and enjoy my evenings. I'll be finished within 30 minutes including a short warm up and colldown. Thx.

NorthCascades

Nordic or alpine? If you're skiing cross country, that's a lot of work, and I'd do it in place of running. If downhill, I have no idea.

spiriteagle99

I would skip the running entirely. You won't lose any fitness, especially since you'll be active the whole time. If this is the first ski trip this season, you'll be dealing with stiffness already. If the weather is bad and you do a short ski day, then you might want to do the TM or go for a swim, but otherwise, I'd just enjoy the time on the slopes and worry about the running when you get home.

lporter229

I am typically a 6 day/wk runner. We do a 5 day ski vacation every year. I like to run in new/different places, so I generally will do a run when we arrive at the house and an early morning run on the day of our departure. This is mainly for the sake of enjoying the scenery. On ski days, I just skip it all together. It sounds like my skiing is similar to yours and this is plenty enough of a workout for my legs. There is really nothing to be gained by forcing myself to run for the sake of running. Even during marathon training I have not found skipping these days to be a problem. There is no way I would be hitting the treadmill. I prefer to spend that time on the slopes and in the hot tub. Have a great time. I have never been to Montana, but that sounds awesome!

TavistockToad

I'd just enjoy my holiday. You won't lose any fitness especially as you'll be active while you're away.

cwolfman13

I would enjoy the trip and ski...that's plenty of exercise. I'm a cyclist so I obviously wouldn't be dragging my bike around on a trip like that...I've never lost my "mojo" taking some time off and doing something different...quite the opposite actually...I usually hit PRs when I come back from a trip

peleroja

I find that if I do too much treadmill running on ski weekends, my knees complain about it, personally (although I have no knee problems typically.) I'm a pretty aggressive skier and I think the combo of my treadmill gait and wrenching my knees around bombing it down the mountain does nothing good for my muscles etc.

In your position, I might head down to the gym for an easy 3 -5 miler or two if I had the time and energy, but I wouldn't sweat it if not. The worst you're likely to experience from a week off is maybe a rough first run back where going at your usual speed is harder than usual, but you can always slow down for a couple runs if you need to. It'll come back quickly after such a short break.

BeeerRunner

Unless you're training for a race, which you said you aren't, i would skip running and enjoy the skiing. I've got a ski trip planned 2 weeks after my marathon. Hoping thats enough time for my legs to have recovered...Lol!

Skiing is such a great workout, and my last ski vacation was the only one where I lost weight on vacation!! Lol! I ate sensible breakfasts and lunches, enjoyed a few beers throughout the day, and ate what I wanted for dinner.

7lenny7

After two weeks of no training you only lose 6% of VO2 max, which is easily gained back once you resume.

Enjoy your trip!

Charlene_1985

Thanks everyone! I'll go and enjoy my trip. I'll bring my running duds in case we have a shorter day on the mountain. I have always lost weight skiing. I eat a nice big breakfast, a few snacks, and usually a pretty big dinner. Because I'm so dehydrated, I drink water or Diet Coke at dinner with zero or very little alcohol. My FitBit was broken last year during my trip so I'm anxious to see how many calories I actually burn. A few years ago, we went to Killington and its layout is not nearly as "ski friendly" as Big Sky with regards to not having to walk much. Guess I'll have to ski a lot to torch my calories.