What can you learn from a post-race postmortem?

Should you warm up if you're "only in recreation mode"? Is it worth pushing to avoid bottlenecks? How do you eat when using poles?

When can you get away with not carrying extra food and water?

Nutrition confusion often comes from guides and plans being labeled "...for Event X." But duration and intensity are the key factors, not distance.

How long can aerobic capacity improve?

"I've read that aerobic capacity building can go on for 6, 8 or 10 years, even for full-time athletes. And I recently read how Nils van der Poel spent ~30 hours/week for 3 years in building his aerobic base."

How does cooling down improve aerobic capacity?

"What is the reason for cooling down after a workout? What are the consequences if we never cool down? Does the kind of workout matter? What does the ideal cool down look like?"

What metabolic information can we get from a flat half-marathon?

"I've read that a time trial for 10k or 45 min or 1 hr is a general test for one's anaerobic threshold, and a marathon is raced at one's aerobic threshold. Is that true?"

Why Transitions Matter ☝️

Do them well, and skimo transitions will be an insignificant portion of your race. Do them poorly, and you'll lose to that guy you can't stand.

How to practice 🎹

Speed doesn't come from doing everything faster. It comes from not doing things that don't matter.

Entering a transition zone 🛬

Regardless of the transition type, approaching a transition zone has a handful of common actions.

Skin to Ski: Single Rips❗

At the top of each climb, a skimo racer must switch from uphill skinning to downhill skiing and do it in less than 30 seconds to be competitive.

Skin to Ski: Double Rip ‼️

After the final ascent, the change from skinning to skiing is unique. Instead of two single-skin rips, it's much faster to double-rip both skins and stuff the sticky mess in your suit.