Two-time World Cup overall champion Lindsey Vonn reports regularly from the tour in collaboration with Denver Post ski writer John Meyer.
PARK CITY, UTAH — Last night I got to sleep in my own bed for the first time since early November. The season ended last week and it’s really weird getting up in the morning, not being focused on my next race.
My husband and I get home with our 10 duffel bags, and you’re like, “OK, what now? What do I do?” I have a month off when I don’t have to do anything. Usually the first thing I do is start working through unanswered emails and voice mails, calling friends I haven’t talked to for four or five months.
From now until the middle of May, when I start training in earnest for next season, is a really important time for me. I have to charge my batteries. I have to relax completely and be fresh.
In the past I’ve gone to Austria in the summer to train for three weeks, and my Austrian trainer would come to Park City for periods of two weeks. This summer I’m going to double that. I’m going to spend six weeks in Austria and my trainer will come over in the middle of May.
Red Bull has incredible training facilities for its athletes in Innsbruck and Salzburg. They have sports physiologists, state-of-the-art gyms and testing equipment. They also let me train at a facility that, except for me, is exclusively for the Salzburg Red Bulls soccer team. They have great training equipment, ice baths, a swimming pool, four soccer fields — it’s pretty incredible.
The bulk of my training is biking and running, because that gives me the endurance that keeps me going in the winter. In Austria we often go road biking for three hours a time.
We also do a lot of agility work, sometimes an hour or two of core work, weightlifting and physical therapy that allows me to keep pushing my body every day. Last year I even did some work on a unicycle. I hated it, but they kept saying it was good for me.
I will take breaks — three weeks of training, followed by a week of easy training for recovery. I’m going to Wimbledon for that week. NBC has hooked me up with some TV passes so, hopefully, I finally will be able to meet Roger Federer.
