Cross-country Skiing Champs Regimen

    Being in late middle-age, I'm interested in how top level athletes of my vintage and above stay in shape. I found an article about one such person, former Olympic cross-country skier Trina Hosmer, in the Wall Street Journal "What's Your Workout?" column by Jen Murphy recently.
  Ms. Hosmer was a 1972 Olympian, and, at 71, won three gold medals in last year's Masters World Cup in Finland.
   She got into cross-country skiing while attending the University of Vermont in the mid 1960's. Her future husband, David, was the captain of the Nordic ski team, and she would go along to the races. There was no women's team, but Trina's desire and talent earned her a spot on the men's squad.
    She earned her Olympic spot while raising two children, and working full-time as a data-analysis consultant at the University of Massachusetts. Trina took time off from competing for awhile, and returned when her kids went off to college. She's since collected 32 age-group gold medals in the Masters World Championships, mostly against women at least a decade younger.
   Diversity and periodization are the keys to her workouts. Year-round, she starts the day off with 30 minutes of Ashtanga yoga for her balance, strength, and flexibility.
    In the spring and summer, she really mixes it up, with 30 to 50 miles of biking a week (in the mountainous Stowe, Vermont region!); hiking in the Green Mountains; running (no more than six miles at a clip); and tennis. This regimen taxes her muscles in different ways to avoid the injuries that over-training in one particular fashion can do.
    In the fall, she gets more focused, with cross-country-specific workouts like roller skiing. In the winter, she takes advantage of the snow by getting out every day she can for some type of Nordic skiing workout,as well as teaching women's clinics.
   Now retired from her full-time career, Trina has a garden, and eats much of what she grows in the spring and summer, avoiding processed foods, and "eating locally."\
   Her diet is healthy without going overboard, and she seems to enjoy keeping the holistic Vermont approach to nutrition, and life in general. It was somewhat gratifying to read she will enjoy moderate amounts of wine and beer, and homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
    Lean and fit, Trina probably has to work on keeping enough calories in her, as cross-country burns up the most calories per hour of any aerobic activity. It uses all the major muscle groups, and is low-impact, which makes it a safe alternative for injured runners. Plus, you get the visceral benefits from being outside on a crisp, winter's day. Sounds great!