We've seen the benefits this season of training in both disciplines. Long track speed skaters Shani Davis, Trevor Marsicano and Denny Morrison have all trained on the short track ice. The three were most recently on the podium for the 1500m (in the same order) at the World Single Distance Championships.
Top athletes seem to understand this concept and embrace cross training techniques that will clearly help to improve their performance. I believe it comes from the willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed. It may no longer be enough to be a "purist" athlete when it means that you'll be missing some critical component necessary to win.
Another great example of this is Mark Cavendish, a 23 year old cyclist who just won the 298 km Milan to San Remo race. Below is a question posed to Cavendish (MC) and his response in a post-race interview:
Q: You will race the world championships on the track, why?
MC: The reason is it makes me so fast is the leg speed, for sure I get the leg speed from the track. What people don’t see is the fine details I put into my training and my lifestyle to be able to be here. It made sense a little bit on the track to keep my leg speed. For sure, I am doing 100-200km in training, I am getting stronger in the climbs, but there’s no point to get to the finish and not be able to sprint. I don’t gain financially and I don’t get remembered for racing the track, but if you look at the fact it will benefit my road career, if it will keep my legs fast, it makes perfect sense.
298 km and the victory came down to a photo finish.....
JC
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