By Justin Freeman Saab Salomon Factory Team Level four, roughly speaking, is race pace. And so for those of us who like to race, it is an easy level to train in. The goal of level four training is straightforward: by skiing at the same pace and effort you race at, you get better at racing. The downside to level four training is that racing and race-type efforts put serious stress on your body. This is one reason that training in levels three and five is so important. But when you are getting ready to go fast, nothing beats training at race pace. I should be a little clearer about my definition of level four. The definition I use when running is a pace that you can maintain for 12 minutes. Since skiing involves going both up and down hills, it might be more like a race pace for a 20 minute race; regardless, it is a touch faster than 10 km race pace. You should reach your maximum heart rate when doing level four traini