Just a little note on cross country skiing
As I mentioned I am pretty excited about winter season, and I love skiing. I have been doing it since I was about 2-3 years old and I did it actively until I was about 15 years. It has given me so much, a great foundation of training, the will to be outside even though it is -19 degree Celsius and I love going downhill.
To prepare for my cross country season I start the Barmarkstrening (start training up your stamina on un-snowy surface), that means hill intervals, long intervals, long runs, strength (usually circuit training after our group has been out doing cardio). We also have something called skigang and spretten skigang. It basically means that you imitate skiing in hills, like walking lungs up a hill, or jumping lunges up a hill, but you actively use your arms with or without poles. It is great, try it when you are out running, find a hill and do spretten skigang (jumping lunges).
Balance is also a key thing to practice when you do cross country skiing, and when the surface is getting snowy and the ski paths are ready, try standing on just one ski as you go down hill. It is fun and challenging and gives you great control and guts.
As the snow comes, and the skis come on, I usually have about three weeks where I focus on technique. Normally I enter a technique course at the start f the season, and that is worth gold for the rest of the it. There is always something to finely tune and do better, not only will it improve your speed, but also make you energy efficient. Last year I did a 30 km skiing trip before my technique course, and then after, I think I cut down 30-40 minutes on the round (either I was really in bad shape or had bad technique, maybe both)!
Then as I prepare for my competitions I make sure to hit the training hard, one day with technique and intervals, one day with just intervals, one day with strength and then one day with a long skiing trip, about 20-50km. My best advice for training would be hit it hard when it is a hard work out, don´t slack, and make sure you take it easy on the not hard days. Most people don´t go fast enough on their fast training days and then go too fast on their slower trips, a pulse monitor is great tool if you don´t know your body, or a great tool none the less. Make sure to do test races with yourself, a friend or a training group.
A couple of weeks before a race, slow down, find out where your race is. The best thing is to have gone through it physically once before your race, but if that isn´t possible, see the profile of the race, where are the hills, how many hills and so on. Also, listen to advice, people who havedone it before knows where to put in the extra gear and where to just calm down. Key word for this weeks are: restitution
Most importantly, enjoy being outside in the snow, nothing is as nice as freshly done skipaths, flowing technique, rosy cheeks and a big smile on your face as you glide through the white surroundings without worrying about anything other than getting home before dark ;)
Ps: my plan sounds strict, but I am aware of my body and I don´t follow it rigidly. I want to make my body stronger by training, not make it weaker because of it. Take a break when you need it, and adjust your plan to your goals :)