7th week No snow again.

Well sometimes, especially as we get older we need to use a bit of common sense and live to ski another day. This is hard to do but with a base of snow around an inch, which was icy in most places it was better to be safe then sorry.
So it was back to ski walking and the 5 step stutter double pole. We are trying to encourage you to do a lot more double poling which requires great timing and core strength. Naturally if your skis are wax too slow or the snow conditions are slow then you may have to diagonal. Do  not arch your back, but be falling forwards as you crunch, drop, and plant your poles.(Float)
At the Birkie there is a lot of herringbone or half herringbone. The tracks are cut up and wiped out by the time some of us ski through. Other times there are so many people around you while climbing, that you need to shorten up your movements.
SWC has some nice small roller coasters off trail and on the multi-use trail.
We talked about remembering to lean forward from the ankles and to plant your poles roughly around your heels, otherwise if the baskets swing further forward you will either be pushing yourself upwards or actually braking.
The question was asked what heart rate should you hold for a 5-6 hour race. This of course will depend on your maximum heart rate and what % of that you can hold. As a rough guideline I will say 75-80%(really just over 85% for me) of max HR at least that is from personal experience but everyone is different and you should lean towards the low side until you know your own body. Of course there are also many other factors that will affect your rate from day to day. Also as we get older our heart rate max will drop as well.
So we must be more efficient in our technique especially as we get older. Never stop learning. :)
In a future class we will learn more about reading the snow, sunshine, wind, humidity, etc., and especially how to use the terrain.
Learning to love hills is a must where you must suck air and suffer.!
Remember what I said in the first class if it hurts too bad suffer, but if it is pain back off, stop, or work around it. There is always another day or another season.
Try to get out and do ski specific training even in these crummy conditions we are having. As i mentioned in class we were very pleased to see how much more fluid that you are moving as a class. Your homework of 5 + hours is starting to show through, well done. If you can possibly get a 3+ hour chunk of skiing in at a time now that would be great.
Remember to have sharp elbows all the time both forward and back as in answer the phone in front and being able to put a pole through the back of bent elbows. You do know what I mean and if not email me.
I have watched the first FIS world Cup races of the year in Ruka Finland, and the techniques I have been teaching you are really close to what is happening again this year.
We need snow to practice, Please remember to do your form of snow dancing!! Smile, be happy, have fun, and see you next week.

6th Week, Diagonal stride without tracks. #Nordic, #langrenn

Oh it was so nice to get on snow though we had to move class to SWC which is only about 30 minutes from Gold Bar.
Today's class covered a multitude of tips that I dumped on you as we hit snow for the first as a class.

We started off with doing some stride jumps and landing on an inside edge. The exercises were intended to get you to getting your skis off the ground and into the air. We then did pizza, pie and spaghetti jumps

Let us talk about the diagonal stride without tracks or ski poles to start off. With a slight bow at the waist, and knees pushed ahead a bit, we had you start running in place with your hands on your thighs trying to kick your butt. Next, was to kick the feet out behind you making sure your thigh went back leaving your hand on each running stride motion.
You then took little steps forward while leaning forward (like you have downhill ski boots on) and soon you were running with a glide.
Of course a few snow snakes (lol) appeared, but the vast majority of you picked up the weight shift right away.
I mentioned the beaver tail slapping warning sign as well. Do you remember that if the skis are slapping, it means you brought your ski down too early and your weight shift was too soon? I should mention that skis slapping and ski chatter are two different things.
Without poles your arm motion were doing fine. We then added poles and had you do some ski sculling. POLES are for PUSH not for balance!
After skiing with the poles at the balance point, and then dragging poles for another exercise, you then started using your poles to assist in your glide.
Of course the first few tries you went back to old ski habits but everything started looking better and better as you progressed.
As always I tried to have you hum a song and try to flow over the snow rather then being stick soldiers. Remember to go ahhh on each stride as you fall forward and recover, always keeping that little lean forward and do not straighten up.
Just to make you feel better my intercostal and chest muscles are hurting a bit but not the triceps. lol
Also remember to bring a snack for each class preferably the sort of food that will be at the feed stations. You must try eating and then going hard again after 3 minutes or so. If you try various foods you will know what is best for your body digestion, as everyone's body reacts differently.

5th Week, Dryland Double poling, #Nordic, #Langrann

Talked about skis and poles for a few minutes. Be sure to use carbide tips and if steel take into a ski shop and see if they be exchanged.
Talked about waxing just a little. A few waxes and some wax remover. We will get into more detail as weather warrants.
You did some squats using your pole and the height of your knee.
We also talked about your heart rate in general loose guidelines as it depends on your age, specific muscle training genetics, sport you are testing your max HR, and many other factors. However as a very rough guideline a 4 hour ski race might be about 30 beats below max HR average. 
Talked about ski specific homework and the importance getting a 3 hr chunk of training even now, as there is only about 3 months left before the Birkie.
Reviewed ski walking and ski striding again.

Introduced double poling 5 step stutter step.
Bring your hips forward of the ankles with feet together, mostly, depending on your speed. Pole with elbows bent at roughly 90’ using your lats to push you forward, not your triceps.
You don’t run but the stutter steps should happen because of the power of the double poling push.
Reminder to pull down on your straps and do not tightly grasp the ski handle but lightly control it with your palm and fingers.
The ski baskets should not go past your feet and those using long poles doing dry land will have to  plant their ski baskets further behind their feet then those with shorter poles.
Keep your head up and do not look at your feet.

Just a heads up, if you have not been roller skiing, give yourself sometime to get your ski legs under you. As guideline it takes me about 15 hrs. before I do not feel like a fish out of water flopping around. Hopefully you are faster then I.

4th Week of Ski Class (Double poling)

Happy days
We were able to 'ski' this week on rock skis.
Only a couple of students did not bring their rocks skis or whatever they had. The snow was only a couple of inches deep and right around 0C.
Double poling was the main course for today. You started off with a review of falling forward into your partners hands from the ankles with the hips forward.
Homework was discussed and several students are now doing over 5 hours of ski specific training. Preparing yourself mentally and and physically to go long is important. The Birkie is less then 90 days away and so one of your workout sessions needs to be at least 3 hours and keep increasing every 10 days or so for the next several weeks.
We skied in a couple of tracks for double poling in but that did not last for long as the grass showed through.
Some of the key points that were added during the class were the following.
The old mantra of gravity, body weight, before muscle was hammered on again.
Bringing the hips forward can be a challenge. Memory clues such as stretching your stomach muscles, squeezing your cheeks (loony), were practiced.
Elbow height, (chicken wing) was discussed and how high it you should be. Remember once a again about the warning of having high elbows until you worked up to it. The older we are the more careful we all need to be as it can be very painful.
Chicken pecking was another exercise that was practiced, with the hands staying at your shoulders and you only moved by doing the stomach core crunch. There should be no more then 6 inches of movement.
The hands were then extended about a foot from the shoulders and you once again only moved forward by doing the stomach  core crunch.
Normal double poling was then tried with the elbows bent at around 90' both forward and back.
Loading the poles  by using body weight was introduced but not covered much. Until the hips come forward the quick drop at the knee will wait for another week.