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.