10th Week, Diagonal Stride beginnings, #langrenn

Even though I was not there Laura and Mary Ann taught the class.

The lesson that was taught has been a long time in coming, since getting on a grid with tracks set has been out of the question because of lack of snow. 

You started on the grid with 4 lanes with one ski on and no poles

You then practiced landing on the ball of the foot and pushing yourself down the track not scootering, but stepping and pushing with the ball of your foot making sure of a complete weight transfer as you pushed yourself down the track

You then switched to the other foot and practiced the other side. You probably found out that you have better balance on one ski versus the other ski. There is likely hood of about 80% of the time the left leg being the better leg to balance on.

Once mastered some of you were challenged to balance as long as possible on one ski down the track.

You then did the 'gimping' ski exercise where one ski was in the track and one out of the track with the ski out of the track doing the pushing without gliding.

Finally with both skis in the tracks you then practiced skiing without poles.

There was a major focus on weight transfer by doing the nosekneeski exercise.

There was also the direction of falling forward from the belly button.

It was emphasized to have the foot come down beside or even ahead of the gliding foot while keeping the lean forward. If your ski is slapping it is because your foot is not being brought forward enough. The more you lean forward the further forward you will be able to bring your foot. 

Also presented was falling forward naturally brings the leg back and the ski off the ground.

Ski poles will be added another day.  :)

This picture has 3 ski skaters coming around the corner and they almost ski into the back end of the moose!!

A Few Thoughts while out on a Day Ski Tour!

What are some of the things in my day pack today? Matches with lint, pocket knife, emergency space blanket for two, first aid kit, toilet paper, lightweight down jacket, spare toque, spare warm mitts, a light shell, 2 water bottles with more water if needed at a couple of back country shelters I hope. Of course we also have a couple of energy bars but they can be very hard in cold weather. On this day we experimented with figs and dates which worked out very well. :) I also forgot ny headlamp which is sitting on the counter that needs new batteries with spares. Sometimes it turns on by itself in the pocket I keep it in, grr.
One time I was caught in a white out snow storm and since then I normally carry a pack when out in this area. Even though only a half hour or so from the city cell phone service is spotty.
The weather looks very good today around +2C with some sunshine and there is enough snow for the skis to slow us down if needed.
Setting a repeat timer for every 20 minutes works well to take a drink instead of going by feel.
The set tracks in places were awesome today.
The camber of the skis is noticeable especially on skins, as the drag will cause an unsafe glide feeling if you have too much weight and have the hairs dragging. Time to switch the wife's skins from black to pink. Maybe I should lose 10 pounds?
There sure are a lot of moose, deer and elk tracks in the snow. I kept my eyes peeled for animals, but did not see anything except squirrels.
Keep your speed under control.
As we get older it hurts when we fall and we do not bounce off the ground!
Wow it sure is quiet except for a occasional train or airplane.
We need more snow to cover up all the tree seeds and leaves.
Another foot of snow real soon would certainly be nice for a Christmas present!
The 'chocolates' left by the 4 footed variety are sprinkled about to pull you down if you are not paying attention.
Rabbit turds get push down rather then stopping you, thank goodness.
Leaves and seeds will slow down your glide. Be sure to use waxes with silver or carbon in it.
The beaver have left some deep ditches at the bottom of some hills.
The running diagonal side step is real handy to get up some hills without going into the herringbone. Just be sure to get to the uphill slope.
One legged snow plows to slow going down the hill work well especially when there is not a lot of room.
Sharp elbows forward and back really works.
The steeper the hill the more the use of quick crunches with hands close to body really works.
Thinking hip thrust, tightening of butt and allowing the rear foot to come up off the ground with a naturally straight leg and back across to the mid-line of the track while diagonally makes everything flow together.
Soaking up the sunshine while relaxing out in the middle of nowhere sure is peaceful
Squirrels will sometimes blanket seeds very heavily across the whole trail as a gotcha move. lol
We are tired and I can feel a lot of my muscles but not my core which is good.
The last few km's seem to take forever before getting back to the car.
What are we going to eat and drink as soon as we stop?
How wet are my clothes and will I need to change as home is only less then a half hour away?
Hmm I will eat a couple of bananas and hope my muscles do not cramp tonight.
We sure had a great time, other then the wrecked ski trails!!

9th Week, on snow again, Uphill, Downhill

The skiing today was pretty good with actual classic tracks.
Using the uphill you practiced the herringbone. The herringbone is the slowest movement you can do unless you do the sidestep. The herringbone has the hands and feet working in opposites. This means that one pole and opposite ski come into the contact with the snow at the same time. Try not to use an edge but just the wax until it gets too steep. Try doing the running herringbone instead of walking if you are fit enough. Almost 50% of your time is spent going uphill so try to double pole and then diagonal stride up as long as possible before switching to herringbone.
You then tried a half herringbone going uphill. This move is used a lot when slow people are going up the middle and you are able to ski up the tracks and use the half herringbone when needed. I must stress that in a classic race you cannot use the half skate. :(
I also introduced you to the running diagonal side step which comes in handy at times. Always point your ski tips toward the middle and the tips should be pointing downhill slightly if you are able. Remember to use both the wax and the inside edge of the lower ski and the outside edge of the upper ski. This technique also enables you to quickly switch to either herringbone or diagonal stride.
Going down hill you practiced some step turns in both directions. The vast majority of the time you will be turning by doing step turns or snow plow turns in the Birkie.
On the trail you practiced turning in the tracks while gliding around a curve. You tried to stay in the tracks by pushing the hips and knees to the inside of the curve but you weighted the outside ski with your shoulders as your body creates a bit of a C curve. Remember, keep that your shoulder weighted over the outside ski with hands low.
On the same curve you practiced a two steps(skate) turn. You can normally recognize when to do this when there are 2 are or three sharp grooves created in the snow by skiers before you in the snow. Weight your outside ski and push off completely onto to your inside ski. It should be a quick push and be ready to do that a couple more times. You must not continue to do half skating however or you will be disqualified! If you are able and there are 2 tracks, use the inside track in case you have to drift out of the tracks, like where we practiced.
Once again try to get out and ski at least 3 hours plus in one chunk of time.

8th Week, skiable snow but no tracks. #langrenn.

Ski conditons were hard rock ice(3cm) covered with just a skiff of snow and around -4C, cloudy, with a few promising snow flakes falling at SWC.
First thing I want to mentioned is the importance of skiing long and if not on skis get out and ski walk for 3.5 to 4+ hours in one chunk of time. This training is important for not just the body but for the mind. The mind must be able to keep the hammer down while working constantly on your technique. You have to have the discipline to ski within yourself at all the times. Your pacing is unique to you and if you start out too fast then you will lose a lot of time before the finish.
The first technique we practiced was the herringbone, Shake hands(really your elbow, lol) with the opposite tip was used as an imagery. Your pole is roughly parallel with the ski you are going opposite with. Hands stay low, poles plant a bit further back from the feet but still within 4 inches of the side of your ski.
After a bit of practice you then tried just herringboning with just one ski, while the other ski goes straight up the hill. This is needed as sometimes people are in your way and you should be passing them.
In quick succession we covered holding a tray in front of you as you went downhill, push the knees over the toes, pretend to sit down on a toilet seat with the head up looking ahead and keep the weight centered over the whole foot. As you get more confident going downhill, your weight can be shifted to the heels to glide faster. We also showed you how to slow down while going downhill without snow plowing by standing up a bit more upright and opening up your chest and arms to the wind. Do not lift hands more then chest height and keep control of the poles.
You also practiced learning where to double pole and do a high tuck. The low tuck is only used in very few circumstances.
Practice increased tempo while skiing uphill.
I then introduce the Klaebo run for the first time. This can be used before you go into the herringbone and after the diagonal starts slipping. Actually running uphill with a slight lean and knees driving quickly while coordinating a quick push of the pole will help everything. Running hard on your toes will push the wax into the snow strongly. This is tiring and so is best used for shorter steeper hills. One benefit, is that this movement gives the normal ski muscles a bit of a break because of the slightly different movement.
We touched on knowing where the warm snow and cold snow is. Talked about knowing where the hard snow and soft snow is. Always know where south is because that will affect these other factors.

There was one more thing that we covered and that was how to determine your wax pocket. Yes the store can give you an a starting point but only you skiing on your ski will be the real determining factor as to where your wax pocket is. Where is the wax staying on and where is it wearing off?

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.