| March 29,
2007 Vol. 7/ No. 31 |
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Dear SkiPost;
After long distance cross country races, I often find white patches on my ski soles, as if the sole had become very dry. I believe it has to do with something that I am doing wrong when I wax, but what is it exactly that I am doing wrong?
Hello,
This is a good question, but we have to be careful to think that there is something terribly wrong with your skis. In this case it could be a few different things that are going on. The first, and perhaps most likely, is that your ski is not sufficiently waxed before you go to race. These white marks will probably not appear if you have a healthy (read: unsealed) base that is just under cared for.
There have been many emails in the past that have asked if it is truly necessary to wax your skis after EVERY time you ski. The answer is simple: If you hope to have the fastest skis out there, and protect your investment, you need to wax them after each time you ski. We understand that this can be hard to do, but the whole process of waxing, scraping, brushing, and skiing is what makes your skis faster over time. If you negate the first three steps, and slip right into the third you are not doing your skis much of a favor.
There is a chance that the white marks you see on your skis is where you have sealed your bases at some point. This usually occurs in isolated spots that you overheated your base, and really can't be changed without a good stone grind. These spots are usually fairly apparent when you are in the process of waxing your skis, because it will be the area that has wax that doesn't seem to dry/absorb. Take this into consideration the next time you wax your skis, and if you find this happening your skis are candidates for a good stone grinding job - visit enjoywinter.com to find a list of the stone grinders the Subaru Factory Team does their work with.
I hope this addresses your problem, and perhaps gives you some food for thought. A well-saturated base will be less likely to show signs of being dry over races that are any distance. A ski that doesn't have deep saturation will, in turn, appear much more dry at the end of even the shortest ski outings.
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By Abigail Larson
Subaru Factory Team
This year the conditions at the Birkie may not have been ideal, but then my training wasn’t ideal either so it suited me just fine. And although I didn’t bring home a victory, my third place finish was a personal victory because only two months ago I wasn’t able to ski at all.
Compared to last year, I knew this season was going to be different for me. I had moved from Bozeman to Salt Lake City to begin a PhD program in Exercise Science and Nutrition. I was also running a lot, focusing on preparing to qualify for Olympic Trials in the marathon; though I still had aspirations of ski racing this winter and maybe even making the World Championship Team. But in October my first metatarsal and great toe joint began bothering me and eventually incapacitated me completely for weeks. Eventually I saw an orthopedic surgeon who discovered the bone and cartilage were soft, rotten, and completely destroyed. Why this happened is unclear, my surgeon and his colleagues have never seen this type of bone destruction/deformation and we all hope that it is a localized phenomena and not systematic. What was clear was the necessity of surgery. Fortunately the toe and the metatarsal were repairable without a cartilage or bone graph. My surgeon used gortex to pack the empty space were the damaged bone was removed to provide support and serve as a quasi-scaffold for bone re-growth.
The surgery went well but it was a long arduous recovery. I couldn’t drive, walking was slow and painful, showering was next to impossible, and life was basically humbling. I have never felt or been so incapacitated. I knew that it was only a matter of time before things got better but I also knew it was a possibility that I may never be able to run or ski again. I was prepared for the worst but keeping a positive attitude and hoping for the best. Within a couple weeks I was spending a lot of time on my bike trainer and at the University gym, where I worked out on the Stairmaster in my walking cast. I also began to plan out my competitive road biking career in the event that I would no longer be able to ski or run; a plan that will still be brought to action some day.
When the six-week post-surgery date came around I was given the go-ahead to begin weight bearing activity again. In classic Abby-Fashion I began skiing for 1-3 hours at a shot and running 20-30 minutes a day on top of that. This completely reeked havoc on my injured limb and I managed to give myself a stress fracture just above the surgically repaired metatarsal. I didn’t know this at the time, however, and was all but certain it was because the surgery didn’t work. I was heartbroken, crushed to think that I really never would be able to ski or run again. But instead of giving up I packed up, my bike that is, and headed down to Vegas with a friend to ride for four days. After that I was on my trainer everyday for the next two weeks.
My post-surgery follow-up X-ray showed the healing stress fracture and it explained quite a bit. My foot is now about 90% healed and in the last two months I’ve gradually increased my running mileage and the number of days I ski each week. I still can’t ski more than a couple hours at a time a couple days a week but I feel so blessed that I can not only ski again but can race as well. This injury has made me so grateful for all the things that I can do that I rarely think about training as a chore anymore. There’s nothing like the prospect of a winter on a trainer in a basement to make you appreciate a day with marginal snow conditions or a shortened course! And yes, if all goes to plan I’m still going to try to qualify for trials. |
The X Trainer Plus features Nathan's Hydration Bottle carried horizontally for less bounce. Add a 5 ounce carbo-gel flask and a shock cord tiedown for a jacket or gloves and you're ready for just about anything.
This is a good time of year to start thinking about your transition to your spring training, and getting prepared to have equipment that will support such efforts. Nathan brands brings you some of the very same technology we showed you with their winter line in their summer hydration series. Click Here to go to Nathan Sports to find ways to purchase these items, and to learn more. |
| Events/Clinics/Announcements |
Wake up! It's time to train!
New CXC training DVD released for sale!
Central Cross Country Ski Association is pleased to announce the release of a brand new training DVD "Wake up! It's time to train!"
70 minutes of exclusive interviews with US Ski Team coaches, XC drills and
technique, fitness testing, sports physiology, core strength, training volume,
intensity levels, race footage, and much more. Featuring CXC Ski Team and US Ski Team athletes.
"This video contains invaluable first hand information from the top coaches in the
US and can be helpful to all, coaches, athletes, parents and master skiers. This is
also a first step study guide for the CXC Coach's Education and Certification
Program which will be launched in the spring of 2007" commented Yuriy Gusev, Central Cross Country Ski Association's CEO
This exciting DVD can be purchased on line at www.cxcskiing.org or at the CXC booth during American Birkebeiner Expo. All proceeds from the DVD sales will directly support youth, junior, senior and master's programs in the Central Region.
also
Central Cross Country Ski Association is pleased to announce the new USST
technique CD-ROM Cross-Country Technique Fundamentals is available for
sale at http://www.cxcskiing.org/
Developed by US Ski Team coaches, this revolutionary teaching tool features
Olympic and National Team members Andy Newell, Kikkan Randall, Chris Cook, Andrew Johnson, Kris Freeman and more. This CD lays the foundation for both Classic and Freestyle techniques on which we can build a consistent
technique program that will continue to develop great cross-country skiers
for years to come. For use by coaches and skiers of all ages and abilities,
this highly interactive CD-ROM features:
- How mastering these skills will improve your athletes skiing
- Detailed explanations and videos of 20 new cutting-edge drills
demonstrated by members of the USST and top junior racers
- World Cup footage of these skills used in races.
- Templates for designing customized lesson plans
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"It's What Makes A Subaru, A Subaru." |
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