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Race Tales SkiPost
Archives Each tale generally contains a race story and some waxing or training advice. Enjoy, and email us at weanswer@skipost.com with questions and comments. Contents: Heber, Glycemic Index, Cera tips Olympic tales: Lighting the Fire Strong Like Bull-Strength Training What are we doing out here? Finding Focus. Thanksgiving
Factory Team Style Gold Rush Wax Report: Spring Waxing Tip Marcus Nash E-Tales Marcus from the World Championships Marcus’ College skiing – don’t be dumb, stay in school. Kikkan Randle E-Tales from World Junior Championships
SUBARU FACTORY TEAM DOMINATES SUBARU NOQUEMANON Grooming and conditions at
this year's Subaru Noque were as good as they could have been
considering the record low snow levels, but conditions were rather
quirky nevertheless. In a place where three, four feet of snow
generally cover the ground, removing every last bump and stump
is not a priority. The Subaru Factory Team used Swix LF 7, covered by HF 7 and Cera F 200 for glide. For kick they ironed in a combo of Swix VG 35 and Extra Blue as a binder and covered it with Swix VR 45 and 50. It worked well… Magnus Eriksson - Subaru
Factory Team Unni Odegard - Subaru Factory Team New-snow conditions normally do not call for any sort of binder wax, because the snow isn't abrasive and the binder will be too slow. But when there are rough or icy spots sprinkled along the way, it is a good idea to have something as a binder. For this reason we mix a binder wax and a regular wax - such as Swix VG 35 and extra blue, which should then be covered with the day's kick wax. Remember: rough up your kick zone and iron in the binder/hard wax combo, let cool, and cover with the day's wax.
Bozeman's Kristina Trygstaad-Saari skied her way to 6th place in the 5km, at the Jr. World Championships in Schonach, Germany. Here is a story from Schonach, written by 2002 Olympic Team member Kikkan Randall. Hello everyone from the Black Forest of Schonach, Germany. There is green grass showing and rain has been falling off and on but we are skiing at the World Junior Championships nonetheless. The whole event kicked off on Monday night with a wild and exciting opening ceremony!! There was a lot of great singing, dancing and some great fireworks!! I would have to say that Schonach has put on the best opening ceremonies by far!! The first race was contested on Tuesday with a 15k classic mass start for the women and a 30k classic mass start for the men. The rain held back and some sunshine broke through and the races went off without a glitch. I had to sit out the race due to a cold I picked up. So I used my energy to cheer on teammates Lindsey Weir, Tara Hamilton, Kristina Trystad-Saari and Jordan Seethaler. These ladies represented our country very well with a top 15 result and a top 30 result (Weir 14th, Hamilton 26th). The slushy snow however made
it difficult to ski consistently and I missed 2 or 3 pole plants
before the top. Then it was down and around a wide curve, heading
toward a bridge. I was bracing myself for a road crossing just
ahead when I flew over a large hole, whew, that was close. The
next challenge was two hills in a row. I was getting into my groove
now, feeling pretty good and catching the Australian that started
ahead of me. As I came into the next downhill however, my ski
got caught in a pile of slush and I face-planted. I scrambled
to get up and keep going but I had lost a lot of momentum. I stayed
focused though and reminded myself that the fall had given me
a nice rest and now I would be charged to really gun it over the
top of the next hill, which I did. Going into the next downhill
I found my legs to be a little rubbery. We cannot rest on our laurels or ponder on our defeats however!! There is still a relay ahead and history to be made. Bye from Schonach for now!!
Olympic
Tales: Lighting the Fire Lighting
the Fire (by Pete Vordenberg): It's amazing how emotional
momentum works. Ever since elementary school I have been on sports
teams, from baseball and soccer to jr. ski clubs, college ski
teams, to Olympic and US Ski Teams. My experience is that the
performance of a team as a whole is absolutely dependent upon
the attitude of the coaches and team members. Then there is Beckie Scott.
These day's everyone claims to know Beckie Scott and the cool
thing is, most of them do. This is one of the most friendly and
approachable humans to ever bow her head so as to have an Olympic
medal slipped around her neck. When John Bauer left the
stadium after the start of the Olympic relay in dead last place
all the crowd around me sagged, and even I thought, 'oh no'. But
John moved up in the field and interest in the race started to
pick up, and then in full view of the whole huge crowd lining
the trails and filling the bleachers at Soldier Hollow, John fired
himself past the field into second place and the crowd around
me stood up two feet taller and let loose an animal roar. As JD Downing told me, the coolest thing about it was that afterward, all they could talk about was how next time they can do even better. I'm not embarrassed to tell you that after watching the men's relay and seeing Beckie Scott take third in the pursuit, I left the Olympic venue with my fire within burning hot. Inspiration is transferable.
A bunch of athletes trying and succeeding on skis is inspiration
to the skier and the student, and the cop and the kitchen staff.
On my way to the venue today
I was watching out the window and I saw a child about 10 years
old jumping on a trampoline. I watched him for a while trying
to jump as high as possible and then he did a Johnny Mosley dinner
roll! I was a child like that boy once, watching the Olympics and imagining that I too could be there someday. I also thought to myself, well no matter what happens today I will try my best and enjoy the experience. That is just what I did too. I skied really well and was able to ski a whole loop with one of the best German women. And after yesterday's training where I only missed 6 out of 85 shots, I really thought I was going to have a great race today. Had I hit all my targets I would have been top 15. That's the frustration in Biathlon... getting it all to come together on the right day is rare. Talk about fun though. Skiing in front of 15,000 fans in America!!! Biathlon is getting unbelievable ratings. In Germany it took 26 percent of all viewers. This is making heads turn at MSNBC and in the International Olympic Committee. My Brother-in Law, Chad is commentating for the races and he had a little extra stress today because many of the big-wigs from MSNBC and the IOC were there breathing down his neck. Apparently, Chad is doing a fantastic job and the spectators leave the venue enthusiastic about this new sport they originally knew nothing about. The couple my parents are staying with came today and were so excited, they want to come back to all the races. I will start in the pursuit
on Saturday as number 49, three minutes out from the leader. We
will be shooting four times so there are lots of Anyway, I really truly hope that there are lots of kids out there that see the Games and become inspired to dream. Dreaming leads to all different kinds of personal growth. As Socrates once said, "The quality of life is determined by its activities." -- Kara Subaru Streak Stretches The Minnesota Finnlandia was won in a sprint to the finish by Subaru Factory Team skier Scott Loomis. Second went to Subaru's Magnus Eriksson, third Subaru's Phil Bowen and fourth, Subaru's wax tech Bjorn Weisheit, known to some as "hefeweisheit." The Next race is the Birkie,
I hope. There is little snow so please keep tabs on the state
of the race at www.birkie.com. Some of the top Olympic sports
doctors and physiologist in the world attended Colorado Altitude
Training's World Wide Altitude Symposium in Heber City, Utah this
past week. They batted about many nuances of altitude training
and altitude simulation, often in fairly heated tones.
World
Cup Victory for USA's Demong! VICTORY USA's Billy Demong (Fischer/Salomon/Swix)
won a World Cup Nordic Combined LEARNING TO SKI The Subaru Factory Team is
staying up on the North Shore of Lake Superior at the beautiful
BlueFin Bay resort in Tofte, MN. We're between the Pepsi Challenge
and the Subaru Noquemanon in Marquette, MI. Getting up: When you fall down you're often sort of tangled up with skis and poles. Roll on to your back with arms and legs in the air, like a dead bug, and then flop over on your side laying all your limbs, skis and poles off on one side. Remove or forget about your poles. Pull your legs in so that you can get your weight right over your feet - so that no pressure is pushing the skis forward or back. Push yourself up into a crouch (with your hands, not your poles), and stand. The key is getting your equipment untangled, forgetting about using your poles and getting your weight centered over your feet. Staying up: To keep from falling you will need to assume an active, well balanced posture (see below). The trick to saying upright is keeping your weight centered. While skiing down hill focus on bending the ankles, knees and, importantly, keeping the hands down and in front of you. Catastrophe strikes when your weight gets behind you, and rising up and letting your hands get high and behind you is a sure way to take the most spectacular kind of tumble. Neanderthal: Most sports demand a centered, balanced and active position, and skiing (all techniques) is no different. Start from the feet: weight should be evenly spread over the whole foot. Bend forward at the ankle, which also bends the knees forward - so your hips are centered over your feet. Gently round the back from the tailbone through the shoulders - generally bad posture, but good for skiing. Let the shoulders hang loose in the sockets so that the arms hang down and in front of the body. You'll look kind of like Neanderthal man, only probably not as hairy, at least in some cases. Down the track: Focus all
motion in the direction of travel. Swing the arms forward down
the trail. The forward swing of the arms originates at the shoulder,
and must be relaxed to allow the muscles to recover before the
next push. No Poles!: Skiing without poles is the number one key to learning to ski and improving your technique. Kids learning to ski do not need their poles at all and will take to skiing in the most natural way possible with little or no instruction. Be like a kid, play with out poles and you will find the fastest, easiest way to move on skis. NOQUE NEWS: The Subaru Factory Team will be giving free ski demos between 2 and 8pm at the expo and sprints. Our wax tech will be testing wax and will put out some wax recommendations for the race at the expo. From the race officials: Marquette, MI - The Noquemanon Ski Marathon appears "highly likely" to be run on its regular course, race officials announced today. Periodic snowfalls and cold temperatures have improved the course conditions significantly in recent days, and additional accumulations are forecasted over the next week. There was concern in recent days that the January 26 race would have to be relocated to Blueberry Ridge due to lack of snow in certain areas on the Noquemanon trail. Trail Chief Tom Mahaney reports that trail crews have surveyed the course and find 90% of it to be in skiable condition, with a snow base of six inches or more. "We just inspected the course and we're real pleased with how much it has improved over the last few days", stated Mahaney. "It looks like we'll be able to use most, if not all, of the entire 53 kilometers. We've pulled all the trail crew from Blueberry and have them working on the Noque course. We'll be running the Bombardier pulling snow in from the sides, hauling snow, and shoveling right up to race day if necessary to get the entire course in the best possible condition." Forecasts call for continued snow accumulations of three to four inches each day over the weekend with additional snow mid-week. "Any additional snow now will ensure the course is in top shape for the race," stated Jon Mommaerts, Race Director. "The race is on, we've got a full line-up of events and it's going to be a great weekend for Nordic skiing! We've also got unconfirmed reports of an Olympic team member racing. Between the Rossi Team and Subaru Factory Team, we have 20-30 top competitors coming in this year hunting for American Ski Marathon points. This will be the most exciting race yet." For more information on the Noquemanon Ski Marathon and U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame Half Marathon, call 1-888-578-6489 OLYMPIC BIATHLON TEAM The Olympic biathlon team has been named and is as follows: Lawton Redman Rachel Steer (Fischer/Addidas) Congratulations to all! JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT At the Nordic Combined World Championships, American Alex Glueck skied his way from tenth after the jumping to take second (!). One spot behind him in third was American teammate Nathan Gerhart. Both are members of the super strong Steamboat Winter Sports Club. 2002 US Olympic Team member
Lindsey Weier took 13th in the 15km classical at the cross-country
Jr. World Championships in Schonach, Germany. Tara Hamilton finished
26th, with Kristina Trygstaad-Saari in 43rd. Keep up with the action at www.jwm2002.de IMPORTANT CORRECTION 2002 Olympic team member
Kikkan Randall, of Alaska and team Gold 2002 was incorrectly listed
as using Swix poles in the last two SkiPosts. Kikkan and Marcus
Nash (who was also incorrectly listed as using Swix) use only
Yoko poles and Yoko gloves. The mistake was all mine, and I apologize
for it. SkiPost's mission is to bring cross-country information and inspiration to the skiing public in order to promote the sport of cross-country skiing and enhance all skier's enjoyment of it. Please let me know if you have any ideas, corrections or constructive criticism that will aid us in our mission. Thanks, and good skiing - Pete Vordenberg DREAM OF IT REWARDS (From Factory Team director, Andy Gerlach) Why not let your passion for cross-country skiing get you free stuff? The Factory Team's dreamofit-rewards program is designed to thank you for purchasing or simply testing our Factory Team partner's products. Participating Partners: Subaru,
Fischer, Salomon, Craft, Swix, Rudy Project, Purchase any of our partner's products and gain one point per dollar spent. Additional Incentive programs: Redeemable Rewards as of
(1/22/02) All purchases or participation requires authentication by the dealer, retailer, representative, or Factory Team member. Regarding SkiPost e-tale prospects, simply supply potential member e-mail addresses. (Dreamofit reward items may be substituted or modified by Factory Team staff due to availability) dreamofit rewards: Please present this form
at the time of purchase or sampling of Factory Team's partners'
products or services. Make additional copies for additional product. Please Print Heber, Glycemic Index, Cera tips Come
visit with some Olympic stars in Heber City!
The Cross-Country Ski Fan's Dream! This February's Olympic games
bring the World's best to Utah. The Heber The Subaru Factory Team would like to invite all cross-country ski enthusiasts to stop by the Heber City Hospitality Suite after each cross-country and biathlon event to share stories from the day, hobnob with Olympians and Olympic Champions (including the Swedish National Team at noon on February 16th!), look over and even purchase some of the latest in cross-country skiing, health, fitness and winter equipment from Fischer, Craft, Subaru, CAT and many others. Take part in athlete discussions and press conferences, grab a bite to eat and something warm (or cool) to drink, grab a free cheering bell and other free goods, as well as get the latest info on race schedules, results and goings on around the Nordic venue. The Hospitality Suite, located at 906 South 300 West, Heber City Utah will be open to the public from 2pm to 6pm daily with additional hours for special events. For more information and to receive a schedule of all the special events go to www.dreamofit.com and sign up for our SkiPost e-tales. The Subaru Factory Team is excited to bring you this intimate addition to the Olympic games and we look forward to seeing you there! Saturday's Subaru Vasa, in Traverse City, Michigan The course is rock solid
and skiing conditions are good for the Subaru Vasa, but the snow
is very dirty. Here is the wax suggestion (even if it snows, unless
it gets a lot colder, the wax stays the same). We're sorry, but there is
no wax report available for the Mora Vasa at this time. Look for
the Subaru Factory Team on Saturday and for their posted wax suggestion. The last skipost regarding
getting happily to the finish of a race brought quite a few emails.
It seems more than a few out there are coming to grief with 10km
or so to go. I think training, pre-race prep and pacing are perhaps
most important, and should be looked at before secretes like the
coke/coffee combo, or which sports drink is best, etc are taken
into account (though they are also good to explore). Some other ideas: Final preparation: Take it easy the week and especially the few days before the event. It is quite possible that many are starting the race with the tank a bit low. Skiing long or medium hard to hard depletes your glycogen stores. You cannot get in good shape the week before your race. The time for that is in the months before, right before the race is time to tune up with some easy skiing, some short (!) bursts of speed or a little (!) race pace work, aimed at feeling good, rested and excited not at getting in shape. The workouts should not break down the body. When I can, I follow some variation on this commonly used routine: Sat: race. Pacing: Start at your own pace. (You know who you are.) Enjoy, fischer-xcountry@listserv.montana.com; athlete-force@listserv.montana.com; nordic@listserv.montana.com; sponsorsandreps@listserv.montana.com; skiclubs@listserv.montana.com; retailers@listserv.montana.com
Subaru
Streak Continues
Last Saturday's Subaru Vasa
was won by Subaru Factory Team's Nathan Schultz, who also placed
third in last Sunday's Mora Vasa - completing the weekend double
in fine style.
As juniors my friend Cory
Custer and I undertook a self guided racing tour of northern Scandinavia,
then called the Polar Cup. On this trip we ran into a skier from
a country, then newly liberated from Russia, called Estonia. His
name was Andrus Veerpalu. He was the only one from Estonia on
the Polar Cup that year, and was scrapping his way along on a
slim budget like Cory and I. He wasn't much for conversation,
but in the Polar Cup final relay Cory, Andrus and I teamed up,
and won. Lars Flora's Olympic Tale At the Olympics for the US cross country team a predetermined start list for each event is decided by previous Olympic Trial races, time trials, and current fitness and health. After I was named to the team, I was confident I would be competing in the thirty-kilometer skate and the sprint race. In reality, I was focusing on the sprint race. That meant starting on the January 15th no more hard classic intervals or races. I would be doing all my hard workouts on skate skis. Guess what? I am the number sixth starter in tomorrow's fifteen kilometer classic race. Today Carl Swenson, our team Captain, and I spent three and half hours waxing, testing, and cleaning six pairs of classic skis for tomorrow's race. Carl took three and I took three and we narrowed it down to two pair of skis for me. One pair of Carl's and one pair of mine. Carl was helping me test for two reasons. To help a fellow teammate out and he might be in the same position for the pursuit race. Carl and I were put into this situation because one of the worst possible things happened to one of our teammates. A head cold hit him (Justin) a day before the thirty. After all said and done, I am sitting here watching the figure skating getting ready for my first hard classic race in just under a month, and none-the-less it's the Olympic 15km classic race. I did end up going to the Opening Ceremonies. What an experience. The big highlights of the evening was taking my picture with President Bush and Lance Armstrong, and walking behind the American Flag. My heart pounded as I walked out into the stadium among thousands of people and looked up at everyone in the stands. I have never felt anything like that before. Last night we had our Friends and Family team dinner. The US Ski house in Park City invited all the cross-country athletes and the families to have dinner with each other. It was fun to meet all the families and to get a chance to talk to our families. Definitely, the moms were the most excited people in the house. Until next time, I hope everyone is enjoying watching the Olympics and best wishes to all. -- Lars Flora, Fischer/Swix/Salomon. US Olympic Team USA and Canada score top results Canada's Beckie Scott took
6th today in a race won by Norway's Bente Skari. Bente started
right ahead of Beckie, and it was fun to see Beckie skiing over
the hills not far behind Bente. Her teammate Sara Renner took
14th. Heber City Hospitality Suite Wrap up your day of Cross-County
Ski racing at the Heber City Hospitality Suite. Best coffee in
all Utah, brewed by Saecco machines. The Hospitality Suite, located at 906 South 300 West, Heber City Utah will be open to the public from 2pm to 6pm daily with additional hours for special events. (Don't forget to visit with the Swedes on the 16th a little after noon.) Enjoy, BIRKIE BIRKIE "That was really, really
hard," said Subaru's Nathan Schultz holding a brat sloppy
with mustard and kraut in one hand and a cold beer in the other
after the finish of this year's Birkie. Ten of the top-fifteen in
this year's Birkie were Italians. Among the horde of Italians
were Carl Swenson, competing for the Subaru Factory Team who finished
third behind Italy's Mauizio Pozzi, one of Italy's better world
cup skiers from a few years back, and France's Stephane Passeron,
who was second in last year's Birkie as well. Subaru's Schultz
finished 9th and Subaru's Dave Chamberlain took 14th with the
every tenacious Marc Gilbertson also in the mix. This year's Birkie was a heavy rilling race. Big structure was important for breaking the suction between ski and snow after about 15km where the snow was more saturated with water. Swix HF 8 and Cera 200 was the wax of the day, but a large grind and/or a big rill in the ski was necessary to have fast skis in the later portion of the race. Rilling creates structure
in the ski base that combats suction in wet snow. It is created
with a rilling tool. Most rilling tools come with varying sized
rill patterns for different wet-snow conditions. Basically the
wetter the snow the bigger a rill one needs, but there are nuances
to it. When the snow is new, as it was in the Birkie, and wet
the snow is often slower snow than when the snow is old and wet. The wet- new snow conditions spread skiers in the elite wave out as soon as they reached the wetter portion of the course. "What I find it hard to believe," said Subaru's Erik Wilbrecht, "is that, in a race of 6000 people, I skied all by myself for 15km without even seeing another skier. I thought everyone behind me must have quit and I was the only one still out there." No Erik, I, at least, was still back there. Hope everyone had a great Birkie! DRUGS! It is hard to imagine celebrating
victory knowing that you have cheated to earn it, and yet they
do not slink away clutching their ill gotten medals like foul
rodents, but stand smiling, joyful, even teary eyed before us
and before the world and tell us how happy they are at having
stolen many lives worth of dreaming and work from clean athletes
the world over, an how glad they are at having totally dishonored
themselves, their country, family, friends, their sponsors, their
sport and all of sport. In the mean time do not let the cheaters and filth within the cross-country rob you of the joy of skiing, the sensation of skis on snow, and cold air, and power and grace in motion, and rest assured, your North American heroes are more heroic than their results show. Do not lose faith in our sport. Drug users have been around for a long, long time; it is catching them that is new. For more info check out: www.wintersport.as, www.langrenn.com and www.xcskiworld.com. Strong like Bull-Specific Strength Training
I am happy to report that as I type this snow is falling past my window (Bozeman, MT - Oct 4th). It started falling this morning as I was doing my specific strength routine, and has picked up considerable steam since. It will probably peak as I head out for my second training pass of the day, but I don't mind. When it snows in the fall it's a reminder of what I'm doing out training and it gives me an extra boost of energy. I hope you too are getting excited, for the time is near! Elite, recreational and novice skiers alike
can increase their enjoyment and performance this winter by working
on ski specific upper-body strength and strength endurance. Novice and Recreational skiers: folks just getting into cross-country skiing and those who ski recreationally - even those blessed with bulging biceps, can struggle on skis simply because they haven't built up the proper muscle groups in the proper way. The key is doing many repetitions using ski specific muscle groups. This doesn't require a trip to the weight room, or any equipment, or for that mater much an investment in time. Some favorite skier exercises are dips, crunches and sit-ups, pushups and, (gulp) pull-ups. Dips can be performed with a chair or, if you're strong, two chairs. Simply sit on the chair normally and grip the chair's seat on either side of your rear with your hands (so the heels of your hands sit flush on the chair). Stretch your legs out before you or prop them up in front of you on another chair (makes dips harder). Slide your butt off the chair so that your arms support the bulk of your weight. Bend your arms at the elbows as if you were lowering yourself timidly into a hot tub. Rapidly straighten your arms, as if the tub is too hot - and repeat. To make dips easier pull your legs in so that they support more of your weight. With pushups, keep your hands and elbows
narrow to focus on the back and triceps rather than the chest.
With both exercises, go from a near straight arm to a 90degree
bend. To make pushups easier support your weight on your knees
rather than your toes, or do pushups against a wall instead of
the floor. Pull-ups can be done in any playground, on a laundry
pole, a stout tree limb, etc… to make pull-ups easier, put
your feet on a chair to support some of your weight. In general
you want to be quick on the up motion and slower on the lowering
motion. Do one to three sets of 20 to 40 repetitions of each exercise.
Stomach work is quite important and doing a variety of crunches
and sit-ups in a virtually non-stop and varied routine of 5 to
10 minutes will yield big results in only a few weeks (Barb Jones,
4th on the current Olympic selection list, does an 8 minute routine
of 8 exercises of a minute each, almost every morning. The routine
includes a variety of stomach crunches and leg lifts). The whole
workout can take as little as 10 to 20 minutes - and, done 2 to
5 times a week will really make skiing easier and more enjoyable. Racers: Racers can incorporate all of the above into a circuit routine and will benefit by visiting a weight room 2 to 3 times a week and working on a more balanced selection of muscle groups as well as including a few power and maximum strength exercises into the routine - in addition to doing ski specific, endurance oriented lifts and exercises. Please see www.skipost.com for more info and email weanswer@skipost.com with your questions. The area where most racers can make grand
strength gains is in specific strength. Specific strength is carried
out on rollerskis and on skis. It is doing long distance efforts
as well as shorter (interval like) repeats using the upper-body
only. It is best to take on challenging terrain
so that a variety of tempos, and techniques (within double-poling,
V2, etc) can be used, even if that means struggling over the tops
of a few hills here and there. There are a number of on ski/rollerski exercises to practice in a specific strength session. The first is double-pole sprints of 15seconds to 2minutes. Use both flat terrain and gradual to very steep up-hills. The second is single-pole drills where one
uses the arms much as one would while classical striding, only
using the trunk a bit more actively and not using the legs at
all. As with double-poling, efforts can range from an all out
15seconds to a more race like 2-3minutes. Other exercises are Nerds (standing stalk-up
right, locking the elbows at the side and using the triceps only
- so called because they look nerdy). Stomach only (double-pole,
but lock your arms next to your body and crunch down with your
stomach - only really good on a very steep up-hill - and even
nerdier looking than nerds). Back only (stay up-right, lock your
arms out fairly straight and push the arms through, in a stiff
double-pole motion, without compressing with the upper-body at
all). In Sweden (I trained in Sweden for a year after high school) all we did for specific strength was double-pole sprints and distance double-pole sessions - 15 x 15second all out double-pole sprints and then an hour hard, fast double pole home - and that seemed to do the trick. An example specific strength workout: warm up for 20 minutes classical rollerskiing. Pick a long gradual hill; do 5x 15seconds double-pole only, then 5x 15second single-pole, then 5x 15 double-pole w/kick - all of them with the throttle wide open. Follow that with 5x 1-2min of each exercise. Recovery between repetitions should allow you to go full out on the 15second sprints and faster than race pace on 1 to 2 minute repetitions on all repetitions. This is only an example and as is the case
with all training start with a manageable, but challenging quantity
and build from there. Also visit www.skipost.com and email your ski questions to weanswer@skipost.com. A reminder: this service is made possible with the support of all the great sponsors of the Subaru Factory Team: www.dreamofit.com. Soon to come:
Be
the Bunny-Spenst Training
Email contents: Spenst Training What is Spenst training? Spenst training
is a well-worn mode of training that is practiced in some form
or another by world-class skiers the world over. Goal: develop power and balance. Type of spenst exercises: Organization of workout: Warm up very, very
well. Stretch thoroughly and begin slowly to make sure you are
warm enough. The goal is not to work out your aerobic system,
so take your time and recover well between each set of jumps so
that you can make maximal efforts with each jump and each set
of jumps. Example: Midway through an easy distance
run or after warming up (the Jr. team I trained with in Sweden
for a year did spenst as part of an interval workout) stop at
a nice grassy hill. Stretch out some; perform a few easy one-legged
jumps, side jumps and bunny hops (bunny hops can make your whole
body sore if you're not careful). When you are ready, take 15
one-legged jumps up the hill. Walk slowly down the hill and then
take 15 jumps on the other leg. If it is your first outing take
not more than 2 times up the hill per leg. The idea is to try
to get further up the hill with the same number of jumps each
time. Do the skate jumps, and bunny hops and be creative with
jumps of your own creation. Just remember it isn't spenst if it
isn't explosive - more isn't better. If you are too tired to jump
far, or if you feel any twinge of pain or pull, stop (start slowly
to avoid injury!) Warm down well. The whole spenst routine can
take as little as 10 minutes and so on a day when time is limited
spenst is a great workout option. Beginner prep tips All skiers, be they Olympians or weekend
tourists, are made in the summer and fall. The primary concern
of cross-country skiers is developing the aerobic system. Great
aerobic gains can be made between now and the first snowfall of
the year. Running and walking yield the most effective and time
efficient means to tax the aerobic system. Cycling and inline
skating are good alternatives also, but as they are not as weight
bearing or, especially in the case of cycling, as sport specific
and so are not as effective. Hope you enjoyed the training tips and can put them to good use, Pete
Is it too soon for a pre-season ski prep email? There has been groomed skiing at Lone Mountain Ranch - Big Sky, MT (great skiing: 1800-514-4644) for 4 days; there are groomed trails at Bohart ranch - Bozeman, MT (season trail pass holders only), and the first Nor/Am races are three short weeks off in Fairbanks, AK. The time has come… SkiPost contents: New racing ski preparation New Racing Ski Preparation: Whether your ski is new or newly stone ground
this is a good way to prepare them for the season. It is adapted
from the Swix method for pre-season ski prep. On the glide zones and skating skis start with a Swix T-89 blade tool and delicately swipe it from tip to tail (drag the blade down the ski, rather than pushing it or will dig into the base), removing any extra PE hairs. Continue 2-3 times until there are no more hairs. Next, proceed with a "hot wipe" cleaning with Swix CH10. While the bases are new or newly ground, take extra care with heat. All PE bases are very sensitive. As the ski base absorbs soft wax over time, the wax will decrease the risk of overheating the base. But when the skis are new, they are very sensitive. Using inexpensive irons that emit inconsistent amounts of heat will easily damage the base with heat. Once you have dripped wax from tip to tail, start at the tip and proceed with one long swipe with the iron all the way to the tail - repeat the process. Waxing in this manner, with a good Swix waxing iron, will increase wax absorption while decreasing risk of overheating the base. Next, scrape the bases while the wax is still warm. This will essentially "clean" the base of any dirt, loose surface hairs, and any other materials that may be sitting on the base. Let the bases cool down and proceed with at least 5 layers of Swix Base Prep (soft wax only!). Allow the Base Prep to cool completely in between each waxing. You can scrape and brush each time or re-iron the wax once or twice. The more you wax them, the better - five times is minimum. Your skis are now ready to accept the wax of the day! Stone grinding: What is stone grinding? Grinding and waxing guru James Upham lists a good description of what stone grinding is and how it works on his www.glidefactory.com website. I asked James, who runs the Glide Factory in New Hampshire and who reads a little Harry Potter in his spare time, to explain stone grinding. "What is Grinding?" he shouted. "It is magic! And I am a wizard! Don't be a muggle and have slow skis!" I was taken aback initially, but he went on. "Actually, through my experience (highest levels of ski competition and racing service) I've found that there is nothing magical about making skis fast - we can all be Harry Potters - just like there is nothing magical about making your body fast through proper training." Basically stone grinding, James told me, flattens the base, removes PE hairs and puts a pattern in the base that combats friction, suction or to some degree both. It also removes the old hardened top layer of base and reveals a new, soft under-layer of base that absorbs wax better. James has been grinding skis for the Subaru Factory Team as well as many of the USA's fastest skiers and biathletes for several years now and offers super grinding at great prices. Grinding skis can help make your old boards new and your new boards even faster. Get your skis stone ground if: Recreational skis: The fundamentals of ski care that apply to racing skis also apply to recreational skis. A ski glides well, lasts a long time and stays free of ice and dirt build-up if it is glide waxed often. Even for recreational skiers who aren't interested in going fast, skiing shouldn't be any harder than it has to be, and so a ski that performs up to its ability will be a lot more fun to use than one with a torn-up, dried out base. The minimum amount of care that should be afforded a ski base is a yearly (yeowch!) waxing and base tune-up that almost any ski shop can do for a very reasonable price (see www.fischerskis.com for a list of good Nordic retail shops). Waxing them a few times a year will really help. If you want to do this tune up yourself, it can be done easily and inexpensively with the Swix T-89 base prep tool as outlined above - you can use it more aggressively, especially if the base hasn't been waxed for a while. After using the T-89 apply a few layers of soft glide wax as outlined above. We recommend using a Swix iron, but since many recreational skiers use fabric irons, they must be very careful with iron temp (racers or any skier who invests much time, money and energy in their skis should never use anything but a pure waxing iron or they risk wasting their time/money/energy investment - we recommend Swix's iron). If it's smoking - it's way too hot! During the ski season it will help considerably to use a wipe-on wax such as Swix F-4 before and more importantly after skiing to help protect the bases. If you have any ski care questions please email weanswer@skipost.com. I get help on these questions from Swix and Fischer so if we don't have the answer, we'll find it for you. Dialing in Your Kick Zone: Different snow conditions call for different methods of kick waxing. Finding the kick zone and understanding the versatility of your skis for various conditions can aid your racing efforts and help you enjoy pure recreational skiing because you will know how to wax your skis so they perform optimally in a variety of snow conditions. Here we'll cover the Swix method, a variation on the Fischer test board method, the eyeball method and the on-snow method. The Swix recommended method of finding the
kick zone requires a friend, a very flat surface and a piece of
normal typing paper (they suggest A4, 60 gram paper, but any fairly
normal typing paper will do). Place the paper under the ski and
stand with the body-weight equally distributed on both skis. For
all these tests you must stand with your feet on the ski where
they would be if you were skiing on them - on the bindings. Have
the friend move the sheet of paper towards the tip. At the point
where the movement comes to a stop, mark with a pen on the sidewalls.
This point represents the forward front of the kick zone for cold,
dry snow conditions (hard kick waxes such as VR 40 or Extra Blue). Finally, fold the paper once more so that
it is 4 times its original thickness. Repeat the process by moving
the paper as far forward as possible. This time the stopping point
represents the front of the kick zone when using klister. Generally the length of the kick zone, using
hard waxes, is approx. 55 cm, from the heel. All Fischer retail shops are equipped with a Fischer test board. The test board enables the customer to find not only the kick zone but also the exact right ski for their weight. While using the test board is the best way to do these things the way they measure the kick zone can be duplicated to some degree at home. Again you'll need a friend and a piece of paper and the flat surface (one reason the test board is so good is because few of us have access to a flat enough surface - irregularities in floorboards, tables, etc can lead to incorrectly marked kick zones). This is not Fischer's exact method, but a variation on it. Stand with your feet on the ski where they would be if you were skiing. First, to determine that the ski is not too stiff for your weight, stand on one ski with all your weight on the ball of your foot (you are standing on one leg) with the paper under the ski beneath the toe. If the paper can be moved, the ski is too stiff. If it cannot be moved it is not too stiff. Next, to determine the kick zone, stand
flat on the ski so your weight is on the whole foot (you're still
on one leg) the paper should now move, the forward most point
you can move the paper is the shortest possible kick zone - for
klister skiing. Repeat for both skis. The on snow method is a necessary step toward
finding the right kick zone. Since it is easier to add wax while
out skiing than remove it, start by waxing your skis only within
the shortest kick zone - if you have used the Swix or Fischer
method use those marks. If you have not used them then start with
the eyeball method. Holding the skis base to base, grasp your
skis on the bindings and give them a squeeze that is hard enough
to get them to almost touch in the middle. sight down the space
between the skis and note where the wax pocket appears to be (the
space between the skis, where the bases aren't touching). Start
by waxing well within that zone - from the mid-foot forward. All of these methods are only starting points to find the kick zone. Though these methods are often accurate, snow conditions, technique, experience and other variables make experimenting in a variety of conditions necessary. Don't be afraid to bend or break the rules. A good example of this was at the World Cup 15km last year in Heber City. After the race (After!) we learned that all the International Fischer racers, including Johan Muhlegg waxed well forward of their normal kick zones. Conditions were new, loose-in-the-track, cold, dry snow on top of warmer, wetter man-made snow. While many racers scrambled with warmer wax, which was too sticky, the top racers used colder wax layered far forward on the ski (Swix VR 40 was rumored to have been Johan's race wax that day - but how he used it was more important). Have patience and have fun playing on your skis. If you are new to SkiPost and would like to receive the e-tales you missed this fall, please send me an email requesting them. The topics were: Improving economy (saving time) Topics to come: Fairbanks Olympic Qualifiers (race tales
from the season's first Olympic qualifying races on Nov 3&4).
Kick Waxing for Snow Type
Please note: VR is Swix's top of the line hard wax. KR is Swix's top of the line klister. The lower numbers are harder waxes. For instance, VR 40 is similar to extra blue and VR 60 is similar to red, KR 60 is similar to red klister. Each VR wax and KR klister is labeled with both the temperature and snow type in which it works best.
As can be seen in the above charts many
conditions call for using more than one wax. Layering waxes can
be done in many ways. Generally a hard wax such as VR 30 or KR
20 or 30 is applied to the sanded kick zone (80 grit for klister,
100 for hard wax) and ironed or heated in (especially in fine
grained, old corn or even cold new snow and always for long races
or ski outings). After it has cooled the wax or waxes of the day
are applied. Have patience! When testing wax it is often
the case that a wax will not work for as many as a few km of skiing
(more often, less than that, but if it doesn't work right away
give it a little more time - especially in new, wet snow). Let
the wax cool after corking and then ski the wax in. If you decide
that it is too slick after some skiing, then add one or two layers
only of the warmer wax. Start with the basics and keep it simple. Silverstar Subaru Factory Team's Tessa Benoit won the night sprint ahead of a strong US and Canadian contingent. The race was held under the lights in front of an amazingly large and loud crowd in Silverstar, BC last weekend. It was snowing hard and just below 0degrees. The Factory Team used Swix HF 7 covered with Cera 200, and all our racers made it to the late rounds of elimination (Subaru Skier Pat Casey took fourth). Please visit www.SkiPost.com for more information and see www.swixsport.com for more info on waxing and Swix wax. Much thanks to Subaru for their support
of North American cross-country ski racing.
What are we doing out here? Finding Focus
Contents: Quotes on time use Maximizing training time is always of utmost importance. Here are some quotes regarding organizing and using your time effectively. "When planning training, the emphasis should not be on what you will do, but rather how your body and mind will react to what you do. The goal is not simply to fulfill training, but to elicit a positive adaptation in your body and mind through training - to become faster, fitter or whatever your goal may be. Keep at the fore of your mind the goal of
training, be it to get faster or to become fitter. Too often secondary
means to the goal become the goal itself. For instance, in an
effort to improve health and fitness one may deem weight loss
important. Weight loss can then become the sole concern often
at the expense of the true goal, health and fitness. For many
athletes attaining a certain number of training hours is important
to becoming faster, but when accumulating training hours becomes
the goal, it is often at the expense of actually becoming faster.
A good motto is: Train, Don't Strain. - Subaru Factory Team, Boulder Center for Sports Medicine Pocket Guide to Cross-Country Ski Training. Look for it this winter. Preview it at www.skipost.com. It's free. "The most fascinating thing about top athletes is their focus. They are at all times aware of what it takes to achieve and reach the goals they have set for themselves. Every time they train it is to achieve something specific. Every workout has a purpose. An easy training session is only successful if the tempo/lactate/heart rate was kept down. A level 3, interval session is only successful if the heart rate is kept within the pre determined levels. The athlete always has a certain type of training in mind and does everything to achieve the objectives of the day. If the training session is done too fast, too slow, too long, too short that means he/she did not achieve the objective of the day. It might sound like the athletes are up tight. This is not the case at all. They just know what it takes to become good and what their bodies need and can take. They do not train two sessions every day, they do not train when they are sick, they are not obsessed with training, they have lives outside of training, they take days off, they work or go to school and best of all; they have a healthy perspective on sports." - Trond Nystad, Subaru Factory Team alumni and coach of the Denver University ski team (National Champions in 2000 and 2001), after an extended visit back home with friend Bente Skari and other top skiers. "Use the smallest effective dosage." - Warning on a bottle of medicine, and good advice in general. Here are a few things to focus on in training: - Technique. Pick one or two specific things
per workout to work on. See the next issue of The Master Skier
for some thoughts on skating from Norway's Skating Project, and
reference articles on "New Skate" in last year's Master
Skier. Trying to focus on technique in general is less effective
than focusing on a few specific aspects of technique. - Developing aero |