Events: The next equipment/wax buying opportunity is on Wed. evening Nov 19th at Joe's. We will get 30% off all X-C ski merchandize. This is a good opportunity to get wax, tools and clothing at prices you won't see again until next Feb. I will be there at 6:30 to help you select wax and tools and help with skis. For those who need to do base prep on their new skis I bought a box of Rex Base Oil at FinnSisu. It's the fastest and easiest way to base prep your skis. FinnSisu uses it when you pay them to do your skis. You can buy a bottle from me. We'll show you how to use it at the wax party. I also picked up some Grip Tape for you classic skiers. It's great stuff. The following weekend, Fri-Sun Midwest Mountaineering is having their Winter Expo. Lots of good seminars, Displays, Resorts and good buys on clothes. Skis not so good. I'll probably be there Friday night. It's a Winter tradition. It really gets you in the mood for Winter. If you see me there I'll answer questions. No promises.

Wax party: The wax party is on Saturday Nov 22 at my place in Withrow. 10am. We'll also have a potluck lunch afterwards. Bring something to pass (bread, cookies, salsa, hotdish etc). Yes, Beer Cheese soup will be provided again along with beverages. Please RSVP. See real skis being waxed. Get hands on help with your skis. Get your new skis base prepped at this event. With the use of Rex Base Oil I believe I can do it for those of you who are opting for the simple glide wax options (you don't need an iron or a bench). Bring your tools and wax. I could use some help if your an experienced waxer. We can use another bench or two, I'll get directions to my place out next week. (7 miles NE of White Bear Lake) More details later.

Clothing: The prices for clothing are on the website. I'd like to get the order in by the first week in December. I have a few samples to check sizes. I will bring them with me on Tuesdays. Otherwise the sizes are pretty accurate. I have a good stock of hats left over from last year and several women's long sleeve left and a large vest and a large and small jacket and some women's short sleeves. Let me know what you'd like. You can hold payment until the order is finalized. We need to get a minimum of 6 per item and a total of 25 to meet order requirements. A lot of you said you were interested on your registration. Let me know.

Thanksgiving Trip: The Thanksgiving trip to ABR is filling up. Lodging will be about $32 per night per person. We stay right on the trails at ABR and ski right out the door. Hard to tell what conditions will be like. They could be fantastic and in that case I recommend it to anyone. If they are marginal I would not recommend beginners go. It will be for the hard core skaters if the snow is thin. Better to wait for the Jan. trip for better conditions. Let me know. We do not go and don't have to pay if they are not open for skiing. So no loss if it doesn't snow. Most go up late Thursday night. Some people might be leaving Friday morning. Car pools encouraged.

Hank and I took about 12 intermediate skaters over by the Conservatory lights and did some basic position drills and ski imitation on the three basic skate techniques V1, V2, and Field Skate (FS). After a warm-up pole hike and a bit of stretching we went over the basics of skating body position and movements. It is very important that you get these body positions correct during your skiing. These positions and movements allow you to get the most power out of your body for the least amount of effort. This equates to efficiency allowing you to go farther and faster with the same amount of effort. These movements also need to be done as relaxed as possible. Only tensing the muscles that are needed. This comes from repetition of the movements and concentration on relaxing other parts of the body not in use at the time. We all need to spend more time on these sort of things so they become second nature. We spent a lot of time on simulating the timing of the 3 skate techniques. I hope to have video of these demonstrations soon. A picture (video) is worth a thousand words when trying to describe these drills.

We then moved on to do some more aggressive drills using these movements. This is known as bounding. We kept it short as this is still early in the season for most people. It was more to demonstrate what can be done to develop strength while using the moves from the static drills. Bounding won't improve your technique all that much. It's the ski simulation drills we did first that improve your technique. When you have the movements mastered then we also try to do them faster. Studies have show that you muscles learn the motions when you try to do them fast. That builds coordination. We'll work some more on these things next week.

We spent the night going through a V1 skate body position and efficiency of push drills. After a warm-up, we started by reviewing that hips forward doesn’t mean weight is forward – knees and ankles are the key. Then moved to falling forward to feel good ankle flexion and flexibility. Then we went up the hill backwards, feet together, working on quick “kick” – aka knee bend and unbend. Finally we worked on beginning the push with your bodyweight and core, and finishing by accelerating your hands past your hips. Nothing was left but putting it all together.

Finally we ended with a plyo/jumps/ski imitation "interval" that was approx 3 minutes long sustained at threshold pace. Full recovery between. A nice cool down hike got us back to the cars and the end of the night.

Instructors Jyneen 'Classic Queen' or "CQ", Arvid 'Norwegian Wonder' and Swedish Car Club: Ken and Todd. We started with a nice pole hike across the glacier and into the Valley OD. From there we had a nice review of technique and then a variety of exercises up the gentle hill.

Ken showed us a series of good bounding excercises which work well for dryland. A sample inlcude: "Knee High" A hop from one leg to the next bringing one leg up high then the next "Cross Hop" A sideways hop up the hill crossing your legs in a squat then hopping up I am sorry for what I have missed, Ken has forgotten more then I will ever know about dryland so ask him for any clarification.

Jyneen and Arvid gave detailed position technique. Leading us through a good slide and balance drill up the hill.For all the beginners remember balance, posture and Right Pole forward as you step your left foot.

Until next week, Avanti Neve!

Welcome back to another year of the Nutrition Nook! There is an additional member to the staff this year and will also be yet another nutrition expert for you to contact when you have questions. Cammy Skarvan is excited to be another contributor to the newsletter along with Sue Richardson. Throughout the season, we hope to explain the main components of an endurance athlete’s diet, nutrition race strategy as well as touch on the potential use of supplements.

In general, endurance athletes should focus on fluids, carbohydrates, and proteins. Maintaining a fluid balance is especially important in cold temperatures because additional heat and moisture is spent to humidify the cold, dry air. Carbohydrates should make up 60-65% of an athlete’s caloric intake because they are the most efficient source of energy. When consumed immediately following a training session, carbohydrates can be stored as glycogen in the muscles to be used during the next period of exercise. Athletes also have higher protein needs. For the average, more sedentary individual, requirements are 0.8g/kg body weight. Endurance athletes should aim for 1.2 g/kg body weight. There are upper limits though! Be careful not to go beyond 2.0 g/kg because this could be hard on the kidneys. (More specific information will follow to help you calculate the desired protein requirement).

We will explore all of these basics, along with a few other topics in greater detail in the coming months. We will also help you to decipher good sources of these nutrients and the optimal timing for consuming them. Stay posted for tips to make this a happy and healthy ski season!

Cammy Skarvan, Nutritionist and Sue Richardson, RD.

Words from the editor - Shad Holland

It's already another year! This will be my 4th season XC Skiing and also my 4th with Ride & Glide! For those of you who are new to the club, welcome! You will learn a lot by coming to Ride & Glide class every week. The coaches are awesome and the people are great to hang out with.

I am the editor of this newletter thingy we do every week. I changed up the graphics and colors this year to better reflect our current club colors. Also, anyone can contribute to this newsletter, not just coaches and Steve. If you go skiing and take pics, send them to me and send a little story or recap of your ski experience. I really want this to be the newsletter for the whole club to contribute to and enjoy. I can also insert video, especially if you upload it to YouTube, Vimeo, MySpace, or one of the other popular video hosting sites.

Now on to the 2008/2009 ski season! Maybe it's time for that silly snow dance we always do this time of year!