News from Steve…

Lake Elmo Clinic: If you have frineds you’d like to get into cross country skiing suggest that they check out the free lessons and equipment offerings at Lake Elmo on the 20th. We could use some help with registration. If you’re will to give us a hand it pays $50 and you could probably participate in the 2 pm lesson. Drop me a line if you’re interested. See the link on the web site under the Event Calendar.

Snow Conditions: Unless we get a major meltdown (like when has that ever happened) we will continue to meet at Como. Even a few days in the 40’s will not hurt the Glacier that much. So plan on Como. Conditions we really very good for teaching last Tuesday.

Seeley Classic: A number of people go up to Seeley to do the Seeley Classic Race on Saturday and then go back and skate the Birke trail on Sunday. You don’t need to race on Saturday. The course is not closed. If the Birke trail is in good shape we plan on going. If you’re interested in a ski weekend to the Birke trail. Let me know. Some people stay in Hayward. I also have room at my cabin 30 miles south of Hayward. Here’s a good chance to ski what some people call the best ski trail in the country.

City of Lakes: Assuming we get enough snow to have this event this year we use this event as our Club Championship. If you race or volunteer of donate to the COL you can get a $5 rebate from the Club. Last year we had 40 people participate. If you’d like to try a low key event consider doing the 10k Tour. If enough people are interested in the Tour I’m sure we can find an instructor to lead and you can ski it as a group (slowly). We can start a tradition in this race by skiing together as a club. Maybe others will follow our lead. Just a way to get casual skiers out in the festive atmosphere of the City of Lakes Loppet. Any interest?

Wow, so that's what real-mother-nature-produced snow feels like... We had started to forget. Tonight the advanced skate group took advantage of the Lexington Hills section of Como for some cornering, V2, and field skate (aka V2 alternate) work. After our warm up we found a great corner by one of the Lex Hills downhill areas. Everyone focused on poling in the direction of the outside ski then stepping into the turn. This technique really helps accelerate the skier through the turn and can be a great way to pick up speed. Key things to remember - pole in line with the the outside ski, prime the leg, take a good step into the turn.

Next we went to a flat area at the base of the Lex Hill and worked on V2. We employed a technique known as "Group Critique". Basically this involves one person skiing to demonstrate the technique with everyone else in the group watching and providing feedback - feedback on what was good and what needs improvement. Watching others ski helps you to visualize various techniques, become aware of nuances, be aware of what to do, and be aware of what not to do. The advanced skate group was small (6 total skiers including the coach) so we were able to do this without having the observers get too cold. Keys to a good V2 - pole in the direction of your gliding ski, compress to use the abs, prime the kick leg during your compression, push off with a strong stride, commit your weight over the gliding ski, and gain momentum during the arm recovery by "throwing" yourself down the trail.

After some warm-up skiing to get the observers blood flowing again we headed over to the base of the alpine ski area and did a "Group Critique" on field skate. The single most imporatnt thing to a good field skate is the timing - remember it's not a V1 and not a V2... After that comes extending the glide (basically ride the ski for all its worth) and good weight transition.

Once these technique drills were complete we skiied around the glacier area for a bit, then headed to the hill by the clubhouse for fun and games. A snake relay got the juices flowing. Then we did a real relay race sprinting up and down the hill - it was a photo finish between teams 1 and 2 - also we apologize to any of the beginning skate group that we nearly skied over as we raced to the finish line.

After a nice relaxing cool down ski, we called it a night. All in all, great to be on snow. Remember to buy your compact flourescent light bulbs and call your utility company and change to wind power, or at least buy a few shares of Wind Source (if you are an Xcel customer). These little things add up and will help turn the tide on global warming.

After some initial work on correct placement of the lead pole in V1 we split the intermediate skiers into into two groups. The 12 skiers that joined us went up to the top half of the Lexington Hill and spent about 80% of our evening on improving our V1 climbing. Some things that we tried to concentrate on were pushing the skis out to the side, not making big steps up the hill, keeping the return ski low and trying to avoid lifting the ski high off of the ground. We did a number of no pole and pole drills to try to get some of this committed to muscle memory. Later in the evening we spent 10-15 minutes working on step turns at the bottom of the next hill. Keeping your inside ski mostly on the ground and leading the turn, hands in front, weight forward leaning slightly into the turn, using quick skates on your outside ski will help you navigate the corner and maintain your momentum. Something the we neglected to mention was to keep turning your head to look in the direction of your turn. We continued with the turning skills drills by doing fast, tight circles on the flats at the top of the hill as a balance, agility and quickness drill. Try doing fast circles on the flats while using a V1 technique to the outside of your arc and quick steps with your turning ski, it is interesting to see how much speed you can generate this way. Finally, we spent a little time using V2 on a hill climb but some more detailed practice will be required here. Like many good skiers using V2 we did OK until fatigue set in, we will need to work on ways to relax with this technique. As a group we then took about a 3K loop back to the parking area to finish off our session.

After some work on V1 (we reviewed the 3-point landing and the 1, 2, 3 rhythm) most students were looking reasonable, so we moved onto other skills.

We started with marathon skate, which is an old technique where one ski is left in the classical track while the other ski skates. Poling is pretty much straight back with the skier's weight initially falling onto the skating ski at pole-plant. The pole push and skate occur simultaneously and the skier ends up in a high-hip glide on the track ski. This technique gives the skier an idea of how the pole-skate push should feel in more commonly used techniques like the skate turn and the V2. We did a number of repeated intervals on both sides.

We then went on to side-hill skating which is essentially doing the marathon skate without the aid of a track. The in-track ski becomes the higher of the two skis. The skating ski is the lower ski. This is a good way to ski a flat or slightly downhill sidehill when you want to go fast. V1-ing to the uphill side also works, but isn't quite as fast.

After side-hill skating we went to skate turning. Skate turning is a marathon skate where the in-track ski becomes the inside ski. The skating ski is the outside ski. We began marathon skating (no track) on the correct side a few skates before the turn to set up the proper rhythm. Skate turning is a higher-speed technique. If the energy-level is low or if the corner is an uphill corner, it's better to simply V1 to the inside.

We then worked the field skate which entails "launching" onto the strong-side ski, gliding a bit, and then pole-skating onto the other ski.

We finished up with the V2 skate. This technique is similar to field skating except that now we need to work both sides. The basic rhythm is pole-skate...glide...; pole-skate...glide... To achieve a good glide, the body must get high and aligned over the glide ski prior to the next pole-skate. The skier should work to get the longest, most comfortable glide possible on each ski. The poling is similar to a pure double-pole...it's straight-back and a stomach crunch is used to enhance the push. The arms should be bent at about 90 degrees when planting the poles. A good drill is to double pole multiple times with most of the weight on one ski and then the other. Later, a skate can be used to transistion from one foot to the other. V2 can be a very efficient way to ski the flats once mastered. It's also useful in maintaining speed after a downhill.

This was probably too much for one night, but I'd suggest using the marathon skate and the one-ski double pole drill to hone skills.

The classic group split into the usual two groups, and my group experienced just about everything you might expect. First, we had a substitute instructor..thank you Jenny Stohl ..who helped a lot, since we had a wide range of skill levels. Then on the way out to our spot, we suffered a broken pole. We expect a report on how well a certain local ski shop handles warrantee replacement. Luckily we spent most of the evening skiing without poles. But that put one pair of waxable skis at a disadvantage when the wax wasn't quite right. The temperature range for the chosen kick-wax was slightly on the cool side, compounded by the altered nature of the snow (thawed and refrozen kernels) which resulted in a poor adhesion. I could make it work if I really tried hard and focused my balance and technique. But it was a struggle. I was glad to reclaim my waxless skis at the end of the session. We had several demonstrations on falling and rising. Approximately half of the falls were in a forward direction, indicating good body position and forward lean. But we also suffered a few tailbone bruisers. But we didn't need to call 911. Next time, we'll try the tricky stuff earlier in the evening. We have a couple of ringers in our group - folks who have had a few years of skate-skiing instruction and now are trying classic. As expected, they handle double-poling and downhills good enough to skew our group average. At the end of the evening, Jenny took the group on a ski around the course, to put all the elements together. A few folks stayed with me to work on downhill control. Unfortunately, we didn't find the perfect hill for snowplowing, like we had at Elm Creek. Maybe next time.

So if you get out on snow this weekend, remember: shoulders forward, kick from the full foot, full arm swing, and keep smiling.

Fluids are the topic for this week. If you are doing any athletic activity, your attention to fluid replacement is essential if you are to perform well and avoid complications from dehydration. Sitting on the couch for hours? You can probably get away with drinking only a few glasses of water and feel fine, but if you are skiing for a few hours and not drinking fluids, you'll soon experience thirst, dry mouth, increased body temperature, and headache depending on your sweat rate. When considering fluid loss, it is not uncommon to lose one quart of fluid through perspiration.

For most easy workouts of less than an hour, water is enough of a fluid replacement. For workouts lasting more than one hour, use of a sport drink that replaces sodium and potassium is necessary. By experimenting during training with varying degrees of diluted sports drinks, it will help you in determining how much you need to perform well. Current research is suggesting five grams protein to every 25 grams carbohydrates will help with better electrolyte and glycogen balance.

Make sure you are attentive to how you feel during training and experimenting with sports drinks and water. Doing it during a race could be disastrous!