Thursday, January 13, 2011

Embracing Winter, Part Deux

Over a foot of snow yesterday, so I was itching to hit the Harris Farm for some skate skiing after work today. Conditions were pretty slow since the snow is new and not fully packed down yet, but no doubt it'll only get better as the days go on.

I did well overall though. At one point, I stopped to watch two obviously way more experienced skate skiers V1 up a hill. They were so efficient, so I tried to note what they were doing that I might not be doing. One thing I noticed is that they "V-ed" out their skis more. I gave that a shot on the next uphill and it definitely made a difference, which was nice.

Made the mistake of trying to cross one of the fields where the wind had blown powder on the trails so I hit a few drifts and that made the going very slow for at least half a kilometer. That put a big dent in my average speed, but at least it was out of stupidity on my part and not entirely bad technique.

Great session overall. Look forward to hitting there again over the next several days as no doubt the trail conditions will only get better as they get more packed down. Looks like mother nature is also going to cooperate with cold temps and maybe even a little more snow... should be a great three-day weekend!

Skate skied 9.8 kilometers @ 9.8 kph/average.
AHR/MHR - N/A (forgot to wear the strap)
Slow trail conditions.
Moderately hilly.
Around 30 to upper 20s, sunny.
Long pants, windbreaker, short sleeved shirt, beanie, gloves.

2 comments:

middle.professor said...

Awesome! Soft snow is tough for skating, which is why classic was invented! And you got it, the less the glide the more wide the V. Also really concentrate on shifting side to side and not "stepping up" the hill. lastly think about poling with poles that are parallel to your strong side glide ski and your arms aren't out like a skydiver. Check out the "training video" links from the FHS nordic blog.

Jamie Anderson said...

Good advice, thanks Jeff. Will definitely check out your team's blog.