Taking a XC Skating Class, Fundamentals of Skiing

After picking up skating, I quickly realized that my technique was lacking. I always tell my kids to take a class for this and for that, hockey, playing the guitar, freestyle skiing, you name it. Sure enough, my eldest plays the guitar much better than I ever did, they skate circles around me on the ice (well, 10 years of hockey vs. my zero), and in the downhill ski department I like to take it easy if not avoid it altogether while they bomb down every hill and jump every jump. And then there is Martin, mocking my stance in the only picture I have of myself skiing. Oh, the horror, to be mocked by an Olympian ... (even though he is a rower, and not a skier) Well, I have to admit that I finished in the bottom 10% of that race, but that was only my third time out on skate skis.

Gotta practice what you preach. I signed up for the Sisu Ski School: Fundamentals of Skiing class. The first session was tonight, at Battle Creek West. As I expected, the first exercises were very, well, basic but I did them, because I know that one has to build a foundation. The free skating is something I know I had to do, but having instructors telling me what to do was an invaluable additional step.  I have done this exercise before, I did it tonight, and I have to do it again and again and again. When we moved to poling diagonally, it felt so much better than anything I had ever done before, and then the V1 was even better. I am looking forward to next week!

More skijoring in Highland Park

James' first hockey practice after holidays provided a good excuse for a quick jaunt on the Highland trail. Mellie in tow, we started at around 4:00 PM. The sun was setting and the temps had started to drop again from its high of -18C (0F). There were a few other skiers out, judging from the cars. I thought we'd do our usual two laps but in the end, we were in such fine shape, we added a third lap. Finishing the 3 times 3.5 km in just over 42 minutes, we had another personal best for this track, in spite of or maybe because of the grim cold. Another reason for our high speed may have been the presence of another skijorer. Unlike Mellie and I, that man and dog were a pro team. The guy was a top notch skier, and the dog, something that looked like a black lab mix, ran fast, without being distracted by flying clumps of snow. In passing, he snapped at Mellie, as if to say "what are you bloody amateur doing in my way?" Mellie felt motivated to pick up her pace after they passed, but we were no match to them.

Today's data at Garmin Connect.

First activity in 2010: Skijoring at Highland 9-hole and Gear Review

Trying to beat the arctic cold forecast for the next few days, I got out at 3:30 PM on New Year's Day 2010 to celebrate with a quick skijor. Mellie is always a willing partner, when she sees the harness, she gets very excited, as this video will illustrate:

I was also looking forward to trying out the new pull rope I had just assembled from 1" tubular mountaineering webbing and 3/8" shock cord (both bought at REI). Mellie had destroyed the polypropylene rope that I bought from Nordkyn, a skijoring outfitter, within a few outings. She gets kind of wild and wants to help pulling by taking the rope into her own hands or rather fangs. Polyprop may be light and strong, but it seems to be more susceptible to a dog's biting action.

Tape and double shock cord loop with
carbine hook

   

Quick release hook (the cheapo version)
tied to the other end of tape and cord

In the interim, I had replaced the frayed polyprop rope with a sheathed steel cable. Rather less bite-friendly heavy. Not that Mellie or I couldn't bear the weight, but as soon as the line went slack, the cable was under our feet and skis (see the video).

I pulled two strands of 7' shock cord through a 9' lenght of mountaineering tape, sewed on a loop on each end, and voila, I had a nice, self-contracting pull line, not as lightweight as the polyprop line but certainly sturdier.

The guard harness (I selected the neoprene option) and SKJ5 hip belt I bought at Nordkyn. I see now that they have an option for a water bottle and a little pouch, too. I always take a fanny pack for poop baggies.

Mellie taking things in her own fangs. Note the guard harness from Nordkyn.

When we started, there were quite a few people on the trail. I wonder why some decide to go against the one-way. Well, as long as they stay out of my way, I don't care. Mellie did find the new rope chewier than the steel cable, but the self-contracting feature made up for this, and I can take the rope into my hand and haul in the dog, which she does not appreciate.

After a short while, we were off and had a good run. At under 30 minutes for two 3.5 km laps, our fastest one yet!

Como Championships

My first xc skiing race since 1983 and my first skate skiing race ever (third time out on skate skis ever). You see that I am suppressing any inclination towards great expectations. Fortunately, I had not any.

I am well familiar with the Como loop from my forays on snowy weekend mornings. When I strapped on my skating outfit for the first time just a week ago, I did not have any expectations either. I finished my two laps faster than I had ever done on classic skis, in something like 43 minutes. I am fully aware that my technical skills are minimal if not non-existent. I am determined to take some class to change that. I do not ski to race but I did stumble over the Como Championships when checking trail conditions at Skinnyski.com.

For the start, I hung back, towards the rear of the pack for the mass start. Good thing that I did, because just about everyone was faster. But I felt good and I felt as though I was moving well, to my own standards at least. I was part of a a somewhat drawn out group of three skiers. With one in particular I kept trading the lead. He was a little faster uphill, while I did better downhill, in particular at quick-stepping the high-speed turns at the bottom of the hills. Unfortunately, I got a little too close to him during the second-to-last downhill and fell. That may have potentially cost me a shot at passing and finishing ahead of him, though I have to admit that that would have been a long shot.

Anyway, I am now aware of what should be my priorities: improve my technique. And keep skiing.

Results (I'm waaaay at the bottom)
Garmin Connect Summary

My First True Skate Ski

Got up early this morning, 5:30 or so. When I went out to get the paper, it had just started snowing. But by the time I had read most of the paper and done the Sudoku,there was about 0.5" of fresh snow. Good enough, I decided to try out the new and freshly waxed Atomic Skate Race skis, today sans dog.

First I had a bad surprise when my Forerunner 305 would not turn on. It sat in the cradle after uploading the new data, sometimes it turns on. I took the spare unit and headed to Como Park. The track had not been groomed nor had it seen much traffic this morning. Two, maybe three skiers had skated, the traditional nordic track had also seen a little use, for obvious reasons numbers are harder to estimate. At first, the skating seemed to come quite naturally, but I have to admit that I got winded pretty quickly. I also noticed that the tracks left by my predecessors seemed much longer than my own. What was I doing wrong? I was getting so tired that I half decided to stop after only a single lap, but in hindsight I am glad I kept going because all of a sudden it clicked. I had been trying to use both of my legs with equal strength. When I started I push-glide sequence, things began improving. Push right, glide left helped me recover on the glide. Now I began paying attention to alternating the push leg. I definitely feel that my right works better as the pushing leg but I was able to switch to left on my right turns and when my right needed a little break.

Things to work on: my climbing technique, and switching back and forth between right push and left push.

I ended up having a faster and less tiring second lap. As a special treat, I observed a hawk eating a squirrel, just meters from where I was skiing by on the trail.

By the way, the Forerunner started working again after a soft reset. I don't know why Garmin makes it so difficult to find that type of troubleshooting and self-help information. Instead I read about the soft reset at this site.

First Skijoring of the Season

Snow is here, but there's not quite enough of the white stuff. Como Park was groomed last weekend but I did not trust what I saw when I jogged by. Later, during James' hockey practice, I hiked out onto the track laid out on the Highland nine-hole golf course to check conditions. Out in the open, there's enough snow, but close to or under trees, the ground is showing. We do need more snow, it's wearing thin. Too bad that the snow they were announcing earlier this week has not materialized.

Not enough snow means more time to wax those skis! On Monday, I had taken advantage of the Finn Sisu weekly waxing clinic to brush up on my skills. I had a day of classes and practice on waxing skis when I took the course to become initiateur de ski de fond in Belgium in the early 1980s. Either I have become more patient since then or waxing has become easier. The guy at Finn Sisu made it look easy, and it was easy. While I was working on my good pairs I thought that I should just do my old Landsem touring/telemark skis as well.

I did, and I took Mellie for a spin at the Highland 9-hole. No way to stay in the classic track, there was lawn showing every 100 m or so. We mostly stayed on the skating lane, and were thus able to avoid most rough spots. But those touring skis are heavy to skate (almost 4kg for the pair, with boots, as opposed to 3.5kg for my classic outfit and barely 3kg for the skate skis). A good workout for my quads. As I said before, my dog's obsessed by the devil in cold weather, she turns around, grabs the leash, feigns attacks, etc. Not such a great combination for skijoring. The first 400-500 m are great, she's got so much kinetic energy built up that she just goes, goes, goes. But then, she gets just a little out of breath, and the first hill comes and she gets bored. There are so many interesting scents, and occasionally one has to piddle. But she is a good sport and listens to me, at least keeping the tow out from under my skis. We did have a couple of falls, one, where I just lost control on a down hill and sat down, the other, also on a downhill, she decided in mid run that she had to investigate a scent off the trail. I got pretty tangled up that second time. We also let one skate skier pass who caught up to us due to our antics.

I did not have any great expectations for the first time out, on questionable snow and with beat-up equipment. When I looked at my Garmin I was amazed to see that we were doing a 4:38 pace. This is our best time on this course yet. Was it the wider touring skis, the fresh wax or Mellie turning into an adult dog? I do not know.

New Orienteering Shoes Arrived Today: Inov-8 Mudclaw 330

Sadly, after O-season is over for me, for this year, unless I squeeze in a trip to Belgium. My Inov-8 Mudclaw 330s, size 12, medium arrived today.

After reading much back and forth on various posts on heel blisters and fit narrower than advertised I was somewhat anxious. I put them on immediately, even before changing out of my work clothes. They fit like gloves or rather socks, firmly with no tightness, maybe maybe with the exception of the top of my right foot big toe. But that is a known issue for me, in most cases my to molds the materials of most of my running shoes. An exceptions were my Adidas Marathon Trainers, a shoe I otherwise liked very much. The right toe ended up poking a hole through the mesh with the two pairs I owned. The Inov-8 materials feels yielding yet tough, I doubt I will have an issue with this. The heel feels very nice, too, and the knobby studs do not bother at all, even on the smooth surface of my home. However, I should not make a judgment before I take a run... Maybe when we have some snow.

Update: I now used the Inov-8s on several occasions. The first time, I developed some heel blisters. I taped the second time, which worked well. I meant to tape the third time but forgot. Still some discomfort after about 8 km in rough terrain, but no blister. After that, they were fine. See other entries in my blog.