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!
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