Dear Ski Post,
I usually start my ski season at W.Yell. camp I am a older (71 years old) skier and race 3-5 races per year. I usually put in about 18 hours on snow while in W.Y. My question is, is that too much. I then spend the same hours skiing at Christmas. Does this set me up for over-training? I spend time before snow roller skiing, lifting weights, hiking etc. but never spend more than 2 hrs. per day. I know this a hard question to answer, but give your best shot.
Hello Too Much,
Most everyone at the West Yellowstone Ski Festival is challenged with many of the same questions. One thing that you need to consider is how close you might be to your first race. If you are going to race in both of the races at the end of the week in West Yellowstone, and have only been training for 2 hours (max) per day this is probably an ambitious week for you. However, if you are just putting in time on snow, treating your body well between workouts (read: naps, good nutrition), and just getting time on skis at a reasonable pace then this is probably not so bad.
It stands to reason that if you are asking this question you might have gone home after the West Yellowstone Ski Festival tired. This isn't such a bad place to be if you allow your body to fully recover after this effort. It is extremely common for athletes to put in large training blocks, but it is perhaps more important to spend some time fully recovering from this after it is through.
The basic idea here is that the most important aspect of large training volume sessions is to be fully recovered from the extended effort. If you are enjoying yourself on skis at the Ski Festival (which isn't hard to imagine), you should also be very sure to take full advantage. Simply put: be smart with how you treat your body there, and be prudent when you go back to your more normal routine!
Enjoy the Yellowstone Ski Festival - we'll see you on the trails.
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By Evelyn Dong
Saab Salomon Factory Team
The day you've been waiting for is finally here: the first ski of the season on freshly groomed corduroy. You're chomping at the bit to get on the trails, so you shove your boots into your bindings, strap on your poles and take off with perfect technique, gliding effortlessly over the snow. OK, except for that last part. We all want to be able to get back on snow and pretend that the intervening months since last season haven't affected our technique at all. Even if you rollerskied throughout the summer, those first few times on snow will feel funky and awkward. If you're anything like me during my first on-snow skate a few days ago, you'll think 'I don't remember my skis being this long last year...' and proceed to faceplant a few times. Don't sweat it if you feel out of your element your first week back on snow.
Doing even 10 minutes of technique drills at the start of each ski will help you out of the awkward phase. Even if you adjust to being on snow again fairly quickly and just want to get out and ski, now is the time of year to break bad technique habits carried over from past seasons. Doing some drills won't hurt, but logging hours of skiing with bad technique will only make those habits harder to break. This is speaking from experience. I was hugely skeptical about drills for a long time because my impatient self just wanted to get out and ski. I won't say that I like drills but I'm a believer in them now.
I'm a fan of warming up without poles. Even if you're not going to do any other technique work during your ski, warming up doing 10 minutes of legs-only skating is a good idea. You are forced to work on balance, weight shift and getting over your foot...all the usual good stuff. After this warm-up, another drill you can do is skating with your poles held horizontally in front of you. The poles will help you gauge how much you're twisting and tipping; you want to keep the poles level. Next, you can work on skiing without poles on a slight downhill, counting to three on each side. This forces you to think about glide.
No-poles classic skiing is also hugely beneficial. It forces you to make each kick count; you can't fake it with late kick. Finding mellow terrain to do this on is essential; flat to slightly uphill terrain makes you work on a solid kick and a slightly downhill grade will push the limits of your balance. Another classic technique drill that's helped me the most is the scooter drill. Ditch your poles and one of your skis. Kick with your ski-free foot and mimic striding with your arms. This works on balance and getting your weight forward on your glide ski.
Lastly, help coach a high school team and play freeze tag or soccer on skis with them. That is probably the best way to work on agility and getting comfortable on skis, and its fun!
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By: Garrott Kuzzy
US Ski Team , CXC Elite, and Salomon Athlete Force
A carefully maintained training log can be one of the best tools for becoming a better racer. I started my first training log when I began ski racing back in middle school. My log started in a notebook as a simple record of the date and how long I trained. Over the years, my log has evolved into a detailed record of my training activities, hours of training, hours of sleep, heart rates, recovery methods, and many more aspects that affect how I feel and how fast I can ski.
Through high school, I opened my training log infrequently and often went months without any update. After my freshman year in college, I sat down with my coach, Terry Aldrich, to review the season. He asked to see my log from the past year, but I had not kept up with it. Terry set one goal for me for the next year: “keep your training log up to date everyday, all year.” I wanted to write goals like, “win NCAA’s” and “compete at the U23 World Championships,” but somehow “keeping my log up-to-date” sounded more daunting than either of those performance goals! With that one goal in mind, I updated my log every day for the next year. When we sat down for the same meeting the following spring, I had a completed log and had coincidentally had my best ski season to date. Recording in that log did not directly make me ski any faster that year, but it gave me a template for years to come. Keeping a training log has become habit and I often look back on past logs when I am in doubt about how to handle a given situation. It’s exciting to see how the log turns from blank pages into a record of my life over the course of the season.
With the ski season right around the corner, I give you the same challenge that Terry gave me: record in your log everyday, all year. You will be surprised with the results!
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Log it! Training log for Endurance Athletes is the only training log on the market today geared specifically to cross country skiers. Join US Ski Team and CXC Elite skier Garrott Kuzzy as you plan and record your training. Kuzzy explains basic training philosophy and provides a template for planning training. The log includes 13 four-week periods, as well as training photos, stories, and a foreword by US Ski Team head coach Pete Vordenberg to inspire you along the way. Proceeds from the log benefit Garrott and the CXC Team in their Olympic aspirations. www.logit.cxcstore.com
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The Yellowstone Ski Festival is less than two weeks away and will take place during Thanksgiving Week on November 25, 26, 27, 28, & 29, 2008 in West Yellowstone, Montana. The event’s highlights include a series of one, three and five day Nordic skiing clinics, the SuperTour races, the Try It and Buy It Equipment Demo and an Indoor Ski Show. We are finalizing the last minute details for the Yellowstone Ski Festival here in West Yellowstone. We will start to see Nordic skiers in about a week and we are looking forward to visiting with old friends and making new ones. If you have not been here before, The Yellowstone Ski Festival is the perfect opportunity to start off your cross country ski season. We offer many lessons, demos, and clinics for the novice Nordic skier. For those of you who are returning, we welcome you back. Ski, shop, and smile the entire week.
Old Man Winter is taking the scenic route to West Yellowstone again this year, but never fear, we will be ready for him when he lands. We need a few, measly inches of snow to bring the trails to competition quality shape. For those of you who have been with us down this road before, you know we have a secret weapon. If all else fails, we will enlist the help of local skiers in a bikini clad, ski burning, bike riding, OFFICIAL snow sacrifice. Currently this system has a 100% success rate.
Ben Husaby to speak Friday night: We are excited to announce that Ben Husaby will be back in West Yellowstone and will be our featured speaker on Friday night, November 28. Ben has spent over twenty Thanksgivings in West Yellowstone and keeps coming back for more. His experience throughout the years as a member of the U.S. Ski Team, founding member of the Factory Team, former Olympian, and coach are sure to add insight to many Nordic skiers.
Fall Camp Clinics: The one day clinics are full on Thursday and rapidly filling on Friday and Saturday! However, there is still room in the three and five day clinics – please register soon! A registration form is available on the website.
SuperTour Registration: Online registration is available. If you have questions about the races, a race schedule is currently online. The Men's and Women's Classic races will take place on Friday, November 28th. The Men's and Women’s Freestyle races will take place on Saturday, November 29th.
Try It and Buy It Gear Demo: At this point, all of the exhibitors that you have come to expect to see at the Yellowstone Ski Festival are planning to return to the ski trails and the Holiday Inn again this year. They include: Alpina, Atomic, Boulder Nordic Sport, Cirrus Design, Craft, Exel, Fischer, Madshus, Podiumwear, Rossignol, Salomon, Solda, Swix, and TOKO. There is no better place to demo the latest in Nordic gear than at the Yellowstone Ski Festival.
Kid’s Clinics by the Montana Outdoor Science School: The folks at MOSS have put together another amazing lineup of children’s clinics during the Ski Festival. The clinics will be based out of the Days Inn and pre-registration is required! For more information, visit the Clinics page of www.yellowstoneskifestival.com (scroll to the bottom where you will find a link to the MOSS website).
Stone Grinding by Boulder Nordic Sport and Engineered Tuning: Boulder Nordic Sport (BNS) will again bring a full-service stone-grinding ski shop to the Yellowstone Ski Festival. Owner Nathan Schultz will travel to the event with two Tazzari stone grinding machines (skis that are stone ground generally absorb more wax and perform better) and staff to provide professional ski service at the season-opening event.
For close to 30 years, West Yellowstone, Montana has played host to cross country skiers during the month of November. There is no better place to start your ski season! For more information, visit www.yellowstoneskifestival.com.
We are looking forward to seeing you in West Yellowstone from November 25-29, 2008.
Think Snow!
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| Events/Clinics/Announcements |
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Swix Clinics in MN and WI
Kevin Sweeney, National Director of Racing Services for Swix Sport USA
Kevin will be visiting the MN and WI too share with you the latest in product development from the world’s leading manufacturer of racing wax, tuning tools and poles. This is your chance to learn exactly how to apply waxes, structure skis and fire questions at Kevin who has been in the industry for the last 14 years. Kevin has the latest information from the World Cup, as well as knowledge on how to keep it simple and have great kick and glide every time. Join us in this great opportunity to see for yourselves Swix Sport USA’s commitment to excellence. Information you can use will include:
Learn proper application of the new sensational Swix Cera Nova
a. Overlays: the ultimate Swix Super Cera, the new Cera F Solid
Turbo line FC7BS, FC8WS & FC10BS, and the new Cera F Rocket spray FC8A.
b. Learn proper base layering for ultimate durability and speed
featuring our new HF Black Wolf glide waxes.
c. Learn proper brushing & final base preparation featuring our new
World Cup Oval Steel brush, the Oval Fine Steel and the Oval Wild Boar.
Clinic dates and locations:
Ski Hut 1032 E Fourth Street Duluth Mn 218-724-8525
Nov 14 6:00 pm
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CXC is happy to work with SkiPost in offering the following products to help make this year faster than last! Your purchases and support will help shape the future of Nordic skiing in the US.
TRAINING LOG FOR ENDURANCE ATHLETES. LOG IT! - NEW
Provides a template for recording daily training throughout the year, broken
into 13 four-week periods, interspersed with photos and stories to inspire
your training. Take advantage of the introduction to help build a plan for
your season, then record and adapt your training over the year as your
fitness progresses. The log is written by US Ski Team member and with
forward by US Ski Team head coach Pete Vordenberg.
CXC ACADEMY (WEB BASED) – NEW
Training plans for high school, Junior Olympics, college, elite, masters and
Birkie skiers with daily workout examples. Video of technique progressions,
ski specific workouts, interviews and other useful materials.
“CXCAcademy.com is one of the best things to happen to XC skiing in the
United States. Anyone who participates is truly rewarded with excellent
training programs and technique examples”.
CROSS COUNTRY TECHNQIUE FUNDAMENTALS (CD-ROM)
This CD lays the foundation for both Classic and Freestyle techniques on
which we can build a consistent technique program that will continue to
develop great cross-country skiers for years to come.
WAKE UP! IT'S TIME TO TRAIN (DVD)
70 minutes of exclusive interviews with US National Team coaches, drills and
technique, fitness testing, sports physiology, core strength, training
volume, intensity levels, race footage, and much more.
X-COUNTRY (DVD)
The inside story on one of the toughest sports around by top World Cup
racers.
COMPETITIVE CORE TRAINING - REAL TRAINING FOR REAL ATHLETES (DVD)
Competitive Core Training provides the exercises and workouts that will help
athletes of all ages, abilities, and sports develop a strong, flexible core
that is essential to athletic performance and success.
Visit the CXC Store at:
www.cxcstore.com
and CXC Academy at:
www.cxcacademy.com
NOTE: If you have an event you would like to have in SkiPost please send emails to weanswer@skipost.com |
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Saab
Team Vehicles
Skis, Boots, Bindings, Technical Wear
Wax, Poles, Tools
Eyewear
Heart Rate Monitors
Media
Racewear
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