XC Q&A with Lee Borowski
Improving your V-2 on land, sand and waves "Say, do you have any general suggestions for a timid master skier to help get over being so dang nervous when practicing the V2 on roller skis? Sometimes I feel like I'm starting to get it and can start to extend and relax (a slight uphill or headwind helps), but other times: panic city."
JIM HULL
Salt Lake City, Utah
I strongly suggest that you do continuous half-hour sessions to develop
the V2. Until I did this, I had pitiful balance and felt very awkward. You can do this separately or as part of a longer snow or roller ski. I'd suggest flat to rolling terrain.
But here is the key: Don't try for any speed. Just rock your whole body from side to side until you feel you are in perfect balance on every stroke. It helps to throw in a few skates with no poles to get the feeling.
Your ultimate goal is to feel as if you can skate off whenever you feel like, not when
you have to because you're losing balance. Once you can glide comfortably with no fear of falling, it's easy to add power, both with your legs and compressing slightly. And the bonus is that hanging your weight on the poles helps immensely to stay balanced.
I hope this helps. (Update: Since the exchange above, I got the following e-mail from Jim. "Regarding the V2 ... While I still have a lot to do, the longer sessions have really made for a noticeable improvement. And it didn't take
that many to see the improvement.")
"I ran a 3:19 at the Chicago Marathon last month a more than 10-minute improvement on my previous best run last June. Is there any way to use that to predict how long it might take me to classic ski the Birkie for the first time?"
NAME WITHHELD
I don't think so. There never has been a direct correlation between running and skiing. I think the reason is that skiing requires a lot more strength, both upper and lower body,
whereas endurance running is favored by low weight, even sparse muscle mass.
That said, you've improved your running, which is a good indicator that your aerobic conditioning is much better. And if you CAT Ski (or even stride on roller skis or hill bound with poles) and keep your strength up, you should have a much faster Birkie time than predicted from your time per kilometer in the Kortelopet last year; I'd guess at least by 15 to 30 minutes, assuming the same snow conditions. That's
10 minutes for your faster running marathon time and the rest for technique and strength improvements.
Speaking of running ...
"I recently moved from Green Bay, Wisconsin, to San Diego and I was a huge cross-country skier. I'm now 2.5 hours away from the nearest skiing area. I have not had much luck finding any sort of workouts I can do locally that will get me race-ready besides the typical roller ski ones.
There has got to be something out there for training in sand,
since that is a great way to train your legs. I am also very reluctant to trash my rock skis on the beach. Can you help me with any exercises? Right now I have just been kayaking the waves and running in the soft sand."
CRYSTAL GUSTIN
San Diego, CA
Before we start, it sounds like you have found some enviable alternatives. Your ex-neighbors back in Wisconsin have been fighting big wind and temperatures that have changed from near 90 to around 40 in the span of two days. So
kayaking and running on the beach under a warm California sun sounds nice to them.
First of all, kayaking is about as specific to V1 poling as you can get. In fact, in Norway they call the stroke "paddling." Some of our top local racers are ardent canoeists and kayakers. In fact, the best local skaters, in the early days of skating, came from their ranks. They seemed to have a technique and strength advantage.
In addition, the paddling motion is a lot like chopping
wood or swinging a sledge hammer, all of which involve rotational motion in the torso. (And yes, I was very serious about the benefits of hitting a tire with a sledge as described in the October issue of Silent Sports. I got a few queries and chuckles about that.) All are very effective ski workouts for the upper body.
Second, Bill Koch is famous for sand skiing. At his Web site, www.sandskiing.com, he has most of the answers about sand skiing. But you are right: You'll trash your skis
on a pebble filled beach. In fact most types of sand are not very conducive to skiing. See Bill's Web site for more details.
As for your rock skis, there's no need to destroy them. I'm sure you can find a used pair for a few bucks. They could even be beat up old touring skis, from a ski swap or a rummage sale. Around here a pair wouldn't be hard to come by. But in southern California? I'm not so sure, as you're a lot closer to Mexico than you are to Royal Gorge. Maybe one of your Green
Bay contacts can find something for you at a rummage sale.
Now to the nitty gritty. Running in soft sand and running elsewhere are almost different enough to be unrelated. It takes a lot more strength to run in sand, so just that fact alone will help your skiing.
I'd also suggest imitating the striding stroke and the skating one occasionally as you run in sand. You could alternate between striding with your feet low to the ground and bounding for several strides. But be careful
because too much skating-style running will put a lot of stress on your hip joints.
Also you might be near some long mountain passes that are perfect for hill striding with poles. You can almost dial in a pulse on those long gradual climbs. In fact, they'd be ideal for a 15- to 30-minute time trial which (done once a week in addition to your other training) should put you into racing shape. You could substitute shorter intervals, if you preferred.
Other than that, each week try
to get in a workout or two with an accumulated time of 30 to 60 minutes just below your lactate threshold. The other workouts should be easy or eliminated.
Follow this regimen and you'll wow your friends with how well you maintained your skiing prowess. A few may even want to move to southern California.
Lee Borowski is a past USSA Nordic Coach of the Year, Badger State Winter Athlete of the Year, and the coach of different USA Skiers-of-the Year in Junior, Senior and Collegiate
categories. He has also coached many Masters skiers who have won both National and World Championships.
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