Have Fun! Smile

Don't touch me there.

Here’s a goal for the Birkie: A Big Smile on Main Street.
The Birkie is a big event and I hope everyone enjoys being part of it. We all want to do our best but frankly I remember very little of my best race there. Ask me about 51 degree year or the time it snowed 8 inches the night before, yea I remember that, minute by agonizing minute.

This weekend looks pretty good. It will be cold but we have dealt with that before. The snow is fast and firm so the 10th wave sugar snow will stay in the 10th wave. (For those in the 10th wave it will provide good motivation to get out of the 10th wave). The lake will probably be plowed but that has been done before. The course should be pretty open with the classic skiers and the skaters separated past OO. There should be more room to maneuver so pacing will be even more important.

Waxing should be pretty easy. The biggest concern is for Birkie skiers having the wax erode. Top skiers are using FC7 (cold Cera) over HF6 and later skiers are looking at HF7 with a HF6 cover. For those who don’t care LF6 or 7 should be just fine. It will be fast for EVERYONE! Don’t sweat the wax. Classic skiers will probably need a klister base (Toko Green, Swix Green) put on thin and smooth with a cover wax the day of. My source says it is very abrasive but fast. Try not to snowplow (all skiers) as it just scrubs off wax in addition to slowing you down.

Dress warm and have some throw clothes for the start. Warm drinks before helps warm your core and get you hydrated as well. The hydration process starts now. Keep your tank full till Sat.
A couple things for your day. In addition to dry clothes (hat and gloves) put the following in your drop bag. Ski slides or sleeves. It is a pain to carry loose skis around. Shoes for after the race, ski boots are not meant for hiking. Some cash, those brats at Angler’s are even better after a marathon. Disposable camera, your memory ain’t what it used to be.

We had a good last 20 weeks and it does not end at the Birkie. March skiing is so fine. Fast, firm and warm. Everyone looks ready and improved this year. Be confident as you ski, keep your head up and I’ll see you on Main Street….smiling.

Talk to you soon.

Helper

Luger

Inconspicuous George

What’s in a number? A lot if you are a Birkie skier. Ten seconds a kilometer does not sound like a lot but it makes an Elite wave skier out of a first wave skier. I believe anyone can ski 10 sec/km faster by doing one simple thing.

LOOK UP

If you look at the best skiers they invariably are looking down the trail. It does a lot actually. In the simplest sense it opens up your windpipe, you get more air. Technically you tend to “follow” your eyes which puts more weight forward and over the gliding ski, you carry your speed better and longer. Tactically having your head up makes you conscious of what is coming. If you are traversing a flattish section and you see Bitch Hill coming you might want to save your arms a little. Watching others ahead gives you an idea of what’s coming…and who to avoid! On downhill’s looking farther out is critical. At 40kph things are happening fast. If you have a few seconds to react you stand a much better chance of being a non-event than a good chuckle for spectators. If nothing else you will look better in the photos and say what you want, looking fast is better than being fast. I always ski better when people are watching.

There you go. Eight and one half minutes absolutely free. As you cruise up Main Street think about having to go back a couple k’s on the lake. Yea, that would be fun.

Things went well last night. As Steve’s HRM shows it was not too easy. Lots of good things coming together. I predict good things at the Birkie.
The Stump Farm Classic is on for this Sat. See http://www.ashwaubenon.k12.wi.us/NewFiles/pdfs/hs/athletics/ski/2009%20Stump%20Farm%20Entry%20Form.pdf for the entry and info.

The snow is still there but icy. I think we will get it back but what a weird way to go. The good news is that from here on out it is mostly a taper anyway so no need to panic. We have our Birkie Wax Clinic Tonight at 7:00pm. We talk Fluor’s and more. Wax can give you another 10 sec or more per km. I’ll take anything. Speaking of numbers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiY_QxjsgN0 this always was good for a couple seconds.

Nice night. We will wrap up the year with a softer workout next year and some goal setting. We have 34 more skiing days, get out and enjoy them.

A Thing of Beauty

“will skiing make me as beautiful as you” asked Wallace. Not in your case but one can find inner beauty in anything. Now that’s deep.

What a week. Records were broken. 300 dips, 100 ab crunches and Andy skiing the outer Neshota loop 25 times! We are closing in on the Birkie and this will be the absolute last chance for an OD ski before the race. If you are doing Mora this weekend you can expect pleasant conditions and locally the forecast is for a warm weekend so you may want to start early.

As you know the snow is old, somewhat dirty from debris and icy in spots and that is hard on wax so stay up on it. You want fast skis now and keeping them saturated is important in that regards. This is also a good time to experiment with clothing as we are all across the board with temps. I skied today at 0F but expect to see 40F by weekend. What a swing.

Next week we will work on a little softer elements but expect a workout. This is the time to refine and focus your technique as we start to enter what is probably the best skiing month. The late season conditioning, snow and warmer [?] weather make it easy to get out. Everyone looks to be in pretty good shape and judging from the efforts I would expect a strong showing at the Birkie.

Get out and ski this weekend and for you deep thinkers this was voted “most deep” cut http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2I0UHcrWoo by James Blunt. He and I get mixed up a lot but that is a cross that I must bear.
Flick a Stick until next week at 6:00pm

Battle of the Backs