Skal we go pa ska Hillbounding Naught 11

Welcome to the 31 folks the made it back to the hill this year. The weather was nice with light sprinkles right at the end although no worse than the sweat falling off some of the skiers.

Tonight was our annual "soft start" where we worked more on the technical side and introduced some of the techniques used (but not all) Plan on seeing some new strokes and faster recovery in the future. We will reduce the "loiter" time which will intensify the effort considerably. Here are some of the things I noticed.

• Running: You MUST separate skiing and running. It is called hillbounding...not hill running. Our goal is to improve your technique 1st, develop strength 2nd and the cardiovascular side, well that takes care of itself.



• Pole control: Whew, I noticed some interesting adaptations of proper poling form. We will address what is correct and what is not. I have a narrow window as to what is correct so expect some nit-picking.



• Balance: Perhaps the most important element, I noticed a lot of wide stances, muscle tremble and "early push" (not riding the gliding ski). All are signs of balance issues but very trainable. Expect to see the wood next week.



• Glacial best describes the effort at the knoll. The fastest skiers have the biggest push at the top of a climb. Coincidence? I think not.

Obligatory Clique:

Practice Makes Permanent....not Perfect. Train it correctly and you will have it when you need it to and be automatic.

All in all it was a good effort. Expect a ramp up in intensity and be sure and have your gear ready. A pair of XC poles (not too good) to the armpit in length (80% of body height) is good to have for all your trail efforts. Bring a bottle and dry clothes and a masochistic training friend. We have the meet and greet at 5:24pm next Tuesday and we start at 5:30.

Note: Steve P. sent in his HRM strip. Note the 26 reps and the rise in effort at the Lactate Interval (LI) as he made forays into the dead zone. How you RECOVER from these efforts is perhaps the best indicator of fitness you can have. If you have an HRM, wear it and learn from it. You can see some video we shot last year at http://www.flickr.com/photos/incomp/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyuYflyZta4&feature=related to get you in the mood.