Meltdown 2013
Things are looking pretty grim up here. It's 40 degrees and the snow is melting...fast. According to the forecast, if we can make it through the next 24 hrs without losing all of our snow then we should be OK for the Marathon...but it is still pretty depressing to watch it all go.
This week we are regenerating a little bit in an effort to be somewhat fresh for this 50 kilometer bout on nordic skis. So we are doing about half volume. Probably around 12 hrs of training compared to 20-24 hrs. I will need all the extra energy I can get!
Now, I would like to vent on the subject of ski waxing.
So, the race on Tuesday went very poorly for me. Well, the result was poor compared to the others. My effort and intent was very good in my opinion. I attacked the course aggressively and maintained the ferocity throughout the race. Ultimately, that's what I am training myself to do. So by that measure, the race was a success. Ski waxing veiled that strong effort and made it look like a poor performance. Let me start by making it known that I know NOTHING about ski waxing. I don't know which conditions require which wax. I don't know how to put it on my skis. I just know that it is sticky and most skiers complain about messing up their wax constantly. When skiers have a bad classic race, they mostly blame it on the wax. So shall I! To me, the bottom line about ski waxing is that it taints an otherwise very pure sport. The function of the wax itself does not do this. The wax just helps give you kick on the snow. But, the fact that getting the wax right is the limiting factor between you performing to your potential or not, is disconcerting. It is not really a kin to anything in rowing. But if anything, it might be compared to using an Warry ocean single compared to an Empacher single in a race. I could have the performance of my life in the ocean Warry and still not come within a minute of a club rower in an Empacher single. In classic skiing, if someone has the right wax, it is somewhat similar but I would say having the wrong wax is more detrimental to speed than being in a slow boat. If an olympic champion skier has no kick, they have nothing. They will be slipping up hills and slowing down going down hills. Meanwhile, someone who got the wax right will be just striding up hills and flying down hills. The fact that the art/science of wax application to classic skis supersedes effort, technique, and even fitness is so troubling to me. It's troubling every skier, really. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have the wrong wax in an important race and to perform so far below your potential. Or to have someone beat you because of something that has absolutely NO correlation to their effort and preparation. Sure, getting the wax right is preparation, but I am talking about preparation of your body, mind, and spirit. Anyways, it goes both ways. You get the wax right and you tell people to stop their whining and just race. You get it wrong and you are condemning the institution of ski waxing. I am obviously not too involved in the world of skiing, but I do fear for the kids who are coming up in the nordic ski world. They have to be really careful about how they are judging their performances.
To be clear, that vent was about waxing. Classic skiing itself is amazing. Skate skiing is amazing( wax doesn't matter as much).
Yep, I'm bitter. But hey, the marathon is going to be a long race. I needed some fuel that would last. Tuesday's result may have supplied it.
Some easy spinning on the erg today. Probably dynamic erg for 60-80' in lowest HR zone( 135- 145 HR). Recently on the erg, I have been using the new C2 app to track my stroke length and make it more repeatable. I naturally hover around 1.45-1.48 m in length, but I am trying to sustain closer to 1.5m. It is wonderful training for rowing to watch your power curve and stroke length throughout an extended SS piece and just repeat, repeat, repeat. Easy swing, same length, same curve. Same length, same curve. Coach Gleeson put the rowing stroke into pretty simple terms for us last year and I have not forgotten it. " Just remember your favorite author, Robert Louis Stevenson. Relax, Length, Suspension. R, L, S!" Haha. RLS baby!
This week we are regenerating a little bit in an effort to be somewhat fresh for this 50 kilometer bout on nordic skis. So we are doing about half volume. Probably around 12 hrs of training compared to 20-24 hrs. I will need all the extra energy I can get!
Now, I would like to vent on the subject of ski waxing.
So, the race on Tuesday went very poorly for me. Well, the result was poor compared to the others. My effort and intent was very good in my opinion. I attacked the course aggressively and maintained the ferocity throughout the race. Ultimately, that's what I am training myself to do. So by that measure, the race was a success. Ski waxing veiled that strong effort and made it look like a poor performance. Let me start by making it known that I know NOTHING about ski waxing. I don't know which conditions require which wax. I don't know how to put it on my skis. I just know that it is sticky and most skiers complain about messing up their wax constantly. When skiers have a bad classic race, they mostly blame it on the wax. So shall I! To me, the bottom line about ski waxing is that it taints an otherwise very pure sport. The function of the wax itself does not do this. The wax just helps give you kick on the snow. But, the fact that getting the wax right is the limiting factor between you performing to your potential or not, is disconcerting. It is not really a kin to anything in rowing. But if anything, it might be compared to using an Warry ocean single compared to an Empacher single in a race. I could have the performance of my life in the ocean Warry and still not come within a minute of a club rower in an Empacher single. In classic skiing, if someone has the right wax, it is somewhat similar but I would say having the wrong wax is more detrimental to speed than being in a slow boat. If an olympic champion skier has no kick, they have nothing. They will be slipping up hills and slowing down going down hills. Meanwhile, someone who got the wax right will be just striding up hills and flying down hills. The fact that the art/science of wax application to classic skis supersedes effort, technique, and even fitness is so troubling to me. It's troubling every skier, really. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have the wrong wax in an important race and to perform so far below your potential. Or to have someone beat you because of something that has absolutely NO correlation to their effort and preparation. Sure, getting the wax right is preparation, but I am talking about preparation of your body, mind, and spirit. Anyways, it goes both ways. You get the wax right and you tell people to stop their whining and just race. You get it wrong and you are condemning the institution of ski waxing. I am obviously not too involved in the world of skiing, but I do fear for the kids who are coming up in the nordic ski world. They have to be really careful about how they are judging their performances.
To be clear, that vent was about waxing. Classic skiing itself is amazing. Skate skiing is amazing( wax doesn't matter as much).
Yep, I'm bitter. But hey, the marathon is going to be a long race. I needed some fuel that would last. Tuesday's result may have supplied it.
Some easy spinning on the erg today. Probably dynamic erg for 60-80' in lowest HR zone( 135- 145 HR). Recently on the erg, I have been using the new C2 app to track my stroke length and make it more repeatable. I naturally hover around 1.45-1.48 m in length, but I am trying to sustain closer to 1.5m. It is wonderful training for rowing to watch your power curve and stroke length throughout an extended SS piece and just repeat, repeat, repeat. Easy swing, same length, same curve. Same length, same curve. Coach Gleeson put the rowing stroke into pretty simple terms for us last year and I have not forgotten it. " Just remember your favorite author, Robert Louis Stevenson. Relax, Length, Suspension. R, L, S!" Haha. RLS baby!
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