I may be oversimplifying the situation, but I think this was a case of the wrong
kick
wax for the air/snow temperature. Did you check to see if you had any snow
sticking to the kick area, which would indicate too warm a wax for the
conditions.
Ice build up could also be a problem. There is a close trade off between grip
and
glide. Sometimes, you have to sacrifice a bit of grip to increase your glide,
and
visa versa. Your comment about the snow balling up under the ski indicates to
me
that you were using too warm a ski wax.

Sherwin D.

wrote:

I am new to waxable classics this year and used them for the first
time at the Canadian Ski Marathon and the Keskinada. I seem to be
able to wax well for a decent kick (at least I was able to get up the
hills fairly well) but at the Keski my glide was poor after the first
10K or so. Previously, on the long downhills I found myself jumping
out of the tracks when I used my waxless -- at fast speeds I lost my
nerve. But this year the same tracks were never scary -- and I doubt
that it was because I had finally become a dare-devil downhill skier.
Ha! I simply never got to wicked speeds on the downhills this
year.

Comparing myself to others, in the first 10K I was keeping up well or
passing on the downhills. After that, I continued to lose ground,
though still did well climbing.

I used Toko Dibloc red in the glide zones, and a mix of VR40 over VR30
on top of a binder in the kick zone. Temps got warm -- upper 20s
Fahrenheit.

Any suggestions? Perhaps I put too many layers of kick wax on and the
skis dragged? The kick wax was too cold/warm? Sometimes it seemed
like snow was balling up under the ski. I brushed them off once.

There were a few white spots on the glide zones after the race, but
that didn't seem too unusual for a long race on newer skis. Or is
it?

As for fit, the skis are new as of December and were fitted by a
reputable shop.

Thanks for input!
Mary