Working on V2, comparisons with V1, V1A...

I went out for a long easy rollerski today and tossed in 3 mini time
trials in the middle of it.

I went up a med-easy hill about 1 km long in V1, then V1A, then V2. I
went as fast as I could each time and each time it took exactly the same
time to get up the hill! 2:40 for each mode. That was interesting.

V1 felt had the highest cadence and felt like it was wearing out my
muskles. HR 170 at top.
V1A felt fine, HR 175 at top.
V2 had the highest HR, 182 at top.

I note that current instruction says that each mode is a lot like the
others, same body position, etc. (including classic). Yet for me each
style of skating FEELS quite different.

Dell Todd suggested working on my V2 by stringing together V1A, but I
felt that V2 was DIFFERENT enough in quality that this drill didn't work
so hot.

My approach was to compact the upper body and arms and slump/crunch and
restrict arm action and work on technique and start by going SLOW then
build up. I finally found some stability then worked on relaxing my
upper body and arms even while keeping them compact. Then in the end I
started extending. Basically I had a great time and felt that my V2
really came around.

The feel of the action is different for each mode but I'd have to say
that the groundspeed and foot-action feel was very similar across the
board. I think this is why my times were the same going up the hill.

For all 3 modes, if I was going good and fast, it felt like I had the
same 'swinging' foot and center-of-gravity action. It all felt seamless
and like I was getting good 'bite' into the road, taking out nice big
chunks with each turnover. The FOOT action seemed to lead. I worked on
ski angle and foot-feel--getting a good little 'forward jet' sense and
ability to finesse the road. It got with my V2 that I felt a lot like I
was inlining. This seemed good to me.

Well, nice outing. Pretty clear cool day. Jeans and Woolrich outfit. 1
hr total.

--

Jeff Potter
****
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