First fast ski of the year... in deep trackless fluff!

I finally got a taste of speed yesterday. It was neat for me in that it
started from a *picturing* of speed. And I kept the speed going thanks
to the picturing, too. Mental imagery, I think they call it. Or is it
visualization?

I had to start with an image of speed because starting from just plain
old skiing fast wasn't possible. That's because I was skiing on an
untracked golf course covered in deep drifted snow (touring skis). How
can anyone get good glide in that kind of stuff? That was the
challenge! I had to picture myself just floating and flying thru
it...and so I did!

I noticed I had a spark and that a picture of speed was coming to me,
so I decided to do a fast loop and to keep that picture going. That's
almost what seemed like the most work. I had a feel of speed that I
wanted to achieve. The picture came first.

To make it happen I had to ski very 'light,' on the top of the snow. I
couldn't be forceful or 'heavy' or I'd sink, wallow and bog down.

There were 3 sets of teens doing hockey/ice-skate stuff around this
golf course on tiny rinks in their backyards. I wanted to show them
what another sport looked like: one that emphasized LIBERATION. --Not
being cooped up doing 10-foot loops around a goal-net, smacking pucks.
I hope it's fun for them, but I saw signs of heavy labor worse than
shoveling a drive: they had to shovel some deep snow off those rinks. I
don't know what they thought of XC but I wanted to show them that it's
light, easy, fast, stylish: and right out there, free for the taking,
no rules, no rink-walls.

I was wanting to avoid obvious displays of exertion or strain. My
timing had to be crisp and mesh with the terrain---a snappy DP over the
top of a downhill pitch, say. That kind of timing shows the neat rhythm
of XC.

I did my max effort for several miles, all told. Maybe 20+ minutes full
out.

I did miss a couple uphill kicks and really worked on sorting that out
and nailing them. Maybe the misses were due to the deep/unpredictable
snow, hard to say. It's easy to say, tho, what made the kicking work.
We have little hills around here that you have to time just right in
transitions or they're blown. I found that 100% light-leaping weight
transfer was essential to getting kick. Exploding 100% off each leg on
uphills wasn't as easy as I thought, yet it allowed me to stay smooth,
balanced, stable, and to keep speed up and save energy. Pole timing was
essential too: I'm pretty sure I was torquing my shoulders with a big
initial 'pop'---it's how I got 'snap' while staying light. One screw-up
and the whole thing unravels, going under, floundering. It was weird
being "light" on the uphills in the deep snow, but it worked. I got
uphill glide. It wasn't a weighted-heel, slouched shoulder, low hand
scene, tho. You do that when a stable track is there to rest and glide
on. I noticed I was landing on the balls of my feet with a dynamic
'stabbing' action on the uphills.

I tried to keep a sense of 'flying' the whole time---of 6-minute miles
over hill'n'dale and thru the deep parts.
IT WAS A BLAST!

So I just had to report.

Come to think of it, I first visualize speed to get speed no matter
when/where I'm skiing.

My trick for classic speed is to picture the amount of speed feel that
I'd be having if I was skating, then I classic so that I have that same
speed feel---the same amount of wind in face, same flow over the
terrain.

Visualization also helps me keep momentum going nicely over mixed
terrain.

I find that I have to start with the big picture, then work down to the
details, to go fast. I don't so much think: OK, hit this DP extra hard.


So, first it's the speed-feel I think I need, then it's relaxed
breathing, ideally with saggy, soft gut and no tension in face, neck.
Then lastly I add the effort to make each move as good as I can do it.
Fun stuff.

I went out again today and tried to pay better attention to this
ungroomed skiing. I went easier. But I noticed that one of the tastiest
angles that related to yesterday was the torque of the shoulder one way
while the hips torqued the other way. It's contrapunctal stretching in
a nice big way. The big air and nice smoothness also relates to a very
full follow-thru of the pole, which increases the shoulder/hips
torsion. Drive with high hip way forward and follow-thru with arm way
back. Nice!

The floating ski action is basically the opposite of ski-slap---you set
the ski down only after it's far forward instead of too soon (which
gives slap).

But then I kept fiddling with things and started to notice how many
ways one can do this stuff. I changed and started keeping my pole in
closer to my shoulder/chest. My upper arm was more stable---I'd do the
initial pole-hit with the torso, basically---then I'd follow thru with
a tricep 'flick' extension.

I noticed from yesterday's ski-marks that I sometimes was lazy on the
right side and set the ski so it pointed outwards. I must've been
twisting my hips a lot to the left then not untwisting them enough
before setting down the ski. I'd also miss most of my 'fast lap' missed
kicks with my right ski. Same thing today in the easy ski. There's some
kind of goofy sidedness going on here.

Then you can fool with pole-recovery action, a la Ken---keep it tight
in, swing elbows, keep elbows close and let hands reach out and maybe
wide a bit, swing low. They all seem to have their time and place.

Another fun ski! --With nice sunset and half moon in clear sky. But I
hear we're getting a dump tonight! Yeah! Time to get off the golf
course.