Low-breathing is key! --Nice breakthru

I just had my best ski outing this year. Coulda done another jillion
hills. Classic. Fresh 28F snow---Toko Yellow (old? for Zero). Perfect.

I started out my first half-hour loop on this moderate course getting a
good warmup then I started working on technique, just trying to be
dialed in. I was skiing 90%.

I tried to do the crunch-collapse DP.

I worked on figuring out the fastest, for me, uphilling. I'd get all
sparky and hit the uphills with good bounce, looking for optimal
velocity. I noticed that I've been abandoning the Anikin's long-low
lately in favor of Pete's compact, forward, with forearms close to
pole-shafts on the plant---and lots of time on the balls of the feet. It
seemed to get the air whipping past me better. Speed is the goal after
all. Whatever it takes. Prove it in time-trials. I was getting the hunch
that the Anikin method was better suited for gradual uphills that you
could rocket on your heels.

I was finding myself going more for 'snap' now than 'long.'

Then I thought about the much bigger hills on most of the up north race
courses. And suddenly I had a breakthru. Is my rushing, snappy way that
I had been hitting the hills going to be a good idea in my next race?
--This might be the 30k Black Mt. I was thinking about when I was fast
in my last good classic race, last year at the Gran Traverse, near the
end. I started really flowing up the uphills and the guys in front of me
who were out of sight suddenly came back within 10 yards. So what was I
doing there? I was RELAXED and skiing DEEP and breathing real nice,
that's what I remembered.

So I went out for my next half-hour loop and thought let's give that a
try. And I just melted into those hills. And flowed up them. Very fast
but with no real thought of tempo. No haste.

Then it occured to me that I was breathing differently. It's the
DIAPHRAGM that's the ticket. I started breathing with a full drop of the
diaphragm. No tension. I let my shoulders slump more. I was suddenly
getting much fuller followthru on the poling. And I was just flying
along.

Then the DP just totally came around. It was totally natural to just
DROP into those poles when I was breathing with a low, belly drop. No
fatigue. Good ability to just work and work at a high effort level
without any feeling of bad buildup.

Breathing deep and relaxed on the uphills. Higher heart-rate. But no
stress!

Man, I think I'm onto something.

I even noticed something with how I was carrying my poles, holding the
grips and planting them. How to keep the deep breathing? --That was
suddenly my goal. If I carried it thru all conditions, the speed
naturally followed. Well, I found that planting the poles with a slight
outward turn of the hand helped my breathing! JD Downing had been
telling us to go for a slight splay of the elbow. That encourages a bit
of a turn in of the hand. But if I slightly turned my hand outward,
rotated in with the thumb, I felt the belly drop a little easier in the
breathing. It was weird. And cool and fun.

It was easier to hit my kick. I balanced better. Could ride that ski
out. I glided on the whole foot. Not necessarily the heel as in Anikin.
But I noticed now that in my earlier rushed/hasty style that I was
gliding on the ball on the uphills, and kicking off it. It was a less
relaxed way to go, less balanced. Perhaps it related to my bind-up at
the Master Natls.

I thought maybe this is more of a mellow-hill, ride the rails kind of
thing I'd found. So I found a big hill and hit it. It was hard to keep
the deep, low belly at first. I wasn't relaxed in the early steep part,
the poling didn't follow thru. I came back down and got a longer,
rolling start at it, and when it first started getting steep I just
breathed into it, rolled my belly out at it and glided up that sucker,
just rolled. The whole thing, fast, gliding, skiing. Quiet skis,
flowing. That's the ticket! I did it better and better for 4 times up
til it went just great then rolled on back to the lot and called it a
day. I let the dog rest the 2nd loop in the car.

I look forward to skiing like this from here on out. And to staying
relaxed and deep breathing in my next event.

--

Jeff Potter
****
*Out Your Backdoor * http://www.outyourbackdoor.com
publisher of outdoor/indoor do-it-yourself culture...
...offering "small world" views on bikes, bows, books, movies...
...rare books on ski, bike, boat culture, plus a Gulf Coast thriller
about smalltown smuggling ... radical novels coming up!
...original downloadable music ... and articles galore!
plus national travel forums! HOLY SMOKES! 800-763-6923

Must be weird to actually be on snow for a good month or so hey Jeff?
Gaylord up here is getting bombed this winter. Classic all the way - great
conditions.
I think I will do the Black Mtn race too if it works out for me. Sounds
like a great race. I know the guy putting it on - went to high school with
him and he's the god-father of my #1 son. Good classic skier - 7th at Noque
51km ~ ! wow !

well, come up north and ski some real terrain - Hanson Hills is having a
freestyle race Feb 22 - that way all the big guns are @ Birkie !! and we
look better.

JK

"Jeff Potter" wrote in message
.. .
I just had my best ski outing this year. Coulda done another jillion
hills. Classic. Fresh 28F snow---Toko Yellow (old? for Zero). Perfect.

I started out my first half-hour loop on this moderate course getting a
good warmup then I started working on technique, just trying to be
dialed in. I was skiing 90%.

I tried to do the crunch-collapse DP.

I worked on figuring out the fastest, for me, uphilling. I'd get all
sparky and hit the uphills with good bounce, looking for optimal
velocity. I noticed that I've been abandoning the Anikin's long-low
lately in favor of Pete's compact, forward, with forearms close to
pole-shafts on the plant---and lots of time on the balls of the feet. It
seemed to get the air whipping past me better. Speed is the goal after
all. Whatever it takes. Prove it in time-trials. I was getting the hunch
that the Anikin method was better suited for gradual uphills that you
could rocket on your heels.

I was finding myself going more for 'snap' now than 'long.'

Then I thought about the much bigger hills on most of the up north race
courses. And suddenly I had a breakthru. Is my rushing, snappy way that
I had been hitting the hills going to be a good idea in my next race?
--This might be the 30k Black Mt. I was thinking about when I was fast
in my last good classic race, last year at the Gran Traverse, near the
end. I started really flowing up the uphills and the guys in front of me
who were out of sight suddenly came back within 10 yards. So what was I
doing there? I was RELAXED and skiing DEEP and breathing real nice,
that's what I remembered.

So I went out for my next half-hour loop and thought let's give that a
try. And I just melted into those hills. And flowed up them. Very fast
but with no real thought of tempo. No haste.

Then it occured to me that I was breathing differently. It's the
DIAPHRAGM that's the ticket. I started breathing with a full drop of the
diaphragm. No tension. I let my shoulders slump more. I was suddenly
getting much fuller followthru on the poling. And I was just flying
along.

Then the DP just totally came around. It was totally natural to just
DROP into those poles when I was breathing with a low, belly drop. No
fatigue. Good ability to just work and work at a high effort level
without any feeling of bad buildup.

Breathing deep and relaxed on the uphills. Higher heart-rate. But no
stress!

Man, I think I'm onto something.

I even noticed something with how I was carrying my poles, holding the
grips and planting them. How to keep the deep breathing? --That was
suddenly my goal. If I carried it thru all conditions, the speed
naturally followed. Well, I found that planting the poles with a slight
outward turn of the hand helped my breathing! JD Downing had been
telling us to go for a slight splay of the elbow. That encourages a bit
of a turn in of the hand. But if I slightly turned my hand outward,
rotated in with the thumb, I felt the belly drop a little easier in the
breathing. It was weird. And cool and fun.

It was easier to hit my kick. I balanced better. Could ride that ski
out. I glided on the whole foot. Not necessarily the heel as in Anikin.
But I noticed now that in my earlier rushed/hasty style that I was
gliding on the ball on the uphills, and kicking off it. It was a less
relaxed way to go, less balanced. Perhaps it related to my bind-up at
the Master Natls.

I thought maybe this is more of a mellow-hill, ride the rails kind of
thing I'd found. So I found a big hill and hit it. It was hard to keep
the deep, low belly at first. I wasn't relaxed in the early steep part,
the poling didn't follow thru. I came back down and got a longer,
rolling start at it, and when it first started getting steep I just
breathed into it, rolled my belly out at it and glided up that sucker,
just rolled. The whole thing, fast, gliding, skiing. Quiet skis,
flowing. That's the ticket! I did it better and better for 4 times up
til it went just great then rolled on back to the lot and called it a
day. I let the dog rest the 2nd loop in the car.

I look forward to skiing like this from here on out. And to staying
relaxed and deep breathing in my next event.

--

Jeff Potter
****
*Out Your Backdoor * http://www.outyourbackdoor.com
publisher of outdoor/indoor do-it-yourself culture...
...offering "small world" views on bikes, bows, books, movies...
...rare books on ski, bike, boat culture, plus a Gulf Coast thriller
about smalltown smuggling ... radical novels coming up!
...original downloadable music ... and articles galore!
plus national travel forums! HOLY SMOKES! 800-763-6923

Time flies. It'll be Black Mt time in no time! Yeah, it's been nice and
mind-soothing to ski every day. We're going winter cabin camping on Feb. 22.
I'll stick to classic anyway. And bring on the big dogs...as long as I let my
belly lead the way, this chubby guy has no worries about how far back I finish.
I just want to feel like I've skied a whole race hard without going under. I
remember a relaxed, low-breathing, power-from-the-hips breakthru I had in
cycling---this stuff might be key in sports in general. Maybe it's what they
mean by 'ski your own race.' Sometimes hard to do in a crowd, but it's my goal
for now!

32 degrees wrote:

Must be weird to actually be on snow for a good month or so hey Jeff?
Gaylord up here is getting bombed this winter. Classic all the way - great
conditions.
I think I will do the Black Mtn race too if it works out for me. Sounds
like a great race. I know the guy putting it on - went to high school with
him and he's the god-father of my #1 son. Good classic skier - 7th at Noque
51km ~ ! wow !

well, come up north and ski some real terrain - Hanson Hills is having a
freestyle race Feb 22 - that way all the big guns are @ Birkie !! and we
look better.

--

Jeff Potter
****
*Out Your Backdoor * http://www.outyourbackdoor.com
publisher of outdoor/indoor do-it-yourself culture...
...offering "small world" views on bikes, bows, books, movies...
...rare books on ski, bike, boat culture, plus a Gulf Coast thriller
about smalltown smuggling ... radical novels coming up!
...original downloadable music ... and articles galore!
plus national travel forums! HOLY SMOKES! 800-763-6923