Cross Country Skiing

[Bron]

So, Bron, how did your series standings go?
.....
Oh, and my 2:52 50k was purely due to the fast conditions and mild course.

I came third which I am really pleased about. The first two girls are just in another class, I would never have a chance of beating them.
There are plenty of other skiers around who are better than me, but they didn't do enough races to get a higher position, so my result is thanks to persistence and a lot of technical improvement.

Even with fast conditions, that's a good 50k result and one that I would be happy with.

I like the pursuit concept, it certainly adds something to a race when you are determined to chase someone down/not be caught.

um, I have a question: how do you train for this sort of thing?

I did a couple of triathlons in the summer and then in autumn mainly ran and used the rowing machine with a mxture of long sessions and intervals. Oh, yes, the job tends to get in the way of training

Hi Madscot!
I've never figured out how people do ski marathons in January, though. Lots of roller skiing in the fall, I suppose.

And I really don't know how Bron raced 30k one day and 42k the next - she's awesome!

Mainly by telling myself that it was the last race of the season!
Our series involved six weekends each with two races, usually short (17-25k) on the Saturday and long (34-55k) on the Sunday, so by the last one I was used to it.

We started in December with a training camp which was a big help and I concentrated the most effort on the skating races, so one race each weekend would be a big effort and then the other one less important.

Next year I need to improve my classic skiing and maybe not do quite as many races.

[madscot13]

I am going to work on properly classic skiing before I move up to skate (plus I don't want to invest in another set of gear). Skate is beautiful to watch. It looks so intense too.

I think rowing and cross country skiing are the best workouts a person can get! I row for my warm up but I don't have the patience to do more than an hour without a team.

I got back into cross country a few years back. I have my own gear now but I am not particularly fast. I never felt that biking really got me into good shape for it though. I'm not particularly fast but I go to family style places and so I feel fast. I think I should work on my technique with some classes. that oughtta help.

[Skierchickie]

Hey Madscot13 - classes can make a big difference! Especially if you ski on your own, too, and practice what you learned.

Woo-hoo! One more race! The skiing was sooooo good over the weekend, my DH said somebody really should put on one more race before it's to late. I told him that, since he's unemployed right now, he'd be the perfect choice! So, he was all excited, then wasn't going to bother, then was all excited, then it was too much trouble, then ...., well, you get the idea. He called me at work this morning and said "It's on!". Now he's talked to enough people, he can't back out. So, one more 20K, hopefully lightening-fast, spur-of-the-moment event, this Saturday. Clearly, a low key race. I've hardly skied in 3 weeks, but what the heck?

Anybody else still getting out?

[madscot13]

did anyone else take lessons? I know how to ski already so i want to bypass the family style lessons. Minnesota is great for cross country skiing. it is my favorite thing to do when I am home.

[Crankin]

Bump!
I went for my third ski of the season, but my first real ski... at Windblown in NH. It's at 1800 feet and was originally built to be a small downhill area. I am exhausted. Lots of climbing and downhill on the blue trails. I won't even go on a black trail here.
I went with a group and I was fine. Only fell (well knee touches, not total falls) on the ups.

[solobiker]

Had a great time today. Could not have asked for nicer weather. Warm temps with plenty of sun. Spent part of the day on my traditonal skis then took out my skate skis. Great workout. I love days like this.

[SadieKate]

I'd just like it to snow.

[Zen]

I never thought I'd wish to be in Minnesota. We haven't had a decent snow since I bought my skis
The best I could do right now is about 1.5 hours away.

[Crankin]

Go for it, Zen. It's rare that we have consistent good x country conditions here. I can drive 1.5 hours west or north and have fantastic skiing that is a day trip. Mostly we do the day trips to the west and when we go up to NH or VT., it's for at least a weekend. I consider anything 2 hours or under a day trip.
Can you ski on local conservation land trails? Sometimes there's more snow in the woods than in your yard. Not the same kind of skiing, but still fun.

[Crankin]

Another great ski today at Windblown. There were 5 of us. Even though I was one of the slower ones, I didn't fall once. I feel back in the groove. Did some great downhills, which were rather fast. Even though there haven't been any storms, the snow was groomed well.
I am not as tired or ravenous as last week, but I still feel like I worked really hard. There's not much snow around here, so I hope we get some, because I don't know if I can go up to NH next week. But I feel ready for my trip to VT., in February.

[Zen]

I haven't down hill skied in almost 30 years. I was hoping for a good local snow before I went anywhere. I could go in the field next door or on my own property to practice.

I think DivingBiker and I will get out Cumberland way before winter's end.

[Crankin]

I meant x country down hills! I don't downhill ski. Well, I tried it once, because the rest of my family did, but it didn't thrill me. Then my DH stopped downhill because he had started riding and didn't want to get hurt. My kids never really continued it after middle school, but at least they know how. Around here, it's a social thing. It's funny, I am such a downhill weenie on the bike, but I have much less fear on x country skis. I think it's because I am closer to the ground.

[Wahine]

Part of the reason I haven't been on the forum much is that I've been skate skiing my buns off. I'm loving it. The last 3 times I've gone out I've done more than 16 km each day and on uneven terrain. I love the butt burn... ahhhhh

[Crankin]

I just got back from Craftsbury, VT, where there is always snow! We thought, since it hasn't been snowing even up there, conditions would not be great, but they were great, considering. We stay at the Craftsbury Inn, which is right on the trail. It's a hoot of a place. Slightly odd owner and gourmet chef. It's not always the most spotless place, but you get treated like royalty. Breakfast is included, he packs us lunches for a small fee, and we eat dinner there, too. He can cook any cuisine around.
Anyway, Thursday we skied a bit of the trail, all up and rolling, about 4 miles. Friday we went to the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, where the trails are wide and groomed probably the best of anywhere I have been. I've skied there twice before. Because of the grooming, I can ski the black trails there. Lots of climbing and downhills. It was awesome. My poor DH just can't get the climbing part and is also very slow on the flats. Not sure why, as he is an awesome cyclist and very strong overall. I think it's his feet, which are very sensitive and he always has issues, even though he had surgery for Morton's neuroma bout 8 years ago. It's better, but drives him nuts. But, he did it and our friends were quite proud of us. We skied almost 9 miles, with a break for lunch. Yesterday we went to the Highland Lodge, up the road. I have been there once, when there were super powder conditions and I skied down the scariest huge mountain ever. The conditions were not as good, but there was plenty of snow. The trails here are bumpier, and kind of slanted, so it was hard to get a grip at times. But, we did about 5 miles. It was only a high of 15 degrees yesterday, so starting out, it was really frigid, about 8 F. In the afternoon, we snow shoed, up this huge climb we had skied down 2 years ago (we think, the downside of this place is that the trails are not well marked). The snow shoe trail went up in the thick forest; just gorgeous. After about 3.5 miles of that we were dead and bought some cheese and crackers, where I pigged out about 3 hours before dinner. After the cheese crepes I had, it's back to reality today. We got home a couple of hours ago; no snow around here. I am hoping to get a little more x country in before the cycling season starts!

[Becky]

Delaware just got another 2 feet of snow, so DH and I dug out our XC skis. We don't have many opportunities to ski here, but we enjoy it when we can! We skied yesterday on the unpaved streets, which was nice and smooth, and again today at a county park. That snow was deep and lots of work!

Can anyone give me some advice on new equipment?

Our equipment is probably ~20 years old, bought a few years ago off of Craig's List just to see if we liked it. Well, we do, and our equipment is literally starting to fall apart. So it's time to think about new stuff. But I'm overwhelmed by the choices out there, particularly with bindings and the accompanying compatibility considerations.

We ski just a few times a year. It's mostly unplowed streets or local parks- nothing groomed, but some of it's packed and some is deeper and more powdery. Nothing around here is groomed, so we end up breaking our own trails in anything deeper than a few inches.

The local ski shops carry lots of downhill stuff, but very little XC stuff, so not a great source of advice there. I'm not even sure that I'll be able to buy locally, but may have to resort to internet/mail order.

Any thoughts? What do I need to look for in skis? Bindings? Any suggestions for reputable internet retailres if I'm forced to go that direction?

Many thanks in advance!