Hank and me decided that biking is wearing us out a bit mentally.... PLus with all the snow and the fact that we love being outside. ...
We got us some classic cross country ski's. THere are all kind of ski's and the cross country divides into classical and skate ski. I thought classical was going to be more practical for us (and easier) since we don't have too many trails with skate ski potential and we are super close to Desplaines River trail, a flat straight limestone path that runs for 50 miles in an out and back.
I think I have been on ski's now about 10 times in my entire life. (including Alpine ) But I am taking pretty well to the sport and am finding myself getting better and better every time I go out. Hank gave me some great pointers from the books he reads and I am also watching the races on You Tube which shows womens' and men's classical ski'ing. Its good to watch them because they show the technique and the more you do it the more you realize how good those men and women are!
Hank just got new ski's this winter and has NEVER done it before, as per usual he takes off like he's been doing the sport forever. He's an At'leet. When Hank gets into a sport, suddenly it is 100% immersion. Read the books, read blogs, technical sites, study the sport's aspects. Then go train. Experiment and tune it up. THen go and go and go. Its 3-4 hours every time we go out and with the holiday's long weekends, we got us three days in a row of sking. Three days of abusing new muscle groups. I do agree in one aspect he preaches: The best thing to do when you learn a new sport is to IMMERSE yourself in it and pretend every weekend is like being at a camp.
One sport I never liked was running. Mostly because my form is awful and I am really lazy about my stride. I run like an injured giraffe.
BUT...the problems I have with running: long lope, lazy long strider, bouncy trouncy, actually kind of help me in cross country ski'ing!!! At least in some aspects.
There is just so much to think about and fortunately at least the base of my fitness is already there, all I have to do is just work on all the techniques.
Knees bent...dig the poles close to the foot (but not IN the foot).push off...lengthen the glide... back heel up...toe push...Swoosh the knee forward.. push the poles......gallump and glide, gallump and glide... glide...gallump gallump.
I can't keep up with Hank yet but I am at least keeping a steady enough pace to get my heart rate up evenly and hold it steady for a long time. THAT in and of itself is the accomplishment I am most proud of. The local trails are ok but we needed to go out and try a hand at some REAL trails.
Nothing beats Wisconsin for Cross Country ski'ing. THey call the Kettles the "Colorado of the Great Lakes''. Well named and if you have not been to Kettle South and are looking for something new to try, I highly recommend a weekend day trip up to the SHack in LaGrange. Rent some ski's and give it a go. You still need a trail pass to get in but its worth it all and still cheaper than a downhill/Alpine ski'ing trip. Talk about Beautiful. Snow covered trees and endless views. Can this be only an hour north of Chicago??
http://www.travelwisconsin.com/item_detail/Backyard_Bike_and_Ski_Shop.aspx
Well once that snow hit us this weekend we went up to the Kettle Morraine near the John Muir trail. THey have some incredible trails in Wisconsin. Just endless miles and miles of trails that are reserved ONLY for ski's and no hikers or dogs allowed on the trail to mess it all up. At the Southern Kettle, they have the trails set up with classic tracks are on one side and the skate ski'ers have a perfectly groomed path on the other side. The tracks were nearly perfect. The skate ski'ers say that this snow was making their trail a blissful paradise. Across the street they have the hiking trails and snow shoe trails. Talk about a perfect set up for winter fun! Everyone is happy. I love Wisconsin!!!!
The classic ski'ing was tough. I was feeling quite the fool every time I went down a hill and barely hung on or went crashing on my rear. I was covered in snow by the time I was done with my first trail. It was the 'white' trail and was marked 'easy'. HA! But I stayed in the tracks most of the time and learned to herringbone with the ski's up the hills as best I could. WHEW! what a workout. By my second pass on the 'green' trail I was doing much better. I came down the hills in the tracks most of the time, knees bent, poles going everywhere behind me and a very quiet 'almost' scream that I tried hard not to bellow out in the quiet of the trees. If I made it down the hill upright I"d find my breath and move back in the tracks as fast as I could. Hank would shout something cocky at me like "isn't it exhilerating?' when he knew perfectly well I was nearly having a heart attack on the fast cornering descents. He was too far in front of me to get bopped by a pole for that.
Sometimes the hill descents were very steep. I'd start at the top determined to stay in the track and I"d do what Hank said and just look at nothing but where I want my ski's to be. I'd be picking up speed and suddenly my ski would slide out of the track, the other soon to follow and I"d find myself losing control on the snow packed slickness of the skate ski trail. I'd try to unweight one leg and push my weight harder on the inside leg. ( I think that is how to do it?) Aiming away from the apex of the turn at the bottom, I"d put my eyes where I want to go. But...Every fast descent seemed to have a turn at the bottom. Every turn had a tree to aim at. Every tree had a huge snow bank to land in. ....and at the bottom of the corners in the snow banks near the tree's of the apices of many of the swiftest corners on the green trail you can still see my butt imprint. They will no doubt be there till the next snow fall covers them over, at least until we come again so I can put new ones in their place.
After an hour or so I got a rythm. I was huffing and puffing on the flats and getting a great rythm going.
The trail has wonderfully groomed skate ski'ing and the expert ski'ers were blogging about how magical the skate ski'ing is up at the Kettles with the perfect snow conditions for their sport. People were driving in from Iowa and all over to ski up there at the Kettles. Despite the busy parking lot it is surprisingly quiet and empty inside the trail. (except for once when I fell pretty hard and Hank said he could hear me yelping all across the woods).
This is certainly a sport you can rely on no matter how old you are.
My hip flexors and quads are soooo sore I can hardly lift my toes to get my socks on in the morning!!! I had to pick up my leg to get it out of the car.
It is a wonderful workout and I am so excited I got into this new sport. WHy did I wait so long to try this sport ????
I love it!
MORE SNOW!!!
