Back to Reality....

When ski season starts, Sunday afternoons makes me sad!  It means that I am back in teh car and driving home to reality!  After a weekend of tons of fresh air, amazing people, and teaching and learning skiing, it is a short moment to ay, BOO!
As most of you have realized by now, I am a ski freak!  You think I can talk endlessly about triathlon training, put me on a ski pedestal for a few minutes and watch me go!  Hehe! About the only negative with the ski season is that I do lose some of my overall conditioning as I use it as 'off-season' and consider it a great cross training and brain training time of year.  However, after this weekend of skiing 12+ hours over 2 days, I will say my legs are a little sore.  That is the first time since last season when I was generally out of shape that I have felt that.  So, I guess I will have to ski a little more, as a little pain can only mean a great gain, and it is cross training after all.
One great thing that is beginning to develop out of skiing is a great yoga audience.  There is a lot of benefit to yoga before, during or after a hard day on the hill.  Through the groups that I teach I have been talking about how I have gained from it and peaked both aN interest and a desire to practice with me.  o, I may being to develop a good client base as a result of this ski craziness!!  Wahoo!
Friday, Satruday and Sunday seem to be cross training day, with the rest of the week being about the real thing!  I am in the process of developing my own program for this season training.  I will use what i learned from lat year using a written program and marry that with my race(s) experience and results to come up with my own training.  I am not going to make it easy or fun, however, I will make it results driven!  Over the next 1.5 month I will use the time to build base and to strength.  When I return from my ski holiday I will begin my training with my races for the summer in mind.  I am not doing a ton of races, as I want to focus heavily on good results at these events.
Earlier I promised to share ski tips on my blog from time to time.  I will share one of the most important factors to consider when you are out on the snow.  It is the baic core competency in skiing and without it you are not going to get any better.  A CENTERED AND MOBILE STANCE.  In other words you need to be balanced over your skis in order to make them go where you want to rather than letting the ski control where you are going.  In order to do that you must be mobile over your skis in order to remain centered and balanced against the forces generated as you are turning the skis travelling down the hill.
TIP FOR THE DAY:  For each turn in skiing there is 3 part, the start, the middle and the end.  I will talk about the start and how important it is in being balanced throughout the middle and the end.
The start of the turn is the point when you recenter yourself to set up for the new turn, the point where your skis are finished a turn and you are recentering before turning again.  How do I accomplish that you ask??
As you are finished turning the ski allow it to come off of an edge onto a totally flat ski.  As you do that you should feel the ski beginning to slide away quicker than when it was on edge.  At the same time you should be able to allow all your muscles to relax for a micro-moment as you are recentered and balanced.  If you are centered you should be able to do this as you do not need muscle tension to support yourself.
When you have achieved the moment where you can relax, you are then ready to begin to get onto the new edge and begin to turn the skis in the new direction of travel.  As you are starting from a balanced positions you should be able to do this with ease and control.
This happen at any speed that you are travelling at and in any turn that you are completing.  If you are balanced you will be in control and will be able to decide where the ski will go.
So, the tip for the day is, before you begin a new turn, let the skis flatten so that you can rebalance and be prepared for the new turn.
If you dont understand, please send me a question and I would love to share with you with more detail.
Until then, happy training and happy skiing!
Cheers!