Breaking radio silence. But first, the second part of the last video. The same guy walks into Gear West on Monday after the Birkie.
Ruka Classic Sprint Predictions
2 years ago
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Monday Before the Birkie
It's Monday, February 20th. The year is 2051. Some guy just walked into Gear West.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Training Secrets and a Resolution
Most people vow to start their New Year's resolutions at the beginning of the year. For me the New Year starts after the snow melts. This is when we bust out the bikes and running shoes and complain about the heat.
I've decided to run more this year and keep running through the ski season. Most of the top skiers run. Almost every college team starts their say with a morning jog. Some elite skiers do their runs after dinner. It's a short run. Perhaps thirty minutes or so, but they all do it. But that's not why I'll do it. I'm not one to do things just because everyone does it.
I never before felt the need to run but this past season it finally made sense to me. One of the primary muscles used in running is the hamstring. It is involved a little in striding but for the most part the hamstrings aren't used much in skiing. But here's what I think. While you're skiing blood is rushing through all parts of your body. It's rushing through all the muscles you use and all the muscles you don't use. It's even rushing through your hamstrings. As it is your hamstrings are just sitting there just relaxing and killing time. Why not then make them hamstrings do some work? If you train them so they actually can do something then you have this little extra 1-2% of muscle that can actually help eat up all that lactic acid you produce while you're climbing!
Of course there's no actual way you can test this hypothesis. All I can say is that I've seen one athlete add running to his winter routine and it seems to have upped his level a notch. Maybe it'll up mine a notch too. I'll be happy with half a notch.
I've decided to run more this year and keep running through the ski season. Most of the top skiers run. Almost every college team starts their say with a morning jog. Some elite skiers do their runs after dinner. It's a short run. Perhaps thirty minutes or so, but they all do it. But that's not why I'll do it. I'm not one to do things just because everyone does it.
I never before felt the need to run but this past season it finally made sense to me. One of the primary muscles used in running is the hamstring. It is involved a little in striding but for the most part the hamstrings aren't used much in skiing. But here's what I think. While you're skiing blood is rushing through all parts of your body. It's rushing through all the muscles you use and all the muscles you don't use. It's even rushing through your hamstrings. As it is your hamstrings are just sitting there just relaxing and killing time. Why not then make them hamstrings do some work? If you train them so they actually can do something then you have this little extra 1-2% of muscle that can actually help eat up all that lactic acid you produce while you're climbing!
Of course there's no actual way you can test this hypothesis. All I can say is that I've seen one athlete add running to his winter routine and it seems to have upped his level a notch. Maybe it'll up mine a notch too. I'll be happy with half a notch.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Learn Harmony and how to Sight Read on the Guitar
Adam Levine is a top cat who used to teach a fantastic class at the Grove School of Music called Fretboard Harmony. How top was Adam? Well there was Tommy, John Pisano, and Adam Levine. This is basically his method. Nothing special needed to adapt it for CG.
Sight reading takes practice. My view on sight reading is that it's not about sight reading a lot, it's about recognizing patterns and learning a more powerful language so you can understand the music a bit better. In otherwords, instead of reading C-E-G as in the example to the left, you think "oh, C Major triad." I don't have a method book, but maybe I can outline a possible method for you. You will need a sheet of manuscript paper and a pencil. Here we go.
Step 1
Find your triads. If you start with one note, play every other note in the scale, and stop when you've played three notes then that's a triad. In the key of C, find the I chord (C-E-G) and notate it. Obviously that's C Major. Play it on the first three strings on your guitar. Next find the ii chord. Start on the second note of the C Major scale and play every other note. That'll be D-F-A, or D minor. Write that down again on your manuscript. Play it on the first three strings of your guitar. Continue doing the same until you get to B-D-F. That's a diminished chord. So in order the chords are:
1 Major
ii minor
iii minor
IV Major
V Major
vi minor
vii dim
Step 2
Once you've done the above on the first three strings of the guitar, start playing triad combinations. Common ones are ii-V-I and vi-ii-V-I. Sound familiar?
Step 3
Now here is the important part. This will get you understanding the fretboard like no other. There are three positions in which a triad can be played on the first three strings of the guitar. Find all these positions using all the triads you've figured out and write them down. It is important that you write these down because it will give you a visual of what these triads look like. Now notice your left hand pattern for each one of these positions and create a mental image. For example, say to yourself "Ah, a iii minor triad looks like THIS, and a V Major triad looks like THIS."
Step 4
Start playing triad combinations using all of your newfound positions. For example, play a ii-V-I in the key of C in 5th, 3rd, and 8th position. After awhile, given that you've put in the time, you should be able look at a piece of music and at least provide a rough analysis of its harmonic structure and know where you should be putting your fingers without too much trouble.
Steps 5 and beyond
You can expand on the above learning exercises. If you do just a little bit everyday, very soon you'll be able to read stuff like Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu on your guitar! (yeah right)
* Find your triads using strings 2-3-4, 3-4-5-, and 4-5-6 on your guitar. It is still important that you write them down and give them names.
* Do it in every key.
* Add 7th's. Start with strings 1-2-3-4 and go from there.
* Learn the Harmonic, Natural, and Melodic minor scales. Repeat steps 1-4.
That's all there is to it. This provides you a structured way of learning harmony and sight reading all at the same time. I hope it helps and makes some sense to you.
Step 1
Find your triads. If you start with one note, play every other note in the scale, and stop when you've played three notes then that's a triad. In the key of C, find the I chord (C-E-G) and notate it. Obviously that's C Major. Play it on the first three strings on your guitar. Next find the ii chord. Start on the second note of the C Major scale and play every other note. That'll be D-F-A, or D minor. Write that down again on your manuscript. Play it on the first three strings of your guitar. Continue doing the same until you get to B-D-F. That's a diminished chord. So in order the chords are:
1 Major
ii minor
iii minor
IV Major
V Major
vi minor
vii dim
Step 2
Once you've done the above on the first three strings of the guitar, start playing triad combinations. Common ones are ii-V-I and vi-ii-V-I. Sound familiar?
Step 3
Now here is the important part. This will get you understanding the fretboard like no other. There are three positions in which a triad can be played on the first three strings of the guitar. Find all these positions using all the triads you've figured out and write them down. It is important that you write these down because it will give you a visual of what these triads look like. Now notice your left hand pattern for each one of these positions and create a mental image. For example, say to yourself "Ah, a iii minor triad looks like THIS, and a V Major triad looks like THIS."
Step 4
Start playing triad combinations using all of your newfound positions. For example, play a ii-V-I in the key of C in 5th, 3rd, and 8th position. After awhile, given that you've put in the time, you should be able look at a piece of music and at least provide a rough analysis of its harmonic structure and know where you should be putting your fingers without too much trouble.
Steps 5 and beyond
You can expand on the above learning exercises. If you do just a little bit everyday, very soon you'll be able to read stuff like Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu on your guitar! (yeah right)
* Find your triads using strings 2-3-4, 3-4-5-, and 4-5-6 on your guitar. It is still important that you write them down and give them names.
* Do it in every key.
* Add 7th's. Start with strings 1-2-3-4 and go from there.
* Learn the Harmonic, Natural, and Melodic minor scales. Repeat steps 1-4.
That's all there is to it. This provides you a structured way of learning harmony and sight reading all at the same time. I hope it helps and makes some sense to you.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Self Discovery
More things I've learned about myself this past season.
10) You'll never know you have fast skis unless you ski fast.
9) The wax kicks. It is you who doesn't.
8) If you condense your 700 hours a year of training into six months then you'll be skiing fast at the start of the season. (spread the other 400 over the race season)
7) Never believe an elite skier when he says you can doublepole the whole course. No. HE can doublepole the whole course.
6) At the end of the season nobody cares how you did at Mora, at the Loppet, the Noque, or the Pepsi. They care only about how you did at the Birkie.
5) Congratulations on succesfully avoiding overtraining for yet another season. This must be a record!
4) No matter what the conditions you will never have the perfect wax/structure/ski combination.
3) Despite what your friends say, they derive some small satisfaction in having beaten you - same goes for me.
2) (8) is really not about me. I trained maybe 300 hours last year.
And the best of all...
1) For a child, 34th place at the Olympics is cause for celebration. Thanks Garrett.
10) You'll never know you have fast skis unless you ski fast.
9) The wax kicks. It is you who doesn't.
8) If you condense your 700 hours a year of training into six months then you'll be skiing fast at the start of the season. (spread the other 400 over the race season)
7) Never believe an elite skier when he says you can doublepole the whole course. No. HE can doublepole the whole course.
6) At the end of the season nobody cares how you did at Mora, at the Loppet, the Noque, or the Pepsi. They care only about how you did at the Birkie.
5) Congratulations on succesfully avoiding overtraining for yet another season. This must be a record!
4) No matter what the conditions you will never have the perfect wax/structure/ski combination.
3) Despite what your friends say, they derive some small satisfaction in having beaten you - same goes for me.
2) (8) is really not about me. I trained maybe 300 hours last year.
And the best of all...
1) For a child, 34th place at the Olympics is cause for celebration. Thanks Garrett.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Midwest Juniors
Garrett came in 2nd the Midwest Junior Championships yesterday. He competed in the skate sprints and made it all the way to the final round.
He always looks so dynamic in every picture. I never look as good in the pics.
Garrett and Dad after the medal ceremonies.
He always looks so dynamic in every picture. I never look as good in the pics.
Garrett and Dad after the medal ceremonies.
That Overdistance
So I lied. Today was really my final day of skiing. I had to burn off some of that charcuterie platter I had at Victory 44 yesterday. Charcuterie is the ultimate showcase of a Butcher's art. In a nutshell, it's the art of turning discards into delicacies. Pates and terrines, sausages and headcheese, bacon and ham - as the old French chefs used to say, "everything but the squeal of the pig."
But I digest...
I'm still fairly new to skiing, and that brings me back around to the title of this post. I skied a little with Dave Bridges today. He was already skiing when I got to Elm Creek and had probably done maybe four loops. I skied a loop on my own and then joined the pack for a about four laps. Then I rested. Dave Christopherson showed up and we skied maybe four laps together. I took a little break and rejoined them when they came back around. We skied maybe two more laps together - something like that. Then I broke off and skied an easy lap by myself while they kept on going. This is when it dawned on me. Dave Bridges probably puts in at least 40k everytime he gets out! That's 4/5ths of a Birkie everytime he skies! I pointed it out to him. Nope. He didn't deny it. The two Daves were still skiing when I pulled out of the parking lot.
Bear with me. This is my point. Over the course of the whole winter my longest ski was 40k and it took me over three hours. When Dave goes out for his three hour "over distance" workouts he probably manages to get in 50k. (he did the Birkie in 2h 20m)
Most marathon plans have you doing at least two 20 milers before your marathon. The top marathoners do those 20 miles in under three hours. If you don't happen to be a top marathoner you still have to do those 20 mile runs. Sure you might finish the full 26.2 come raceday but you might not be able walk for a few days after. I know this for a fact.
It's the same thing with skiing. In order to ski fast you need to put in the distance. It doesn't matter if you do eighteen three hour OD workouts but cover only 20k each time. You need to at least come close to 50k. But here's the catch. In order to get there you need to be fit enough and ski well enough. As Dave said, I'd better get cracking this summer. Thanks a lot Dave.
But I digest...
I'm still fairly new to skiing, and that brings me back around to the title of this post. I skied a little with Dave Bridges today. He was already skiing when I got to Elm Creek and had probably done maybe four loops. I skied a loop on my own and then joined the pack for a about four laps. Then I rested. Dave Christopherson showed up and we skied maybe four laps together. I took a little break and rejoined them when they came back around. We skied maybe two more laps together - something like that. Then I broke off and skied an easy lap by myself while they kept on going. This is when it dawned on me. Dave Bridges probably puts in at least 40k everytime he gets out! That's 4/5ths of a Birkie everytime he skies! I pointed it out to him. Nope. He didn't deny it. The two Daves were still skiing when I pulled out of the parking lot.
Bear with me. This is my point. Over the course of the whole winter my longest ski was 40k and it took me over three hours. When Dave goes out for his three hour "over distance" workouts he probably manages to get in 50k. (he did the Birkie in 2h 20m)
Most marathon plans have you doing at least two 20 milers before your marathon. The top marathoners do those 20 miles in under three hours. If you don't happen to be a top marathoner you still have to do those 20 mile runs. Sure you might finish the full 26.2 come raceday but you might not be able walk for a few days after. I know this for a fact.
It's the same thing with skiing. In order to ski fast you need to put in the distance. It doesn't matter if you do eighteen three hour OD workouts but cover only 20k each time. You need to at least come close to 50k. But here's the catch. In order to get there you need to be fit enough and ski well enough. As Dave said, I'd better get cracking this summer. Thanks a lot Dave.
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