Ski School
/For many of us wanting to ride outside, I think we can classify this winter as “not ideal.” Not only have there been a variety of continued covid restrictions, but there’s also been some frigid, snowy, and icy winter weather. Having already perfected my quarantine bread making skills, when we got blasted with a foot of snow, I decided it was time for a new challenge (because if there’s anything I’ve learned from quarantining, it’s that when the times get tough, you’ve got to come up with a challenge).
My challenge was simple, I decided I was going to get out for some Nordic skiing every day at the park across the street. With flashbacks to March 2020, I thought this would be a short-lived challenge, but the cold weather kept the snow around and I ended up spending many, many days out on the skinny skis. Along the way, I was reminded of some important lessons.
Now I know more readers of this blog are not skiers. Nonetheless, there are still some valuable lessons that can be applied to life and training. Here are my snow fueled epiphanies:
1. For most people, especially this Southern boy, Nordic skiing does not come naturally. It’s physically taxing but also involves a significant skill component. Forcing myself to get out every day reminded me of the saying that practice makes perfect. In other words, the best way to improve at a skill is to practice that skill. After a week or two, my skills had significantly improved so that I could ski for more than 10min without taking a break. This idea also applies to cycling. Not good at VO2max efforts? Then you need to practice them more in training to improve. This will make you a more complete cyclist and better prepare you for race day.
2. When I first started my skiing challenge, I was an embarrassment on skis. Some YouTube tutorials quickly told me that there were multiple things I needed to do to improve my technique. I quickly realized that the best way to improve was to focus on improving one skill at a time. This same idea applies to training too. A lot of cyclists want to improve their sprinting, their climbing, their time trialing, their descending, their endurance, etc., etc. However, trying to improve each of these at the same time limits your ability to improve any of them. Instead, do blocks where you focus on one or two goals before then transitioning to the next block and prioritizing other goals. You’ll find a bit of focus will lead to much better improvements all around.
3. As a cyclist, I’m not really used to going outside when it’s below freezing and snowing. But with Nordic skiing, those are the usual conditions. Some days I found it tough to get outside yet once I got started, I found that it wasn’t hard to keep going. So, sometimes the hardest part is just getting started. As cyclists, we usually don’t have a hard time finding the motivation to ride. Rather, the difficulties most folks have is finding the motivation for the workouts off the bike. While the strength training routines can be easy to blow off, they contribute to overall fitness/health so that you can keep riding strong. And like my experience skiing in a blizzard, it’s all easier once you get started.
4. During my time skiing, I did not have the luxury of skiing on a groomed track, so I had to create my own (not a super fun process). Once I had a track set, it was easier to ski faster and quite a bit more fun. However, over time a track starts to degrade and there comes a time when it’s worthwhile to suffer through establishing a new track so you can rediscover that speed. In other words, at some point it can be better to try something new rather than continuing with what you are used to. When it comes to training, this same idea applies. It can be hard to try something new (like intervals that are outside of your comfort zone), but stressing the body in new ways can lead to better gains and faster riding.
While I have enjoyed a couple weeks straight of skiing and learning important life lessons, I am happy to report that the sun is currently shining and the snow is melting. By the time you’re reading this, I’ll hopefully have been on the bike outside a couple of days (and my arms will finally be recovered from all the skiing). I’m also hopeful that the bummer of a winter is behind us and there’s great spring riding in store for you. Thanks for reading!
