Gareth's Progress (Professional Skier)

Tignes today Friday 9th - looking more like a ski resort.

Worked on Gareth's technique for a while today. His skiing is looking much tidier - especially the pivot turns in the bumps. The carving looks stronger too. 

Timing (Pivot)

As technique progresses the focus shifts to different aspects. Gareth's timing was not quite right for the short turns. When moving faster things were better due to reacting to the forces - but when moving slowly there was a clear problem. The turn was being initiated during the "up" movement instead of the down movement. Correct  timing involves each turn being like a motorbike turn - down into the turn and back up out of it. It's very easy to flip this around by mistake - particularly as ski instructors are actually taught to do this as a default action. 

Carving

When carving Gareth Gareth still exhibited a large "A frame" and dropping of the inside arm behind the body - linked to rotation. The outside leg still had a tendency to be left behind and the hip joint locked up. 

"A-frame"

To deal with the "A-frame" we worked on simply pulling the inside knee over towards the turn centre - something that has to be practiced until it feels natural. Gareth was able to to this to good effect. I pointed out that when doing this you can also face the upper body inwards into the turn - however it's not obvious how this is achieved and it's not really visible to skiers who are not aware of it.

To advance further with the other aspects it was clear that a different approach would be necessary so it was time to see if I could exploit some of the work on barefoot running and cycling technique that I'd been focused on during the summer. The crossover with those activities being clearly relevant.

Walking for Skiing

First of all I looked at Gareth walking and he made the typical mistake of reaching ahead with his foot and hip. We worked for a while at changing this so that instead he was reaching behind with the support foot and dropping the other foot just below the body - not in front of it. The point is that the power and extension of the hip come as the leg extends and to facilitate this the hip moves backwards with the spine twisting all the way up to the rib cage. Once this was being felt we then transferred the action to the support leg in skiing. The problem is that when you push the support ski ahead the hip has a tendency to follow it - but it should be going backwards relative to the foot. It's easier to achieve this in walking because it's what the body was intended to do with the leg extending behind it. In skiing the leg extends from a bent over or seated position so that it isn't behind the body. The trick is to get the hip to work as if the leg was going behind. When walking or running the foot is fixed on the ground so even though it might have to be learned the whole action is 100% natural. In cycling or skiing the foot is not in a fixed position and the hip tends to follow it - so we must be aware of the need to make it go the other way. Gareth could immediately feel much stronger and more stable at high speed. 

Core Muscles

The new hip action also explained how it is possible to face the upper body towards the inside of the turn. In fact the belly faces the outside ski as the hip is pulled back but the spine twists so that the chest faces inwards instead. This action activates the core muscles strengthening the entire body - especially for powerful carving. When it comes to pivoting and more vertical down/up movements this hip position allows the skier to be aware of the active use of the powerful glutes and hamstrings through the extension - so as to not be over reliant on the weaker quads (knees) doing all the work during the extension. 

How to Fly

Yes - it's now officially white!

Webcam HD Lac - 2100 m -

Running in Snow - "barefoot" style

Went for a run in snow for the first time with Merrell Trail Gloves this evening. The snow is nice for "barefoot" running technique. Starting to build up distance and to get a little faster over the 10k but still a long way off proper running pace. The aim is to avoid injury and build up slowly and patiently this time to see how far I can take this technique  - and whether or not it really protects against injury. I'm not mad enough to run properly barefoot in snow but apparently some people do - and they say that due to the extra blood flow to the feet there is no problem when running. I find that a little bit hard to believe though and wouldn't like to spend winter recovering from frostbite instead of skiing. 

Nasal Breathing

Despite running faster today I found that nasal breathing was easier than  last week - perhaps due to feeling less tired after more recovery time than usual. There does seem to be a connection between fatigue levels and ability to control and sustain nasal breathing. Breathing just thorough the nose protects the lungs from the cold air and filters out most bacteria, viruses and other rubbish in the air before they get into the lungs. The body is busy producing CO2 and by constricting breathing slightly this resets the body's CO2 tolerance levels and the higher this goes the better for everything from physical performance to health. CO2 paradoxically is the hormone which determines how much oxygen is released to your tissue and organs - the higher the level absorbed into the blood the better. Our cells need about 7% CO2 to function but air contains only 0.03%. Next time some dumbo talks about CO2 as if it was pollution please ask them to get an education . When cellular life developed on Earth the air was 7% CO2 and that's how cells still work today. Your lungs are CO2 reservoirs - so don't blow it all away with big breaths - that only gives short term benefits at the cost of long term improvement.

How to fly

In ChiRunning and Pose technique they are keen to avoid pushing off with the foot at the end of the stride - but Gordon Pirie in his book "Run fast and injury free!" states that you should push off. Some claim that part of the issue of calf pain comes from pushing off. The main principle is that pushing off isn't necessary because  propulsion comes from gravity. To me it seems like both ideas are right to some extent. You have to extend your ankle and bend at the forefoot to lengthen the stride to the maximum. This extension uses the anterior tibialis in front of the shin and it contracts the calf muscle. It seems to me that proper contraction of the calf muscle can only help with circulation. The active ankle and foot really extend the stride and make you feel like you are flying - but without any significant effort. Gravity is pulling you downwards so as your centre of mass moves forwards the only way to prevent it from losing height is to push off with the foot - more upwards than forwards. Some forwards push must be involved just as a reaction to gravity toppling you forwards - the fact being that your centre of mass would just go straight downwards and not forwards if there was no resistance at the foot on the ground (like slipping on ice). In fact it isn't necessary to push off as such but to counter the component of gravity that is converted into a horizontal backward force. This means that the "push off" is passive and carefully controlled - not a direct source of power or acceleration itself. Calf pain is much more likely to be due to a forefoot strike and using the calf to absorb the landing impact - because this is an eccentric contraction (muscle extending while load is applied) and that stresses the muscle much more. It's the eccentric contractions in running that cause muscle pain when developing fitness compared to cycling where there is no eccentric contraction or related pain. 

The anterior tibialis is a key muscle for use in skiing. Ingemar Stenmark famously stated that it was this muscle he felt the most when skiing. It is a good feeling to actively use it when completing the stride and a good way to develop strength and awareness. 

Bicycle Dreams

Looking forward to seeing this documentary http://www.bicycledreamsmovie.com/

Not so sure about trying to participate in this race though. Don't know how anyone can pedal for 40 hour periods - I'd just fall off and be asleep before hitting the ground.

My one hour slow "barefoot" jog today left me feeling wasted.

My Time

I don't think I ever realised it before but I've always felt guilty about taking time for exercise.  Perhaps it's just the work ethic that we grow up with - brainwashing us into thinking that if it doesn't earn money or improve our social standing then it can't be something productive or worthwhile. With currently 33.8% of American adults obese (and the UK close behind), I can't think of anything more useful and relevant today than making time for exercise.

Blobbing Out

At school the physical education periods were the one thing I genuinely looked forward to during the week. I can't ever remember once looking forward to any other class. School was prison to me and the only opportunity to avoid the unnatural obligation of sitting all day at a desk was PE. This was just too enjoyable to be considered as work so I guess that is where the guilt creeps in. Education as usual gets all of its priorities wrong. If it didn't then we wouldn't have 33% of the population blobbing out of control.

Inconsistency

Working out as little as an hour per day on average really sets up your body to fight fat and keep the cardiovascular system top notch. The problem is that if you see this as a chore then it won't last. If training is one day perceived as a pleasure then it almost guarantees that on a tough day it is perceived as a chore. This inconsistency leads only to further inconsistency and eventually the training slips away and before you know it all the fitness has gone and the fat has returned.

My Time

Training time is not a chore and it's not a pleasure - those are just different sensations that we can have. Training time is very special, the most important time of the day - it is "My Time" - not a time to feel guilty. You focus your thoughts, clear the endless chatter out of your head and re-focus your thoughts again, and again. It's communication with your body, an internal dialogue that concerns only the present. "My Time" is time spent living fully in the moment. You forget all financial, material, career, relationship and other distractions during this period. Stress dissipates and leaves your body and mind feeling free. Training must be carried out in a mindful way to achieve this - not directly goal oriented but fully involved in the process. Focusing on form and function leads to ever increasing awareness of the body - and in turn creating better focus. Mechanics, posture, breathing, tension, strength, power, range of movement and an amazing number specifics for each activity have to be observed each in turn. The mind is exercised and strengthened itself each time it is re-focused. Mental strength is built every bit as much as physical strength. Both mental and physical strength depend on strategy, skill and organisation - not just brute force. Those are the things that are valuable in life and they are inside us - not outside. "My Time" is the most important part of any day - it's not an option - it's a practice - consistently carried out through lows and highs, good and bad.

The Run

Today I focused on nasal breathing, keeping a slow pace and accurate form. It's harder to coordinate breathing when using the core muslces actively for running - especially when you breathe diaphragmatically. The feeling of power when the core is awake and functioning is a dramatic shift, but for me it's not fully automatic. As soon as I stop focusing on it I lose it.  That will change slowly over time. The nasal breathing helped to keep me slow - which is what I want until the legs have properly adapted to 10k "barefoot" style and there is no weakness or tiredness towards the end.

Training Load Explained

Weather Barometer
The barometer is plunging so despite the sun being semi hidden I decided it was time for perhaps one last hard workout at altitude before the snow closes in.

Training Barometer

On the other hand the training "barometer" is slowly rising at the moment - this being the "Training Load" as used in the excellent Sporttracks software. There are a couple of images below - the first showing the Training Load from this summer and the second over the past three years.

TRIMP
Each vertical brown line is called  a "Training Impulse" or TRIMP for short and represents a workout. It's calculated taking into account duration and intensity and uses heart rate zones and the percentage of time spent in each zone. You can score a high TRIMP by either increasing the intensity or duration of a workout.

The blue area is the CTL or Chronic Training Load which is a good representation of fitness level. The red line is the ATL or Acute Training Load which lets you know how tired you are. When the ATL is higher than the CTL then you don't have much energy but when it falls below the CTL then the distance below indicates how "fresh" you are.

CTL: Chronic Training Load
Calculated as something similar to a long term moving average of your TrImp scores. The recommended time constant for this is around 45 days. This is often referred to as your 'fitness'. You have to work harder and longer to move this number, because it moves slower, but as it creeps up, it represents your improved conditioning.

ATL: Acute Training Load
Similar to a short term moving average of your TrImp scores. The recommended time constant for this is around 15 days. This is often referred to as your 'fatigue'. As you train, you need to recover. A high ATL indicates a lot of recent training, and may indicate a need for some recovery.

There is also an "Influence" curve available that guides you in preparation for a race event to get the best possible level of fitness and freshness in the time available.

My heart rate zones are calculated based on a Max of 185bpm despite never having reached that figure this year - 174 being the highest. I put that down to having trained too many long slow rides this year. The following chart shows the past three years.

The loser's battle!

Each year I've had a battle to prepare for bike racing because of losing all the fitness over the winter and putting on a lot of weight as a result. This means that there is a very hard task each Spring and early Summer to simultaneously lose weight and re-build fitness! Not an ideal situation and not leaving much energy left over for racing. It also makes it impossible to get up to a higher level of performance during the short season. My intention now it to maintain the current CTL level of around 90 right through until next Spring - so that the fitness base remains intact and body weight remains stable below 70Kg. This isn't impossible because it can be achieved with relatively short but intense workouts. One hour per day is sufficient. At the moment most of my bike workouts are about 90 minutes and the runs are about an hour - and even with the odd day off for recovery the CTL overall is increasing. There is only a problem when training is genuinely neglected. Hopefully I've learned my lesson now and won't let that happen again. The thought of another summer spent playing "catch up" doesn't appeal. Those annual deep troughs in the chart are about to be eliminated.

Today's Workout

Today the workout was good. The GPS must have been a bit weird because it pushed me about 200m off track on the return leg and more than doubled my climbing. I knew from the charts above that I wouldn't feel overly fresh and that's how the workout felt - a bit laborious for 2hrs 30 minutes but still enough energy to have some good feelings at points along the way. I focused on overcoming the tiredness by accessing the power in the core muscles. Just like in running you can really feel this shift when you get the right amount of rotation of the spine and pelvis so that all the muscles in the centre of your body are being used actively - instead of just being used to block movement. The key to getting this on a bike is to really move the opposite hip forward as you push down. This generates a strong pull up on the other side and the whole core just takes over the job.

Tomorrow will be a 10k "barefoot" run (bad weather forecast) - working slowly and carefully (on form) to avoid potential injury. The running will have to build up quickly now to be able to replace the bike when the snow arrives. It's taken two years to transition to barefoot style since running long distance on the heels gave me a winter of pain from plantar fasciits below the right foot. (3 years of experimentation altogether). I now think that I have it together enough to make it work - and for the first time in years there is no foot pain when running.

Changing Seasons - by the day.

Sunset here in the mountains is now around 5pm. That leaves a short window for outdoor training if you want the warmth of the sun on your body. It's also dangerous on the bike when climbing because often you are heading straight towards the sun and any car coming up behind you is seriously blinded! One great thing about being outside training every day is that you really get to live the complete cycle of the changing seasons.

CO2 works!

Yesterday I woke up feeling very stiff and sore having spent the entire previous day chopping, raking and burning to clear a plot of overgrown land. No body part appeared to have been spared from the trauma. The thought of going out for a workout was really unwelcome. Consistency and bloody mindedness are necessary with training so despite feeling wrecked I pulled the bike out. Amazingly, from the moment I started to pedal everything felt absolutely fine. Very weird! About 3k into the first climb I encountered a young guy walking downhill with his racing bike so I stopped to offer assistance. He had used his spare tube after a puncture but it also had a problem and he had no CO2 cannisters left to inflate with. I offered him my spare tube (actually a new racing one) and then used my CO2 valve for the first time ever. It not only worked but it was so fast in blowing up the tyre that I was completely astonished - it seemed to take about 1 second! Right at that moment Chris Harrop pulled over. He had already covered 40k on his own and by coincidence was just passing at that moment. We carried on together and that made me work harder than I'd intended initially but once again the body had no trouble with a hard workout. Unfortunately the Endomondo app stopped logging data for no apparent reason - and the history had vanished again! I need all the data to be able to chart my TRIMP (TRAining IMPulse) or Training Load as the objective is to maintain the Chronic Training Load at 90 throughout the winter. That will be tough! 

Carbo Fuelling

Oddly enough even though the workout was hard there was no serious tiredness afterwards. All this year I've been wasted by intense workouts - they always have me practically falling asleep an hour after they are over and there is a light headedness that makes concentration on anything productive very difficult if not impossible. It struck me that I'd eaten a heavy meal shortly before this workout - with a pile of potatoes. Perhaps I've simply been in the habit of not fuelling my body sufficiently for the job! I've been trying to reduce carbohydrates to lose weight but for physical performance the exact opposite is necessary. I probably don't get enough sleep either.

First Nocturnal Workout

Tonight I went for a slow 10k run on minimalist shoes. The Achilles tendon was sore for the first kilometre but then all pain disappeared once it was warmed up. I also think that I started out a little too much on the forefoot and the Achilles tendon was letting me know this. When even the first kilometre feels long you know that you are tired! It's rare that I feel like stopping by the first kilometre but this was one of those days. Running is just hard work and tedious when you feel this way. I worked on striking closer to the heels to protect the Achilles tendon and it felt very good. Once again this was done while avoiding reaching ahead by simply flexing the ankles a little on landing. When tired it is really hard to focus on anything physically counter-intuitive at all during effort. It feels strangely more natural running with a midfoot strike than a forefoot strike. It's a bit less bouncy but in some ways that feels more efficient.  After 7k the calves started to become a bit sore but remained manageable. I was very happy to get home. The whole run had been in the dark with a 1 watt LED head torch. It was the first nocturnal workout of the winter.

Ski Espace Killy

Skiing in Tignes again today. The piste down to Val Claret in Tignes is now open and in Val they have 11 pistes ready to open at the weekend. There is still no new snow - it is keeping us all waiting - but training conditions are excellent at high altitude with the good weather. In recent years the snow has actually come too early - last year was an example. When the snow falls early on there are several fluctuations in the weather that follow until winter really settles in - during which the base becomes very unstable and dangerous for the whole season ahead. Last year caught a lot of people out this way. I felt very uncomfortable with it and severely restricted my adventures for the whole season as a result. Several events during the season confirmed my intuition. The snow will come soon enough - it managed to come in July and August so it will definitely manage now.

Today I was feeling stiff from running and tired from cycling so the skiing would just be focused on coordination and feeling. The great thing about skiing alone is that you can listen to music. I've always loved to listen to music when skiing - not "songs" but rhythmic almost "trance" type music. There is a clear connection between the musical centres in the brain and physical movement. Anyone who doubts that needs only to reflect for a moment about "dancing". Why do music and dance go together? Whenever the weather is really bad then music comes into its own. Normally in a howling blizzard you are focused on all of the negative aspects; cold, bad visibility, getting lost etc. With music playing the whole scene transforms and it's probably because the music draws your focus back inwards - where you need it to be.

150 Million Km view persisting.

Pushed myself out the door today for another training ride - 9th day without a break - just have to take advantage of this freaky weather - still have that 150 Million Km view directly to the sun...

With the cold but dry weather it isn't too hard to manage clothing issues when cycling. During the climbs I remove the outer membrane layer and tie it around my waist. The high wicking base layer and shirt take the sweat away from the skin and let it evaporate rapidly. The weak sun is still enough to make it feasible to climb with minimal clothing and the relatively low speed of climbing prevents any wind chilling. Pausing at the top of the climbs the membrane is put on for each descent and the final return on the flats. With everything relatively dry inside the high speeds don't chill the body. When it gets much colder this won't work, but also the roads will become slippery and that's when training will have to move indoors anyway for safety. I might put my studded tyres back on the mountain-bike and get out there anyway.

It always amazes me how the legs can be really sore from running but on the bike none of that soreness is felt.

Run Focus

10k run today with barefoot technique. It was a bit ambitious to have ramped up the mileage so much within one week after returning from injury - but I was very vigilant regarding potential setbacks. The calves still had some recovery pain (doms) from having stepped up to 6k two days ago on flat shoes but the level was still tolerable given a long slow warm up.  

The main focus was to strike just in front of the heel - that is to aim with that part of the foot so that it would land directly under the body. It's impossible to tell exactly which part of the foot actually strikes first without capturing it on video and slowing it down. The other way would be to run properly barefoot - but it's just a little bit too cold for that at the moment. That's my excuse at least. In the shadows along the banks of the river the cycle path already has some permanent ice which will probably be there now until Spring.

Avoiding an aggressive forefoot strike certainly seems to protect the Achilles tendon and to give the calves a much easier time of it in general. There is no loss in technique elsewhere. Despite all the current advice circulating that suggests that the only way to  land on a bare foot avoiding shock is though a forefoot strike, there was no discomfort at all. It's not a heel strike but it's not a forefoot strike either. The feeling is midfoot (which is naturally slightly on the outside edge) followed a tiny fraction of a second later by the forefoot and then the heel. Sometimes it feels like the forefoot strikes first but there isn't much in it - either way the force dissipates without any shock or any strain on the calves or tendons. Previously I always tried to land on the forefoot - even when trying to strike on the outside edge - so this is a new feeling. It may or may not be as efficient as a forefoot strike but it certainly works for barefoot running.

The sore calves made sure that I kept the speed right down and focused on good form. The second protective thing to concentrate on was to ensure an active use of the foot, extending the ankle towards the end of the stride so that the Achilles contracts instead of stretches. This lengthens the stride too but also  maintains the constant height of the Centre of Mass above the ground as the body "falls" forward. It stabilises the C of M preventing excessive up/down movement - it's not an issue of propulsion. The propulsion still comes exclusively from gravity and falling forwards. It's interesting that the extension of the foot activates all the muscles in the foot and you can feel them working powerfully. This is the same as in cycling. Most beginners on the bike seem to let the ankle bend during the push on the pedal and so the energy is absorbed like a sponge. It seems to be the same with running unless you learn to activate the foot and ankle when extending the stride well behind. Amazingly it's the same with skiing. Ski instruction generally informs people to bend the ankles but never explains why. Racing boots then come so stiff that bending the ankles is neigh on impossible. Bending under load when skiing takes place at the hips and knees - not at the ankles - and the feet muscles should tension if standing on the balls.

The next useful focus was on the core. Generating the power from the big core muscles instead of the smaller leg muscles. That only works properly if there is a good rotation in the spine and the hip is allowed to move freely backwards. It's a great feeling with everything working, stretching and moving around a very active centre. This also lengthens the stride and you have to watch that it doesn't slow the cadence at the same timed due to the greater reach. When I came to a hill suddenly the same alignment issue as for the bike just came into focus - using the pull through of the trailing leg you can turn the belly slightly towards the support foot and this places the weight more precisely on the ball of the foot. The power feels amazing for climbing - just as it does on the bike.

The final focus for the day was focus itself. It's hard to stay focused on the power of the centre - it seems to be an emotional issue. It's almost like there is an association with being sick in the stomach - it seems emotionally hard to work this area physically. Focusing is a mental exercise and continually re-focusing strengthens the mind. It both clears the mind of all chatter, relaxing it and at the same time strengthens it. Focusing on the core is good for this because it's hard to stay on it for long and refocusing is never far away.

Physical Memory

Frustrating! A fantastic piece of hardware called the Sony Xperia Arc, worth 549 € and I have to use a crap app called Endomondo worth 3 € for training! Why does software always lag so far behind hardware? I guess it's the same way that people are born with brains but never learn how to use them.

Sony have just brought out the Xperia Active and I WANT ONE! Trouble is I'd still have to use that crap app along with it.

Yesterday, 10 minutes into my cycling workout and the phone simply rebooted itself. Yes, I was tired and plodding and the phone probably reacted in disgust - but rebooting takes a very long time and  really interrupts the workout thank you! (The phone only ever reboots spontaneously when using Endomondo - it's like it's trying to vomit it out of its system)

Interesting article yesterday on the BBC website regarding memory. It was about Clive Wearing - who due to a virus has only 10 seconds of memory. Despite this he can still play the piano though he doesn't remember that he has ever played one etc. I've always wondered how I can memorise dozens of complete tunes on the fiddle and yet not remember the names or notes of any of them. It's a purely physical memory. Quite often I get people returning to skiing thinking that they have forgotten everything - of course they haven't - it's all there in the physical memory. 

Yesterday I played the fiddle for a while and really enjoyed the process of observing the physical side of it; just letting the weird musical/physical memory run its course but focusing on releasing tension and being aware of blockages. Same as with sports everything depends on good alignment and mechanics to start off with. Focusing follows alignment - and even the focus has to be aligned in terms of senses and relevance. It will clearly be a long time before a stupid telephone app can measure this.