Running on Water

 

RUNNING ON WATER:   EDITION NUMBER 19

SKI POLE RUNNING...'tis the season!

from Coach Steve Ilg, RYT/USCF/CPT

World Championship Snowshoer

author/THE WINTER ATHLETE

 

About this time of the year, as twiglets of various alpine flora begin their slow, intoxicating, crayola dehydration and eventual demise here in the high San Juans of southwest Colorado,  I begin running with ski poles in preparation for my winter racing season which includes winter duathlons, triathlons, quadrathlons, nordic classic ski racing, nordic skate ski racing, alpine racing, telemark racing, and snowshoe racing.  
Ilg is a winter sports dilettante...I admit.  The word, "dilettante" comes from a Latin origin meaning;to take delight within. That's me.  That's my Geminian (NOT to be confused with my GERMANIAN), yogic bent, I s'pose.   When it comes to fitness...heck, when it comes to LIFE...I'm on the side of versatility over specialization.  If I miss out on that upper 5% of sport-specific fitness which separates me from the specialized beasts of sports seeped over the podiums like breadcrumbs over toast with their bent postures and imbalanced physiques?  What, me worry?  List me on the side of Balance and Wholeness...leave specialization to the insects.   
This morning, my legs were forced into a stride frequency paced by my far more neurally fast-geared arms which in turn had to turnover faster do to my ski-poling.  I ran, deerlike as possible, brushing past swatches of Gambel Oak, Alpine Lupine, and Indian Paintbrush each of which offered floral counterparts to 'high fives' to my twitching gastrocnemius's flitting past.  Though the first of the winter storms won't begin any earnest dumping in another 3 months, it's high time to start nordic training.
In the opening pic above,which I painstakingly attempted to solo capture for all of Thee, I am on the summit of my ‘backyard mountain’;  Animas Mountain.  I had just ran up 2,500′ in less than 2.5 miles in under 35 minutes.  The elevation here is 8,600′.  I am happy.  Ilg is pretty much always happy in my Beloved San Juans.  I'll readily admit in the photo, I am trying to make my right bicep appear larger than it really is.  This condition is well-known among honest American Males. It is called, “Geez-I-Bet-People,-Especially- Girls,-Will Really-Be-More-Impressed-With-Me-If-My-Biceps-Look-Bigger” Syndrome.
Us guys never outgrow this affliction,mind you.  Even we Endurance Athletes…we still want to look like Arnold and run like a wolf.
Now, onto the more technical aspectsand philosophical discussions of the larger (far larger) subject than my biceps which is; note-ably;  pole running.



 

In this pic... I am attempting to show you the full body powerful expression of ski poling…instead, as you can see, I look more like an aging grandmother and the ski poles, instead of looking like Dharmic Swords Swinging from Manjushree Himself, appear more like crutches.
I pray however, that you understand that running with ski poles decrease the concussion imparted upon and impacted upon the pelvic girdle, which for this formerly paralyzed mountain yogi, means a whole LOT!  Running with ski poles helps lift the thoracic cage away from the anterior and posterior illiac crest thus lengthening the side body – particularly the superior illiac crest/thoracolumbar fascial sheath.  This is opposite of traditional no-pole running which compacts, thus shortening that same region.
I first began running with ski poles right here in Durango,up and down these same mountains in the early seventies when my nordic ski coaches would have us do ski pole running sprints up Chapman Ski Hill (seen in photo below above my left shoulder).   Next year, inspired by my yoga student and mountain runner, Peter,  I’m going to start racing some of these high mountain running races with nordic ski poles. I used to philosophically consider running with ski poles, “running with crutches”.   Now?  Nearing age 50 and a lifetime of searing neural pain from a paralyzed spine and smashed pelvis?  Sign me up!  Ski pole running takes the stress – no matter how minutely – off my arthritic, pathetic axial and appendicular skeleton.  It also decreases neural fatigue in the hip chain musculature and increases self-propulsion.  I know this because Peter has now beaten me easily by over 10 minutes in the last two high altitude trail races we've contested together.  He raced with ski poles.  I did not.


Appearing to be hover– glider like –over my beloved mountain hamlet of Durango(which is NOT Latin and means "with water" in Spanish)  I am once again trying to puff up my scrawny biceps to impress you that ski pole running is a fantastic upper body workout.  This fine notion of mine was shortly circumvented when I evidently forgot to take the camera off the “DETAIL” setting which is precisely why the Gambel Oak in the right foreground looks so deliciously Herculean and my out of focus biceps still looks as it ever was;  insouciant.

Besides tripling caloric expenditureand quadrapuling the potentiality of your time to ventilatory threshold and creating ripped deltoids, triceps, biceps, and brachioradialis’s?   Running with ski poles armors the running warrior/warrioress with what surely must be a false sense of bravado when running solo among the wild things.  Bring on the bears!  The mountain lions!  I don’t care, for I am running with union-carbide equip’d ski tips that will puncture you from here to Kingdom C(om)e!   Do NOT mess with me!!!
Fortunately, this morning this snakeis missing a rear rattler which would have meant that I would have been forced to use my ski poles to Snake Lift Dance the beautiful creature out of my path…however, lacking a rattle, I knew this to be but a beautiful Bull Snake.
Let’s summarize the benefits of Ski Pole Running which I cleverly snuck into your subconscious by way of wily writing above:
1) if you are a winter sports competitor you MUST begin running up steep mountains with ski poles right now…it’s a no brainer:  shoulder torso, arm, and core development is greatly enhanced along with neural enhancement of “arms drive the legs” sport physiologic wisdom.
2) waaaaay greater caloric expenditure and cardio/pulmonary fitness than traditional running or cycling
3) ripped shoulders, arms, and abs
4) timing/safety/bravado enhancement
5) less joint concussion, greater self-propulsion
Until we meet again, may all your sweat be sacred...
head bowed,
coach steve ilg,  uscf/cpt/ryt 500

 
 

RUNNING ON WATER:  THE SNOWSHOE WARRIOR Archive

Edition 1 Edition 2 Edition 3 Edition 4 Edition 5 Edition 6
Edition 7 Edition 8 Edition 9 Edition 10 Edition 11 Edition 12
Edition 13 Edition 14 Edition 15 Edition 16 Edition 17 Edition 18
Edition 19 Edition 20 Edition 21      
 
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The book cover of Coach Ilg's 1999 classic winter sport performance book, THE WINTER ATHLETE (Johnson Books), the first book to offer off season, dryland training, and in season training programs for all types of winter sports.
 
Coach Ilg has accepted a position of Fitness Columnist for USSA
   
to order
Coach Ilg's "Introduction To SnowShoeing" DVD,
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