2 Shadows
Most long track ice speedskaters, if you measure their calves, will have a larger left calf muscle, due to the constant left turns putting the left leg through more hell than the right
I am glad it’s not as deformed in real life as this shadow makes it seem.
However I did just notice something really weird, and I want to ask other hardcore multi-year ice addicts if this is true of them-
Sit in a chair with bare feet. Stick your legs straight out & pull your toes back towards yourself.
The toes on my left foot can be pulled back much farther than the toes on my right foot. I am guessing that this is because of constant stepping “up” into left hand corners creates a greater range of “toe-pullback” motion on the left foot than the right.
Or maybe I am just oddly made. How about you?
I have had short trackers tell me that their right leg becomes stronger than the left, due to the pivot-turn. So maybe they are different in the toe-flex-factor too.
Here is the final shadow, from this morning.
I have really had fun recently doing intervals on the inlines & chasing Jessica on her Tri-bike.
She was just cruising & warming up here. When she popped into the big chainring and started hammering, I had to put the camera away & sprint as hard as I could to keep up.
I love the warp on the spokes from the cheap-o camera phone. Or is that her wheel-cracking power??? Jessica is as much a fast-twitch sprinter-type as I am, and is doing Triathlons to prove some kind of point to herself.
I understand, it’s the same reason I raced a 10k metric ice last year, and might race an inline marathon or two this year.
There is something very wrong & very right with this mentality.
Filed under: from the coffee shop
hahahaha So, how did you decide to try pulling your toes back? Actually, I have always been a little toe-pulling deficient. My mom can pull them back really far, but mine don’t go far at all. That’s the same on both feet.
Nice sun and shadows pictures!
I was sitting on the floor & stretching, with both feet right out in front of me, pulling my toes back to stretch the calves & hamstrings more.. when I noticed..
so you are toe deficient & I am uneven, ha!!!
I do triathlons because I never believed I could do them. The training has changed how my body looks. I’ve always been strong and stocky, but now my muscles are more evenly distributed along the length of my arms and legs, not just bunched up near my joints. I also think that it’s healthier to do endurance sports than sprint sports. I’m curious to hear opinions.
Andrew,
On my cross overs, my left blade is making a scraping noise … I tend to have first contact with the ice on the back of my blade….What am I doing wrong???? Your input please
thanks
Mark Stern
Los Angeles
Andrew,
My left definately flexes more than my right, which is puzzling, since you know I never put the neccessary pressure on my left leg I should…
Mark,
You need more “hip drop” when you go to move onto your left foot. Also, don’t step inwards, but rather “attempt” to brush your thighs against each other as your left leg and foot drive foward. If you don’t, you won’t be able to get full extension of your left leg in the outward push, and you’ll lose a lot of power and control.
Mark says
thanks Marcia and Tim….appreciate your help
Mark,
Am crazy busy with preparing to move, the endless minutiae of mortgages, working, and trying to keep some kind of fitness……
Sorry I did not respond quickly…
It’s impossible to diagnose this without seeing you skate. Ideally I’d love to follow you through the turns & watch at what moment the scraping noise happens.
Because if you can define at what moment in your push the scraping noise happens, then diagnosis of the cause can begin.
Too bad SLC is a long way from LA!!!
Here are some quick guesses as to what it could be, & what I would be looking for if I was able to skate behind you:
1. A nick in the blade, or some nicks/scarring/roughness on the bottom or inside left edge of the blade can cause a scraping/crunching noise.
Its really easy to hit something when skating, hurt your blade, and not know it. But you will feel it and even hear it
Even a slip when deburring can roughen an edge, and when you create a lot of pressure, the screwy edge often makes a noise..
This noise can happen anytime in the push depending on where the damage is. If the damage is in the heel, the crunch will be early, middle=middle. If the damage is in the toe of the blade, the crunch will be at the end of the push.
2. If you have BENT THE CUPS holding the blade, even very slightly, this could screw up how your blade interacts with the ice, & throw everything in the push off, making a crunch.. Have you crashed recently? This can cause a lot of issues. Some cheaper blades have cups that bend EASY.
3. Depending on your level, some people when they are passing into being an Intermediate skater, apply a “twisting” pressure into the ice with their push instead of a smooth “straight” pressure. They are pushing hard, but with a twist, this can happen at the middle or end of the stroke.
I did this in the straights for a while. This can cause instability & noise. If you change your knee bend to be higher or lower, harder or softer, and it makes the noise go away/ or dramatically change, that could be your cause.
4. If you have too much bend in your left skate, or if your ability level has dramatically increased and now you have too much bend for your speed & deeper lean angle, sometimes it can dig the toe-heel of the blade into the ice.
Visualize a shape like a “ ) “ this is your blade, when you are cornering deeply and the ) is against the ice, if its curved too much it can cause noise & some drag and at worst, a loss of control if the center lifts off the ice a lot. A bend has to be perfect, and perfectly match your speed. Especially in short track.
From what I hear, the elite use a very round & compund rocker and lots of bend, the intermediates use a flatter rocker & less bend. The rocker & bend need to compliment each other (for example, I use a very flat rocker and almost no bend, it works well for me)
This final one is the hardest to diagnose, and is very likely the cause, have one of the best benders-rock experts in your club gauge your left skate, compare it to the right, see if anything is out of whack..
I hope this helps
-Andrew
Mark… I almost want to comment on technique anonymously, since mine is not perfect, but… Usually when I see people getting the back-end-first scraping, it’s because they’re rocking forward and back a little. Make sure you’re moving your knees and hips together (thinking about going forward), and keep your upper body nice and curved to avoid lifting your left shoulder up or back. Remember to keep one foot on the ice at a time (how many times have you heard that one?
) Of course, check the blades, too, because that could be a really small thing that would make a huge difference.