My first coach Dianne Holum always stressed the importance of sitting a little lower while skating. Sitting lower doesn't just make you more
aerodynamic, it also means you'll take fewer strokes for any given distance, Fewer strokes means fewer recoveries, or less lifting of your skates to bring them back into position underneath your body for
gliding.
Dianne used to have someone on skates sit in a chair and then scoot the chair out from under them. Presto voila, the perfect long distance skater position! Knees well bent and back fairly erect (most skaters bend too much at the waist and not enough at the knees, needlessly tiring out their backs).
I'm a great believer in doing whatever it takes to maintain this air chair position as long as possible. This includes using my hands on my knees to support my body weight while gliding and letting my legs recover. When I'm really tired and still need to go fast, I lay my forearms on my thighs and push as I glide, as if I'm using the armrests of my air chair to stand myself up.
During my mileage buildup phase to the NorthShore Marathon, NYC 100K and Athens to Atlanta skates, I practice my airchair position for a 2-5 minutes at a time and repeat 6-8 times during a skate, so that eventually my overall knee bend will be lower come race day. Got to love the law of averages. The deeper I sit, the slower my tempo, but the faster I end of going. I like it like that and so will you!
aerodynamic, it also means you'll take fewer strokes for any given distance, Fewer strokes means fewer recoveries, or less lifting of your skates to bring them back into position underneath your body for
gliding.
Dianne used to have someone on skates sit in a chair and then scoot the chair out from under them. Presto voila, the perfect long distance skater position! Knees well bent and back fairly erect (most skaters bend too much at the waist and not enough at the knees, needlessly tiring out their backs).
I'm a great believer in doing whatever it takes to maintain this air chair position as long as possible. This includes using my hands on my knees to support my body weight while gliding and letting my legs recover. When I'm really tired and still need to go fast, I lay my forearms on my thighs and push as I glide, as if I'm using the armrests of my air chair to stand myself up.
During my mileage buildup phase to the NorthShore Marathon, NYC 100K and Athens to Atlanta skates, I practice my airchair position for a 2-5 minutes at a time and repeat 6-8 times during a skate, so that eventually my overall knee bend will be lower come race day. Got to love the law of averages. The deeper I sit, the slower my tempo, but the faster I end of going. I like it like that and so will you!