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| Poles at Long Bay Beach |
A few weeks ago I did a Techfit Class at Orewa, which was really enjoyable and I found it very useful, our instructor organised another session down at Long Bay, so I didn't arrange a walk and instead booked another class.
Almost all of the North Shore Nordic Walkers have been trained by the same instructor June Stevenson, her style is direct and informative, which is great for me as I have the attention span of a gnat!
Four of us from North Shore Nordic Walkers enrolled in the class to help us improve our technique, it’s a great way to learn as the classes are relatively small which means that you get more instruction and specific information for your needs. June’s husband brought along the camcorder and filmed us walking before and after the class instruction. It was really interesting watching the film played back, the difference in posture and gait was very noticeable and as usual I pounded my way up and down at speed and had to slow down. Incidently, before I set off for my class I did have to ignore the husband comment of, " well did they have a wide angle lens then?" which, ladies, was aimed directly at me and my backside. I actually rather enjoyed the filming which was surprising as I’m not keen on being photographed and will duck out of view if possible as I really don’t enjoy being the centre of attention. Watching my technique in the film was very useful, not only for myself but for my fellow walkers too, it was really very good and I learned a lot.
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| June demonstrates the K Rd swagger |
If you walk socially you don’t check your Nordic Walking so getting someone else to observe and watch you walk whilst you’re using the poles is a great way to improve your technique or pick up on any bad habits that you may have developed. The class started using our normal size poles, then we switched to shorter poles, this enabled us to feel the shoulder movement more and to concentrate on the upper body movement. Firstly we were filmed using our own poles and then again after we switched to the shorter pole; it’s a great way to analyse the mechanics of the Nordic Walking technique.
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| Nordic Walkers keen to impove technique |
During our session the weather was very damp and I was sure it was going to pour down but it was actually quite pleasant on the beach and as usual was very busy with dog walkers despite the inclement weather. The Spirit of New Zealand was anchored in the marine reserve again; it looked quite serene set against the morning sky, it was almost as if it had returned to watch us strolling down the beach.
It was a great morning and we all learned a lot from our session down at the beach and we’re all looking forward to our next class!
Class & North Shore Nordic Walkers Information:
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