Back To Work.

So once the races in Breckenridge were over I stuck around for another 5 days with my buddy Justin, getting some training in at 9500 ft (!) and catching up on the old days. It was fun to be out on the road for a while but as with anything, marginal returns began to decrease an in an instant I was ready to be home.

I left the following day. My drive home covered some amazing territory. An hour into the drive I drove over Vail pass and shortly after, followed the Colorado River westward past Glenwood Springs to Grand Junction. I took my time, stopping quite a few times to take pictures along the road. Its hard to beat the American West in terms of camera fodder.

When I arrived home the first snowflakes were only hours from falling from the sky, the true beginning of our winter. Several feet have of snow have fallen in the days since, in various locales around the Wasatch. Park City seems to have received the least snow, only seeing about 16 inches thus far. There is plenty more in the forecast and hopefully the storms yet to come will be more generous to our town.

I have not raced again since Breckenridge. I have had the opportunity to do some local races but I decided that I would be better served by doing my own workouts at my own pace. I know what I am missing right now and that is nothing more than economy. I'm not efficient at a steady state. So I am fixing it workout by workout and once I feel that I've moved past that, I will race again and hopefully with much better results.

Specifically, this past week I have done three intensity workouts, each one forty minutes in length, though each time the duration of a single interval has varied. I'm not pushing the pace over my lactate threshold, in fact staying at least 5 beats below. Days in between intervals I have done a speed workout or a specific strength workout. On speed days I simply do 10 accelerations, simulating a finish sprint, even going so far as to visualize competitors in my mind. Specific strength days consist of alternating between skiing without poles and skiing with out my legs (double poling), I usually trade off every 5k.

Yesterday I took a day away from the track and ventured up Guardsman Pass. A place that used to play home to my first ski of the year. I don't ski there too much any more but I took the opportunity to ski up with my camera and into the woods. I had no destination in mind, just followed snowmobile tracks where ever they would lead me. It was very blustery and snowing hard so taking pictures was difficult at times but I did come out with some nice ones.

This week I am headed up to Sun Valley with my girlfriend, Crystal, and our dog, Roz, to spend the holiday with Crystal's family. I'm hoping to catch up with some friends and do plenty of training over the weekend as well. We'll be back to PC in time for New Year's Eve. After that I'll have a few local races to get my geared up for the Owl Creek Chase in Aspen, Colorado on January 16th, which is my first target event. I am looking forward to it.

Happy Holidays. Here are a few shots I've taken recently...

The Road.

After several days of hemming and hawing over whether or not the snow conditions in Yellowstone were worth the drive up, we finally bit the bullet and hit the road. I had initially planned on heading up on Saturday but decided to wait a few days to get a few first hand reports. By Monday morning I had made the call to drive but my lovely ladyfriend Crystal and our golden-furred hound, Roz, were planning on following suit the next day so I just decided to hang for an extra day so we could head up together.

I have spent roughly 15 Thanksgiving holidays in West Yellowstone. During that time I have never seen the town so dry as it was this time around. If it had been ten degrees warmer, people would have been mowing their lawns. During such an 'off' snow year, we have to make do by skiing up on the plateau, about a 20 minute drive out of town. Although sometimes treacherous, the drive was easy for all but the last day of this year's camp.

I spent the days there getting some long, easy sessions on snow. I had no plans to race as I really was not ready at all. I needed a few days on snow to readjust and sort a few things out. I needed to figure out just where I felt that I was in regards to fitness. After four long days of training I felt as though things were progressing and that i was ready for some sort of intensity. I had planned a workout for the last day but when we drove up to the plateau, several cars were off the road due to ice and it didn't seem like the way would be clear anytime soon. We headed back to town and settled for an easy run along the famed Madison river before making the drive back to Park City.

Park City is dry in terms of snow. The training was miserable. It has been cold and rainy off and on, which makes for ice. That makes for bad rollerskiing. I heard reports of snow in Colorado and made a call to former Rossignol teammate and friend, Josh Smullin, who lives in Steamboat. He said they had snow, so I packed my bags and hit the road.

Steamboat didn't have a ton of snow when I arrived but about a foot fell the first night I was in town. We got out for two workouts the following day, both in deep powder but both on skis, which was nice. My afternoon workout was even an intensity workout, the one i had planned in Yellowstone.

There was a decent sized race in Breckenridge planned for the weekend with all of the big western college teams attending, I decided that now as as good as any to jump in a race and get an even better read on my status. Initially I had planned on just one of the two races but I woke up on Friday morning excited to wear a bib again and registered for both... Soon after I made the drive to Summit County.

The first race was a classic one and a little off balanced for many reasons. I didn't bring any of my skis from last year, as I hadn't planned on any classic racing. So I had to race on some brand new, never skied on skis. I also hadn't done a bit of intensity on classic skis this year. In fact, I had only done one fast workout in the past 15 weeks and that was two days earlier, so I didn't exactly feel snappy or coordinated... But I was happy to compete and put in a solid effort, indicative of where I am right now. The following day, today, was a skating race. I was hoping for a little better but the effort was similar, feeling like I just haven't gone hard for a while... i'm just not comfortable being uncomfortable... nor was I efficient.

After the races I reflected on the efforts and am ok with the outcome. I can't expect a lot more but I can be happy to be making steps in the right direction. I am fairly certain that I can go about a minute faster in either race, given another week of training on snow. I am not concerned, I just need to be patient and smart about making those steps. I've done it before and I'm going to do it again.

I've been lucky to stay with another friend, another former teammate from the Maine Winter Sport Center, Justin Easter, here in Summit County. It has been awesome to catch up on life since we spent the summer squatting in a ski lodge in Northern Maine. Its awesome to see guys like Josh and Justin, motivated and positive figures in ski racing, taking the reigns as coaches for the next generation. Its cool to see them so passionate about what they have undertaken. I am sure that their clubs will be generating plenty of skiers for the future.

This evening we had a conversation about outlook on sports and a view that I hold as extremely important for any athlete. Its my position that the two of the most important things an athlete can have, mentally, are complete passion and love for the sport and the process of becoming better within that sport and a wider perspective on where sport fits in a greater framework of reality.

The first, a love for the sport, is extremely important. It is the reason why. Why do I train all these hours, why do I fight back from adversity, why do I move forward from failure to achieve a certain goal... love of the sport. It cannot come from external sources, it cannot be received from someone, it has to be a deeply personal and satisfactory experience. It has to be something you really, really want, above almost all else.

The second, perspective on where sport fits in, is most important during the tough times. An athlete must realize just how minor sport is. A bad race is a bad race. It doesn't mean you won't get dinner that night, it doesn't mean anyone will like you any less. Your friends are still your friends and the world is still round. People are suffering great atrocities around the globe and the Earth is being ruined, if an athlete wants to dwell on something they should dwell on something bigger than a bad day. A bad performance is a pretty minor in the grand scheme of things.

Its a tough dichotomy to swallow, but the bottom line is that any outcome in sport is a minor outcome in the bigger picture. A peak performance ought to be something an athlete seeks to achieve for him or herself. There will be no rapture or opening of the clouds on that day. It won't really matter to anyone but that athlete.

Its late now and I feel like I'm rambling. I'm really tired from the races and I need some sleep.

I'll leave you with a few pictures from the road. Thanks for reading. Z.

Patience.

The general theme of my last few posts has been 'I'm healthy'. Well, I'm still healthy. And if being healthy was the only prerequisite for skiing fast, then I'd be ready to race. But its not, and I'm not.

My training pattern since recovering from Giardia can be likened to the idea of 'the fool in the shower', I think originally a Milton Friedman idea. The idea is that a fool in the shower will be a little too cold and turn up the hot water way too much and burn himself, then turn it way down and freeze himself, instead of making small adjustments and having the patience to wait a couple of seconds to see the outcome, taking care not to go too far.

As it relates to my training, I seemed to be under the impression that I will just feel good again and be ready to jump right back into the point where I was before I got sick... So I feel good, then train really hard for four days, get tired, stop recovering the way I ought too, take a few days off or very easy. And repeat.

It has also been said that the true definition of an idiot is someone who repeats the same action over and over, expecting different results every time... I'm not going to repeat the process anymore.

I'm shooting for a manageable amount of training for now. I want to train well and recover well and build from there. I have to have the patience to do that and the confidence to rely on years of training.

Today is Sunday and I was supposed to be in Yellowstone by now. The snow condition has been less than ideal and I have been waiting to see how the situation will pan out. I don't have much on the line as far as the races go, so I have afforded myself the option of 'wait and see'. I'm waiting in Park City, while others are seeing whats going on up there. If reports come back positive, I'll likely head up on Monday (tomorrow) or Tuesday. If not, I'd be happy here at home over the holiday.

It has been roughly 15 years since I had a Thanksgiving in Park City. I wouldn't mind another one some day soon.

The last weeks in school we have been swimming. I've been working with the kids who haven't spent as much time in the water as the majority of the class. Many of my crew were unable to swim at all when we began, and now most of them can swim the length of the pool without stopping. Treading water and floating are a different story but we are planning on sorting that out next week. It is pretty awesome to see how much of a difference a little one on one instruction can make for these kids. Its a lot of fun.

All for now. Have a good Thanksgiving. Z

Weekend Update.

So I made it through my week of training four days consecutively. The next step was putting in a full week of training without issue, that was the goal of this week.

It worked out just fine, though I opted not to do any speed work or intensity. Playing it safe with intensity has ALWAYS worked out for me. I've never thought back to myself and said 'i should have done way more intensity'. Its always the opposite case, 'I shouldn't have done those intervals, I' shouldn't have gone so hard'.

So I just played it safe and did a bunch of distance workouts. I've been feeling better and better and by yesterday I finally saw my heart rate come down to where it ought to be. We got lucky early this week with some snow. Roughly 12 inches fell in town here in Park City, just enough to ski on once its packed out sufficiently.

Thursday I went out for my first ski of the season. As always, my skis felt super long compared to rollerskis and with the uneven track conditions, I felt a little off balance. It was awesome to be off the road and feeling of gliding across snow is so much better than asphalt. On Friday, my good friend and training partner Bill Demong (one of the top Nordic Combined skiers in the world) skied for four hours on the golf course. It was a push, mentally but we made it. Afterwards I felt a little tired but it really felt good. That was the longest workout I have done in some time, probably two months or more. A four hour workout is one that I rely on heavily and it felt awesome to get that back into the routine. Yesterday, Saturday, Bill and I drove to Solitude resort to ski a little with the University of Utah team. We were unaware that we would be on a 6 minute loop, but the conditions were fantastic compared to what we have seen in Park City. After 30 minutes we were bored but we stuck it out for 2 hours. We threw in a few 'hot laps' just to mix it up. I was a little apprehensive but I actually felt quite good. Going hard with a World class skier like Bill will let you know where you stand in a big hurry. The good news is that I didn't feel too far off... Sometimes resting for long periods of time can be a real benefit.

Looking forward, I am planning on keeping on the distance theme and adding in a little speedwork where I can. I'm planning on keeping it on the shorter and easier end and building in. I've yet to really screw anything up, I'm trying to keep it that way. The past 15 years of training hasn't gone anywhere and I'm planning on putting it to good use. The temperatures are rising a bit here so I'm not sure if we will be skiing later this week but I am anticipating some rollerski workouts in the coming days.

In school, my kids have finished up a Track and Field section that involved a 1600m run, a 400m run, 100m, shot put, broad jump, high jump and the 100m hurdles. It was neat to see some kids accel at running and others accel in the jumping events or the shot put. It is rare that we do an activity that so many different kids can show their strengths. This past week we have been in the swimming pool. This section isn't quite as competitive as it is about learning the different strokes as well as some emergency techniques. We also huck ourselves off the high dive whenever we get the chance.

On the art side of the coin, I've been shooting a lot of pictures lately. Especially once it started snowing. During our visit to Sun Valley I had a chance opportunity to shoot an exterior of a home for Fine Homebuilding magazine. Its not exactly the subject of choice for me, but an interesting challenge anyhow. Initially I was told that one of my images was up for the cover but I heard back late last week that I will have a full-page feature instead... Still pretty exciting for my first published piece. I've also found some interest in several of my prints, which has given me an exciting opportunity to experiment with some different printing techniques and options. What an exciting diversion photography has been.

Finally?

As of today I have trained four days in a row... That might not seem significant but it is the most I've trained consecutively in roughly two months. At this point I'm calling it a miracle.

Just last week I seemed to be headed in the wrong direction. Again. I was feeling super rundown and lethargic. I went back to the doctor and had some bloodwork done, expecting the worst. I heard back with results last Friday and found out that I was fighting something but that something was not likely mono... good news.

I took the weekend off and somehow slept well multiple nights in a row, something that hasn't happened for a while. I woke up Monday feeling spectacular, the best I had felt in almost two months. Literally. It was like magic or something. So I headed out for an easy bike ride, really easy, hoping that the magic wouldn't wear off. It didn't.

I lifted weights on Tuesday morning and felt strong after ANOTHER great night of sleep. Amazing. That afternoon I went for a ride and still managed to not feel bad. I rollerskied and rode my bike yesterday and today am planning on rollerskiing twice.

Like all things, I guess it just took time. My body needed rest and finally got enough of it. I am proceeding cautiously and looking forward to getting back on the right track. I have missed out on quite a bit of base training that I feel is absolutely necessary for marathon racing and will be moving towards getting some of those workouts under my belt through November and likely into December. Right now a two and a half hour rollerski feels long, this can't be the case come race time. I've got a feeling that part of that is that I am still a bit underweight but eight weeks of very limited training has certainly taken a toll.

It is nice to finally be able to share positive news about my training. I am headed to Sun Valley this weekend for a quick visit to Crystal's parents house. I'm planning on doing some easy hiking in the Boulder/Sawtooth mountains and probably try to take some pictures while I'm there as well. I'll be sure to post when I return.

A Day Off of Training. A Full Day of Shooting.

Another Day in the Office...

Back Towards the Center.

Well, I'm alive...

I'm no longer poisoning my body with pesticides/antibiotics and my digestive system seems to be functioning with reasonable efficiency once again. I am able to train at an early-summer level of intensity. I do not have a home that is being foreclosed on, nor do I have money vanishing in the black hole that our stock market appears to be. And my bank hasn't closed yet either.

Yep, life is good.

So I finished my prescription of Flagyl, which killed the Giardia along with a huge amount of good cells that would have been nice to hang on to. As the medicine left my bloodsteam, I started to resemble a human once again and a little later even started to resemble an athlete. A 10 pound lighter athlete, but still an athlete. I had to start back into training very slowly. I mean really slowly. I was basically going for walks, sometimes with rollerskis on my feet, sometimes connected to my bike, sometimes just plain walking. I started with an hour and over the course of two weeks built up to 2.5 hours and a couple of days with two workouts.

This past week has been like a normal training week in June. Modest hours and a couple of interval workouts, I also rode my bike for 4 hours on Wednesday. Things seem to be coming back together though I am still not recovering as quickly as I would like.

The bottom line is that I am just not in very good shape right now, relatively speaking. Thats how it is. Some of the people around me have been trying to convince me that I'm not out of shape, Im just a little off. Thats not the case right now. I'm just not in good shape. Period.

I've always been a proponent of being honest with oneself as an athlete. If you don't address weaknesses you can't fix them. The only way I'm going to get back to top form is the old fashion way, through hard work. There is no way around it.

In terms of a timeframe, I'm definitely aiming further down the road this season than in those past. I'm hoping to feel prepared by January and be in top form by February. Its going to be a fairly thin race schedule for me this year, focusing on few very but important races. One thing I am definitely looking forward to is training more on snow in December and January than I have in some time. I really do love to ski and it will nice to have the time to actually do it in the early winter.

For now its back to the basics. I'm still trying to gain back some of the weight that I lost. I am getting really hungry during workouts right now and that needs to stop. Once I can hit the high hours and long workouts again, I might look to move towards some more speed based training.

The more relaxed pace of my training lately has given me the opportunity to bring my camera along. Here is a bit of what I've been seeing in PC:

Photo Blog: One Day of 6th Grade Ultimate Frisbee.

Here are a few pictures from last Thursday's PE class. I'm shooting these from the hip here, literally. If the kids see me look through the viewfinder, they start posing. I don't want to disrupt class so composition is a matter of luck here.