Post Olympic Post Modernism

Well the Olympics have come and gone and I enjoyed every minute of it. I love watching the Olympics. Its so fun to see so many athletes from every corner of the world compete in every sport under the sun.

I always find myself embracing one of the lesser known sports that I had never otherwise considered. In Torino it was curling, I don't know why. Its not that exciting and it doesn't even look like that much fun. But it sure was intriguing to imagine how much time those people spend practicing sweeping the ice. And I don't think I missed a match through the entire games. It must be the allure of a sport I know nothing about, I have to know more.

During this Olympics it was wrestling. I couldn't get enough of it, especially the Greco Roman competition. Alongside running, I don't think there is a more pure sport. Man on man, nothing else. Minimal variables. As a ski racer I must envy that a bit, the lack of a wild card element.

And as much as I enjoyed watching each event, this year I really found myself growing tired of the commentators and their attitudes towards the competitors. I didn't take long to realize that those commentators, like John McCain (nice speech last night, Barrack), simply don't get it.

It is a rare case when an athlete 'settles for silver'. Settling for silver is reserved for only the phenom who wins medal after medal, the Micheal Phelps of the world. But most silver medalists don't settle for silver, they win it, contrary to the notion that the commentators seem to extend.

My dismay was lightened, however, upon hearing Chris Collinsworth describe the scene as he sat amongst the parents and family of many of the US swimmers. He noted that while much attention was paid to the mother of Micheal Phelps and her reaction to seeing her son win gold medal after gold medal, in fact the scene played itself out over and over again within each family set. For Ms. Phelps it was seeing her son win gold, for some it was seeing their daughter make the semifinal, for others it was surely the joy of simply qualifying to compete in Beijing.

I suppose my point is that glory comes from competing, and the way in which one competes. Success, of course, is desirable but success is relative and to me it seems like a major loss to write off all of our athletes who don't bring home a gold medal.

End personal diatribe here.

So its that time of year where I stop training so much. And good thing for it because I was really starting to get bored. I've been putting in 4+ hour days for quite a while. 25 hours weeks really start to add up, especially when they are all solo. All of them. I'm on the verge of losing my mind and my ipod wearing out.

I'm trying a little different training plan this fall, trying to make use of the massive base I have built up this summer and the many summers that I have trained before this one. One of the issues I've had in the past years is that I just can't go fast enough in races under 30km. So I'm pretty much just going to lift weights and hammer for the rest of the season. Thats it, im not joking... and try to lose some weight... simple plan, power up and weight down. Last season I raced at 155 and this season I'm hoping to race somewhere closer to 150. If i can do that, it will mean serious speed going uphill on skating skis. And that's the point.

In the greater world of my life I've been rounding out a few design projects and making strides toward putting together a full fledged professional portfolio that may let me one day get a job or something like that... someday. I've also been doing quite a bit post-production for a handful of high-end action photographers, and I've also started to assist a local Photographer, which is really cool because I'm learning a ton. Assisting is like being an apprentice in the photo world. It has been a really great experience as I'm still trying to find my place in the commerical art world, whether it be as a designer or photographer or creative director... or who knows what... high school art teacher? i don't know.

Lastly, I have started with a new group of kids at Ecker Hill Middle School. We are diving straight into the school year with hiking and the high ropes course in the next two weeks. I've only been one day so far, so not a lot to share in that regard but it looks to be a promising year with a good group of kids to wrangle.