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
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
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.
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.
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