ZACK SIMONS

Au Revoir and Merci Beaucoup

2010-06-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

We have all experienced times when, instead of being buffeted by anonymous forces, we do feel in control of our actions, masters of our own fate. On the rare occasions that it happens, we feel a sense of exhilaration, a deep sense of enjoyment that is long cherished and that becomes a landmark in memory for what life should be like….. moments like these are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times…the best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Such experiences are not are not necessarily pleasant at the time they occur, yet these could have been the best moments of life.
-Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi

This is the final installment of my In The Arena blog. It has been an incredible experience and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to serve a greater good while pursuing my athletic goals. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

As I type, I am in the midst of packing up my life in Park City in order to move it out to San Francisco. I will begin working towards a MFA this coming fall at the Academy of Art University and joining my girlfriend, Crystal, in the bay area. At the moment I have no plans to continue competing, though I wouldn't be surprised to find myself pinning a number on before the year's end in any multitude of sports.

I really just want to thank Amory Rowe, the In The Arena board members, donors and supporters of the organization, as well as Jeff Schwalbe and Ecker Hill Middle School.

I look forward to seeing you all again soon. If you need to track me down in the future, you can find me at simons(dot)zack(at)gmail(dot)com.

May 23

2010-05-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

I just arrived to ecker hill middle school this morning to 3 inches if
snow on the ground... On may 23!

The kids are getting used to the drill but that does t mean they are
excited about it. We are in the middle
of a track and field segment and that means we'll be runnin the
hurdles inside today. Wedenes day is the mile run, hopefully the
weather clears up or that means a lot of laps in the gym!

In other news, I have decided to call it a career. The time has come
for me to move forward and I can't wait. I will be joining my
girlfriend Crystal in Berkeley, CA and am
planning to begin grad school in September.

Sprinter.

2010-05-09T23:38:00.000-07:00

I am back in Utah after a wonderful month in California. The day before I left California I sat by a lake with my dog and Crystal under warm skies and 80 degree temperatures. Pretty much the ideal weather for this time of year... The day after I arrived home to Utah I woke up to snow blowing against my windows...

I had travelled from Spring and back to Sprinter, the dreaded Utah shoulder season.

Utah is notorious for fooling its inhabitants into thinking that summer is nearby with temperatures reaching the high 70's and slapping them back to reality with 12 inches of snow the next day.

That is exactly what is going on here right now. its not really spring and its not really winter. its sprinter... and its terrible.

this weekend was the utah state crit championship, held on a day that could have been mid june. and tomorrow it will snow...

and for those of us who want to ride fast this summer, we will be out riding in the snow in Mid May.

California might have been a better choice for spring time cycling. I miss those rolling green hills already.

Rolling.

2010-04-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

I've relocated to Berkeley, CA for the month of April. I'm here riding
my bike, making up for lost time with my special ladyfriend and
getting some work done away from the snowy mountains of Park City.
There are some great roads to ride in the East Bay area....

2010-04-12T11:05:00.001-07:00

2010-04-12T11:04:00.001-07:00

Bump in the road...

2010-03-14T07:49:00.001-07:00

I've had a great week here in the Engadin valley of Switzerland. The
weather has been fantasic, the company is always great and the valley
is gorgeous as ever.

I've been feeling great since the week of the Birkie. After some bad
luck that kept me from completing the race and grabbing the kind of
result I know I was capable of that day, I have been anxious to have
another shot.

Well my shot was coming at one of the most competitive races in the
world , unfortunately I woke up the morning k the race as sick as a
dog. I could hardly breathe, my sinuses ached and my throat was raw.

An unfortunate turn of events. I do feel fortunate however that this
is the first time I've been sick in Europe and also the first time in
almost a decade that I have been sick twice in the same season.

Just a bump in the road... And I can feel the motivation building for
the coming season. I'm hungry for more race wins and I feel like I
have something prove.

I can't wait to prove it.

Birkie 2010

2010-02-28T21:45:00.000-08:00

This year's Birkie started out great. I had fantastic skis and my body
was all there. It could not have been better. I felt like I was
stalking the pack rather than skiing in it, always a great sign.
Unfortunately that ended when I got dragged to the ground by someone
behind me. One of my poles snapped and my ski split in two. I got up
and limped along hoping to get some new gear but the thrill of the
hunt faded after 10 km on broken equipment. I hopped a ride to the
finish at the 30km mark and was able to see my Steinbock teammate grab
third place!

Such is sport. Live to fight another day. I'm off to the Engadin
Marathon on Friday for another stab at the world's largest skate race!

Fight For it. BMT Victory 2010.

2010-02-10T21:42:00.001-08:00

As I wrote in my last post, one of my favorite things about racing are the last kilometers... I love to be right in the thick of it, fighting for position– banging elbows. The more of a dog fight the race becomes, the more I enjoy what I'm doing.

If you don't believe me, here is proof... A photo from the Boulder Mt Tour, taken within a Km of the finish.

Having the time of my life - 2010 Boulder Mt Tour (photo by Mike Turzian)

What is missing from this photo is AJ. He is just out of the frame, leading me out as he did for several Km's before this picture was taken. He hit it as hard as he could to keep the pace high and get me to the finish lanes in the front of the pack. And as with any good lead out, he practically keeled over when the dash for the finish began– though he did hold on for a solid 5th place.

But thats not the point, the point is that we raced as a team and won as a team. And there is a lot to be said about that...

-ZSi

Governor's Cup Weekend

2010-01-31T16:34:00.000-08:00

I just got home from a quick weekend trip to Winter Park, CO, for a 30km Skate race called the Governors Cup, held at Devils Thumb Resort.

It was a good trip overall. I stayed at the Beaver Village Hotel with former teammate and now coach of Denver University, Dave Stewart. The skiing was awesome over there, as always. It seems that every time I ski at Devils Thumb, its perfect. Blue ski, tons of trails, great grooming... this time around was no different.

It was a pretty typical race weekend for me. I arrived Thursday night and went for a short run. On Friday I tested my skis and waxed them for the race. Saturday, race.

The race went OK, though certainly not my best ever performance. Glenn Randall, NCAA Champ, was on hand. Glenn has been known to ski quite well at altitude, likely because he trains at 10,000ft! When we started, he was content to lead. He pushed the pace early and near the 5k mark, I was starting to feel it. One thing I know about racing near 9000ft is that you don't want to go under early. So I backed off, hoping to ski the fastest race I could and catch him if he blew up late in the race...

Well, when we came through the lap at 15k, he was no where in sight and I didn't have it to speed up. Looking around, I saw former teammate - now sponsor - Natron a bit behind me and I slowed up hoping to pull him a bit. It worked but he couldn't quite hang on at the end of the lap and was beaten by another well known Coloradan, Michael Brothers. I cruised in to 2nd.

Natron and I both have experience cycling and it seems everytime we race together, we find ways to bring new tactics into skiing. I enjoy that.

It was a bit of a strange day for me. I didn't feel much snap in my body and had a tough time really putting it down when I needed to. In the past week I did some really big workouts to prepare for these upcoming marathons and I think I was just a bit behind the eight ball for this race... I think the training was good, it was the recovery that wasn't happening... Anyone can train hard, the key is recovering from it quickly...

I have another 30k coming up next weekend in Idaho, the famed Boulder Mtn Tour, where I will be defending my title...

I intent to do a lot of resting this week to create some speed. I know my fitness is there, I just need to get it out from under the training load I've been piling on!

Waiting and Working and Training....

2010-01-18T20:56:00.000-08:00

Well this is a first for me... It mid-January and my race season is about to start in earnest. Typically, this time of year I am in a mid season training block, scrambling to recover from the many early season races that populate the North American race schedule and simultaneously trying to get in some long workouts that will allow me to race 50kms weekend after weekend.

This year has been a bit different as funds have been tight in the ski world and upon the conclusion that I was to have no mathematical chance at making the 2010 Olympic Team. I have focused heavily on marathons this season and soon I will find out whether my plan has paid off.

These past weeks have been tough in many respects. Many of my friends are preparing for World Cups and waiting to hear about Olympic selection. At times I really wish I was in their camp. But I've gone a different route and I feel confident in my decision. Especially after many long hours on the bike this summer, I feel well prepared for the long events ahead.

Additionally, I've had a heavy load on my back in preparation for the upcoming Outdoor Retailer Show, here in Utah. I will be on hand to help out my ski sponsor, Rossignol, as well as to promote my own team, Steinbock Racing. In the past four days I put in something like 50 hours redesigning our Program Overview.... I'm an all or nothing kind of guy and this was definitely an "all" situation. I'm excited to present it later this week.

This coming Saturday I will race the University of Utah Invitational, at Soldier Hollow, which will be my last tune up before I head out to some bigger events... The following weekend I will be in Winter Park, CO, for the Governor's Cup– which from what I understand is the longest running ski race in Colorado. After that I head up to Sun Valley to defend my Boulder Mountain Tour title. The following weekend is a 10km classic race and the Owl Creek Chase in Aspen, CO. The weekend after that is the Minnesota Finlandia, a 50k, on Saturday and a sprint race in Madison, WI, on Sunday... And the weekend after that is the American Birkebeiner. The next two weeks are up in the air, I may head over to do the Engadin Marathon again or maybe ski the Yellowstone Rendezvous. The week after the Rendezvous is the Great Race in Truckee, California.

And this is where things get blurry.... After the Great Race I may head to the coast (of California) to ride my bike for a few days and hit the San Dimas Stage Race. That would be abruptly followed by the Califonia Gold Rush, another ski race... And then back to the coast for some more riding and likely the Redlands Classic and Sea Otter Road Races...

And then likely back to Park City for May and June to finish out the school year with my crew at Ecker Hill Middle School.

I can't wait for the races to start. I love to be in the mix– banging elbows, as they say– and fighting for position in the last kilometers of a race.

I'll be sure to keep you posted on how things unfold...

Some biking, some skiing, lots of training.

2010-01-03T09:08:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks have flown by here in Park City. I accomplished some great workouts, a lot of extracurriculars and survived the holidays.

Yesterday I skied another race here in Park City. It was a good one, on my home course - an extremely flat 5km, that I have been around several thousand times, literally. There were a few more fast skiers around than usual, my brother is in town and he is a Biathlete with the US Devo Team, as well as a couple of guys from the US Nordic Combined team and several from the University of Utah.

When I was warming up for the race my pole started to make a funny crackling sound. It was coming from the grip and when I checked to see if my pole was still glued on, it was not. It was spinning loosely in the handle. I hoped it wouldn't be an issue but the first pole plant of the race, my pole came off. I had to wait for the 50 or so skiers in the front wave to pass before I could see my pole, javelined into the snow. I grabbed it and jammed it back into my grip and got going again... I had to ski through all those people to get back into the front group. It took me 2k or so to get back up there. When I caught up, I was already going pretty hard so I figured I'd just keep the pressure on. I blew the front group up pretty quickly and it was down to three of us with my brother dangling a bit off the back. I slowed up a bit to give him a chance to get back on. I skied most the rest of the race with the Nordic Combined guys, who were going really well. I felt super comfortable and was looking for the best place to make some sort of move that would stick. I waited for my standard spot - a long gradual hill with essentially no recovery afterwards. I put the hammer down and left them, taking the win by a good 20 or 30 seconds in the last 2k.

It was a solid effort considering this week has been fairly unusual in terms of a lead up to competition. This is what my week looked like:

Mon: 4x10 min L3 w Bill Demong pm: 3x15min @ tempo on a trainer
Tue: 2.5 hr Classic pm: 1.25 hrs riding on rollers
Wed: 2.5 hrs on a trainer w 3x20 @ tempo pm: 1.5 hr skate
Thur: Ramp test, cycling followed by 2hrs of skating
Fri: 2 hrs skating w 3x3 min L3 pm: .75 hrs on rollers
Sat: Race 15k skate

Cycling has not hurt my fitness, though hard cycling workouts make my legs feel sluggish for ski races. As bigger ski races approach, I won't be able to do these types of workouts in the days before. Skiing is good for skiing and biking is good for biking...

The next couple weeks are a bit more of the same. Lots of training. My first big race will around the 25th of this month in Marquette, MI. The Noquemanon Marathon, a 50km classic race. I'm looking forward to that.

Happy Holidays!

One Race Down.

2009-12-20T20:16:00.000-08:00

This weekend was a good one. I finally put a bib on and got back to racing... And like most races, it was a lot of fun.

The race wasn't exactly a world cup but my teammate, Andrew Johnson, and I lined up and threw down for 10km at Soldier Hollow, the 2002 Olympic venue. The race series is called the Wasatch Citizen Series. It's always fun to come back and do a WCS race because its where I learned to race. My first ski race of all time was a WCS race. The local crowds are great and its always fun to ski with the people who I grew up idolizing.

The race itself was a lot of fun. I love mass start races of any kind and this was no different. From the start, AJ and I put the hammer down and were out on our own in a big hurry. We battled it out, though he led for the majority of the race. I skied behind him and like a rookie, skied all over the back of his skis. It was the first time I've classic skied with anyone this year and my timing and spacing were a bit off, but that's what early races are for. Towards the end of the race I started to think about how to try beat him. I figured he was looking for a late move so I decided to try to go a little before he would expect it. I dropped the hammer and got a little separation but it didn't last for too long before he was back on my heels. He nabbed me around the last corner and beat me to the line. It was a blast.

After the race we hung around for awards and talked it up with the local ski community. I spent some time talking with some of the young guns from the area about their plans and how things are going. I would love to see some more kids come out of this area and make it to the top.

After the awards I drove home and grabbed a couple hours of rest before getting on my bike in the garage for a 2x25 min interval workout at a tempo pace. Right now I am doing double duty as a cyclist and ski racer. And while the two sports are very different, the basic principles of training are similar. And the tools needed for success are exactly the same: namely, an extreme level of fitness.

I know that I need to get in two intensity sessions (intervals, races, etc) on skis and two on my bike per week in order to continue to improve in both sports. I also know that four days of intervals is too many. So I'm doing back-to-back interval days- that is two interval sessions in one day for two different sports. That way I have good periodization within weeks, hard days and easy days, as well as within 4 week blocks. Its not exactly a text book training plan but I'm not sure one even exists for a dual-sport athlete. I'm making it up as I go and that's exciting.

I will be around Park City for the holidays, training a ton in preparation for next month's races. The season hits hard come mid-January.

Below are some pictures from yesterday's race, taken by Ian Harvey of Toko. I am #331.

First time on snow. High Volume. and Readjusting.

2009-11-22T15:13:00.001-08:00

I have arrived in West Yellowstone and so has winter. I have been out skiing one time so far and the conditions were excellent for how little snow there is here. It is always so nice to get on snow again after the summer. Rollerskiing just can't compare to the real thing.

Today I was out for 3.5 hours of skating. I felt pretty good though my skis felt a bit long as always. I am still dealing with a pretty jacked up foot, after twisting my ankle last week while running. I feel as though time is starting to catch up with me as well, and by time I mean age, as my elbows got a bit sore from the different impulse of snow as opposed to asphalt. These minor ailments seem to be happening with greater frequency lately and I can't help but think it has something to do with the fact that I'm not 20 anymore. But I'm not 30 either, so I am confident that neither issue will hold me back from having a good week.

With recent news of our Olympic quotas being cut back from 10 men in the past, to just 4 this year and tighter than usual budget constraints thanks to the general state of the economy, I have had to readjust my goals for this season in order to give myself the greatest chance to come away with some measurable success. I entered this training year with the goal of making the Olympic team, everything else was secondary. Though given my luck last year with Giardia, I enter this year slightly behind points-wise and have had to come to grips with the fact that it is mathematically impossible for me to climb into the top 4 by the time the olympic selection happens. In the past I've been afforded the opportunity to travel to whereever i've seen fit. This season, funds have been clamped down and I have to pick and chose my way through the season in order to make it the whole year. After talking the situation over with teammates and sponsors, I have made the decision to aim for the races that I am best at - marathons. So while my peers here in Yellowstone are putting the final touches on their training before the first races, I am hitting the peak of my volume in order to come out of the New Year swinging in the long races.

Such is life. Especially life as an athlete. Goals are set and some of those goals are achieved. We never really know which ones and that is the beauty of competition. Some times goals are not reached and its importat to readjust in accordance. And while I am a bit jealous of my friends here who are still within grasp of Vancouver 2010, I am confident that the route I am taking is the one that give me the best chance of walking away from this season as a success.

Good luck to everyone here in Yellowstone this week. See you out of the trails.

Here is a look at what this week will look like for me training -wise:

Sun: 3.5hr skate
Mon: 4 hr skate, 1 hr no poles
Tues: 3x20min L3 int, 2.5 total. pm: 1.5 hr
Wed: 4 hr classic
Thur: 2.5 skate/ 1.5 classic
Fri: 3.5 skate
Sat: 6x10 min L3, 2.5 hrs total. 1 hr classic
Sun: 3 hr skate, 1 hr ride on trainer

Winter In The Air

2009-11-08T20:45:00.000-08:00

Its an exciting time of year. Transition is imminent as snow looms on the horizon, both figuratively and literally. The mountain tops are white here in Park City and it seems that, week after week, a new weather forecast promises snow. October snow in the mountains is a certainty, but there is a hardly a chance that it will stay for long. In November, all bets are off. The first day of winter can be any day.

I have been extremely busy lately between training, continuing to develop my new team, spending lots of time in the school before heading off to the West Yellowstone later this month, a few short trips to California to catch up with Crystal and the list goes on... But I am enjoying having plenty to do and I feel productive, which is huge for my general being.

Last week I got sidetracked a bit by a heavy dose of John Paul Sartre and Pink Floyd. I don't recommend the two together. The Dark Side of the Moon is dark and unless you feel the need for extreme introspection, steer clear. This week I'm pushing forward into a bit of Nietzsche and Kierkegaard but combating the effects with the ultra pop sounds of Julian Casablancas's new album.

Yesterday I had one of the best road rides of the entire summer. I was out for almost 6 hours and managed an extremely high level of energy the entire time. It was awesome, I was jamming. I really didn't want to stop but there wasn't any need to ride more. But I did lift some weights later in the evening just to keep the mojo rising. I'm not sure where this energy is coming from though I haven't been on my bike for almost a month now and it feels good to be back on two wheels. I might need to ride more.

School has been fun lately. Some classes are playing volleyball, some are ballroom dancing, some are learning about fitness training. I've been lending my expertise in the fitness training realm whenever possible. Trying to fit 30 kids with heart rate monitors is quite a task, I have enough trouble just trying to keep my own in working condition. On Friday I spent a good deal of time trying to relate the importance of staying within certain 'zones' while training and how each zone has a different effect. Later in the class we went out and ran 1.5 miles trying to stay within our aerobic zones. Some of the kids did great, others didn't get the memo and ran as fast as they could. Either way we were running, so it was a success. And pretty cool to see 12 year olds learning about heart rate based training.

I think Badminton is next for some classes, for others its swimming. I'm not sure what I have to offer to those sports but the message is usually the same - just try hard and have fun. That's what its all about anyways. And exactly what I'll be doing in the next few weeks.

Busy Week - 350.org Day of Action, Oct. 24

2009-10-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks have been extremely busy but also very rewarding and overall could not have been more positive.

Last weekend I went out to Berkeley, CA, for a somewhat dual-purposed trip. The obvious purpose was to visit my girlfriend, Crystal, and catch up on time spent together. The less obvious purpose for the trip was to attend a Graduate Portfolio Day at San Francisco Institute of Art.

I was a little nervous for the Portfolio Review, as I had never attended a formal one of that nature. A Graduate Portfolio Day is a place where hundreds of potential grad students are able to meet with representatives from nearly all of the top art schools from all over the country, in order to have their work reviewed and find out whether or not they may be accepted to a program.

I approached it like I would a ski race, taking control over all aspects of the situation that I could. I dove right in. I had a list of schools that I wanted to talk to, all highly respected and thus very competitive. The first two reviews were extremely positive. My work was well received and a very thoughtful dialogue was had. The third review was also positive, though I was expected to be able to talk much more thoroughly than I did about where my work fell within a historical context. Lacking a formal art education, I fell a bit short, but was praised for my conceptual risk taking and ability to convey the thought process behind the work. It was actually very nice to hear some critical feedback at that point.

I left feeling very good about what I've created and trusting my own voice and aesthetic much more than I did before. All in all, it could not have been much better of an experience.

After returning from California, it was hammer time in preparation for a Rollerski Race that my team, Steinbock Racing, was holding in conjunction with the 350.org day of action, on October 24. There were a million things that needed to be prepared and in addition, we also had some deadlines in regard to our team, including a race suit design that managed to eat up close to 48 hours of my life.

The event was held yesterday and was very successful. We managed to get close to 50 people out to compete and another 30 or so out just to be in the 350.org group photo. It was great and all those involved felt like they were part of something much bigger than a simple rollerski race. It felt good to be proactive on a larger level.

In school, the kids have been up to all sorts of things. This past week the 7th graders did a project to build cooperative learning skills in which they ducttaped one of their classmates to the wall. The idea was for the kids to break into groups, make a strategy on how to go about the task, then share their ideas with other groups and learn from each other before actually trying to do it. (see the two posts below this one for photos). Some of the groups were very successful in planning and thus were able to get one of their classmates to stick to the wall. It was pretty cool.

When not duct taping each other to the wall, we have been rollerblading. I've been showing the kids how to skate effectively and also perfecting my own slapshot in roller hockey. We've been having a blast.

group photo from our rollerski race, 350.org day of action.

Step two

2009-10-25T12:17:00.001-07:00

step two, the chair was pulled away and the truth was told... most groups didn't get anyone to stay up on the wall, but these guys did a great job of planning and executing.

Step one

2009-10-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

Step one: the kids would plan, share, plan more and then one student would stand on a chair while the others would tape him/her to the wall...

First snow day= first day of swimming

2009-10-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

I don't think we'll be on the ropes course today!

2009-10-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

High Ropes

2009-09-27T22:13:00.001-07:00

You want to follow me on Twitter? twitter.com/zsimeoni . I generally try to keep it civil, though i can't promise anything.

You can also follow my team, Steinbock Racing: twitter.com/steinbockracing - this account has a lot more training updates and will have race results this winter.

Fall is here and that means the kids at school are on the high ropes course... Snow in the forecast on Wednesday, not looking forward to rollerskiing in that!

Transition.

2009-09-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

Its been a busy couple of weeks since the Tour of Utah ended. Immediately after the race I flew up to Vancouver, BC for a couple days of fishing with my buddy Tony. It was a cool trip. I had never been to Vancouver Island before and it was gorgeous. We spent most of our time pulling salmon out of the pacific, which was pretty exciting aside from getting a bit sea sick at one point.

Upon my return from BC I had to catch up with a few weeks of work that had been neglected, some of which were a bit time sensitive which lead to several long nights. Once the business had been taken care of, I jet-setted off to Berkeley, CA to visit my special ladyfriend, Crystal, at her new home. Crystal was super busy with school work for the first few days that I was there so I borrowed a bike and tried to get lost in the East Bay. I cruised around most of Berkeley and into Oakland, getting a feel for what was going on. On the weekend we had a chance to go to a late-night art gallery stroll in Rockridge and visit the SFMOMA. We were fortunate enough to catch a Richard Avedon exhibit as well as a Georgia O'Keefe/Ansel Adams dual exhibit, all of which were awesome, especially the Avedon show.

While in California I also started running, in order to get my legs used to the impact again. I have to start with short runs around 30 minutes and build up. At first my legs were pretty sore but it only took a few days before I was up to over an hour. It was fun to explore foreign trails in the Berkeley Hills. I like not knowing where I am or where I am going, but just going.

I traveled home after six days away and it was time to start with the rollerskiing as well. Its a similar process to running for me. My elbows don't take the impact well right off the bat. I went out yesterday for my first skating workout with my teammate Andrew Johnson, he was doing intervals and I figured 'why not'. I was able to hang on, it wasn't the most comfortable thing I've ever experienced but far from the worst. I was a little off balance and my technique wasn't super tight but nothing was bad. Everything was close. And it won't be long until its there.

Sometimes doing things differently than they have been done before is the right choice, regardless of the outcome. I can't say that I will ski faster because of the bike racing I have done this season. But, I can't say I will be any slower either. What I can say is that I had a great time doing it and that I can't wait to race my bike again. Had I rollerskied all summer, I'm not sure my level of enthusiasm would be quite the same.

School has started again here in Park City. The kids have been learning how to play Ultimate Frisbee and Speedball right now and are anxious to get on the High Ropes course this coming week. For me, the next few weeks will be a very gradual build up of running and rollerskiing hours. I will start lifting weights this week as well. I have not stopped riding and I don't think I will. I am planning to ride a bit throughout the winter for easy recovery workouts and to keep my legs used to pedaling circles...

Onward. Until next time.

Post Tour of Utah Recap

2009-08-30T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well, they don't call it 'America's Toughest Stage Race' for nothing! The Tour of Utah is the real deal and so was this year's field. It was pretty awesome to be able to race against guys like Oscar Sevilla and Dave Zabriskie, considering that just this spring I was banging elbows with the local Cat 4's. I went into the race as prepared as I could be, given that I had never competed in an NRC race before and not totally knowing what I was in for.

The first race was a prologue, 2.8 miles long. It was a steady uphill drag to turnaround and a superfast return. I started hard, hoping to make some time on the way out and just hang on the way back. I felt like I had a decent race but finished mid-pack. I was about 25 seconds behind Zabriskie... Not terrible for a guy who doesn't own a TT bike but I was looking for more.

Day two was a tough one. I was looking for something big on the several long, steep climbs. From the start, my teammate Dave Clinger and I rode the front. It was no problem to hold position into the first climb. I felt awesome... and then I blew a tire. I got a new wheel quickly from the neutral support but the mechanic tweaked my brake pad when he pulled my flat off and it took an extra minute or so to readjust and get rolling again. Knowing the course, I realized that if I didn't get back on the pack by the top of the first climb my race was over. I'd have to ride 60 miles solo... So I killed myself to rejoin, which meant riding a 35 minute climb roughly 90 seconds faster than an NRC pack.... Not an ideal situation... But I did make it back to the group and settled in for the next hour of rolling terrain. I was pretty blown but still hoping my legs would come back around. They didn't. When we hit the final climb I was cooked, it was all I could do to just pedal up the hill. I lost 20 minutes on the peloton. Rough start but I knew I was riding well.

Day two was a 50 mile flat drag around Utah Lake and a 20 mile climb to the top of the Wasatch Range, 5300 feet later! Same story as day two. I rode near the front, held my position fairly well until we got close to the climb. The OUCH train came through and drilled it at the front before I could get the position I wanted and I struggled to get into the top 20. As we hit the base of the climb, the pack strung out immediately. I was too far back and didn't have a chance. I settled into a pace that I could hold for the next hour and a half of uphill and started picking people off. I rode my way up into the 60's (of 160 riders) by the finish. It wasn't bad but it could have been a lot better if I had moved up earlier... Lesson learned. No messing around in an NRC pack.

Day three was a flat 12 mile Time Trial. It was a blast. It was held on a race car track. The pavement was like marble flooring and the corners were smoother than anything I've ever ridden. I rode hard but generally felt flat. My legs didn't have it to get up to 30mph without really hurting and as I neared the finish, I couldn't speed up. I ended in 90th. Not a good TT for me but still one of the most fun I've ever ridden (I've only done 5 of them).

Day four was the queen stage. It was really hot, 100+ degrees and the course was brutal. 99 miles and over 10,000 ft of climbing. The first bit was pretty aggressive as there were a lot of attacks at the front. Eventually the pack sat up and a break went. I moved up early to get a shot at the lead pack over the first major climb (~1hr long @ 10% grade). I got there right where I wanted to be. I hammered but faded at a critical spot and lost about 20 feet to the lead group. When we got to where the road flattens out a bit, I was solo and the leaders left me in the dust. I crested the climb within a minute of the front and was eaten up by the second group. Over the next couple of minor climbs I just sat in and on the last major climb of the day (40 minutes @ 12% grade) I drilled it. I rode great and was putting out some good power for the tail end of a 4.5 hour race. I reeled in a lot of blown riders and dropped everyone in the second group. I finished up in 44th place and was fairly pleased with the day.

The last day was the crit. I underestimated it. I thought I would just ride it like I've ridden every other crit this summer. Not so. Not in an NRC race. The pace is so fast and the pack is so tight that positioning is everything... It was a long and brutal day and I found myself near the back of the pack more often than I would have liked. I ended in 101st. It wasn't a good race but I survived and learned more in that 90 minutes than I've learned in any race this year. I can't wait to get another crack at an NRC crit.

So I finished up dead center of the pack on GC, 80th place of 160 starters. I was looking for better and had I not flatted on the first stage, things would have been a bit different. Overall, it was an awesome experience. As August comes to an end, all I want to do is figure out how to ride my bike faster... but as a professional nordic skier, it is time to figure out where my upper body has gone. The snow will fall three months from now and I intend on being ready...

Tour of Utah

2009-08-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Well the last couple weeks have been fairly straight forward, lots of riding. LOTS of riding. There is only one way to prepare for the 'hardest stage race in America' and that's by riding the hardest stages of the hardest stage race in America.

The Tour of Utah is a 6 day race. The first is a very short and fast prologue time trial. Day two is a road race with two major climbs and two minor climbs. Day three is a fairly flat start and a 20 mile uphill finish at the high point of the Wasatch Range on Mt Nebo. Day four is a flat time trial at the Miller Motorpark. Day 5 is an epic climb with 4 major climbs and two climbs that are beyond major, they are huge and very very steep. The last day is a 90 minute crit in downtown Salt Lake City.

When I returned from my last trip I decided to take a real rest week. I took 3 of the 7 days off and the rest of the week did no more than 2 hr long rides. It felt great and it was much needed after the last two months.

Recovered, it was time to get back to work. I threw down back to back 28 hour weeks with intensity every other day. I did nearly all of my hard work uphill. I think I've hit every major climb within 100 miles at least a couple of times now. Things have really been coming together and I feel like I am in the best riding shape I've been in all year, good timing.

Recovery has been extremely important these last couple weeks as I need to come back from this block very quickly. I've done my best to get my legs into some cold water after every workout. Its not my favorite thing in the world but it seems to be helping a lot. I've also been practically living in a pair of compression socks. I can't decide it they do anything or not, but hey, I'll give them a go.

These last couple of days have been a bit easier. I was pretty low on energy on Tuesday and Wednesday and I started to wonder if I had gone too deep but on Thursday it all started to come back together. I've been feeling better and better every day now. By Tuesday I should be ready to rock and that is the day of the prologue.

Following the Tour of Utah I'm planning on taking a bit of a break from training. I will have done nearly 40 races this summer and I don't want to fade midway through the winter. My special ladyfriend, Crystal is headed to California next Thursday to begin a Masters program at UC-Berkeley and I may head out there for a few days to help her get set up and explore the East Bay a bit more.

After that its time to get on the rollerskis and relearn how to use my arms. Should be interesting given that my triceps have migrated south for the summer.

More after the ToU. You can follow results on tourofutah.com.

Many more crits, one more cat and another crash.

2009-08-03T06:58:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a good road trip and many successful races. I headed out mid-last month to Boise for a big NRC race called Boise Twilight Criterium. Its a downtown, late night kind of thing that thousands of people come to watch. Its a lot of fun to race in front of that many people... It was a hot weekend in Boise and when I hit the pavement for the start of my race, it was a balmy 108 degrees.

As with any crit, we went in circles a bunch of times. A lot of attacks went off but there was a strong team from Salt Lake in the mix that pulled everything back. I was keying off them, hoping to get in a move with one of their guys but they wanted to bring it down to a field sprint... and so we did... I lined it up as well as I could, fighting my way up to 4th wheel into the second to last corner. Into the last corner the guy right in front of my slowed up and I missed the jump ahead of him and lost the chance to win. I went fast down the finish and held on for 4th, which wasn't stellar but it was a deep field and it did get me a few more upgrade points.

The next day was the ID State Criterium Championship. It was in a far off neighborhood that looked like the set from The Truman Show, about 20 miles from Boise. It was another super flat course but this one didn't have squared off corners like the downtown crit. It was back and forth the whole way and somehow it made a circle. It was a nice change. There were a few pros in the field left over from the day before and when we started I was trying to time attacks to get into a move with a couple of them. Bingo. It worked. We split the field down to 7 off the front and lapped the rest of the field. From there it was a bit of a drag race. No one could get away until a crash near the end of the race and one rider split off the front to eventually win. I had another good sprint but ran out of real estate before I could pass 2nd place, I finished 3rd... More upgrade points, mission semi accomplished.

From Boise I headed back to Bellevue, ID, to hang with my special ladyfriend's parents for a few days. I did some training in the Sun Valley area and caught up with my coach who lives there as well. It was a nice couple of days. Crystal joined me mid-week and we drove out to Bend, Oregon for the Cascade Classic Stage Race.

It was nice to go back to Bend in the summer. I used to go to a ski camp there every June but have not for several years. Its a fun town.

The first race was a road race with a tough uphill finish. I liked my odds and wanted to get to the bottom of the climb at the front. Mid way through the race there were a lot of attacks going off and I was doing my best to cover everything I could. Unfortunately, one move I didn't make it into went away. That was that. The pack was lethargic and no one wanted to chase hard. I made a few efforts to bridge up to them solo but couldn't get away. I sat in near the front, out of the wind until the bottom of the hill and hit it hard. I got away from all but one guy right away and he and I pushed it up and over the top and I out sprinted him for 8th. First guy out of the pack, but 2:45 down to 1st place. Not an ideal start to a stage race.

The next day was a Time Trial. Not having my own bike I am always having to get used to different positions on different peoples bikes. The one I borrowed for Cascade was not my favorite. I didn't feel like I was pulling up with my legs very well and I'm not sure why. But that's why one should have his one TT bike. I rode pretty well on the way up but coming down I didn't feel like I was moving the way I should. It was really fast coming back down and I could have pushed a bigger front chainring. I chose a 55x11 but a 56x11 would have been ideal. I landed in 6th, 20 seconds out of 1st. That marked my first ever defeat in a TT. I wanted to keep that streak going.

That evening was a crit, another downtown one, lots of people, 4 corners and one really weird sketchy corner. I rode at the front of the 120 man field, staying out of trouble and monitoring what was going on. I didn't want to miss another break. Right away there were some attacks that were slow to be brought back and when a group of 7 went up the road, I sensed that it was a good move to be part of. I hit the field hard and bridged up with one rider on my wheel. When we got to the break, the guy who I brought up with me slipped in in front of me and proceeded to take the next two corners as hard as possible for no apparent reason. I couldn't believe he made it out of the first corner and then he went down on the second. I was 2 inches off of his wheel at 35 mph, bad place to be. I locked up my rear wheel and skidded out. I landed hard on my hip and hand, same side I crashed on a month ago. OUCH. But my bike was fine and I was mostly fine, just bleeding, and hardly clothed as my skin suit had a huge hole in the side.

I took my free lap in the pit and jumped back into the break. We held on to a 26 second lead an I just got nipped at the line for the win, 2nd was ok - all things considered.

The last day was a circuit race. 4 laps of the Elite Nationals Road Course. It was really tough and lots of up and down but nothing very sustained. I just rode at the front, staying out of trouble and making the split anytime the field fell apart. The finish was very fast and I just kept myself around 8th. Out of the wind and close enough to attack. As we rounded the last corner i moved a few places up and launched my sprint, passing another handful of riders and made it on the last step of the podium in 3rd. Two days in a row on the podium in a 120 man field, I was pretty happy about that. I picked up another spot on GC to finish 7th - the race was more or less over after the breakaway succeeded that first day.

I did some math on my upgrade points and I had my 30 upgrade points, +/-2. It was up to how they decided to score the circuit race (long story). So I submitted and a few hours later I got word that I was a CAT 1! 4 months and 4 upgrades. And now I am clear to race the Tour of Utah later this month.

So now I am back in Utah, via a few more days in Bellevue, ID on our return from Oregon. I took the majority of the last week off and today is the first day of my last cycling training block. Lots of uphills to be ridden in the next 10 days and not a lot of eating. I need to cut back a couple more lbs and get ready to fly. The Tour of Utah is a Pro/1 only NRC race, and the first of its kind for me. I'm not planning on being unprepared.

More to come soon.

Ups and Downs of Crit Racing.

2009-07-06T04:31:00.000-07:00

It didn't take too long to recover from the cold that held me up at the High Uintas Classic. I was able to get a fair amount of super easy distance training in while I was recovering in the days after getting sick and surprisingly came out of it quickly enough to race the following weekend in Pocatello, ID.

The race in Pocatello was a circuit race with 4 miles of gradual climbing and about 1 mile of fairly steep climbing, then back down. We did it 9 times. I felt a little off the first couple laps but the pace was quite high. I settled in and the field settled down a bit. As the laps went on I got stronger and stronger. Late in the race I felt like there weren't many people climbing faster then me, though I didn't really feel like I was firing on all cylinders after such an easy training week. A small break got off the front with 3 or so laps to go. Knowing that I had to remain in the top 7 to get any upgrade points, I pushed it hard at the front to chase down any further attacks and had to burn up my legs a bit towards the end of the race. On the final climb I came out 3rd of the field sprint which was a little disappointing. 7th place was not exactly what I was looking for, but i did get a couple points.

This past week I trained quite hard to get back some of the fitness I lost being sick. I did a couple 5-6 hour rides with some steady tempo (sub threshold) riding uphill and this last Tuesday I went down to our Tuesday night world championships in Salt Lake, a 55 minute criterium in Salt Lake City.

My goal at the Tues Night Worlds was to bury my legs early and hang on, then bury them some more. I rode from my house in Park City, three hours down to the race to begin with. Then in the race I attacked often and early. My legs were hurting pretty bad after 20 minutes, so I sat in until they recovered just enough to attack again and I did. Over and over. It was a good effort until two laps to go. I went into a fast chicane at 30+ mph and flatted my front tire. The tire rolled and before I had any indication of what was going on, I was sliding across the pavement on my right leg. OUCH. Luckily I was fine, save for some major road rash on my hip and shin... However, my rear derailleur was not shifting anymore.

I still felt ok and had planned on riding another 1.5 hours up the hill towards Park City after the race, so I stayed with the plan after cleaning my leg out a bit. With my derailleur not shifting, I had to grind it out in my smallest chain ring. Probably not the worst thing for my power but I would have rather my bike still worked.

The next day I took my bike into Colesport, a local shop who sponsors my cycling team. As I took my bike off my rack, I noticed a crack in the top tube of my bike. After a little more investigation I realized that my frame was toast, totally broken. Bummer. As of today I still don't know what the status of that frame is or what I'll be riding in a week. Not exactly ideal but I know it will get sorted out.

Luckily one of my teammates was headed out of town for the July 4th weekend and I borrowed his bike under the premise that I keep it off the pavement. My girlfriend, Crystal, and I made the trip to her hometown of Hailey, ID (near Sun Valley) for a criterium. Another teammate joined me.

The start of the race was really aggressive and I noticed right away that the field was lethargic in pulling back one of the stronger riders in the field. After maybe 5 minutes we finally pulled him back (him: Reid Pletcher from California Giant) as soon as he was back in the field I attacked hard off the front. I was out on my own pushing 30 mph to stay out front for almost 2 laps until another known strongman (Kai Applequist from Bob's Cycling) bridged up to me. He and I worked very well together, alternating laps for the next 15-20 minutes until we lapped the field. Once we caught back to the field we sat back in. My teammate Tanner did an awesome job of helping chase down attacks and keep the pace high at the front towards the end. With a few laps to go Kai attacked me and spent a lap alone off the front. I didn't panic and Tanner managed to keep him within just a few seconds. At 1 lap to go, a few people surged and I countered off of their move right as we caught up to Kai. I held on for 3/4 of a lap to take the win by 3 bike lengths over second. Tanner rode great to finish 3rd after helping me out.

It was a good day. My first Pro/1/2 win only a few months after upgrading from a Cat 5. I'm still on the hunt for more points to get my Cat 1 upgrade and ride in the Tour of Utah. The next weekend is likely going to be an off weekend from racing, so I'm planning to put in some serious miles. I'd like to take another jump in fitness before tackling the next block of races.

Upgrade.

2009-06-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

Its been a few weeks since my last update. A lot has happened since then...

So I did go up to Oregon for the Mt Hood Classic. It was pretty cool, I have never been there before. I was fired up to race and grab some points to upgrade to a Cat 2 ASAP. The first race was a 60 mile circuit race. 2.5 laps, a steady but progressively steeper climb for 9 miles or so, and a 6 mile decent. The race did two complete laps and then finished at the top of the climb...

I sat in for the first two laps, watching other racers. I didn't know anyone in the field so I was paying attention and trying to figure out who was strong. Somewhere one guy got off the front, no one seemed to see him go away. The race official told us he had 3:45 on us with 10 miles to go. At 5k to go he had 1:35. With 3k left I attacked hard off the front and went alone trying to catch that guy. I almost did but wound up 3 seconds short, but did finish in 2nd place. I didn't make a lot of time on any of the 'fast' guys but it certainly didn't hurt my confidence.

Next day was the TT. I pushed hard on my pedals and went harder and harder through the race. Pretty simple plan really. It worked and I won by a large margin. I went into the 3rd day with a 50 second time bonus... Not bad for a guy racing on borrowed TT equipment and almost no practice.

The 3rd day was the road race with a hard uphill finish, 90 miles long. Wearing yellow with no teammates, in an Oregon race. I'm from Utah. I knew it was going to be hard... I covered attacks alone for the first 50 miles or so. It seemed like no problem to control but I was looking forward to the hills at the end. Many attacks tried but none got away but one, and that one happened to have the 4th place guy in it. They were 4 minutes up the road when we found out... I had to decide to try to catch him or not, no one would help and my legs were too tired to put out a good attack of my own. I put my head down and drove the main field of 60 down to a crew of 8 for 10 miles uphill. When we caught the break, the race started. I hung for 2 miles but with 3mi to go, I died in the worst way. I lost a ton of time to the winners (4 min) but was proud of what I did. Sometimes you have to go for it. It generally feels really good when you do, regardless of the outcome.

Going into day 4 I was burning. I wanted to make sure to leave my mark on the race. But I was not about to go do a bunch of work for all the guys who didn't do anything for me the day before. So I sat in the whole way, right around 5th wheel. With one lap to go, there was a solo break off the front 20 seconds up. I waited for a lull and when it came I jumped. I crushed it for half a lap and put a good 5 seconds on the field and brought back all but a few seconds on the eventual winner. It felt good to succeed tactically after the day before.

So I got PLENTY of points to upgrade and finally (it has only been 2 months i guess) race with my team in the Pro/1/2 field.

So back to Utah and the State Road Championships. 88 miles. My job was to cover every move possible and do zero work when in a break. So thats what I did all day. All day. It sucks to be the guy in a good move who doesn't want to work, but that was the name of the game that day. With a lap to go, 16 miles, the whole race was together. We wanted to keep our guy, Dave Clinger, at the front when we got to the one steep climb on the course. My teammate and I drilled it at the front for a few miles to try to keep any attacks from happening. When we approached the hill I thought I was toast but that wasnt the case at all. I managed to make the first group over the hill without any problem. I pulled my guys back up to the front and led Dave out in the sprint, which means I was winning the race with 200 meters to go... I ended up finishing 11th, Dave got 2nd... Not a bad showing for my first go with that field.

This weekend was the High Uintas Classic. A good one for me, since it has a huge climb that peaks at 10,500 ft. On Friday I felt a little rough but thought it might be allergies, so I brushed it off. I started on Saturday hoping that I'd feel ready to go but not long into the race, I got myself into a good break and immediately felt my body was off. I knew I was getting sick right away. I pulled the plug and sailed back to the main field for a few minutes before rolling off the back and just spinning it out until I found a ride home.

Today, Sunday, I woke up a sick kid. Just an upper respiratory thing but that is a problem considering that respiration is a big part of how I make a living. Its a bummer but thats how it goes. Just a little bad luck. So I'll be taking a few days off and hoping it comes back around later this week. I want to race again soon. I'm having way to much fun to sit on the sideline.

two weekends. two races each.

2009-05-24T23:12:00.000-07:00

So last weekend was the Bear Lake Classic in Northern Utah. It was a race I've never done before, in fact I had never even been to Bear Lake. I traveled up on Friday in my dad's Eurovan, which happens to be the best road trip car ever. It is also as comfortable to sleep in as most hotel rooms which makes it pretty convenient. On Friday I did a fairly typical pre-race routine, which is 3x3 min of very controlled intensity and another 3-5 accelerations. I felt good all around and was really starting to feel comfortable sprinting on a bike.

The road race was a pretty long one, 104 miles, which equated to two laps around the lake. It was fairly flat, save for some punchy, rolling hills on the backside. The first lap was more or less a parade. A break went off the front early all of the bigger teams in our field were represented. Somewhere near the end of the lap one of the riders from one of the teams shot out the back of the break. Once we caught him, the race was on. With three guys up the road still myself and a handful of the stronger riders in the field organized up front and drove the pace at close to 30 mph for 45 minutes. It didn't take long to reel the break in. Immediately the attacks started flying. I was feeling super aggressive that day and had attacked a number of times while the pace was high but never was able to get much of a separation. I settled in for another half an hour while we rode through the rolling section of the course. People seemed to ready for attacks there, but as soon as it was over, i was ready. i pounced another bunch of times with limited success before finally another rider got away and i bridged up to him. he was on one of the big teams so his crew did a good job of squandering any big pushes to catch us. The next 15 miles were super tough, into the wind and just a couple of guys hammering it out to stay away from the masses. It was close but we did stay away. I drove the break a little too much and got outsprinted by the passengers for 3rd. In hindsight I should have attacked them at the end but it didn't occur to me at the time. i've only been doing this a few months but the learning curve is steep.

the second day i was asked to be part of our pro/1/2 team time trial. my other teammates included a former pro who raced for US postal and festina not long ago, another National caliber time trialist and two other super talented young guns. and me racing on a borrowed time trial bike. I didn't know what to expect of a TTT but it didn't take long to figure out that pure agony was the name of the game. everyone took short turns at the front killing themselves and tucked back in to almost recover and do it again.... for 50 miles. i think it was the hardest race i've ever done, skis or bike, whatever. it was HARD. i was going so hard that i couldn't take a drink from my waterbottle or eat any of the gels that i brought. in the end it was worth it because we won, only by 9 seconds after an hour and forty minutes of crushing ourselves. i think it worked out to be a 31.25 mph average. HARD. REALLY HARD.

This weekend was a classic SLC criterium called the Sugarhouse Crit. Its super fast and easy to sit in, which is not good for me. I like to hammer at the front and drop everyone i can. that is just not possible at sugarhouse without a team, and i am without team for atleast a couple more weeks until i get another upgrade. So it was a 50 minute race. i spent the first 25 minutes chasing down attacks on my own. it wasn't long before i was getting tired, the average pace was 28 mph, so chasing off the front of that took its toll. I tried a few moves on my own but couldn't get anyone to pull through to keep it rolling. for the last 10 minutes i sat in and tried to set myself up for a sprint. on the last lap i found myself on the front, which was bad. I soft pedaled for half of the lap hoping someone would pass me but it didn't happen until the last mile. I tried to stay in around 5th wheel but got swarmed and had to sprint from close to 20th (~60 person field) i found an open lane and was coming up hot but the door closed before i could ride through it, finishing somewhere between 5-10. i was a little disappointed to let an opportunity like that slip by but thats how it goes on a fast flat course with no teammates. i did what i could. next time i will sit in until the last possible second.

Yesterday was the a different kind of crit. one with hills and a fast technical downhill. the field was a bit smaller, being memorial day weekend and a sunday in utah, but many of the top riders did show up. another 50 minute race, i attacked early and often. it wasn't long before it was a 4 man group. i felt comfortable attacking on the climb as everyone had to work to stay on. I didn't want anyone getting a jump on me at the end with fresh legs. Earlier in the week I dialed the downhill in and found a way down that i didn't have to brake. I didn't ride that line until the last lap. I attacked going up the hill and got a few feet of separation but sent it on the downhill and pulled out a good sized gap that no one could follow. that was that and i won. i was psyched. our team managed a win in the men's 4s, mens 3s, men 1/2 and men masters 45+. it was a good one for us.

i'm not sure whether or not i'll race next weekend. i'm going to go up to a big national level race in Oregon called the Mt Hood Classic. It will be a 4 day stage race: 90 mile road race, 40k time trial, 90 mile road race, criterium. If things go well it will be my last race before joining my team in the pro/1/2 field. i'm pretty excited about that.

More Racing and Some Not Racing.

2009-05-11T07:49:00.000-07:00

Well not too much has been going on the past two weeks. Lots of riding and one race in pouring rain, but other than that not much happening.

Two weekends ago was the Antelope Island Classic Road Race. Antelope Island is an island on the Great Salt Lake. We started on the causeway and rode out across the long landbridge to the island and completed 6 or 7 laps on a 6 mile circuit and finished on a 9 mile out and back (18 total). The weather was not ideal. It was raining as hard as I've ever seen it rain in Salt Lake and the wind never stops on Antelope Island.

The first race in a new category for me, I didn't really know who the strong guys were. I just rode at the front and watched for moves. I chased down a lot of breaks that were a little unnecessary but thats how it is when you don't know anyone. The course was very punchy and so the pace was also. I had no problem pushing the pace on the uphills but with an 18 mile, ultra flat finish stretch there was no incentive to try to leave the group. I sat tight and kept my nose out of the wind. As we approached the finish 5 of us broke of the front by a small margin. The last 500m was a steep uphill and I sat back hoping to pounce right before the line. I wound up on the back of what I thought was a good wheel to follow but he faded just as another rider jumped. I missed the move by a second or two and ended up 5th several inches out of 1st. Sprints on a bike are still a little hit and miss for me, but it gets better every week.

That day and also the week before I felt a little flat. I wasn't recovering as well as usual and I didn't have my normal edge during the race, especially at the end. Looking back on what I had done for the four weeks prior, there had been no rest. Four weekends of racing, 7 individual events and weekly hours hovering around 20. I just needed a rest.

On that note I decided to skip this weekends Salt Lake Downtown Criterium. I just wanted a low pressure recovery week to unwind a bit. I took a few days off last week and a couple more days easy. This past weekend I put some big rides in, 4.5 hrs on Saturday and 5.5 hrs yesterday, in preparation for next weekend's Bear Lake Classic, a 102 Mile Road Race on Saturday. Sunday is a team time trial, 5 man team, 50 miles long. It should be a hard weekend and I want to be ready. The week after next, Memorial Day weekend, is a criterium at a popular park in Salt Lake City on Saturday and a very tough circuit race in Park City on Sunday.

Lots of riding to come and so much more racing as well.

My community service has been delayed a bit in PC right now by a Swine Flu outbreak. The schools closed down for a week but are supposed to open anyday. The sooner the better, I've got some kids to hang out with before school ends in June.

the wheel in the sky keeps on turning.

2009-04-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

The weather has been pretty up and down here in PC. We are on about a 5 day cycle, alternating between February and July. Today snow is falling, three days ago it was 75 degrees. Regardless of the weather, motivation has been high to get out and turn the pedals. Bike racing is a lot of fun. The days and races are anything but routine, it is all so new and exciting. Competing with fresh eyes and mind is really refreshing.

Last weekend was an off weekend, no races on the calendar. Myself and four other teammates made the trek to Moab for some warmer weather and a change of scenery. The first day we road through Canyonlands out to Dead Horse Point. The ride out was mellow and enjoyable. After a short break to check out DHP we headed home, straight into the wind. Wind means paceline and paceline seems to, more often than not, mean the hammer is about to fall. and it did. We crushed the ride back for probably 40 minutes. I don't think any of us could have ridden any faster. fortunately i flatted, one of the few times in my life i will be 'fortunate' to flat. we had to stop to change tubes quickly and that meant an end to hammering. we sailed in the last 5 miles to the car, total time around 3 hours. it was awesome to ride with friends in such a sweet place.

the next day we road the famed la sal loop, an epic climb that takes close to an hour and a half to the top. again, the hammer fell when we hit the uphill. it was brutal but at the top, the sights were worth it. the snow on the mountain tops constrasting with the red sandstone of canyonlands below is really something. from the top of the loop there is a long fast decent to castle valley. the ride out from castle valley is long and rolling, and into the wind. wind=paceline=hammer down. another 45 minutes of crushing it and we were all toast but the day was still young. we rode a few short spurs out of moab and headed home for a near 5 hour ride.

the last day we started out with a few spurs and some light spinning, we met the rest of our group at the entry to Arches National Park and road in. more wind, more paceline, more hammer falling. and on a climb out of the park, the joy ride turned into a full on race. i wasn't too psyched about it but it was a good push to get the group back together and spin back home. another 5 hour day in the books.

I was super tired after the weekend so i took a couple days easy. tuesday was two rides totalling 4 hours but easy the whole time with a few accelerations. wednesday i did some uphill intervals at threshold to get my legs ready for the weekends race. i took thursday off and friday a few intervals with world wide superstar, nordic combined world champion and now cat 1 road racer, bill demong. we hammered for about 12 minutes in total to open all systems up.

Saturday, yesterday was the East Canyon Road Race. a 60 mile race for everyone. its basically 45 miles of riding to get to the where the race really happens. then a 15 minute uphill grind, a 10 minute flat in the wind and brutal 300m steep uphill sprint finish.

i felt really comfortable in the pack this time. i just chilled the whole time. i had to bring back a few breaks but it didn't require much effort, but it was neccessary to make sure we hit the big hill together. when we got there, i moved up the side quickly. got to the front and started the click down one and spin, cycle. by that, i mean i shift down one gear (harder) and work up to the point where i can spin it, spin for 10 seconds and drop one more. its a good way to build speed up a hill and not over amp it. the changing cadence is also nice on the legs. after about 30 seconds of work, i had the field down to 7 and after another 30 it was 3 of us. i had it in me to go away from the last two but with a 10 minute, wide open flat afterwards, there wasn't much incentive. at that point i just dragged us up the hill, building time over the pack and keeping the other two on my wheel. when we hit the flats we started a good paceline and kept the speed high past the lake. by the time we got to the uphill, i could tell the other two were done. i slapped it into the big ring and let it all out. i crushed myself. i haven't hurt like that in a while but it was worth the win.

this week: more riding. next weekend: more racing. rinse and repeat as neccessary.

below are some pics from moab that i took with an old school 35mm film camera and a couple from the race that my buddy Jeremy took.

note the grin on my brother. I was not grinning.
leading the charge uphill.

la sal loop road, top of the climb.
canyonlands.

team.

Tour of the Depot (Stage Race in Tooele, UT)

2009-04-13T06:43:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I did my first ever stage race on a road bike. It was pretty exciting to give it a try and I was really looking forward to the time trial. Until this weekend I had never even ridden a time trial bike but I was anxious to give it a try.

I was lucky enough to borrow a bike from a friend that fit me pretty well. I approached the race like a ski race, pacing and all. It only took a few minutes (like two) before I caught the guy 30 seconds ahead of me, another minute or two and I passed the guy who started 1 minute ahead of me and that trend continued. I passed 5 people over the 9 mile course and finished with plenty of power left. I really had no idea how i would stack up but I felt good about the effort. It turned out to be a decent one, I won the cat 4 race by a healthy 30 second margin and would have finished mid-pack in the 1/2's. I was satisfied and now I can't wait to go train a bit on a TT bike and try to do even better.

The second stage was a circuit race, 5 laps of a 5 mile course. The finish was a very fast (45+mph) gradual downhill, not exactly my strong point but I was ready to go. My first goal was to not concede any time in the overall, second goal was to win. I road conservatively for a few laps and figured out who the faster guys in the field were. Towards the end I put myself into good position to launch a sprint. As we came near my instinct told me to go and i went, i took off from the front with about 200m to go, only to realize that I had timed it wrong again and was passed by a few racers in the last 100m. Timing a sprint on a bike is much different than a ski race, it really takes patients, and after two botched sprints in 7 days (one earlier at the RMR Criterium on Tuesday) I vowed to not do that again... I maintained a 25 second lead in the GC going into Sunday.

Sunday was a 54 mile road race. It was pretty uneventful aside from the few racers close to me in the GC, who all happened to have teammates, trying to pin me in the corner and attack off the front. Not of them worked out so it came down to a field sprint. I sat patiently at the front and waited until 100m this time. When I when for it I was gone but there was one guy who came from the far side of the field with a lot of speed and about 40 lbs on me, good for another downhill finish. He nipped me at the line but I tied down second and grabbed the overall.

It was a great weekend and I am psyched to be able to race with the Cole Sport team. Another few months of racing and I should be a Cat 2, at which point I will actually be able to race WITH the team in the same races. I'm really looking forward to that.

Lost in the Vortex.

2009-04-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what happened last weekend but in terms of this blog, nothing happened. I totally forgot to create a post. I suppose it could have had something to do with the fact that I was probably lost somewhere in San Francisco while I should have been posting something here. Regardless, sorry to those of you who follow this blog about my tardiness.

So its been a few weeks since I last raced. I've been hanging in Park City, catching up one some design projects and just generally relaxing. We had a few weeks of awesome weather with temperatures near 70 degrees. I got out on my new bike a handful of times and also did some great spring skiing at Park City Mtn Resort. This past week has been epic in regards to snowfall. Something like 140 inches have fallen in Big Cottonwood Canyon in 7 days. Wild for this time of year.

Last weekend my ladyfriend, Crystal, and I traveled to San Francisco to check out the bay area. Crystal was accepted to a graduate program at UC Berkeley and having never visited we wanted to see what it was all about. It was an awesome place. Each neighborhood seemed to have a completely different feel and charm from the next. On Monday Crystal attended an open house at UCB and I took the day to visit a few art schools that I am interested in attending at somepoint in the future. Similar to the area as a whole, each school was much different from one and other and all have their various strengths.

After returning on Tuesday I took a few days to do some more work and get ready to start training again. I got out on my bike twice during the week and was hoping for a few more but its tough to hit the road when there is six inches of snow on the ground. The writing was on the wall and if i wanted to ride it would have to be on the rollers. The first day on rollers in some time was definitely not a relaxing experience. Its tough to feel comfortable when you are constantly worried about falling over or riding off the machine. Today was day two and it was much more relaxing.

I'm planning on riding everyday this next week. I'll probably throw a few short runs in there and as well as a day in the gym. Tuesday will be a training race called the RMR Criterium in Salt Lake, also known as the Tuesday night world championship because of how serious the riders are. Next weekend may be my first real race of the season if my legs are feeling ready. Its a short stage race in Tooele, just outside of Salt Lake. It should be interesting and I am looking forward to it. So far the weather looks like it is going to cooperate. It would be nice to train outdoors again.

Congratulations to David and Amory and welcome Thea to the ITA roster. Exciting news indeed.

Below are a few photos I took of a local stadium in the snow, spring is near.

Engadin and Back.

2009-03-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Park City after a fantastic trip to Switzerland.

After leaving Whistler, my buddy Tony and I flew to Zurich and drove up to Samedan. The jet lag was minimal at first and I felt great for the initial days abroad. We got a couple great skis in on the Marathon course and revisited the famed Roseg Valley, a 10k double pole up to an unbelievably cool glacier. Unfortunately this year it was snowy almost the entire time we were there so the glacier wasn't much more than a mass of white snow instead of the blue ice that makes it so spectacular.

On the third day over there I crashed a bit, the lag caught up with me. I took a day and a half off and focused on recovery. I skipped a planned interval workout and did some intervals to open up the day before the race. I had no idea how i would feel on race day but i went into it preparing to fight for the win. I showed up early in the morning and tested skis with the Rossignol international wax team. They gave me unbelievably good boards to race on and warmed up a bit longer than usual given that i had rested so much the days leading into the race.

When the race started i was super cool. i was totally comfortable in the pack and moved my way right up to the front without any effort. i think it was probably a bit too easy because around the 6k mark i got tangled with one of the italians (thank you bruno) and hit the deck. my poles and ski got run over them and one of each broke in the mess. My ski wasn't totally hosed but i was with only one pole. i got up and decided that the best thing to do was to get back in the lead pack and hope for a pole soon. I skied back to the front with one pole and to my surprise it wasn't too bad to hang in there until we went down hill. for some reason i couldnt hold my spot on the gradual downs and lost a few spots right before i got a pole, which came from a neutral pole station run by morons. it took way longer than it needed to get the pole and by the time i was back at it i was 200 people behind the front group. knowing that i had to be back at the front by the 25k point, i put my head down and skied as hard as i could. i made good time on the group but by the time we got out into the wind (25k) i was not quite in contact and i faded hard. i pushed the chase pack as long as i could and did make a dent but we just couldn't close, as no one else had the legs to help out. from there i died into the depthts of the result list. thats how it goes but i wasn't there to fight for 30th, i was there to fight to win. and thats what i tried to do.

The trip overall was great. we were joined by a few friends from xc oregon and got to spend some time hanging out with them. this trip was also made more special by the my girlfriend crystal coming over to experience st moritz and the engadin ski race. we had a fantastic time and could not have asked for anything more or anything better.

after making it home, i am ready for the season to be over. it has been a dismal one in my eyes with very few successes. i am ready to end this one and begin preparing for the next. i finally feel healthy and i want to get back to the top.

i may yet ski one more race, the gold rush, next weekend. i am waiting to hear if my team will provide support. if not, i'll likely begin a short rest period now before getting back at it.

this spring my plans include racing with a local road cycling team. i have my work cut out to get a few upgrades early on and am looking forward to racing in a sport where i can be at least somewhat anonymous. it should be interesting and i like the idea of racing more through the off season to stay sharp.

all for now. Z

birkie to engadin, via callaghan valley olympic venue

2009-02-27T20:06:00.001-08:00

Greetings from Whistler, BC. Canada.

I'm up here training for a few days, having a look at the Callaghan Valley Ski Trails, cross country ski venue for the 2010 Olympics. I have not had the chance to ski on these after missing out on this year's world cup races due to the lovely protozoa, giardia, and also skipping the various training camps that happened up here in the past few years. I've wanted to have a look at the courses but haven't had the chance until just now.

Today we skied the majority of the trails that are here and man was it fun. It was a gorgeous day for skiing, plenty of new snow, fantastic grooming, and temperatures around 25 degrees with a hot western sun beating down on top of us. It was really cool. The courses are very fun and a bit of a departure from the latest trends in course design. Over the past decade the courses, especially at major championship venues, have increased in difficulty to the point where its less about skiing and more fitness, a point that is infinitely debatable, i know. The courses here are much more gradual allowing for greater speed and requiring a much broader set of skills than the ability to climb an incredibly steep hill for 4 minutes at a time over and over again. The downhills are also a bit different in that they are quite turny. While there is a lot of debate about these points that i'm making, i am of the opinion that this is a good change.

so i will ski the trails one more day, tomorrow, before heading out of vancouver to switzerland for another assault on the engadin marathon. last year i had a great race there, finishing only a few seconds behind the leaders. this year i will do my best to repeat that and if possible, try to put together an even better last kilometer. last year i dropped the ball a bit in the stadium area and would really like a chance to show my finishing speed in a big field like this. if i have the chance, i'll take it.

last weekend was the birkie. i didnt have a great day there. i went into the week before feeling fantastic but wound up fighting off sickness all week long. i skied the birkie sprint and though i finished ok, i didn't feel very good, i was really flat. i hoped for the best in the race and went out to try to win again but i just didnt have it. i found myself falling off the lead pack somewhere around halfway and wound up in no mans land, skiing all alone, just waddling my way to the finish. i ended up in 20th place. not what i was looking for, not even close.

after a few days home i still felt pretty beat and went to the doctor. it turns out ive been fighting a bit of a sinus infection and have been taking some drugs to rectify that for the last couple days. by the time i get to switzerland on sunday, i'll be done with the drugs and ready to sharpen up for the following sunday's event.

thats all for now. i'll try to post something from st moritz if i have the chance. thanks for reading.

Back on the Top Shelf.

2009-02-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

a few weeks have gone by now. I went out to Minneapolis for the City of Lakes Loppet, which happens to be the second biggest event in the US in terms of participation. I flew out on a Wednesday and got a ski in on the first 10k of the 38km race course on thursday. When i arrived it was very cold and the forecast pointed to more of the same through the weekend, which I had counted on before I left. Friday came and we had a short sprint in Uptown. It was fun to ski a sprint again, a race I used to focus all of my efforts towards but as of lately have not seen much of. I skied better than I expected and was going quite fast all around. I didn't quite have what I need to beat Rossignol teammate Kevin Hochtl, who was very much in his element on the short course, but I was happy to be able to push him a bit and move as quickly as I did.

Saturday came and I was very anxious to race. It seemed to be my race to win and I was ready to make it happen. Soon after the start I felt my skis start to drag a bit but I didn't think it was enough to derail my mission. Over the next k's they really started to slow down and I had to work harder and harder to stay at the front of the pack, which became really frustrating. The flats and uphills were good as I was in control but the downhills were disastrous, with nothing to be done but watch the competition gain an easy gap and try to reel them in as soon after as possible. I made it happen for 30k. I really dug to do it and thought I still had a shot if I could keep the pack together. But a few long downhills around 6k to the finish put a stamp on it. I watched three guys ski away to fight for the W. I didn't give up, it was still training. I pushed myself as hard as I could across the lake to the finish and made the best of it. Thats how these things go. It was purely a stonegrind issue. I didn't bring some of my warmer skis and Friday, forecast for a high of 20, was 50 degrees F. The minimal structure on my skis filled with dirt and left me with more suction that I could power my way out of. the good news was that I felt really good. really good. it just took a little time for the fourth place to wear off to know it.

I flew home and arrived in salt lake city with a sore throat. great. just what i want this season is a cold... right after i have finally come into race shape, right before my biggest races... Tuesday I felt sick still so i didn't train. Wednesday, still not healthy but slightly better. Thursday we drove to Sun Valley for the Boulder Mountain Tour. Friday I felt good and did some intervals with my homeboy, world wide superstar, and now famous because of his alka selser ads, Bill Demong. I felt good and was skiing surprisingly well after not training all week. I was ready to go.

The race came and I had great skis, super important in the Boulder since its mostly downhill... I decided to sit in the pack as much as possible to conserve for the finish. I stuck my nose out in the wind at a few stratigic spots along the way to soften the other skiers a bit and resumed my position out of the wind. Near the finish the attacks started flying, including one by Bill, which I knew would be coming. Bill strung the pack out and I stayed tucked in until it seemed like everyone was starting to fade and I pounced. At the time I had no idea but I had Marshall Greene in my draft. I pulled us up to the top two positions and let the lions roar when we hit the 150 meter mark. It seemed like i had plenty of space and backed off a touch but felt some pressure coming near the line and I hit it again. At the line I threw down a great lunge and according to reports from the Jury, won by a centimeter... We actually had no idea who won until they announced it.

It felt great. I needed a win. The last few races have been really solid but winning is different. It was great to get up on the top step again, especially after all I've been through this fall. I had a feeling I could do it if I was patient and kept at it. Slow and steady wins the race.

This week I am headed back to Wisconsin for the Birkie. A race I love. A race I have won before. A race I want to win again. I've been back on the rollerski treadmill to put the final touches on my fitness. Last Friday I was going faster than I've ever gone before. This is a good sign. Monday will be another hard one and that last real interval workout before I travel. Thursday will be a short city sprint in Hayward and Friday is the Birkie. I'm looking forward to it. I leave several days after the Birkie for the Engadin Marathon in Switzerland.

Next post from St Moritz.

Answers to Matt's Questions

2009-02-02T13:55:00.000-08:00

THE BASICS
1. What is the athletic background of your parents and family?
My Dad was a baseball player throughout most of his life. He played high school and college baseball. Later he played on in a 'professional' fast pitch softball team and was inducted in to the World Fast Pitch Softball Hall of Fame. He has been active in the outdoors his whole life but never involved in cross country ski racing until I got started in it.

My mother was active in the outdoors throughout her childhood. She ran track in high school and has completed a number of marathons and ultra-marathon events in the last decade. She was never involved in cross country ski racing.

My brother is a cross country skier and several time junior olympic champion. He skied at the university of utah and as of late, has switched to the sport of biathlon and is a member of the USBA Development Team.

2. When did you begin participating in your sport?
I began ski racing very young, probably around six years old. I recall being in the bathtub and my dad walking in and asking if I wanted to do a ski race. I was up for it. And that was that. I got involved with the local ski team and have competed ever since.

THE EXTRAS (if you have time)
1. What was your early experiences with sport like?
I liked winning early on. That was the initial draw. When it came to training and practicing, I loved being on my skis and going off jumps, playing games. Later I learned to love to train.

2. How instrumental were parents and coaches in the early part of your development as an athlete?
Very. My dad especially was very involved in helping me wax my skis and taught me the basics of skiing early on. He help a lot with finding coaches and instruction that were a huge benefit later down the road. He definitely instilled a work ethic in me that still exists today. Hard work pays off. If you don't work hard, it won't happen. I've known that from the beginning.

3. How were you introduced to your sport and how many other sports did you seriously participate in?
My dad asked if i wanted to race and I did... that was how i started racing. I started skiing earlier than six in my backyard. I was always on my skis, mostly building jumps to go off. I also participated in baseball until high school. My dad being a baseball player, it was always a huge part of my summers. I'm pretty sure that is where i developed the speed that i have now in ski racing.

4. Is your success a product of nature or nurture?
Both. The mindset that it takes to succeed is something that comes from early influences. There is always some level of natural ability that is present (or absent, whatever the case may be). A lot of 'natural' talent comes from the activities that are done early on. The best ski racers that I have been exposed to, in terms of 'natural ability', are people who participated in a wide array of sports and activities when they were young, whether is was swimming or biking or running or soccer. The more the better at a young age, as far as I am concerned.

5. Are you an expert in your field? (by your own definition)
I would say absolutely. Especially in regards to those areas in which I have direct control, tactics, training, etc. The areas in which I am not an expert are the technical sides involving waxing and more ski related areas, though I would consider myself quite proficient, there are plenty of people who know much much more- they are the experts.

A little place called.... Aspen

2009-01-19T18:06:00.000-08:00

I just returned from Aspen, Colorado.... Just.

It was a long journey home, thanks in part to a flat tire on our trailer in a rural area... on a Sunday evening... Not a good combination. We combed Glenwood Springs for an open garage to fix our broken valve stem but found nothing. We jumped on I-70 and hobbled down the road to Rifle where we were lucky enough to find a SprawlMart that had a repair shop... Unfortunately there were a handful of cars in line in front of our tire. It took a few hours but we finally got back on the road as the sun was setting on the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains.

As I may have related in my last post, my first real test after this last period of training was to be the Owl Creek Chase. Before the OCC was a 10k Classic Supertour race, attended by many of the top racers not in Vancouver for the World Cup and the Western Colleges. Classic skiing can be a bit up and down for me and as such, tends to be a good test of my fitness. The race went well dispite feeling a bit flat in warm up. I skied strong on the second lap which was crucial at 8000+ ft. I ended up in 4th place, less than a second from the podium and within 30 of the leader. Not a bad start considering where those skiers placed at US Nationals.

That result gave me a lot of confidence going into the Owl Chase, a race that I have won in the past and never been off the podium in. As the race started, I took a shot at going off the front which was followed by an attack from Tad Elliot. I gave chase thinking it was our chance to ski away with the race but I couldn't hang on and fell back to a chase pack of three other skiers. I tucked in to recover as a few of the others skied away. From there I just never quite came back. I made a serious tactical error in the late km's of the race and combined with some questionable maneuvering from another racer, I was never really able to challenge for third until the last few meters at which point it was too late. Rossi teammate Josh Smullin was third and I was fourth. Matt Gelso and Tad Elliot, both on the U23 World Championship team, were just ahead of us in 1st and 2nd respectively.

Looking back on the race I can't help but be a bit frustrated. My fitness is back and I felt strong but just didn't ski the race I needed to in order to win. I have a few more weeks now before the Boulder Mountain Tour. I may travel to the midwest to ski a few more races in the meantime but that has yet to be decided. Some logistical issues need to be sorted out.

The past month has been an excellent one in terms of training. I am still not able to accomplish the volume that I have in the past, however I have found that I can handle more intensity than usual. That intensity is what I have to thank for my current fitness. I plan to continue on a similar plan for the next weeks/months with addition of some more highspeed training to prepare for sprint finishes. I felt like a donkey in the finish lanes of Saturday's race and it didn't get any better when I got knocked out in the early rounds of the nighttime drag races in downtown Aspen... Not acceptable but a good lesson to learn right now.

So from here on out my schedule will roughly entail the Boulder Mountain Tour, The Moose Chase, the American Birkebeiner, the Engadin Ski Marathon, the Gold Rush and Long Distance Nationals in Fairbanks, AK. I may also find my way to the City of Lakes Loppet less than two weeks from now.

See you out there.

Back To Work.

2008-12-21T19:38:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-12-07T21:37:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-11-23T12:25:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-11-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

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?

2008-10-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-10-12T21:04:00.001-07:00

Another Day in the Office...

2008-10-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

Back Towards the Center.

2008-10-10T13:02:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-09-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

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.

Mayhem

2008-09-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

The past couple of weeks have been a bit chaotic. I crashed on my rollerskis about two weeks ago and landed on my thumb. Luckily I didn't land on my thumb the way that most people on skis land on their thumb, which causes a scaphoid break - a small bone near the wrist. Not me. Instead I landed on the tip of my thumb and hyperextended the upper knuckle and tore a ligament.

I have a slow motion video of the crash that keeps replaying in my mind. My thumb does not look good. The first thing I did when I stopped sliding was grab my thumb, half expecting it to be flopping from my hand. It wasn't that bad. I've still been able to rollerski. Lifting weights has been and exercize to exercize type of thing and most of it is no problem. Shifting gears on my mountain bike is a bit of a challenge.

that was the first issue.

about a week ago i started to have some serious stomach problems. I thought I had food poisoning but it didn't go away. Thinking it might be something serious I went to the doctor this weekend and found out that I probably have Giardia. Which is pretty cool. So now I'm on some seriously strong medicine that, from what I have read is more of a pesticide than an antibiotic. Either way, its making me tired and giving me a headache. Not to mention the metallic taste in my desert of a mouth.

By next weekend I'm hoping to get back to something resembling training again. Hopefully with a few less protozoa in my intestine and bit stronger thumb.

Until then.

Post Olympic Post Modernism

2008-08-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

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.

Adapting

2008-08-08T16:46:00.000-07:00

Training has continued to be most excellent since my last post. I've been pushing the volume very heavily and things are really coming along well.

In the midst of my last 4 week training cycle I started to get a little sick of training on my own. I mean, a guy can only do so many 5 hour days solo... Living in Park City there are often people in and out between the US Ski Team, the Univ of Utah Ski Team and a few other independent racers like myself. July/August is a tough time to work through because a lot of people are at training camps, the university is away for the summer, there just aren't a lot of people to workout with... Unless you are a road biker...

So I've had to adapt a little. Lately I have been riding a lot so as to get some workouts with others. Its been a great mental break and also a good opportunity to really get pushed extrinsically. I've gotten myself hooked up with one of Utah's top pro team and have done some training rides with them and really enjoyed it.

Several weeks ago I hopped into a road hillclimb. I had yet to do any really tough workouts on a bike so I was unsure. Even more, I hadn't done a real race since late March. I felt awkward the morning of the race. I really didn't feel prepared mentally and I couldn't remember the steps I typically go through to get myself into that place. Though as the start time neared I settled down and managed to focus my energy on the effort. Once my class got called to the start line it all came back and I was really able to get into it.

The race itself was good. I rode away from the field less than a mile into the race and more or less time trialed my way up to the summit. I rode well, very steady. I didn't have much top end but I haven't trained the top end at all, so none was expected. On the final results I was 7th overall, which was satisfying given that all of Utah's top riders were in the race.

Afterwards I definitely had renewed motivation for competition. I have a month or so without before the Utah State Hillclimb Championship, which I am putting a lot of energy into preparing for. Its a time trial for everyone so I'll have a chance to compare solo efforts with the best guys.

My next training period is another big one with major focus on volume and my last little bit soiree-ing as a road biker before I crank up both the intensity and specificity. With any luck that will coincide with plenty of training partners around. I'm looking forward to dropping the hammer.

All for now and good luck to Mike in Beijing.

Benchmarks.

2008-07-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

The first portion of the training season is officially over and I am now into the meat of the training year. The early months of the training year, May and June, were a bit hectic but so far July has been excellent.

There were so many things going on during May that I really was unable to put forth the effort that I expect from myself in training. June was better in that I did manage to accomplish all of the training that I had laid out for myself, though I was still trying to tie up loose ends from projects that started in May. The month was solid but it did not feel focused. That lack of focus left me wondering where I was in regards to my fitness. I knew I had been putting in the hours but was unsure if any real gains were made.

Once I realized that the only thing missing from my training was a bit more direction and focus, I did everything in my power to cut out the peripherals and put my head down. I tied up projects, planned out the next months of preparation so I knew exactly where I was headed and got after it.

I felt like I needed to test myself a bit to find out where I was, especially compared to last year. The tough thing about having one excellent training season is that the next season after it feels like a bust until you get back to a level that you have attained before. I needed to know how I stacked up.

The Spring is always focused heavily on strength for me. Having a good strength base is crucial to having good finishing speed and finishing speed is something I pride myself on. Last season I made some huge strength and power gains in my lower body and I was hoping to achieve similar results this year in my upper body without gaining any additional body mass.

Last season I was very happy about being able to do 4 sets of 15 pull-ups in the late fall. Having that bench mark in mind, we decided to find out if I could accomplish the same thing only two months into the training year...

Turned out, it wasn't even that hard. After 4 sets, we decided to set another benchmark to compare with in the future - total number of sets of 15. I kept cranking them out, only resting enough between sets to do a set of another exercise... I ended with seven sets. The only reason I stopped was because I ripped a callus clean off my left hand and the nickel sized hole was starting to bleed quite a bit... Nonetheless, we were pretty happy about 105 pull-ups in a single workout.

Two days later, we wanted to see what I could put out in a single max set. The most I've ever done is 26 and that was a looong time ago. I think I weighed about 125 lbs back then... 35 was the magic number. 35 pullups. After that I did another 3 sets of 20... And that was just one exercise. The others have been going similarly well.

With strength gains aplenty, I really needed to test my fitness a bit. Most nordic skiers rely on uphill running tests, as rollerski speeds vary a bit too much between pairs and over different temperatures. My history with running is not good. In college I was unable to run for two years after a growth spurt left my IT bands playing catchup with my femurs. The past two years i have been battling what i thought was a neuroma but now know is an arthritic joint... So I rely on uphill road biking.

I hit up a popular hill climb in town that I have done a few times in the past. I know what a good time for me is and with so many excellent bikers in Park City, I know what a good time is, period. I managed 20 seconds slower than my all time best. About 35 seconds off of the best time posted this year by one of the best climbers in Utah. I'll take it.

So with three weeks left in July, I am very happy to have not focused until now. I feel fresh and ready to tackle the next 5 months before the season starts...

Here are some numbers from my training year so far:
Most pullups in a workout: 105
Most pullups in a single set: 35

Toughest squat workout so far: 2x30, 165lbs
Workout on plan I'm not looking forward to: 1x50, 165lbs

Longest workout so far: 7.5 hours (road bike)
Miles covered: 125, altitude gain of ~8000 feet.

Longest runs: 4hrs 50min, 5 hours 20min (it should be noted that my mom ran with me for that 5:20 and continued on for 6 hours in training for a 50k).

Longest rollerski: 5 hours on several occasions

Number of times I've questioned why I didn't choose Alpine skiing: 47

Holes of golf played in July: 27
Holes of golf played in past 5 years: 36
Last time I played golf: 3 years ago
Best score 18 holes: 100
# of birdies: 1
# of quadruple bogeys: 1

Training hours in last period of 4 weeks: 82hrs
Training hours in next period of 4 weeks: more than that!
Largest 4 week period on this seasons' training plan: 90hrs

Largest training week so far: 26 hrs

Avoiding the Snow. Rollerski Intervals on a Treadmill. Flip Video.

2008-06-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

Warning: don't watch this video if you are susceptible to motion sickness and even if you aren't, you may want to take some Dramamine first.

Springtime: A late update in the wake of computer-driven discourse.

2008-06-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

My first foray into the world of video blogging has not been a graceful one... For reasons previously unknown, Mac-asaurus Rex (my mac pro) has not played well with others. When he first met my ipod and iphone (yes i am an apple fanboy) he didn't want to sync with them. All he really wanted to do was reformat them and leave them blank...

Last week when I was attempting to upload my first ever video blog entry, Macasaurus tried to erase the firmware off of the Flip video camera. I didn't really appreciate that very much, so I sought some counseling from AppleCare. Several hours and a dozen restarts later, Macasaurus was still bullying a whole neighborhood worth of peripheral devices. The AppleCare people suggested I take him to the Apple store where they could test the hardware... seemed reasonable to me except for the fact that a faulty hardware exchange means mandatory 4-5 day vacation in Cupertino for Macasaurus and while I'm sure he would appreciate the break, I'm in the middle of a massive redesign for the Women's Ski Jumping movement; five days away would leave the walls crashing down and the sky falling.

So I decided my best option was to keep the peripherals away from Macasaurus until I have a break in design work and can manage without the horsepower for a few days... And then last night I found myself reading the Apple forums and found a group of other Mac Pro users were having the same problems. And that led me to an article that suggested restarting the machine without the apple-provided keyboard usb extention cord attached and resync the peripherals... which was followed closely by the heavens opening up and ensuing rapture.

The proverbial thorn in the lion's paw... at least as far as I can tell... a $2 usb extention cord bringing my macasaurus to it's knees. Problem solved for now... My computer works but my Flip video blog is gone...

This Spring has been a busy one, albeit a very good one. I've had a multitude of sponsorship obligations to tend to including several lengthy photo shoots and fashion shows (insert Zoolander joke here). Outside of that, I've been cranking out design projects one after the next. Right now, as I mentioned above, I'm doing a total aesthetic redesign for Women's Ski Jumping USA. It has been an awesome opportunity to direct a total concept to completion rebrand. Last week I directed a photo shoot with several of the athletes and produced a splash page for their site (http://www.wsjusa.com - only the front page is my doing) that will remain until I complete the entire site.

I've also been busy with my crew at Ecker Hill Middle School. It has been a crazy spring in terms of the weather and we've spent most of the days indoors playing dodgeball and various other games. Last week we even had a freestyle jump-rope competition. In our time inside I've also developed a serious quiver of pitches for kickball; my change-up has been known to actually stop... This Tuesday will be our last day of school before the summer break and I may move over to the Boys and Girls Club for a few months before school starts again.

Training has been up and down, as it usually is for me this time of year. Motivation can be tough to come by when its snowing in May. But things are progressing. This past Monday I ran for 4.5 hours and yesterday I managed to run for just over 5 hours. These long workouts have become the backbone of my own training. This next week will my first large volume week (~25 hours of total volume) and will be a good test of where I am. If I can put in quality hours through the whole week, it should set me up very well for the rest of the summer. I wasn't able put down 25 hrs in a week until August last year, so this is a definite progression.

Thats all for now. Keep your fingers crossed and hopefully next time my video blog will work out!

JT high up on the ropes course during one of the few nice days we've had at school.

Living Life As It Is To Be Lived: A Brief Respite From Structure

2008-04-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

As I walked away from my final race of the season, it was odd to not have the sense of relief that typically ensues. Instead, a general warmth of satisfaction lingered through the next weeks as I thought back over the season. With each new race, I seemed to get stronger and the trend never did end. My last races of the season were without a doubt my strongest and unlike seasons past, the waning days of competition did not drag on.

Entering the month of April, and my annual respite from Cross Country skiing, I was anxious to escape the structured livelihood required of a professional athlete. I did not know what exactly it was that I wanted to do, but that was not important. What was important was the freedom to do whatever came to mind. And after a few days of catching up on chores neglected while on the road, I did exactly that.

My first exercise in momentary freedom was a quick trip to Southern Utah with my good friend Jeremy, an Olympic Biathlete who felt the need to stretch his wings same as I. Two dirt bikes in tow, we drove to Moab to ride the famous Slickrock trail, something I have done tens of times on a pedal bike but never once with a motor. It was a completely different experience and equally thrilling. Mountain biking is much like cross-country skiing, dirt biking is it's antithesis and perhaps that is the reason I enjoy it so much. Its a constant exercise in total commitment, there is no tip-toeing on a motorcycle, unless you like pushing 300lbs up a hill.

Riding White Wash

The day following our ride on the Slickrock we joined a group of new found friends for a ride in White Wash. It was an insanely technical trail for the second ride of the year but never willing to back down, I kept at it and soon became comfortable with the terrain. It was without question my best day ever on a dirt bike. As we left the desert in our rear view mirror, we grinned into the sunset and recanted the ride. Without question, it was an epic start to our weeks away from ski racing.

Ledges make for technical riding.

Returning to Park City, I soldiered on in my mission to do exactly what I wanted to do. I joined friends out on the town, staying out late enough to see the sun peak over the hills early in the morning. It didn't take long before it was time to pack for my next adventure, a vacation to Costa Rica that was given to me for Christmas by my radical girlfriend, Crystal.

We left for San Jose early in the morning and arrived late in the afternoon following a short stop over in Houston. We had an adventurous ride through Alajuela, navigating small roads lacking any sort of signage, eventually arriving at Las Orquedias where we spent the first night. The next morning we were pulled from our sleep by an early, equatorial sunrise and hit the road en route to volcano country. We stopped to peer into the crater of the Poas Volcano with no more than 30 seconds to spare before a thick cloud cover enveloped the mountain for the rest of the day. We continued on, passing waterfalls and sprawling coffee plantations until we reached the town of La Fortuna near the Arenal Volcano. We found a hotel, enjoyed a meal and watched lava flow into the darkness of night.

The next morning we toured the canopy of the rain forest by zip line. And while the zip line was fun, the real joy came from seeing just how vast and lush a rain forest really is. I'm not sure words can accurately describe how much life exists in those regions. While in La Fortuna we also toured the back parts of the town, allowing us to peak into the real Costa Rica and soaked ourselves in the region's famous hot springs.

Crystal And I in Costa.

After a few days flying solo, Crystal and I trekked back to San Jose to meet up with our friends Colin and Nicole (Nicole Deyong - also an ITA athlete). The morning following their arrival we drove out to Puntarenas, where we put the trusty Terrios on a ferry to Paquera, and drove to our final destination- a surf spot named Santa Teresa. We had rented a house with several other friends, all linked somehow through our involvement in ski racing.

abby, chris, myself, crystal, colin, nicole, toby (from left)

The next 4 days we spent surfing, boogie boarding, body surfing and in general, lounging on the beach. It was great to have a few days to just chill out with friends and enjoy life without schedule and commitment outside of that we have to each other. The end approached quickly and we ventured back towards the capitol city and departed the Rich Coast of Central America; an amazing place that I can't wait to revisit.

hanging at a waterfall

Upon our return to Park City, it was time to take care of some sponsorship commitments, most notably a photo shoot for Rossignol Softgoods '09. Before leaving to Costa Rica I had committed to a 3 day shoot in and around Park City, though when I returned that had morphed into a 7 day shoot spanning the desert of Southern Utah. As their chosen poster child, I really had no choice and anxious to repay them for their commitment to me, it was the least I could do.

The group of ten consisted of several photographers, an art director, the Senior VP of Sales and Marketing and 5 models, myself included. As for the models, we had never met but we soon formed a cohesive bunch that turned a week of hard work into the kind of week you wish could make last a lifetime. We toured the desert of Southern Utah, making stops in Moab, Capitol Reef National Park, Bryce Canyon NP and Zion NP. Temperatures were just barely cooperative, hovering just above the half-century mark as I spent much of the time wearing nothing but a pair of surf shorts in front of a camera. It all paid off, the shots were amazing and the memories in my head are not that of work but of hiking, mountain biking, and paddling a stretch of the Colorado river in a kayak with some awesome new friends (I'm not a kayaker and how I got roped into that whole thing is still a bit of a mystery).

Zion National Park.

Calf Creek Falls - Escalante NP. That is some cold water. Believe me.

Photographing the Photographer. Zion.

Enjoying the Sunset in Capitol Reef NP.

Bryce Canyon NP. One of the coolest things I've ever seen.

A month of adventure behind me I am beeming with excitement to begin training again. Life is for living and lately I feel as though I've been doing a great job of it. As I read stories of fellow ITA athletes and their push towards Beijing Olympic team, I can't help to be a bit jealous of the experiences they are having and will have during such a trying time. Those are moments that one does not forget. They are the times that you put everything forward, sparing nothing. And it's that effort that is important. An effort that is the culmination of years of dedication, sacrifice and perseverance.

Good luck to all the ITA athletes trying to make that team, enjoy it!

View from our dinner table, the steam on the mountain is from rain hitting the lava.

2008-04-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

The only thing our terrios can't do is anything well.

2008-04-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

Just your standard rain forest, that's all.

2008-04-04T15:46:00.001-07:00

View from our hotel room

2008-04-04T15:45:00.001-07:00

Volcano! Arenal is sweet.

2008-04-04T15:44:00.001-07:00

vacacion

2008-04-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

this will be a quick installment of what i hope to be a mini series of my costa rica vacation. i arrived yesterday afternoon to san jose after a very easy travel, turns out travelling without skis is quite a luxury! we got to our hotel after a challenging session of navigation. we didnt really leave the edge of the pool until we went to sleep late last night, and that includes dinner. poolside dinner doesnt suck.

today we are headed up to see a few volanoes and maybe some cloud forest further north in the country...

all for now. lots more to come. forgive my punctuation errors, im typing as fast as i can on my phone.

Z

Marathon Season

2008-03-14T06:15:00.000-07:00

So its been awhile since I updated, par for the course it seems this winter. I have spent very few days at home since Jan 1. I think my longest stint at home is 6 days, I had that luxury twice. The rest of my home time has been in one to two day blocks. I've been away so much that home feels away now. I don't really remember how to cook for myself and its hard to figure out what to buy when I go to the grocery store... It must be March.

Last time I updated this thing I was in Aspen, right before the Owl Creek Chase. The OCC is a tough race, really tough. Its at 9000ft and the first 8k are uphill... and that uphill is not the hardest part of the course. The field was tough this year but the guys who were the real 'contenders' did not win. We got our butts kicked by a couple young local guys who were home training and preparing for World Junior/ U23 World Championships. Racing at 9000 ft is a different sport and racing at sea level... Its like skiing underwater while breathing through a straw... Being from 6000ft myself, I am pretty good at it. However, the difference between 6000 and 9000 is huge, and in fact, the marginal decrease in oxygen is much greater from 6000 to 9000 than it is from 3000 to 6000... if that makes any sense... Bottom line, its hard up there.

So the race was ok but by no means good. I skied tactically smart and that was important because pretty much no one else did. Once the young guys got off the front I cut my losses and started racing for 3rd. I sat in, let the suckers do the work and put the wood to them at the end. And that, folks, is marathon racing.

After Aspen is was time to get ready for the World Championships of Wisconsin, aka The American Birkebeiner. I happened to win the Birkie last year and as such, the pressure was heavy going into the race this year. I knew exactly what to expect of the weekend and have known for the previous 364 days. Everyone in Wisconsin asked me if I was going to defend my title again and 'how the Birkie was gonna go this year'. I stole a line from Adam Swank and said 'North to South, same as always'.

Leading up to the race I had been feeling good. With help from my buddy Justin Carlstrom at the US Ski Team, I did some very specific interval training on a rollerski treadmill... This treadmill is about 10 feet wide and maybe another 10 feet long... its big... the week before the Birkie I felt as good as I have in quite some time. I was ready. I wanted to win again. And not only just to win but to validate last year's victory.

As the race started I felt great. I hung in about 6th place, far enough forward to stay out of trouble and cover any moves off the front but far enough back not to have to work too hard. Not working too hard turned out to be not much of a problem as the pace was ultra pedestrian. The pack was roughly 30 deep and that means slow. really slow. but thats fine for me, if anyone wants a 50k to come down to a sprint its me. Sign me up... So, again, I hung in there, covered some moves pretty easily. Babikov, ultimately the winner, made a few surges off the front that strung the field out a bit. I never found it overly difficult to go with him, the same was true for only 2 or 3 others in the field, but his surges never lasted too long and eventually the field came back together... With only about 5k to go, i could not believe that Babikov had not put the heat on. Right about the time that though crossed my mind, I got tag-teamed by a couple of slower guys and was hung out to dry as Ivan skied straight away from the field. Had I been there to go with him I don't think I could have hung on until the finish but I do think I could have distanced myself from the pack without much problem... too late for that... time to sprint, bring it on. We crossed the lake and I held in about 5th in the group, just out of the wind. As we moved towards Main St of Hayward, I bit and scratched my way to 2nd in the group and as we rounded the final corner I let the lions roar. It only took a few strides before I had breathing room and for the last 200m it was just about holding my ground.

After the Birkie I had one week before travelling to Switzerland for the Engadin Ski Marathon, the biggest skate marathon in the world. Roughly 11,000 racers in the field. Its quite a show and a real circus. To top it off, its in St Moritz, which is probably one of the most beautiful places in the world.

At the Engadin I had great support from my ski sponsor, Rossignol. They took care of my registration and provided me with their technicians to take care of my skis. It was also very comforting to know that I was sharing a tech with Tor Arne Hetland and Eldar Ronning, two of the best skiers in Norway and the World. Tor Arne is currently in 3rd in the overall world cup standings. In addition to just wax help, Rossignol had people all along the course with spare poles and water bottles to feed us through the race... This is extremely important when you are just one guy flying solo in a pack full of the worlds best skiers.

At the race start I tucked in next to the italian team. They had plenty of man power, rolling about 8 deep, and felt like if anyone could pull be to the front it would be them... And they did... I scrapped up to about 15th place through the first 15km. When we hit the first and only big hill the pace was extremely high. I just put my head down and hammered like I was a few k from the finish. As I made my way up the hill I realized that there were only about 6 guys left in front of me and behind me, i had opened up some space on mattias fredriksson, winner of the overall world cup about 4 years ago.

I made it through the major hills without any issue. It wasn't easy but I was there and from the looks on the face around me, it wasn't easy for them either. As myself and Eldar Ronning took a feed cresting a downhill a small gap opened in front of us. We had to close it immediately or we would have lost the pack for good. Eldar took a pull but began to flail a bit so I pulled through and charged forward to get back on the leaders. It only took about a minute or so of really hard skiing to get there. When I did, I looked back and had actually dropped Eldar, Mattias (again), Anders Aukland (leading the FIS Marathon Cup), Markus Hasler (world cup skier) and Jorgen Aukland (guy who won the Vasaloppet the week earlier - the biggest ski race in the world)... At that moment I knew that I was having a good one.

For the next 10k I did my best to conserve energy, though with a strong tailwind, it was impossible. Everyone in the pack had to work hard to stay there. No one got a free ride. With 10k to go there was a preem sprint and I felt certain that someone was going to sprint for the preem and keep going. I made the decision to move to the front. I got into 4th through the preem line and as we tucked down the next hill, drafted up into first. I was actually leading with 8 or 9 k to go. I quickly got back into the draft of some other skiers and for the next 5k fought to hold my position. From 5k to go to the finish, the heat was on. The course goes from flat to rolling and each consecutive uphill was a mad sprint. Each one as fast as everyone could ski trying to lose people off the back. When we passed under the 1k to go banner, we were skiing in 3 or 4 rows, 5 skiers wide. I was sitting directly behind Zorzi, who i figured was one of the 'guys to beat' down the home stretch... Into the stadium we hit a switchback turn on the final downhill and I moved from ~10th to 20th when the Italian dude on my inside stumbled and blocked a few of us out. As soon as I got around him I started sprinting, I moved up a few spots but tired down the last 100m and lost another couple spots, finally landing in 21st. 19 seconds out of first place... I was really happy about how I skied throughout the race but was still a little disappointed in my finish. Usually the last kilometer is my strongest point, I know how I can ski and that just did not match up with how I did ski... Another day and I know I can be right there until the last 100m.

The past few months have really meant a lot for me, personally. In the past few seasons I have been fairly dominant in the marathon scene. The 'marathon season' happens to coincide with world championships and olympics, which I have failed to qualify for. I know that while I am here in the US winning marathons, there are plenty of people looking at the results thinking that the only reason i am winning is because the 'top' guys weren't there. I never really felt that way and thought to myself that the truth was that I just have a talent for marathons. This year, with no world championships, the fields have been strong and i have continued to rise to the top of each race. Most importantly, I skied the biggest skate marathon in the world and finished with what was said to be the most competitive lead pack the Engadin has seen in many years. As far as marathons go, I now feel confident that I can ski with just about anyone. Its not a matter of who is or isn't there...

Moving forward, the real key is to figure out how to turn this marathon speed into world cup 15k speed. With data from lactate testing on the treadmill, I know that one of the main reasons I am good at the long races is because of my efficiency under threshold. The reason I can't successfully compete in a 15k on the world cup is because I am not equally efficient over threshold.

The easy part is figuring out what the problem is, the hard part is fixing it...

World Cup Racing and Beyond...

2008-02-08T12:27:00.000-08:00

The World Cup in Alberta was an amazing week. I have skied several world cups in the past but only sprints. As my focus has changed the past few years, these were my first distance starts...

My first race was the 30k pursuit, a mass start event. I started the race comfortably and made it to the top of the course within the pack and without having to over exert myself. I was really happy about where I was sitting until we started back down the hill where I shot straight out the back of the field. My skis were terribly slow. I didn't have my usual technician at the race and this served to be a bit of an issue on this day. My skis were over-waxed a bit and that is not OK at the world cup level... I skied a lonely race, picking off other skiers that had fallen off the pace as the race went on. I managed to pass a few, some dropped out but I managed to finish. I had worked to hard to get to that race to just give up. It was a tough day but a great learning experience. Just skiing in the pack with the best skiers in the world for 10 minutes was awesome. Click here to read a story from my technician and friend, Nathan, with some outside perpective on my skis.

i'm not really smiling, just looks like it... Pursuit in Canmore.

My next race was the 15k skate race, an individual start race. I started fairly conservatively as the courses in Canmore are the hardest in the world... not some of the hardest - THE hardest. I pushed through the first lap and started to pick up the pace fairly drastically on the second. I was moving up well into the field and at one point was skiing around 40th place. I had hoped to be able to really turn it on in the final lap but on this particular day I just didn't have it and faded back to 47th. On paper it looks rough but this race was probably good enough for a top 5 result at nationals. There is little room for error or an off day at the WC. My second two laps i was able to ski around many skiers who were starting later in the field, skiing their first or second laps. Watching these guys and trying to keep up with them, I learned a ton. It made it very clear to me where exactly I am and where I need to be if i want to be a full time world cup skier... The experience was very exciting and envigorating... I can't wait to start training again and tackle this next step in my career.

taking strides towards World Championships and Olympics

After the WC I headed back to Park City for less than a day before driving to Sun Valley for the Boulder Mountain Tour, a race that I have won in the past and one of the most competitive races in the country. As always, the pack was tight and it was difficult to shed anyone from the group. At the end 3 of us got just enough separation from the main group to protect ourselves from a sprint. It was up to the few of us... I lined it up just as I have in the past, coming into the stretch in 2nd and ready to slingshot around with a head of steam but when we hit the lanes I couldn't muster the speed to claim the victory. The two who beat me were also at the WC in Canmore and in addition to skiing distance very well this season, have been sprinting very fast. I would have loved to win but I just didn't have the speed on this day... something to regain for the future.

boulder mountain tour men's pack
thats me on the far right...

After the race in Sun Valley we tried to drive home but the highway was closed, so we got stuck for almost 24hrs in central idaho before an alternate route opened up. We drove almost 4 hours out of the way to get home. I had hoped to get a day at home but instead that day was spent in Burley, Idaho... We got home at about 7pm. I unpacked my bags and did some laundry. I rewax skis for testing and repacked everything... I left the next morning around 10am to Aspen, CO.

As of now I am in Aspen getting ready for the Owl Creek Chase which I have won once and was second last year by a few inches. I'm looking for a good race and afterwards, looking forward to heading home and spending some time at home...

US Nationals and Preparing For 'The Show'

2008-01-13T12:12:00.000-08:00

My last post was right before Christmas and my departure for US Nationals in Houghton, MI. I hope everyone who reads this had an excellent holiday season.

I used our weekend off from competition to get in some easy distance training and rest. In the past few years I have always trained really hard going into Nationals and subsequently found myself racing far below my potential, tired from over-reaching. This year i opted for the opposite approach in effort reverse the trend...

My travel out to Nationals was simple and Houghton greeted us with as much snow as we could possibly ask for. The conditions were excellent. My focus was solely on the distance events, as I was trying to qualify for the World Cup team at the end of the month.

The first race was the 10k Skate, which is typically a good one for me. I started out very hard, or at least so i thought. I felt great but when I received a split that I was in 12th place, I realized i needed to go much faster... Sea level, it always gets me that way. Every time I go down to sea level for the first time in a season I suffer the same fate... at the end of the day i finished in 12th. I was happy with the way I skied but disappointed that i was unable to move as fast as I needed to... Something to address for future seasons, that is for sure.

The classic race seemed like it should suit me very well, as it was a 15k. I thought the longer distance would enable me to keep up with the lowlanders more effectively... unfortunately the opposite was true. The nature of classic skiing, the faster more explosive movements pushed me further down the result list than I would ever consider 'acceptable'. I was never able to really access my speed and throw it down in the last portion of the race.

I am confident that if I had several more weeks at sea level, that I would easily come around and adjust to the speed necessary to find the podium. I've done it before, I'll do it again but I need to find a way to adjust faster so i do not find myself in the same position next year.

The one true positive to come out of Nationals was that i qualified myself to ski in the World Cup at the end of January, in Canmore, Alberta - Canada. This has been a big goal for me this year and I am happy to have achieved it. Canmore is a fairly high altitude venue so I am very anxious for the opportunity to race there.

For now I am home in Park City preparing for the World Cup. This weekend I had the opportunity to race in some collegiate races at the 2002 Olympic Venue, Soldier Hollow. The level of competition has risen significantly since my last year in college. There are some excellent racers there and I was psyched to go up against them. The classic race was very good, though my seed as a guest racer (start position - very important in an individual start) put me out of the gate first. This is typically not an issue unless it was snowing... It was snowing. I was the guy who got to blaze the trail for the rest of the racers. by the time the top seeded skiers started, the track had been skied in nearly 50 times. I lost a lot of time to say the least... In my later laps I passed several of the skiers who ended up beating me and absolutely smoked them. However, i had already lost so much time on my first laps that there was no way for me to catch up... At the end of the day I skied very well and was content with the finish.

The second day was a mass start 10k. Using these competitions for training, my coach and i decided that the best thing for me to do was to get to the front of the pack as quickly as possible and drop the hammer. So I did. I hammered as long and as hard as i could out in front but came up just short of dropping the top skiers. Our last time up the final climb they had a little more speed left than me and I just barely lost their tail. I finished a solid 5 seconds out. More importantly I was happy that I was able to ski at the front of the race, go as hard as I did as early as i did and still manage to recover throughout.

So as of now I have six days until I depart for Canada. We leave on the 19th. My first race, a 30k pursuit, will be on the 22nd and my second race, a 15k skate, will be on the 25th. I have no real expectations in terms of result or outcome for these races as i don't think that would be a productive way to go into an event of this caliber. What I really want to do is go up there, ski the best races that I can ski and come away with a better understanding of what I need to do to make the jump to scoring world cup points, which means a top 30 finish.

Busy, Busy and More Busy. And Some Ski Racing.

2007-12-20T12:03:00.000-08:00

I apologize for taking so long to post an update to this blog. The past few weeks have been busy at times and completely overwhelming at others. The last time I posted, I was in West Yellowstone training after the first SuperTour races of the season... I stayed up there for five or six days, spending some quality time on snow and getting to know my new fleet of skis. It wasn't too long before I had to hit the road, no need to lose my mind in the second week of the season...

I headed back to Park City for a few days. Slept a few nights in my own bed. Trained on my own courses and got some much needed rest. I found out that the next races in Bozeman might be cancelled due to lack of snow and then, much like the Yellowstone series, found out that they got just enough snow to make it happen... and with very little time to spare. So we packed up and headed back to Montana.

The course in Bozeman was pretty sweet. It was not the most difficult I have skied but there were some sizable hills and the course flowed well... couple that with altitude and you have the perfect combination for me. I started the 15k skate race fairly conservatively and focused on skiing smoothly. I was receiving information from coaches that I was leading the race right away. I continued to ski steady for the next three of four laps and on the final time around, I really ramped up the pace. I managed to put a solid 30-40 seconds on the field on the last lap. When I crossed the line I actually thought I had won. I was very happy with my effort.... But come to find out a few minutes later, Garrot Kuzzy, who had started late in the field, was crushing my time on the first few laps. He put quite a bit of time into me early in the race and though I managed to get quite a big chunk of it back on my final lap, he still got me by a solid 20 seconds...

Team Rossignol - Not afraid of the color Orange...

After a solid effort in Bozeman, we travelled back to Park City. Knowing that I was in solid shape, there was no reason to risk anything in training before the next race, which was less than a week away on the Olympic trails in Midway, UT. And while training in those days went well, pretty much everything else in my life was doing its best to pull me in the opposite direction... I thought I was dealing with the stress as well as I could but come race day, last Sunday, I found that it was not to be... When I started the race my legs felt heavy. The early pace that should have been comfortable, felt brutal. I was not recovering on the downhill and I was not able to hold my place in the pack. It wasn't long before frustration took over and things got even worse. There is no way to ski fast when frustrated, at least for me... I finished the race in a less than stellar 12th place. The only good things about the effort were that i did not give up and that in terms of time-back from the winner, i did not get completely blown out of the water... Bottom line, I neglected to notice how much outside stressors were impacting me before the start of the race... Needless to say, I will be looking for more from myself at US Nationals next month.

Racing at SoHo. Too many people in front of me, not enough behind...

For the next two weeks I'll be home in Park City, taking care of the million things that I have been neglecting this past month and attempting to relocate the form that took me to 2nd place a week and a half ago...

Update #1 - 7 Days into the Race Season.

2007-11-28T12:21:00.000-08:00

Seven days in to the race season, one race out of the way...

A typical lead in to the first race of the season, which is always in West Yellowstone, MT, involves a minimum of a week on-snow, testing skis and re-adjusting to skiing on snow... This year there was no snow, at least until 4 days before said ski race... My first race was on Saturday. The snow fell on Tuesday. I packed my car and headed up to Montana, arriving late on Wednesday. On Thursday I skied once and waited for my friend and sponsor, Nathan Schultz of Boulder Nordic Sport, to arrive with my race skis - skis i really needed to test before the first ski race... He finally did arrive late on Thursday night. I grabbed my skis and headed back to the hotel, where my service man, Clarke, and I spent a solid three hours preparing the skis for the next day...

Friday was day one on the new skis. We tested them, weeded a few out and decided on two pair that would be best for Saturday's 15k race... Saturday we raced... The race was fine, but not stellar. I finished 10th, which I would generally not be happy about but 50 seconds out seemed like a manageable gap given the lead in to the event... I didn't feel overly coordinated on snow and that made it impossible to really speed into the race... which is nothing more than a consequence of only having two days on snow prior to the race...

Just a portion of the skis I need to figure out...

After the race I had planned to head back to Park City but there is no snow... and I need to ski! I need to test skis and I need to spend time on snow... I'm not far from where I need to be in order to fight for wins... but that difference can only be made up by staying on snow... So here I am in West Yellowstone, by myself.

Town is not exactly busy this time of year...

I have nothing but time on my hands... which means I should be updating this blog a lot but I don't have internet! which is convenient... I have to poach it from a hotel across town.

I will be in Yellowstone until this weekend. After that i will likely head back to Park City for a few days before driving to Bozeman for the next SuperTour...

Screenshot from The Shining, aka The view from my hotel room: The only thing missing from my hotel the kid on the HotWheels tricycle... I'm the only one left.

REAL LIFE

2007-11-10T20:03:00.000-08:00

September 2, 2007

The basic principal of training is a simple matter of stress and recovery. We train ourselves as hard as possible, recover from it and subsequently become stronger... Ideal is the case when the entirety of that stress comes from sport specific stimuli alone. But alas, real life always seems want to have a say in my plans.

For the past few days I have been moving. Our lease was up and we (my girlfriend and I) wanted to find a new place to live. When the end of the month came, there was nothing left to do but leave... Easier said than done. A solid ten hours over two days of carrying furniture, boxes, you name it, up and down several flights of stairs is not exactly restful.

Thursday alone involved 2.5 hours of rollerskiing, several hours of hiking with the PE class I work with and a good 5+ hours of ‘weighted stair walking’.

By the time Saturday rolled around, I felt as though I had been run over by a truck. There was no more room for training this week.

I’ve never been a fan of changing my training plan midway through a week but sometimes there is nothing else that can be done. It is often difficult to have the confidence to simply not train but that is in fact the only way out of feeling tired.

Today I am resting, catching up on some emails that I have missed over a few days and trying my hand at furniture arrangement. Thus far the evidence suggests that I am a far better cross-country skier than interior decorator...

July 15, 2007
For the majority of my athletic career I have been told the value of stretching, easing into the training season and the general care for one’s body aside from the usual stress and recovery cycles of my sport… I have never really listened to those warnings. With great luck, I have avoided injury and illness for many years… That was until I resumed my training this spring. I didn’t bother easing into running or rollerskiing, I just jumped right in with several two-hour workouts; couple that with a brand new weight lifting plan that left me hardly able to walk after the first session and I was just asking for problems.

When I went out for my second run of the week on Wednesday, my knee was really sore. I chose to end the session early to avoid aggravating it too much. The following morning I went rollerskiing. My elbow, unused to the impact of asphalt after a winter on snow, started to act up halfway through the workout.

When I got home I called my coach right away. He quickly informed me that I am just getting old and that I finally ought to start listening to his advice…

I backed off a bit and eased back into normal training over the past week. My joints have been adjusting and I should be back on track in no time…

One of these days I’m going to figure out what stretching is all about.