The general theme of my last few posts has been 'I'm healthy'. Well, I'm still healthy. And if being healthy was the only prerequisite for skiing fast, then I'd be ready to race. But its not, and I'm not.
My training pattern since recovering from Giardia can be likened to the idea of 'the fool in the shower', I think originally a Milton Friedman idea. The idea is that a fool in the shower will be a little too cold and turn up the hot water way too much and burn himself, then turn it way down and freeze himself, instead of making small adjustments and having the patience to wait a couple of seconds to see the outcome, taking care not to go too far.
As it relates to my training, I seemed to be under the impression that I will just feel good again and be ready to jump right back into the point where I was before I got sick... So I feel good, then train really hard for four days, get tired, stop recovering the way I ought too, take a few days off or very easy. And repeat.
It has also been said that the true definition of an idiot is someone who repeats the same action over and over, expecting different results every time... I'm not going to repeat the process anymore.
I'm shooting for a manageable amount of training for now. I want to train well and recover well and build from there. I have to have the patience to do that and the confidence to rely on years of training.
Today is Sunday and I was supposed to be in Yellowstone by now. The snow condition has been less than ideal and I have been waiting to see how the situation will pan out. I don't have much on the line as far as the races go, so I have afforded myself the option of 'wait and see'. I'm waiting in Park City, while others are seeing whats going on up there. If reports come back positive, I'll likely head up on Monday (tomorrow) or Tuesday. If not, I'd be happy here at home over the holiday.
It has been roughly 15 years since I had a Thanksgiving in Park City. I wouldn't mind another one some day soon.
The last weeks in school we have been swimming. I've been working with the kids who haven't spent as much time in the water as the majority of the class. Many of my crew were unable to swim at all when we began, and now most of them can swim the length of the pool without stopping. Treading water and floating are a different story but we are planning on sorting that out next week. It is pretty awesome to see how much of a difference a little one on one instruction can make for these kids. Its a lot of fun.
All for now. Have a good Thanksgiving. Z
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Weekend Update.
So I made it through my week of training four days consecutively. The next step was putting in a full week of training without issue, that was the goal of this week.
It worked out just fine, though I opted not to do any speed work or intensity. Playing it safe with intensity has ALWAYS worked out for me. I've never thought back to myself and said 'i should have done way more intensity'. Its always the opposite case, 'I shouldn't have done those intervals, I' shouldn't have gone so hard'.
So I just played it safe and did a bunch of distance workouts. I've been feeling better and better and by yesterday I finally saw my heart rate come down to where it ought to be. We got lucky early this week with some snow. Roughly 12 inches fell in town here in Park City, just enough to ski on once its packed out sufficiently.
Thursday I went out for my first ski of the season. As always, my skis felt super long compared to rollerskis and with the uneven track conditions, I felt a little off balance. It was awesome to be off the road and feeling of gliding across snow is so much better than asphalt. On Friday, my good friend and training partner Bill Demong (one of the top Nordic Combined skiers in the world) skied for four hours on the golf course. It was a push, mentally but we made it. Afterwards I felt a little tired but it really felt good. That was the longest workout I have done in some time, probably two months or more. A four hour workout is one that I rely on heavily and it felt awesome to get that back into the routine. Yesterday, Saturday, Bill and I drove to Solitude resort to ski a little with the University of Utah team. We were unaware that we would be on a 6 minute loop, but the conditions were fantastic compared to what we have seen in Park City. After 30 minutes we were bored but we stuck it out for 2 hours. We threw in a few 'hot laps' just to mix it up. I was a little apprehensive but I actually felt quite good. Going hard with a World class skier like Bill will let you know where you stand in a big hurry. The good news is that I didn't feel too far off... Sometimes resting for long periods of time can be a real benefit.
Looking forward, I am planning on keeping on the distance theme and adding in a little speedwork where I can. I'm planning on keeping it on the shorter and easier end and building in. I've yet to really screw anything up, I'm trying to keep it that way. The past 15 years of training hasn't gone anywhere and I'm planning on putting it to good use. The temperatures are rising a bit here so I'm not sure if we will be skiing later this week but I am anticipating some rollerski workouts in the coming days.
In school, my kids have finished up a Track and Field section that involved a 1600m run, a 400m run, 100m, shot put, broad jump, high jump and the 100m hurdles. It was neat to see some kids accel at running and others accel in the jumping events or the shot put. It is rare that we do an activity that so many different kids can show their strengths. This past week we have been in the swimming pool. This section isn't quite as competitive as it is about learning the different strokes as well as some emergency techniques. We also huck ourselves off the high dive whenever we get the chance.
On the art side of the coin, I've been shooting a lot of pictures lately. Especially once it started snowing. During our visit to Sun Valley I had a chance opportunity to shoot an exterior of a home for Fine Homebuilding magazine. Its not exactly the subject of choice for me, but an interesting challenge anyhow. Initially I was told that one of my images was up for the cover but I heard back late last week that I will have a full-page feature instead... Still pretty exciting for my first published piece. I've also found some interest in several of my prints, which has given me an exciting opportunity to experiment with some different printing techniques and options. What an exciting diversion photography has been.
It worked out just fine, though I opted not to do any speed work or intensity. Playing it safe with intensity has ALWAYS worked out for me. I've never thought back to myself and said 'i should have done way more intensity'. Its always the opposite case, 'I shouldn't have done those intervals, I' shouldn't have gone so hard'.
So I just played it safe and did a bunch of distance workouts. I've been feeling better and better and by yesterday I finally saw my heart rate come down to where it ought to be. We got lucky early this week with some snow. Roughly 12 inches fell in town here in Park City, just enough to ski on once its packed out sufficiently.
Thursday I went out for my first ski of the season. As always, my skis felt super long compared to rollerskis and with the uneven track conditions, I felt a little off balance. It was awesome to be off the road and feeling of gliding across snow is so much better than asphalt. On Friday, my good friend and training partner Bill Demong (one of the top Nordic Combined skiers in the world) skied for four hours on the golf course. It was a push, mentally but we made it. Afterwards I felt a little tired but it really felt good. That was the longest workout I have done in some time, probably two months or more. A four hour workout is one that I rely on heavily and it felt awesome to get that back into the routine. Yesterday, Saturday, Bill and I drove to Solitude resort to ski a little with the University of Utah team. We were unaware that we would be on a 6 minute loop, but the conditions were fantastic compared to what we have seen in Park City. After 30 minutes we were bored but we stuck it out for 2 hours. We threw in a few 'hot laps' just to mix it up. I was a little apprehensive but I actually felt quite good. Going hard with a World class skier like Bill will let you know where you stand in a big hurry. The good news is that I didn't feel too far off... Sometimes resting for long periods of time can be a real benefit.
Looking forward, I am planning on keeping on the distance theme and adding in a little speedwork where I can. I'm planning on keeping it on the shorter and easier end and building in. I've yet to really screw anything up, I'm trying to keep it that way. The past 15 years of training hasn't gone anywhere and I'm planning on putting it to good use. The temperatures are rising a bit here so I'm not sure if we will be skiing later this week but I am anticipating some rollerski workouts in the coming days.
In school, my kids have finished up a Track and Field section that involved a 1600m run, a 400m run, 100m, shot put, broad jump, high jump and the 100m hurdles. It was neat to see some kids accel at running and others accel in the jumping events or the shot put. It is rare that we do an activity that so many different kids can show their strengths. This past week we have been in the swimming pool. This section isn't quite as competitive as it is about learning the different strokes as well as some emergency techniques. We also huck ourselves off the high dive whenever we get the chance.
On the art side of the coin, I've been shooting a lot of pictures lately. Especially once it started snowing. During our visit to Sun Valley I had a chance opportunity to shoot an exterior of a home for Fine Homebuilding magazine. Its not exactly the subject of choice for me, but an interesting challenge anyhow. Initially I was told that one of my images was up for the cover but I heard back late last week that I will have a full-page feature instead... Still pretty exciting for my first published piece. I've also found some interest in several of my prints, which has given me an exciting opportunity to experiment with some different printing techniques and options. What an exciting diversion photography has been.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Finally?
As of today I have trained four days in a row... That might not seem significant but it is the most I've trained consecutively in roughly two months. At this point I'm calling it a miracle.
Just last week I seemed to be headed in the wrong direction. Again. I was feeling super rundown and lethargic. I went back to the doctor and had some bloodwork done, expecting the worst. I heard back with results last Friday and found out that I was fighting something but that something was not likely mono... good news.
I took the weekend off and somehow slept well multiple nights in a row, something that hasn't happened for a while. I woke up Monday feeling spectacular, the best I had felt in almost two months. Literally. It was like magic or something. So I headed out for an easy bike ride, really easy, hoping that the magic wouldn't wear off. It didn't.
I lifted weights on Tuesday morning and felt strong after ANOTHER great night of sleep. Amazing. That afternoon I went for a ride and still managed to not feel bad. I rollerskied and rode my bike yesterday and today am planning on rollerskiing twice.
Like all things, I guess it just took time. My body needed rest and finally got enough of it. I am proceeding cautiously and looking forward to getting back on the right track. I have missed out on quite a bit of base training that I feel is absolutely necessary for marathon racing and will be moving towards getting some of those workouts under my belt through November and likely into December. Right now a two and a half hour rollerski feels long, this can't be the case come race time. I've got a feeling that part of that is that I am still a bit underweight but eight weeks of very limited training has certainly taken a toll.
It is nice to finally be able to share positive news about my training. I am headed to Sun Valley this weekend for a quick visit to Crystal's parents house. I'm planning on doing some easy hiking in the Boulder/Sawtooth mountains and probably try to take some pictures while I'm there as well. I'll be sure to post when I return.
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.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Back Towards the Center.
Well, I'm alive...
I'm no longer poisoning my body with pesticides/antibiotics and my digestive system seems to be functioning with reasonable efficiency once again. I am able to train at an early-summer level of intensity. I do not have a home that is being foreclosed on, nor do I have money vanishing in the black hole that our stock market appears to be. And my bank hasn't closed yet either.
Yep, life is good.
So I finished my prescription of Flagyl, which killed the Giardia along with a huge amount of good cells that would have been nice to hang on to. As the medicine left my bloodsteam, I started to resemble a human once again and a little later even started to resemble an athlete. A 10 pound lighter athlete, but still an athlete. I had to start back into training very slowly. I mean really slowly. I was basically going for walks, sometimes with rollerskis on my feet, sometimes connected to my bike, sometimes just plain walking. I started with an hour and over the course of two weeks built up to 2.5 hours and a couple of days with two workouts.
This past week has been like a normal training week in June. Modest hours and a couple of interval workouts, I also rode my bike for 4 hours on Wednesday. Things seem to be coming back together though I am still not recovering as quickly as I would like.
The bottom line is that I am just not in very good shape right now, relatively speaking. Thats how it is. Some of the people around me have been trying to convince me that I'm not out of shape, Im just a little off. Thats not the case right now. I'm just not in good shape. Period.
I've always been a proponent of being honest with oneself as an athlete. If you don't address weaknesses you can't fix them. The only way I'm going to get back to top form is the old fashion way, through hard work. There is no way around it.
In terms of a timeframe, I'm definitely aiming further down the road this season than in those past. I'm hoping to feel prepared by January and be in top form by February. Its going to be a fairly thin race schedule for me this year, focusing on few very but important races. One thing I am definitely looking forward to is training more on snow in December and January than I have in some time. I really do love to ski and it will nice to have the time to actually do it in the early winter.
For now its back to the basics. I'm still trying to gain back some of the weight that I lost. I am getting really hungry during workouts right now and that needs to stop. Once I can hit the high hours and long workouts again, I might look to move towards some more speed based training.
The more relaxed pace of my training lately has given me the opportunity to bring my camera along. Here is a bit of what I've been seeing in PC:
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:
Monday, September 15, 2008
Photo Blog: One Day of 6th Grade Ultimate Frisbee.
Here are a few pictures from last Thursday's PE class. I'm shooting these from the hip here, literally. If the kids see me look through the viewfinder, they start posing. I don't want to disrupt class so composition is a matter of luck here.
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