Achieving Excellence

The other day I got out of bed, looked out the window, and saw huge snowflakes falling to the ground. My initial reaction was excitement, but I was a bit disappointed because it was going to make the intervals I planned for the day that much harder.

I met my coach at the ski hut ready to go at 9:30am. The snow wasn't letting up and the wind wasn't either. I strapped my skis on and began my warm up, plowing through 5 inches of fresh fallen snow. I was the only lone soul out on the trails. It was hard to get psyched for this workout when I could hardly see where I was going! After making a few loops, I put my head down and went for it. "It's conditions like this that make you tough. You never know when you'll have to race in dumping snow." These were all thoughts that ran through my head and were latter reiterated by my coach. "That's right," I thought. "This is only going to make me tougher." With that thought in my head, I began my first interval. Three minutes into the interval I had to take my glasses off, they were fogging up and they were covered with snow! The wind was blowing and snow was covering my face...I couldn't see a thing! As I skied along, I ran off the trail a few times, getting way off track. I squinted my eyes and even shut them on the downhills...that's when I caught a tip in the snow and did a nice face plant. Aaawww! After the fall, I was getting more and more frustrated. I was trying to go fast but I couldn't see a thing! I finished my interval and stopped to get a lactate reading from my coach. This would be the moment of truth, did I go hard enough? Sure enough, my lactate was within the correct range!

Despite plowing through 5 inches of snow, skiing down the hills blind, and falling on my face, I was able to execute the intervals as planned. I was relieved to be done with the workout! I kept my mind in the game and completed it just as well as I would have if it was solid tracks. Sometimes achieving excellence isn't just about performing well at races and getting good results, but it is also about making several small achievements along the way. I could have easily waited until the next day to do the intervals when it was clear and sunny, but I put my mind to the test. Ultimately, I felt like I achieved excellence and benefited greatly from such a tough and brutal workout.

And of course as I finished my cool down, the sun began to peek through the clouds.

A Special Time in Sun Valley

This past week I had the pleasure to be a part of the Special Olympics! The Nordic and Downhill events were held in Sun Valley, while the other events were held in Boise, Idaho.

A view of the awards podium with Baldy in the background.

A couple weeks ago, I helped with a nordic ski lesson. I enjoyed skiing with several of the Special Olympic athletes from Sun Valley.

My friends Abraham, Denny, and Grant!

We are all smiles after an afternoon of skiing.

As a fundraiser for the Special Olympics, Micheal Franti put on a concert in Sun Valley! We had a great time and even got a picture with him!

Micheal Franti onstage.

My sister Kristy, my friend Noi, and I posing for a picture with Micheal Franti

It was very fun having the Special Olympics in town and participating in the events. Thank you to all the organizers and volunteers for putting on such a great event!

A Week In Telemark

Last week the Super Tour made its rounds to Telemark, Wisconsin. With temperatures as low as -15, it managed to warm up to zero degrees to kick off the skate sprint on Wednesday . The course wasn’t any ordinary sprint course. To put it plainly, it mainly consisted of two up-hills…one big hill and one really big hill. I skied to a solid second place in the qualifying round and ended up forth overall in the A-final. Colin Rodgers skied strong all day, qualifying in second place and holding his second place finish in the A-finals.

We had two days off before we found ourselves back on the trails racing. Saturday was a 5/10k classic on a very challenging course. My energy felt good and I knew I had to go out there and hammer every bit of the course. Despite a tumble on a down hill, I managed to get 5th place, 10 seconds out of a podium finish. Dave Chamberlain proved his dominance in classic skiing, finishing

Sunday was a 10/15k skate mass-start. After watching the men’s race at 9:30am, I learned that the course and its lack of hilly terrain was probably going to make for a tight finish in the woman’s race just as it had for the men’s race. A pack of 20 men came into the finishing stretch within a matter of about 10 seconds. Colin Rodgers finished 8th and Dave Chamberlain finished 12th. The top women stuck together in a tight pack until the last two kilometers. I decided to put the hammer down and begin my charge to the finish. Kristina Stranberg followed close behind and it came down to a sprint in the final 50 meters to the finish. Unfortunately, I did not have quite enough in the tank to maintain first place…she out-edged me by 1 second!

Overall, it was a successful week in Telemark. Many thanks to Dennis Kruse for housing several of the athletes this past week! We appreciate your hospitality!

I am back in Sun Valley, getting ready for the Boulder Mountain Tour this weekend! I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.