Go Canada Go!

The last 4 days has been a whirlwind of activity, it actually makes workouts seem a little restful!
At the end of last week I was on snow coaching corporate groups who were out for their yearly day of fun.  It was a great day being able to contribute to a fun experience for them, seeing them go from being beginners to finally making their way down the hill.  There is no better feeling than the wind blowing across your face on a sunny day as you cruise down the hill.  Being a ski instructor brings me a ton of smiles, it is a sport that I have worked at for most of my life, I have become fairly decent at it.  Having the opportunity to teach others so that they can have the same fun experience is kind of my way of giving back.  I actually cant believe that I get paid to teach skiing as it is something that I love to do.  As I train for IM I feel the same passion and fun as I progress and gain small steps in my quest.  As this summer starts and my training begins it should be a lot o fun and bring a lot of smiles to my face.  After a great day on snow I also enjoyed an awesome run.  The sun was shining brightly, their was little wind and the roads were clear as could be for a February day.  It was absolute pleasure to be running after a great winter ski day, feeling like I was now running into spring.
After a great day, the setting was in place for a historical Canadian moment later in the evening.  Canada has worked for the last 10 years to prepare for the opening of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.  On Friday there was not a Canadian who was not anxiously looking forward to the opening Ceremony for the 2 weeks of awesome sports ahead.  Many of your friends joined us to take the time to enjoy the opening ceremonies.  It was an awesome event!  We all watched as the presentation were done, the songs were played, the artist danced!  As the ceremony played, we all sat cheering, the watching silently, cheering again and taking in every minute of all that Canada has to offer.  When the National anthem was sung, the entire room sang proudly with chests held high beaming with pride as the host country going into the Olympic games!  As the torch was run into the stadium we all smiled and enjoyed history unfolding with many of Canada prominent athletes carrying the torch.  Overall it was a great evening to be a Canadian, smiling proudly as we have the opportunity to host the best in the world!
Saturday and Sunday this weekend were epic ski days, the snow, the weather, the people!  It was like all the starts had lined up for the Canadina Olympics and every Canadian was happy and proud to be an athlete.  For me it translated into a lot of enthusiastic students who wanted to ski hard and ski fast.  I am fortunate as most of the skiers that I teach are advanced, therefore we ski at a high performance level .  Skiing this way for a lesson is great as it allows me to ski at the same level, therefore every lesson I teach is a personal lesson for myself as well.  I am presenting material to my students that reflect a technical aspect of skiing that I am working on myself.  Over the course of the winter the intensity and technical refinement of my skiing has been tremendous.  As a result of the great winter I have had I have made a decision to begin my quest towards my Level 4 next winter.  Achieving Level 4 is the Kona of ski instruction, it is a 3-5 year training and development plan that is achieved by less than 2% of the ski instructors! So, after my first IM, here I go!  I have always been driven by tough to reach goals, but it makes the finish a lot more exciting!  Both days of the weekend were filled with exciting skiing that makes you want to go faster, like a great race finish and a desire to go and achieve another personal best!
 Today was the icing on the cake.  After a great weekend, today was a free holiday.  A couple of years ago the government decided we needed a random additional holiday, we now enjoy 'Family Day'.  The snow was awesome, the temperature was great.  I had a request lesson in the morning with one of my students from Saturday.  We spent the morning doing some crazy fast technical skiing.  The best part of teh morning was  a breakthrough by the student as we zipped along the snow.
As the weekend comes to an end, most of my muscles are telling me how hard I skied.  My legs for the first time this winter are talking back to me, my back is talking a little louder and my head is living every minute of it!
I hope your weekend was as awesome as mine was!  Now I am going to go end enjoy the Olympic Games and be inspired by the best of the best!
As I have said before!  'Live for your Dreams', it makes life's journey, fast exciting and worth chasing after!  CHeers!