Another Awesome weekend!

It seems that most people I know are sweating this time of year because they need to get their training done.  'Oh my god, I am so out of shape', they say.  Complaining and feeling guilty because they are only doing 3-4 hours of workouts a week instead of 10-15 hours.  I may have a different approach to many but I dont sweat it one bit.  Most of the people I am surrounded by have late summer and fall races, but seem to fill all the time before with another 4 A races.  They wonder why when June arrives they are exhausted and injured??  They bitch all winter long because they cant get outside to ride......BLAH!  BLAH! BLAH!  I am tired of listening to the overtraining ego trip that people need to feed themselves to feel good!  Unless you are a pro and working with a trainer to get you to the big top, your body and mind needs a break from the intensity and a change of pace of some kind to make you stronger.  That is why we are so lucky to have winter!  Mother Nature's way of telling you to take it easy and try another game for a couple of days!

I have been moving ahead with my training in a light manner and feeling quite strong and healthy doing it. My swimming is 1-2 days a week and will not grow to 2-3.  I have decided to do a spring 1/2 marathon and limit that as my races for running.  And my trained will start rolling this week with one hard trainer ride.  Do I need more than that?  Seemingly I am supposed to be, but I am not going to.  My A race is not until end of August.  Why would I train like I am going to race in June?  I have many short races I will do over the summer but I treat each of those as a training day.  If I have a 5 hour ride planned, I do it after my race so I do not compromise my overall A race goal.  I guess my mindset is good as it allows me to re focus on training when I ramp it up as well as allowing me to get my rocks off doing something different for a couple of months!
This weekend was another awesome weekend for that!  Each weekend of the winter seems to get better than teh one before!  I get stronger, my head gets more clear and I enjoy my sport better in the afternoon that I did when I started in the morning.  I guess not pushing and doing it 12 months a year allows me to feel that way!
This weekend was one of the events that I coordinate for a professional training series for instructors.  They are on Fridays which allows me a couple of hours of skiing on a work day.  They are a great opportunity for me to get out on my own and do some focused training while not surrounded by other weekend staff and clients.  I spend a couple of hours 100% focused on my goal and not teaching or working with others.  It allows me to evaluate where I am and to decide on strategies on order to continue to move forward.    It is no different than triathlon, just on snow and freezing cold.

As well as an opportunity for me to do some skiing for me, I had a weekend of perfect teaching.  As I have been teaching over the years I have delivered a product that was somewhat technical and probably mind numbing to my clients.  I have changed my delivery around  little this year and I am getting wicked results.  Over the course of the 2 hour sessions that I teach  I have been able to observe marked differences in skiers of all levels.  The changes I have made allow a message that I more clear and meets the learning methods of the different people that I am skiing with. I teach because I love it and it brings a smile to my face!  When I finish a class and I get feedback in teh form of smiles and a desire to keep skiing it makes me excited that I have accomplished a memorable day for them and they are looking forward to the next time they can get out.  As I continue to train towards my ski gaols, ideally it will allow me to deliver better lessons and earn more smiles and excitement as a results.

As the winter moves forward I am getting quite excited about my trip to Jackson Hole.  I have been following Mother Nature and what she has decided for that part of the world, and apparently someone out there pissed her off.  It is snowing almost every day with 270"+ of snow so far. I can only hope that it continues until we are on our way out as it will make for a dream trip.  It should make the drop into Corbet's Couloir a little fluffier on the landing and the other skiing an absolute delight.  It has been a couple of years since I have big mountain skied so I looking forward to the trip in a big way.  I was able to get some good photos this weekend of myself skiing, it is not often that I can get shots  like these.  I hired a pro photographer for the event that I organized and he took the photos that are attached.  I am excited as they make it look like I can ski quite well!  LOL
The week is now here so time to put on the training shoes and fins again.  It is all good as it will get me ready for another great weekend on the snow and my trip.  As well it is a great base for when the real training started in March.  It is all good and I am loving life right now!  WAhoo!