Winter is still here, its February 19, 22 degrees as I'm writing this. I feel this unrest, talk of spring being right around the corner, racing season is coming, time to get ready, start training...blah blah blah.
I like winter. I want snow. I love xc skiing. At this point it's tough to tune out the spring is coming noise but I have to calm myself and enjoy today. The push to get ready for racing, for me, has its roots in the Battenkill days, when we used to train/peak at this road race upstate in early April. I can remember following the Friel 12 wk training program which I would start around the holidays. Battenkill was a time and a place that isn't relative to myself and the team anymore but for some of us there was a time when that race was it. It's funny how things evolve, Bkill is no longer relevant, these days it's more about Short Track.
That's right, DO SHORT TRACK. The training races that start in March. Whatever, I'm gonna show up and race, I'm certainly not gonna train for a training race. I've learned that I have a limited peak window, if I start the training process too early, my down hill slide happens sooner then later. I'd like to have gas in the tank till late June, which is typically how long I last if I start the process up around March. This means 12 wks of work, peak, slide, recover. I'm usually cooked by July, Kittatiny Bulldog Rump results are typically confirmation of this. Given my duration of training, the drain of working outdoors in the summer and the lack of sleep due to early morning hours, a July burn out is inevitable.
Last season was my best year racing. There may be a corolation to the fact that it started later. The snow storms last March cancelled all Short Track racing, which left me xc skiing instead of racing for the month of March. While the door was closed to ST, XC skiing was opened. I can't say that this is entirely why I had my best year but it did help.
For now I'm gonna do my thing and trust in the process. I say process, but don't want to treat it like a process but rather do what I enjoy doing. If I treat my life, like a series of events, trying to get ready for a series of events then what the fuck do I have, other then a series of events.
Don't rush it, enjoy the day and make connections.
Just enough snow at Minnewaska to XC ski Saturday. Some shots with me and my boy friend Paul.
At Hartshorne with the other love of my life. Mitchy assuming the position.