More Musings

OK, third calender month - third blog entry. I have a lot going on! Some updates -

I'm still teaching up at Loveland and I still dig it. We have another month until the Ski School closes. We've has some incredible snow this year and so April ought to be some awesome skiing if I can get up there a bit. I've learned so much from the instructor clinics - not only about teaching skiing, but skiing itself; the techniques, the models, etc. I'm a much better technical skier now than I was 4 months ago. I don't have time this season to attempt to get my PSIA Level I, but for sure next November I'll wrap that up. I think we get a big monster raise of about 1-dollar per hour if we are level I certified. But, nobody teaches for the money I suppose.

I've been very busy coaching, and as of now I am basically booked for the near future, as I just don't have time for more athletes. Now, hypothetically, if I did not have a 'real job' I could coach full time, shlep bikes, and a few other things to make a buck. I've done the math, and the math works. Hmmm.....more on that topic later.

I have a full suite of races planned for 2008, and I'm training hard, despite some minor setbacks here and there. Recall my broken ribs a couple months back, and most recently I've been out of commission for a bit due to an illness I hate being sick as anyone does, but for me, now, so close to the racing season..its really a pain.

What else? Soccer starts in a couple weeks and ST Jr will play again on the Sharks U-4 team. he is looking forward to it. We'll see.

For now, that all.

Thanks for reading.

Update

Yikes....I am flailing on my goal to post more in oh eight! OK so get off my back about it already sheeeesh!!

Lets see......

I'm training hard, havn't missed many days at all, and I still feel good about the 2008 racing season. I did miss some time due to my broken ribs and my knee...but as of about mid-January Im back in the saddle full time. I am slowly getting closer to the race shape I want to be in, making good progress, and am am really looking forward to the season.

Im still teaching up at Loveland - Ive taken a couple more clinics from a few of the senior instructors and Im really re-learning how to ski properly after...35 years of skiing! Im bummed that due to work obligations I will miss the instructor NASTAR race tomorrow because I am skiing really well, very strong, and possibly am skiing better than I ever have. The race is a mandatory part of my PSIA Level I requirement, and I am certain I would easily hork a Silver if not a Gold. I have a ton of NASTAR medals and from my racing background, and in my age group..its a sort of cake walk really. But..I dont need the Level I until next year, and we have about 8 more weeks of the 2008 season for me to finish my other clinic training, so it's all good for now on the ski instructor front!

Last night a bunch of Ride Againt The Machine MTB-ers met over at Pleskos house to get the new kits. They look cool, and Scott did great job wiht the design. Very cool kit. Since I am on both a USAC and an ACA team, here in Colorado, and wil race on the track and road (or any other permitted sanctioned race) for those teams, I am not sure where I can wear the kit except for the trainer and possibly a few non-sanctioned MTB races such as MTB. But, in any cae the kit looks cool

Speaking of cool...my new ACA team, Defined Fitness Training, appears to have bloomed into a huge success for my friends Megan and Rob. Megan bailed on her corporate job and is now training full time and managing the details of DFT. She has an eliet womens team, here in Colorado, and then has opened the team up to a bucnh of other racers as well. I am really looking forward to racing off the track as often as I can in the DFT kit. This coming Sunday is our Team Photo day and it ought to be fun. I guess folks are riding afterward. I will roll with them as a warm up, but then I have to do my own CP-ATP sprints on SUnday so I need to get those in on my own. After a decent warm up, I'll bail the ride and go do my intervals. he weather is looking good for a good day.

Work? Work bites monkey balls right now. I hate it. Hate.....yep. I hate it. I want out. Its unhealthy and its no longer worth the stress to keep cashing the paycheck. I will stay there through the summer, and posibly thorugh next fall, and then revaluate the potential for me to make it on my own . The math doesnt quite workout in my favor yet for me to bail the 'real job' but its close.....real close. Some day soon.

Lets see...what else. TaeKwonDo is going well I am re-learning everything Ive forgotten, but as I knew would happen, the speed and focus and power is coming back. I love TKD. One of the most pure martial arts and its SO good for you.


Um....185 pounds this AM. After I broke my ribs I got lazy for a few weeks and then gained a couple pounds back. I never got over about 188, but I did get a bit lazy. But..things are good again, back on track the last few weeks, and slowly but surely leaning out. I was 198 at Winter Park KOTR last September. I'm sort of hoping I can get down to 178 or 179 by Cherry Creek in early April, and then maybe 175 or so by Masters Natz in September. Thatd be really lean for me, and a huge accomplishment. And really...at this point, not even all that far off.. Im done over 15 last summer.10 more is sort of reasonable. We'll see. Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading

2008

Wow I havent posted in a while. I intend to do a better job in '08. The last few weeks have been busy, but good. So what have I been doing?

Skiing - Ive been working hard up at Loveland still..instructing on the weekends and some other days. I still dig it, its a lot of fun. I picked up my first couple of paychecks for the season and they totaled about 220 buks! Haaa! I think I made more as a paperboy in 9th grade! But..I've skied about 20 days so far this year, Ive been able to take some instructor clinics, and scored some pro deals on some new Nordica racing skiis. Which are SO fast, that I crashed last week on them and broke ribs, and tore an MCL. Fortunately, as has been the case all my life with literally every sports injury Ive ever had, of them are serious at all. My MCL tear is a Level 1, which means...basically..nothing. Shut up and train, is what it means. And then my #8 and #9 rib on my back left side, snapped against a rock. I should maybe get the ski patrol to move that rock, now that I think about it, before some other dude snaps his ribs on it. Ah...we've had so much snow that by now, its buried. Anyhow, breaking ribs can be a bad deal if one end punctures an organ, but thats not the case. Basically just deal with it and train, same as it always is. So, I missed 5 days of saddle time because It was basically so painful to move around that I just sat in bed for two days. But, I'm back at now. Today is day 7 and its only just mildy uncomfortable is all. Basically I'm trying to be careful how I move for a few weeks so I dont jack up my knee any further and to let the ribs grow back stong.

I have been reminded of a good frind of mine, fellow triathlon coach and Ironman triathlete who broke two ribs 10-days before Kona in 2005. He raced and did fine. So, Im on day 7 and IM at least back on the bike, I figure that by this Saturday (Day 10) Ill be good to go.

Little Steven skied with me twice so far this year and is doing well. Santa brought he and I some skateboards for Christmas and were heading to the skate park in a couple hours . Assuming there is no snow there, we wil ride a bit. I have to admit..its been 20 years since Ive skated, and the equipment has changed a bit, but surfing and skating as a kid...like riding a bike. How hard can it be? I'll report in later. Maybe I'll bust s'more bones...who knows.

We had no hockey game last week since it was Christmas week, but we do have one this week. I'm not sure if I shold play or not.... hockey is not a priority to me - bike racing is. And I dont want to ruin my chances for a good strong year in the saddle when some NHL wannabee checks me into the boards during a coed roller hockey game. Believe me...some of the guys on some of the teams take it WAY to seriously. I'll see how I feel on Friday morning.

OK more later. Stay tuned

ST Lives

Wow no blog updates for a month! Yikes!! I dont know if I should appoligize to the blogosphere (as if anyone even reads my blog), or thank myself for being so productive as to not have tme to blog!! ANYways.....so much has happened. Lets see....where do I start...

Ive been working up at Loveland as a ski instructor! I love it! It's everything I expected and more. Primarily we teach kids the first year, but I did teach one adult class. As a moderatly-fluent Spanish speaker, I was able to teach a husband and wife couple how to ski on my first day. It was a challenge, but I loved it! The rest of my classes have been kids from 7 to 12 years old. I LOVE teaching the kids! They are all so different, but each of them has some wonderful unique characteristics! Some pick it up very fast, some need a bit more time and attention, some have to much self-confidence, others have just the right amount. Some don't pay attention, others are glued to my every word! The challenge of ski instructing is not the skiing or the teaching - I'm good those things already. The challenge is figuring out how each child learns and then providing that child the tools he or she needs, while providing a second shild in the same class, wiht a radically different direction. Not easy to do...but I really love it. I so look forward to teaching every day! Aside from my time with Steven Jr. it has become the highlight of my life. I am working Saturday and I cant wait!!

OK what else..Steven turned 4 a couple weeks ago (on the same day I tunred 43, as we also share birthdays, in addition to names) we all had a party at Chuck E Cheese and it was a ton-o-fun. 7 or 8 kids from Stevens day school showed up, and his mom and her boyfriend Wade were there. We all had a great time! Steven was stoked to have a party and scored some kick-ass toys!

Last night was the Christmas program at the day school, and Stevens class sang three songs! He did so well...he was super enthusiatic and happy and he did so well! I was very proud of him! He is growing up so fast and I miss him when he is at his moms house. His mom and her boyfriend Wade take good care of Steven, and I am satisifed that he is in good hands there. He speaks positively of his time when he is not with me, and that helps me relax a bit.

What else? I just found out today that Hammer Racing Team (my cycling team) has just been awarded the USACycling Track Team of the Year for the FOURTH straight year!!! WOW!!! I am so lucky to be associated with such an incredible group of people! Our 2008 kits are in and they look great! We are all meeting at Ken and Kimberleys house in a few weeks to distribute the kits.

Training has been going well, I've been lifting, riding, following the plan, loosing a bit more weight, and staying generally healthy. AND.....I got a huge bonus at the firm last week for kicking ass on some stratigic business development initiatives. Life is good!

Lastly..hockey! We had a few weeks off but are back playing every Friday. Last week we won, I socred once, got one assist. We are playing tomorrow night, and I'm really looking forward to it!

Updates, Junk and Stuff

Scott has some funny stuff on his blog lately http://rideagainstthemachine.blogspot.com/ I dont know where he finds some of it, and the rest of it, is just junk in his life. I had lunch with him and Brevoort the other day, and we were talking about the email scam reply thing that Scott did. Go to his blog and scroll back a month or two.Its classic, and super funny. He joked that he should start a website just for these things. That would be very funny! I encourage this kind of dumb stuff. Why not? Dumb stuff rocks.

The new kit for Ride Against The Machine is on Scotts blog...it's very cool. I'm happy for the Wednesday gang that they all will look 'pro' next summer. They look so cool, I can kiss another 20 bucks goodbye just so I have the kit.

For 2008, I have joined Defined Fitness Training for my non-track racing. Check out the cool kit Megans' team wears at http://www.definedfitnesstraining.com

Training is going well, Ive been consistent, the power is coming up, and I'm slowly leaning out.

I missed the CVA Annual dinner last week, but was reelected to the board in absentia. Huh...go figure! I am really looking forward to next summer down at the track. ST2 should be old enough to hang out safely while I ride or train, and unless my body fails me, things ought to go well.

Today was the first day of instructor training up at Loveland. It went well. The entire instructing crew seems to be a very cool, close-knit, professional family. The patrol guys as well. I hope I fit in well, because its something Ive been needing to do for a long time. Today we did some safety stuff, general orientation, and got several hours of skiing in. Day two is tomorrow.

And lastly, Happy Birthday to the USMC on this Veterans Day, 2007 - 232 years old today! Thank you gentlemen for what you do.