Racing & Grinding

It might still feel like summer, but I'm already starting to dial in the little parts of the ski racing equasion. Mark Waechter of Ultra-Tune has been showing me the ropes in getting a better handle on my racing boards. Between the morning and afternoon sessions my coach Scott Johnston and I were cranking on my fleet of skis; first scraping, followed by flex testing, then finishing with waxing. At the next Ultra-Tune session I'll take this information and plan out a lil grinding plan with Mark to have both my old and new Rossignol's running better than my competitors. Watch out...



The past weekend made for an altogether different kind of grind - the 11.5mile Cutthroat Classic. It's a classic trail run that crosses from Rainy Pass on the Western side of the North Cascades, that then drops down from the high alpine setting into the sunny side of the state. With three miles of climbing remaining, I decided to set off solo and put about four minutes on the closest pursuer by the time we reached the valley on the other side, who came all the way from Track Town USA (Eugene, OR) to defend his Northwest trail running title. It felt good to race and be so in control, especially in longest running race of my life.

Getting Strong with the Methow Olympic Development Program

A Sunday afternoon with the MOD Squad