Wholistic Fitness

It’s a nice conundrum to have at 47; apparently, the only people capable of beating me in a Classic Ski Race so far this year must be decades younger and members of National Teams!

This morning was Race #1 of the AZ State Nordic Ski Championships of which i am the two-time defending Champion. On the venue was a grueling 15-kilometer high-altitude course that even had National Biathlon Team Member; Karl Granoth tilting his head a bit before the Race Gun went off. i pre-skied the Course on Thursday thinking i’d practice a little skate skiing (since i’ve only been on my skate skis 3x this winter) afterward. Holy Heaven! i was so worked over, i went straight home to take a nap with the (sick) girls.

Can’t say enough about WF…for this broken back yogi to crank off a 15k Classic Race without spinal pain is an absolute Blessing of WF. THANK YOU, WF!

The black-and-white fact that i was only beaten by a National Team member, is fantastic and that i was able to keep him close to only a minute makes me deeeeply stoked.

i led the 25-strong peleton for the opening kilometer…double-poling. Karl passed me near the beginning of the 3-kilometer sufferfest of an uphill…i was still double-poling, he (and probably everyone else) had already begun establishing their diagonal striding.

by the top of the climb, the race already had boiled down to Karl (off the front) Lee (who beat me three years ago in this race) and myself.

a left onto the wild-and-woolly “Wild Bill Hill” – a Most Difficult graded downhill on which i passed Lee. Lee and i then duked it out mano-y-much-younger-mano up the next lung-and-limb shredding testpiece; “Reese.” Most of the wise skiers never venture up the intimidating, waterfall-like climbs of Reese. 400′ in 2.5 kilometers. it hurts. i’ve been practicing Reese during my interval workouts and thanks to those practice sessions, i can pretty much double-pole all but 150 meters of the beast (thanks to HP PROP, MAP Aminos!). when i saw that Reese was going to be included on the Race Course, i smiled instead of winced like most.
Lee, a very strong young gun, stayed in front of me for last .25 k on Reese which is wickedly steep. i knew, however, that the top is not really the ‘top’…we had to hang a left onto Abineau which continues to climb in undulating rolls; no real recovery. i had meditated on this section a lot last night and told myself if anyone was on my tails at this point, no matter how bad i was hurting, i had to lay down some Norwegian Jump Double Pole Medicine Hurt on them. why? because at the end of this rising traverse came a sizzling 2.25-kilometer downhill; Raspberry…after that, it was going to very ilg-favorable as we turned south to begin an excruciating 6-kilometers double-pole slugfest that requires the core and upper body strength of a Mountain Gorilla. my “Visceralization Technique” ( see yesterday’s DL) proved to be money-in-the-bank if there WAS any money in this sport! At the top of Abineau at a pre-determined 50-meter section, at the highest altitude on the Course (about 9,200′) your ol’ coach started to Jump Double Pole and didn’t stop.

it worked, i got a 25 meter gap on Lee and was able to churn back to the stables, increasing my lead over him and even perhaps even closing a bit on Karl.

it was a truly sacred race for me; pulling together so many of the invitingly rich limbs of what i Teach and try to express in WF; strength, endurance, mental focus, grim determination, self-confidence, yoga, and a blue-collar work ethic to just keep a’goin, keep a’goin, keep a’goin.

i don’t have the Official Results, but i was stoked with my 2nd Place Overall and 1st Age Group enough to write you immediately. no Race Photography, sadly, available.

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP OUTLOOK:
not looking pretty. Karl’s strongest discipline is my weakest; Skate Skiing. Lee is also a stronger skate skier than i. if i can manage to keep hovering above the illness in my home and race next week, i’m looking at a drop from State Champion to Bronze. still, a bronze ain’t nothing i’d be ashamed of, racing at this level, against these young guns, at this station in my life.

Ken, who last year accused me of having “no ski technique” after i beat him (for the second year in a row) for the State Championships was several minutes behind me, as was another young FNC staff skier who has gotten in my face a couple of times, saying that i should be prepared for a much faster result from him. never saw him. guess he still needs to learn that if you want to beat ilg? the LAST thing you want to do is add more Tapas to my natural inner kindling for podiums! fun stuff; this is the way all ‘wars’ should be fought; at the sport level. stopwatches never lie.

FLAGSTAFF WINTER TRIATHLON OUTLOOK:
Mark Thurston, who beat me by a couple of minutes in Event #1 of the Flag Winter Tri toed the Start Line this morning saying, “If i can keep you within five minutes or so today, i’ll try to challenge you for the title at next week’s skate race (event #3).”

Mark put a very Noble Effort however, after finishing nearly a half-hour behind me, he’s beginning to Learn Again, Grasshopper! about the versatility of an ilg in winter! Great guy, Noble Effort and anything can happen in racing, so hang in there Mark!

THANKS!
i wish to deeply thank those Devoted WF Warriors to helped me financially to put together my winter season! my Overall KING OF THE MOUNTAIN Win at Chile Ski Classic was soooo amazing! my winter is already a GRAND SUCESS! of course, the money that the few of you sent in ran out long ago (racing waxes and travel is expensive!)…so if you’d like to support ilg to keep cranking toward the State Championship defense, Flag Winter Triathlon 4-peat, and my Mt. Taylor repeat of a Mixed Pair Championship (more on that later!) PLEASE, PLEASE consider a Temple Tithe at this m(om)ent…i need your support!

also, priceless thanks to SUNRIDER HERBS for hovering me Higher so far than the virus and cold within my own home! i have also been using the Herbs to drop my bodyweight to 149 lbs this season and, evidently, it has my strength-to-weight ratio putting the BIG HURT on anyone my age, and, as you can tell from my results, even the young guns are sweating to keep ol’ ilg in sight!

can’t say enough about MAP Aminos…their effect upon my immune, recovery, and regenerative capacities is without question.

and, HP Yoga?…uh, especially my PROP WORKOUTS?!?! my core is sooo tremendously strong right now and my spinal injury, herniated disks, smashed pelvis? hate to tell you, but i haven’t felt this WHOLE and FIT since before i was paralyzed!

what can i say?

your cold-sweatin’ coach