Wholistic Fitness

it’s Go(o)d to feel a little afraid…moments before Toeing The Start Line of the 44k Leadville Loppet..race temp a balmy 6 degrees…without the wind chill…not counting the start line elevation of 10, 251′

it’s a strange thing mystifying…

how suddenly things change.

three days ago, i looked out my bedroom window at the snowless landscape, feeling the twinges of heartache, barely able to breathe through the chronic disappointments of a winterless winter and feeling so anxious about the long, hot summer ahead whereupon our already tinder-dry southwest forests – ravaged by Spruce and Pine Beetle – seemed to be sweating already.

in the Practice of engaged Wholistic Fitness® however,  i did my best to know that all things do change.  so i drove further than i wanted to try to find some snow to train upon for my final big ski race of the season; the world’s highest nordic marathon;  the Leadville Loppet.

then i read the forecast…a huge winter storm preparing to wallop the very venue where i would race, about 4.5 hours northeast of Durango.   i had to take Dewa with me, so i chose the route with the fewest amount of mountain passes which amounted to two;  Wolf Creek (the biggie) and much smaller, yet often cagey in icy conditions; Poncha Pass.

after nearly 4 hours of driving,  it was Dewa’s voice from the backseat of “Chloe Snowflake” my ‘new’ 2010 Toyota Rav 4 which i had to get to replace our Beloved Bala – Honda Element who was totaled and unsafe,

“Daddy?”

“Yes, Baby Girl?”

“I am so stoked that we are FINALLY driving in a blizzard, it was getting soooo BORING back here!”

***

as i dutifully ate my calories that evening and did some window shopping with Dewa in the highest city of Turtle Island, i breathed through slightly congested nostrils the pranically saturated high air up on here on the roof of the Rockies.  in my younger years,  i had nordic jumped and ski raced, snowshoe raced, and alpine raced here.  memories of high school ski team antics played out on these very streets.  i raced the first ever (and few times afterward until it grew too big for my tastes) the Leadville 100 MTB race.   a part of me wanted to impart the spiritual essence of all these sacred times of mine directly into Dewa’s cells…but, i kept my mouth shut, stayed present with her as she picked up yet another little something and looked into my eyes with such pleading splendor my feet turned doughy,

“OOOOOH DADDY!    i have ALLways, no really, ALLways wanted this…for like my ENTIRE life!!!”

back at the hostel room,  we played TROUBLE (which she always wins) and a matching game (which, yes, she always wins) until bed time.   Dewa – who always has and still does sleep with either myself or Joy – really wanted to sleep in the cool bunk bed which had drape-around curtains.   She actually did sleep for a few hours while i meditated; unable to sleep due to nasal congestion.  i kept Trusting in the Wholistic Fitness® nutritional system which includes Neti and Pranayams and made it okay for me to finish last place tomorrow…i mean, i had never even raced this course before nor this distance.  Anxiety would have overwhelmed me for sure, if it was for the Meditation and years of trusting Wholistic FItness® and our Deities and the collective chi strength of our Sangha.  Then the words arrived along with a precious little lithe body seemingly floating through the darkness of the room,

“Daddy, can i sleep with you?”

“Of course, Baby Girl…come here..”  as we snuggled and she soon fell asleep, so did i…happy in my spiritual heart.

***

Race Day Morning arrived without a hint of congestion.  my legs, lungs, and breath felt fantastic as i rolled through my Early Morning Ritual, ate a little bit, and most of all; pooped. Thank GOD for Bodyhealth’s Intestinal Cleanse!  if there is one thing that REALLY derails my chi?  it’s toting around fecal matter instead of feeling Light, Pranic, and Clear.   had all my things ready to go,  kissed my Dewa and walked to Chloe in 6 degree cold, a windy spanking of snow-laden wind, and still, a happy spiritual heart…

“15 MINUTES UNTIL THE 44K RACE START!” shouted the Race Director above the din of wind and snow on the campus of the Colorado School Of Mines.

i ran back to Chloe and her heat.  screw warming up. 15 years of elite level mountaineering had produced very cold-sensitive fingers and toes and i was shuddering with cold…and the Race Gun had not even gone off yet!  i did my best not to think about the fact that i’d be out in these elements in my little lycra suit freezing my you know what off for nearly 4 hours…some racers would take close to double that to cover the 44ks.

***

i was second after the high-speed scrabble for the hole shot;  the section of snow that goes from lots of tracks for our skies to only one.  the wind was whipping my face and freezing my lightly clad body without condition.  the kid in front of me looked pretty good technically,  but had flaws.   i knew right then i could beat him.  technique flaws add up big time over the course of a few hours.  i skied on this tails for about 4k…trying not to rush my always-attacking mindset.  i guess the kid got tired of my ski tips incidentally clipping the tails of his skis (happens) and moved out of the track for me to take a pull…

somebody pinch me!
can’t EVEN BELIEVE i am the 2015 Leadville Loppet 44k Classic Overall Champion!!!
what a dream season it has been! 
THANK YOU to:
• my family
• YOU
• Fischer Skis
• Swix ski wax
• Bodyhealth Supplements
• ASEA
• Steve Ilg’s High Performance Yoga
• Tailwind Liquid Nutrition

i did not how many racers were with us and didn’t care.  i understood that well over half the registered racers did not show up.  you know it’s tough conditions when even nordic racers pull the plug on racing!

we were going up a gradual uphill so,  as a test,  i put in a solid 30/40 second effort and got a gap.

for the rest of the of the Journey i kept drillin’ it…never letting myself feel the cold or let the doubt creep in about winning this thing;  the longer i skied the stronger i became – mentally.  spiritually i entered into and out from these Bardo-like Realms where the other racers appeared like ghostly apparitions in the blowing, intense cold.  it was so hard to see the ski track i often skied right out of it.  some sections were drifted over.  i took tremendous and ongoing effort to sustain focus (dharana) and i relied upon my strong core to pull me through the ugly skiing when it must came down to guts.

at the turn-around i had 3 minutes on the kid in second place and nearly five on Daryl – the same Daryl that had won the KING OF THE MOUNTAIN title from me for five years at Chama Chili Ski Classic until this year!   i knew i had fitness and i kept the hammer down…through the daze of suffering and intense cold i felt heavenly.   the final 10k seemed to pack in about 1,000′ of vert and i was pouncing up every hill after 3.5 hours of like a baby Lynx.  with 4k to go, i nearly got lost then re-discovered the Course thanks to a paltry pin flag.   those final few kilometers seemed to take longer than the preceding 40!

i crossed the Finish Line in 3:46…groggily drank the traditional blueberry soup by the firepit and began shivering and convulsing.  i had to get back to Dewa…and drove like a drunk through the icy streets to the snow-piled over Hostel…Dewa was there, her darling face pressed to the frozen window;  concern for her Daddy evident in her nirvanic eyes.   she exploded into effort as best she knew,  helping get out of my iced-over clothes, putting blankets on me and using a hair-blowing to begin thawing my frozen stubs of toes and fingers.   i recall my mom,  40 years earlier, in Frazier, Colorado – doing similar things for me after racing in similar sub-zero conditions, the same look of concern etched into her eyes.

what’s the saying?

Behind every strong man,

there is a stronger women.

Amen.

Blessed be thy Sweat.