Pratyahara Time; i was isolated in 3rd place overall. it was windy and snowing. legs and lungs felt seared like chunks of ahi tuna at sushi happy hour. time to hit the ‘force quit’ button on egoic chattering… it was time for yoga; time to bathe within the holy waters of nordic endurance sweat. so, i began to revolve my mental waves like a lazy susan around the only things that mattered most if i wanted to climb onto my second Overall Podium in the young year of 2011… Here is what i focused on…
so santoshic was my demeanor during my Pre-Race Ritual which included EMR and a version of Wing’d Angel, that i was nearly late to catch a carpool with Noble Warrior Andrew Ferguson (who would finish 6th overall) and Miles Venzara (4th overall). on the 20 minute ride up to the venue, we chatted effortlessly about things like wax of the day, recent ‘gossip’ among the local nordic world of Durango, and generally i bathed in the sacred waters of being friends with such High Mountain Yogis as Andrew and Miles. deeper within, however, i wore a face of concern as does any New Daddy toeing a Start Line….let alone a Nordic Marathon reputed to be among the world’s toughest…
Remind me again why the hell i should NOT raise my daughter to be a nordic ski racer? futilely yet steadfastly chasing last year’s champion, Clay Moseley – a world class cyclist – during last Sunday’s 10k Chama Ski Classic. elevation; close to 10,000’. remember, this the day AFTER racing a 15k Freestyle race at the same elevation! as you can see, i’ve at least manufactured a big gap between myself and third place…more importantly, i’m trying to put seconds between myself and anyone else in the King Of The Mountain (KOM) competition which goes to the fastest Classic 10k skier and 5k Snowshoer…as you’ll soon read, i would lose my KOM title by 40 seconds. photo by Pat Hogan.
i can do it, i can do it…i kept telling myself…up and over a short roller, we went..we passed a lap racer…Tim was in the finishing straight, the people were cheering, nordic bells were ringing…this is why we race…i stabbed my ski poles in a vicious manner, pumping out my V2 cadence with as much Warrior verve as i could muster.
i finished 2 seconds behind him, 7th Overall…3rd in my Age Group.
tomorrow would be another day; MY DAY TO DEFEND MY KING OF THE MOUNTAIN TITLE! could i do it…especially after wasting myself on this brutally beautiful 15k? hmmm….
coach announces his hosting of Durango’s first ever Sport Snowshoeing Race; “The Winter Warrior 10k” plus reveals an incredible self-healing gem for our inspiration, and gives you the link to his latest beautiful column; “RUNNING ON WATER”
Deeply and highly talented ashtangi yogi Josh Schrei at timberline, in the Sangré de Christos. Josh is one of the rare yogis that realized there is more to Wholeness than mastering yoga-asana flows. Many yogis, i’ve found, can’t see the notion of Wholeness through their infatuation with the thicket of asanas. I’ve found ‘studio yogis’ to be just as resistant to the gym and cardio as are gym and cardio athletes resistant to yoga! Josh is only a few months into his WF Online Studies and has finished 1st place (AG) in his first snowshoe race, has returned into the Iron Temple, and will race a 50k Mountain Trail Race in May. Below are some of his beautiful inSights about his return to Strength and Cardio Training…i PROMISE, you will not hear such deep insights from the conventionally-trained! Enjoy and May Yogi Josh’s practice insights illumine (y)our own training toward Wholeness!
can i just say that skate skiing for 2 hours into alpine skiing for another 2 is like the most delicious form of high mountain suffering a true yogi can ever pray to experience?
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Photo of Coach and daughter Dewachen, living the Path (upside down!) by www.jamesqmartin.com
