your right-knee in a compression braced coach, topping out at over 12,000′ today on the Tour de Ski Race Course during a training workout with Noble WF Student Andrew Ferguson. this is my idea of physical therapy for my sprained knee! The best way out? Is all-Ways UP!
It’s All-Ways a distinct pleasure as well as deep honor to teach you, to show you more about the birthplace of Wholistic Fitness™…so please, come along with me during a snowshoe workout a couple of days ago right up the natural umbilical cord of Wholistic Fitness™; Junction Creek Canyon just outside of Durango, Colorado. This trail, now known internationally as the southern trailhead of the Colorado Trail, was my childhood backyard, as my family’s country home in which i grew up was located a stone’s throw from the (then, virtually unknown) trailhead. C’mon…i TAF you’ll really enjoy and be inspired by these “first snow” pics…
honestly however, me toeing the Start Line tomorrow? has helped in unspeakably potent ways to heal my knee. see; let me tell you a Secret of Mountaineering, Sport Performance, Overcoming Weakness/Imbalance, Conquering Dis-ease and Injury, and last however, not least, Chi-ld Rearing: ALWAYS MOVE IN THE DIRECTION YOU WANT TO GO.
if you had seen my right knee one and a half weeks ago, here is what you…well, actually perhaps not YOU being a WF devotee…however, here is what many would have (and many did) say:
Namaste Noble Mountain Yogis! enjoy and may all your Sweat be Sacred… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAtAyoZl4Is head bowed, coach ilg
Your Feeble Mountain Yogi Ilg, sky high today on my most Sacred Sweat of all my Durango workouts; my infamous “Mordarbacken”…which is now part of the nordic skate skiing ultra: Tour de Ski coming up on my Race Schedule on January 22. Behind me is the radiance of my chi-ldhood Sacred Mountains; the La Plata’s caught here in my pic beaming their namesake silver aura.
I actually have not been able to ski this old traditional nordic skate skiing torture/bliss fest which i called, The Mordarbacken, since I was in my twenties! You can only imagine how stoked I was to revisit this old Ilg Standard which repulsed all my training partners who were able to finish it with me (only 2 out of 5 did!). This workout requires 2 hours of uphill ski skating at elevations starting at 8,793′ and finishes at about 11,213′ upon the base of Grayrock Peak (12,604′) which you’ll see in my 11 photos below (watch my YouTube Channel for a music video of this route).
2 hours up of skate skiing…followed by a scintillating, jump-filled descent on tiny edgeless skate skis in 32 minutes…most of which need to be spent in Chair Pose (Utkatasana)…you wanna come with me? Sure…you’re gonna have a challenge figuring out however, which of the photos to use as your new ScreenSaver…reader beware!
photo: coach, a two-time World Mountain Snowshoe Championship athlete is on schedule to produce a USSSA Sanctioned Snowshoe Race in his hometown of Durango, Colorado, this February…stay fit, and stay tuned!
sensei,
can you recommend a good pair of snowshoes for this blessed winter? are there ones that are good for both fast pace and slower backcountry hiking?
josh
New Mexico
COACH RESPONDS:
tomorrow, a local reporter is going to come to my morning HP Yoga™ class.
how in this world – within a flimsy hour of Sacred Sweat – shall ilg EVER attempt to Transmit the majestic Path of WF and ALL of our Tribal collective cries and accomplishments of Awakening to a reporter?
here is the answer:
Eventually, our society just might arrive at the re-Discovery that sports, sweating, and stillness may provide the most accessible Path toward Awakening and social transformation the Western world will ever see. – coach ilg. All the jobs we do, the practices we perform, the sports in which we sweat, are mere apprenticeship. the real Art, the true Yoga is our life.
Most teachings are for Wholistic Fitness Members only. Some are complimentary.
These teachings are the "Rasas" or "sap" of Wholistic Fitness. You’ll find insights to ponder, student chi to keep your own chi topped off, and plenty of proven training techniques to test on your own body, mind, and spirit! Also, you’ll find my very popular Race Reports, and news of our Sangha’s (community’s) latest transpersonal fitness adventures!
You have access to thousands of posts going all the way back to 2002. The Archives makes for ideal Svadhyaya, and if you don’t know what that important term means ... all the more reason to dive into these amazing WF Scriptural Recordings!
Checking out one or two archived teachings every day or so is an AMAZINGLY EFFECTIVE way to stay connected with your Tribe AND maintain consistency and motivation in what matters most: your own practice.
Note: We'll be fixing broken image links, and cleaning up the categorization of archived posts, over time.
Photo of Coach and daughter Dewachen, living the Path (upside down!) by www.jamesqmartin.com
