My Own Approach to Training and Racing.

This past week I was able to race in 5 Super Tour races while sleeping in my own bed! It was awesome. Not only had it been a few months since I had spent a whole week at home, but 3 of the races were less then 5 minutes away from my bed! Glorious!!! Although this was a wonderful experience I will say that I struggled to stay focused on the races as my first priority.

When first get home after a couple months of racing and traveling on the road, I usually hit a wall of relaxation when suddenly everything comes to a halt, and I can take a deep breath. This time was no different except for the fact that I decided to assist in finding housing for 10 athletes from out of town, host three dinners at my new house, attend 3 others, coach the City of Lakes Loppet Skate group, host two athletes at my own house, and hang out with the kids in the neighborhood. Phew I was busy and I loved every minute of it.

After a brief 24 hours after my last race and another dinner to say farewell to one of my friends (she is heading to Antarctica for 8 months!) I will be heading off on the road again! This time for Sun Valley where I will participate in the Boulder Mountain Tour before heading back to Minneapolis that night so that I can race the City of Lakes Loppet in the morning! Should be crazy and fun!

With all the craziness going on I had little time to think about my racing, and I liked it. This summer and fall I put way more into "focusing" on my training and preparation and I am not sure that I flourish in that kind of environment. Instead I have realized that the more I have going on the more excited and relaxed I am about racing. Last night I spent an hour with Lahti looking for a buried hockey puck in a Treasure Hunt, not ideal preparation for my race the next day and certainly not necessary. I had fun and today I was able to win by 2 minutes!!! I felt like myself again and I loved it.

The podium after today's 15K Skate Race

Lahti and the kids inspecting the frozen coyote after the race. He was respectful and almost showed sympathy for  the little guy.

I try really hard to conform to way others live...but I now realize that I live my life a little different and I need to embrace that. What makes me "tick" can be quite silly but I shouldn't worry about that and I should just carry on.