And We’re Off!

Cheering one of my athletes to a win in the girl’s 4x100m relay

This past month of April has been a busy one. After returning from Craftsbury and ST Finals, I jumped immediately into coaching the Junior High track team at my old school. With a team of almost twenty athletes I have certainly been challenged by the job, as I have almost no experience with track field events. Fortunately there are some knowledgeable folks in the Methow who have stepped up to lend assistance from time to time, and with their help we’re pretty handily winning all the meets we attend.

One of the other major tasks this spring has is planning my wedding in June. Alison and I have opted to take care of much of the reception planning and food logistics ourselves, so we’ve been scrambling to develop menus, source ingredients, and line up cooks to cover the day-of-event tasks. We have recruited some really fantastic folks to help us and we’re really starting to get excited about the wedding, now that it’s closer than ever!

Nikki taking a power snooze during our ski tour into Silver Star basin

Training has started up again, too. I took about a week and a half off in April before I started agitating to get going. My first few weeks of “training” weren’t structured much; I spent a lot of time in the backcountry and getting my running legs under me again. Also, in a change of pace from the last few years, I’m back in the weightroom three days per week building some strength.

Hill sprints = Power building

Finally, we kicked off the new season of training (officially) on Monday. This year’s focus shifts us a bit away from what we did last year with so much aerobic work; this season will look to maintain that aerobic system while bolstering and solidifying my anaerobic and power bases. These have traditionally been my strengths so the hope is that once they’re back up to a high standard, the three systems working together will provide me with a great racing engine.

More to come!