Training

I had a tough workout this morning; I skate roller skied for four and a half hours by myself. U.S. Ski Team coach Jason Cork dropped me off down by Heber City, Utah. I then met him after three hours in Kamas to refill my drink. Then he picked me up at the end of the session in Browns Canyon. I skied 50.5 miles.

This afternoon I played tennis with my strength coach, Alex Moore again. We both played pretty well, but I got crushed 6-2, 6-2. I have never beaten him. We have probably played more than 100 times. It is still fun though.

I had a good talk about long-term goals with my coach, Zach Caldwell today. We talked about the difference between “making it” and “making it look easy.” To me, “making it look easy” is the person who has always been good and was always going to be great. They tend to be really good at a really young age. People who fall into this category are Michael Phelps, Missy Franklin, Petter Northug, long-haired Andre Agassi, Bode Miller, Lindsey Vonn, and Mikaela Shiffrin. This is not to say these people don’t try just as hard or harder than everybody else. They also care just as much. They just figure it out from the beginning. They “make it look easy.” I don’t fall into this category.

My goal is to “make it.” It’s going to look and be hard to succeed. I have no problem with that. People who fall into this category are bald Andre Agassi, Pietro Piller Cottrer (as far as his relay gold medal), and, to an extent, Bjorn Daehlie.

I didn’t take any pictures today, but here’s a picture of the World Cup Venue in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic on relay race day from February of last year.

I’m psyched for the race season!