Final Ski in Washington

I have been in Washington State the past 3 weeks. I come out each spring to take advantage of some late season skiing on snow. It snows a lot high in the mountains and it takes all that snow a long time to melt away. During my trip I had 12 days of skiing on snow. It is also very nice to be able to go back to where I grew up and visit with my friends and family. I also like to be able to help my mom and dad out around the house and with the yearly firewood. There is a lot more work to be done on the wood pile with nearly 30 cords left to cut and split.

Lots of snow up high but I decided a roller ski would be a better workout for the day.

Dad setting the pace

My brother Chad, my favorite all-time training partner

Why am I roller skiing with all this snow around?

The Boys and Girls Club opened for the summer on Monday and I am ready for some summer fun. I will be at 'The Club' next Monday. I am excited to check on the plants in the club garden.

I am currently putting in a solid week of training with CXC Team Vertical Limit teammates in Marine on St. Croix, MN. We are roller skiing, running, weight training and canoeing. Check back for pictures later in the week.

Paddleboarding

I am out in Bend, Oregon for a ski camp this week. We ski on snow in the morning and train 'dryland' in the afternoon. Yesterday we tried a little paddle boarding. It was really fun.

Dennis getting us all lined out

I need to work more on my balance. In the first 20 minutes I took a step back and walked off the board. The cold water made me really work on my ankle angle to make sure I didn't get wet again.

Flexing Skis

I picked up a few new pairs of 2011 Salomon skis this year while I was racing in Europe. They are awesome. Chuck, you have to try this wet klister ski.

2011 Salomons- these skis are awesome

Mark has a really slick system to flex the pockets of each ski. I mark each ski the same to help speed up the process of how best to wax them.

Mark and the Mantec

Mark and Nordic Ultratune help me manage my ski fleet each year. Mark does some of the best stone grinds in the world including many skis that were used in Vancouver in February. The Ultratune shop is a ski technicians dream and I could and do spend a lot of time in there. You can tell Mark is an engineer; everything is very organized and exact.

I spent the morning using feeler gauges to mark the kick pockets on my new skis. After fresh grinds they will be ready to go for the 2010/11 race season. It was pretty entertaining to watch the stone grinding process and how excited Mark would get when each grind came out. Each time he would bring the ski over to me to show how nice it looked, just like a proud father. Mark is way in to it and a great guy to have working with your skis.

Biking with Dad

Yesterday I did a bike ride with my Dad. We were lucky to not get wet.

Time to put the watch back on

I put my watch on at the beginning of the week. I now have wear it constantly. I even sleep with it. I take my morning heart rate to monitor my recovery/health, record my distance and interval training and make sure that my naps are just the right length. I have enjoyed the month of April, taking more time to 'recover' than ever before. It has served it's purpose, I feel great.

The first CXC Team Vertical Limit training camp of the 2010-2011 this season has begun. We got right after it with a VO2 Max Test on the treadmill on Day 1, Friday. (This is a running test on the treadmill where the speed increases every minute until you can't go any faster. I made it to 10mph at a 9% grade.)

Saturday we rode the RASTA (Rhinelander Area Ski Trail Association) bike race. This was a big move for me as my biking skills have plenty of room for improvement. The trails were covered with a dusting of fresh snow and overall it was slick and muddy. I felt great though and had a really good race. It is great to be back at work.

Some of the hills I had to get off my bike and run

The Cook Brothers battling it out

Great skier representation in the race: Bryan Cook, Me, Garrott Kuzzy, Karl Nygren... plus others like Steve Pribyl, Adam Swank, Chris Cook, Kenny Statz, Matt Zak...

Right To Play

The springtime in the Midwest has been beautiful. I alway enjoy playing outside but the warm sun of spring is hard to beat.

Get off the computer and play outside

The last few weeks I have had the chance to be at the Club everyday. It is great to be with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club regularly. My main goals are to get them active, preferably outside. This spring we have enjoyed all of our favorite games and a few new ones.

Last Man Standing- A form of kickball. The game starts with one pitcher (usually me) against everyone else. The pitcher works to get everyone out by tagging a base or hitting them with the ball. When a player gets tagged out they join the outfield until there is one person left standing.

Worlds Fastest Game of Tag*- everyone is it. If you tag someone they must freeze. If one or more people tag each other at the same time, they both freeze. If you tag a person who is frozen, they are unfrozen.

*I learned this game from Warren Elementary in VT. Thanks guys, everyone really likes it.

Soccer- Right to Play donated a mini-soccer ball for every kid. In addition to playing games, we are enjoying working on our juggling and passing skills.

Shana, Coral, and Zoe happy with their new soccer balls

Right to Play is an Organization working with volunteers and partners to use sport and play to enhance child development in areas of disadvantage. Learn more about Right to Play and how you can help atwww.RightToPlay.com

Shana found the most clues in the Treasure Hunt. She won the Right to Play Ball signed by Beckie Scott

Gabe

Victor, Bahi, Joe and Koons

First Day of the 6-week Spring Run Series

Each Wednesday the Boys and Girls Club hosts the Spring Run Series. Over the next 6 weeks the community will build from running/walking 1 mile to 5km. It is great to see everyone out running. The top 15 in both the short and the long run won baseball caps donated by the Madison Winter Festival. Additionally, the winners of each race won a soccer ball signed by Olympic Gold Medalist Beckie Scott

Winner of Short Run- Steven

Winner of Long Run- Brandon

Thank You to Right to Play, Madison Winter Fest and Becky Scott for your support of the LCO Boys and Girls Club.

Durian

Walking through China Town, I saw a spiky fruit I had never seen before.

What better way to experience a new piece of fruit than to buy it and bring it back to the LCO Boys and Girls Club.

The Treasure Hunt is on!

The Next Clue is... 'Let's play basketball outside'

What is it?

Durian Fruit

Together we goggled ’spiky fruit’ and were able to find images and information about the Durian. The fruit doesn’t smell very good. One article mentioned that in some places the fruit is banned in public places. The taste is described as delightful, but our fruit might have gone bad. It was all I could do not to throw up. Still, we did enjoy learning about a new fruit and it was fun to play with the spiky husk and slimy insides.

See if you can find out more about the Durian. You can start by reading this article http://asiancuisine.suite101.com/article.cfm/durian__the_king_of_fruit