A NEW USSSA COLUMN
by
COACH STEVE ILG,
ryt/uscf/nhca
Click Here for
Steve's Bio
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RUNNING ON WATER:
THE SNOWSHOE WARRIOR!
Edition 14
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A NEW USSSA COLUMN
by
COACH STEVE ILG,
ryt/uscf/nhca
Click Here for
Steve's Bio
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Off To Tsidool...My Pilgrimage of Sacred Mountain Multi-Sweat
First Published on 2*13*09
steve ilg's DIRECT LINES blog...
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i've only done one Snowshoe Race this year and finished well, though off
the podium. i'll again be going with my specially mounted Kahtoola
Snowshoe. usually, by the time i reach the lofty air of the Snowshoe
Section, which goes up to Tsidool's summit and back down, i'm usually
so God-And-Kachina Spirit Intoxicated, i could care less how much pain
i'm in. all i focus on is crushing the descent once my uphill events
have been completed.
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earlier this month i won a classic-style ski race and last evening,
after pre-fatiguing my legs by alpine skiing in our fresh dump of 24", i
returned to the Alpine Area this time to run a final threshold test for
Mt. Taylor. the data came back great:
probably more a testimony to superior conditions, not so much my
superior fitness
but i ripped my Roundtrip PR from Car to Car;
skinning from the lower parking lot (9,500') to the top of agassiz
lift (11,500') and ripping off the skins and skiing back to the Car
in 1:01:21...
a key to my new PR was that i only had to descend the uppermost
third of the ski descent on ungroomed snow before picking up the
silk tassel (great Canadian ice climb!) of 30-second old cord which
then became my ribbon of speed as i made like Franz Klammer to the
bottom, smashing my old record by nearly 3 minutes and that even
included a Pranayam up at the top!
my threshold fitness is ready.
having survived a 42k, high-altitude nordic marathon last month that
featured 5,000' of climbing, i figure my endurance will also be okay
for the (hopefully less than) 5 hours i'll be out there, this
Saturday. i've picked my ski wax...shhhh; Swix HF 8 into FC 7.
having the fastest ski descent at Mt. Taylor, i rarely miss the wax,
yet that's what makes this GrandDaddy of all Winter MultiSport so
special; you just never know what Race Day will bring in terms of
weather. i've raced this event through hypothermic blizzards and
sunny drought years where they've had to shovel in snow to keep the
Ski Down Course intact.
my goals are three-fold:
1) crack the top 20 overall (22nd last year)
2) age group podium (5th in AG last year)
3) break 5 friggin' hours (5:01:14 last year, finishing my uphill
events in:3:09:23
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- 2007; on the 2-mile, 1,200' Ski Course 08 stats: Ski Up = 39:00 Ski Down = 15:58 |
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last year; seeing God on the 5-mile, 1,200' Run Course 08 stats: Run Up = 1:01 Run Down = 48:23 |
last year, i was 22nd overall. i lost three places because of having to
stop 4 times
to vent the severe back/hip pain during the Run Up and Run Down. the
concussion of those 10 miles of running mixed in with all the other
disciplines just kills my back.
this year, i REALLY would love not to have to stop at all. however,
that will be up to Vishnu.
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my confidence tanks at the Bike.
i've not stepped into pedals for a month and before that? can't
recall.
my Bike Fitness is what this New Daddy had to sacrifice. i'll rely
on my experience.
and, perhaps just the novelty of being on a bike will help fire my
tapas.
last year, i didn't ride too much and pretty much kept pace with the
main chase group.
i'm visualizing repeating that for the Bike Up.
the Bike Down is going to be really windy this year...even moreso
than the traditional hurricane gusts which typically plague the
fatigued racers as we crank back to Grants and the Finish Line.
fortunately, i've got a heaping helping of HP Yoga in my physical
and spiritual quiver...and that's gonna keep my back flat, my
position aero and my breath full of verve.
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 - last year on the 13-mile, 5,000' Bike Course 08 stats: Bike Up = 1:02 Bike Down = 37:07 |
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Mt. Taylor abides not by standards of perfection.
What she extracts from anyone who dares to Solo this 4-sport,
75-kilometer race from desert cactus to her wind-whipped 11,311'
summit is spiritual poise.
i could flat at two miles into this thing...i gotta be okay with
that. as i've tried to Teach you all these years, "The way to win is
to make it okay to lose." Just remember, i created that quote in
the seventies, when extreme mountaineering and free soloing ice and
rock climbs was my gig. i had to make it okay to lose my life, in
order to free climb to the highest and most difficult summits.
that's why i consider all other sports besides the Death Sport to be
kindy-garten. so what if i flat at two miles into Mt. Taylor? if i
was a mountaineer and 'flatted"...i'd be dead.
it has taken and will take an absolutely Herculean effort from me
this year just to toe that Start Line before Tsidool's overlooked
beauty.
all i know is that whenever i test my yoga within the throne of the
Turquoise Mountain Gods, it affords the greatest natural, inner show
i know.
sure would like to see more of my Students...YOU on that Start Line.
when i first raced this thing back when the whole field was 60
athletes instead of 600, i figured by the time i was 40, i'd be
doing this event with an entire Sangha around me, collectively
taking pilgrimage. i'm forty six now, and i think only Noble HP
Yogis Jut and Timari are signed up to help me represent WF. so, put
this event on your Pilgrimage calendar and we'll share the Sacred
Cold Sweat together, okay?
i'll update you as soon as i return.
from wherever you are,
send your ol' coach
a chi hit this Saturday...
i'll feel it...
all the way up, and
down
the Sacred Tsidool.
May you too, put it all in this weekend...
your ever feeble mountain yogi,
coach ilg
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to order
Coach Ilg's "Introduction To SnowShoeing" DVD,
click here:
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