heere comes the frisbee

I think there is a picture here. I've just changed my blog layout. I assume that this means that everything i've every written has been published. sorry idris. you seem to have dealt w/ such tribulations well in the past.

but in the meantime, whassup. couple races recently, a 30 km, and a 15 km, mixed bag of results... i'm generally skiing a lot better. 3 more years and i may know what i'm doing. my theory on this whole deal is that all the skills are learnable. it just takes some people (me) more time than others.

as is the consequence of coaching, i'm in a taper period corresponding w/ the team's gear up for states. for me, it's the middle of the skiing, although, racing wise, there is only like5 weeks left. There's 2 more 30km's, and a 10km, and a 15km classic. Hamstring a little strained, but sofar no biggy.

HS Frisbee starts next week. My focus, or theme for the year is to challenge the kids to learn by teaching... so, i'm thinking, for example, to do a drill where the kids throw for a bit, then make a correction of the other thrower, then repeat. May be a flop, but i want the kids to get owner ship. Also, i've gotten too drawn into to running around out there: I'll do it a little to model the habits I want, but not enough to cause them to get used to me having any specific role on the field. I.e., unlike Kramer, I don't want to dominate the jujitsu field. Plus, I'm getting a few players w/ 2 and 3 years now of experience, and they need the opportunity to dominate.

Interesting, I'm definitely exited about the team, but frankly, even as a diletantte ski racer, it's really my main focus. I'm currently so burned w/ my insane teaching loads, the volunteer hours, etc. (etc means i had to change rooms, have 2 classes of 47 plus etc), i'd love to have the time to be a wee bit more selfish... i.e., i'd love to start the frisbee coaching after spring break. oh well. just a mild kvetch. i know for a FACT that the first time i step on the field to toss the disc around, i'll be right back in it mentally.

General marks of late: 30 km in 1:32, skate race, all down hill except where it wasn't, fast snow except where it wasn't. area to work on: like a dummass, i set a goal of 1:35, and my mad math skills had me skiing to time, instead of to feel. skiing harder, a couple minutes faster, expensive wax a couple min faster, a taper (if i want), a little faster. All trivial, but at 2something out of 1000 skiers, i'd like to be top 100 next year.

15km race, 48 min? doesn't seem fast, but it was an acceptable result. that's about 3.2min/km, and in a straight up 10km skate race this year (early) i was 3.7min/km. In this race you change from classic to skate mid race, i didn't bother to brush my skis, i had some friends show up from atlanta at midnight.

There is an upcoming 10km where you ski the same course twice, in december, and in march. last year i'll reveal, at risk of disclosing my lack of talent, that i skied 44, then 38 (divide by 10 for min/km pace). I went 37 this december. I had set the preseason goal of 32 in march. Given recent performances (sim course, sim snow), i'm actually resetting my goal of 32 to 30 minutes. Frankly, either of these would be a rather ridiculous improvement from start of season to end. My 6 minutes of improvement last year was the 'best of bend' and if i can do it twice, moving up from sucktastic to medium tasic to pretty good tastic... I'd like to be skiing in the high/mid 20's before i peak. world class, probably in the low 20's, i think. in any event, i'll probably spend a little money on my remaining 3 ski races (wax wise. it would not be out of the question to use a flourinated wax and spend as much as 20 dollars on your last layer of wax for a race. you might wax 3 times. embarassingly, while i'm dilligent about waxing, i'm usually dealing w/ kids, and generally too frugal, (and too mediocre) to spend cash on wax that might speed me up by low single digit percentages. )

next time. frisbee time.

peace out.