The other night as I was falling asleep I began reflecting on skiing.  I thought about how I got into it, and how much fun it has been. I really have improved quite a bit since my first strides.  Since that fateful, mildly snowy day many years ago, I have spent much of my free time trying to emulate an elite skier in as many ways as possible.  I have skied in 2 Olympics and won 3 gold medals.  Then I woke up and remembered where I actually am.  I am actually just over a year into skiing and dreaming of going as far as I can with it.  This is what I have done to achieve my dream so far.

I have scheduled many weeks of workouts, recorded data, rested, hydrated, and watched ski races on universalsports.com.  I have spent countless hours (except they’re recorded, so I could count them), CATskiing, rollerskiing, running, hill bounding, strength training, biking, skate skiing and classic skiing.  I have watched video, read articles, and practiced technique in the mirror.

In many ways, though, I am still far from being an elite skier.  I still work full time and have numerous volunteer commitments to Church and youth groups.  Because of this, I rejoice in the rare day off when I have nothing to do except be a skier.  On these days I take great pride in the nap between workouts.  Naps are so wonderful for training, yet so elusive for most of us who are too busy to nap and train!

Besides lacking the aerobic base it takes many years to develop, I am also different from an elite skier in that I have no sponsors!  This means most of my income is spent on ski equipment and races.  Many elite skiers are sponsored by ski, clothing or nutrition companies.  I settle for creating elaborate, or simple, schemes to help myself out.  I save money in every other area of my life.  I substitute teach when I don’t have to work.  I tell everyone I meet about my skiing dreams and how I am looking for sponsors.  A surprising amount of times this actually results in some money being sent my way.

I have my coach call Dale Niggeman, who I affectionately refer to as “the CATski” guy, and tell him how I learned to ski on his crazy contraption.  We try to convince him that I am going to win races, if not this year, then next, because of his CATskis.  Companies like Clif have received sponsorship applications from me as I figure I am at least getting my name out there.

My most successful, and perhaps boldest, idea has been to walk into the local ski and bike shop and ask for a sponsorship.  Wildside Adventure Sports in Baraboo, WI is now the proud sponsor of a future Olympian.  Well, that is a slight exaggeration.  But, the guys at Wildside have spent many hours helping me pick out and order things I needed, like a race suit and wax.  They have also helped out my pocketbook (more like my back pocket) tremendously.  What have I done for them?  Nothing really.  It turns out they are just really nice guys who care about people and the community around them.  No, they didn’t ask me to say that.

As I approach my last race of the year, I have been pondering all that I have done, and all that I have left to accomplish.  I have yet to experiment with how many max VO2 intervals it would take to collapse.  I have pushed past perceived limits in workouts.  Skiing isn’t my profession, but I have managed to balance my other commitments with a full training schedule.  I don’t own brand new, top of the line skis, but I have carefully shopped for used, well maintained skis.

Rather than spending all my time dreaming of what could come, or what I don’t have, I have realized that I am incredibly blessed.  Some might say lucky, but I don’t believe in luck.

God constantly puts me in the right place at the right time to have the equipment, money, people or weather I need to train well.  I do not doubt, that as time passes and my training progresses, the pieces will continue to fall into place.  Until then I just imagine myself standing on the podium, skiing in an Olympic race, and skiing till I’m as old as Moses.