Step one is actually getting out the door.
Train, play, get out, enjoy...
It is out there.
So get out there and enjoy it.
Some advice (think what you will of the author) that is worth heeding...
"One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourself out. Be as I am-a reluctant enthusiast... a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it is still there. So get out there and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains. Run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to your body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those deskbound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards."
Edward Abbey
Here is a shot from the Canadian World Cups last time they were in Canmore. First races on the 22nd.
Train hard. Rest Well. Enjoy the process.
Check out: www.teamtoday.ning.com
(vordenberg images)