Morgan Arritola.  We came down here to get faster...

I haven’t seen a northern hemisphere August for five years.  I hear it’s hot up there.  The snow was excellent here this year and the weather too, and the grooming again (Thanks Carl – who is also the groomer for Sugarloaf, ME).  The food was also great.  One meal of lamb legs, squash and sticky date pudding was fit for a person’s last meal, at least my last meal…but don’t read too much into that.  The hospitality of the Snow Farm staff was again excellent and true to the NZ spirit friendly and outgoing (check this place out at www.snowfarmnz.com).

Because of these things we were able to stay healthy and do some great training.  No USST athlete or coach got so much as a sniffle. 

In addition to skiing we had a few off-mountain excursions including two trips to the Matukituki, quite a few runs, weight sessions, a little socializing, and even a few rollerski intervals…

We were short on big adventures this year – no 440ft bungee jump, no camping, no hiking in fjordland, no tele or snowboarding, or even ski tours to the top of the Pisa range.  We were focused on training and did an outstanding job with that.

I believe, however, that we failed to do a really good job with team building – which isn’t to say we didn’t have fun – it is only to say we are not ready as a team for Europe…yet.  We have a lot of room to improve our psychological preparation as well.  Most of the athletes have a strategy for improving their mental game and implement it well for themselves – but we must do a better job with this as a team.

I believe we are better racers now than we were when we got on the plane to come down here.  I don’t believe in things without evidence and there is much adequate evidence of our improvement.

DOTs is a medical term standing for Directly Observed Treatment (or Therapy maybe).  I am not sure of the accuracy of this next statement either but I believe DOTs originates from the treatment of infectious disease where being sure of what the patients are really doing to get better and how it is actually working is vital not just to the patient but also to the health of the rest of the world.  In other words “take two asprin and call me in the morning’ is out.  Watching the patient actually take the medicine, observing where they actually live, learning about what they believe… is in.  I read about this in a book about Dr. Paul Farmer called “Mountains Beyond Mountains.”  I highly recommend this book to anyone. 

It’ll get you off your butt, but anyway... DOTs seems an important aspect of training and coaching as well – Directly Observed Training – not to gain control over the athlete but to remove as many questions about their training as possible.  We want to know as much as possible about what the athletes are really doing in training, how hard or easy they are actually going and how it is working.  It also gives us the opportunity to evaluate technique, pacing and strategy and give feedback when appropriate.  At the same time we can monitor their diet – mostly making sure they are eating enough – especially carbohydrates – and drinking enough – especially sports drink.

That is not to say the athletes should not be encouraged to train alone as well and to learn to pay attention to their own technique, pace and ultimately to be fully accountable for their own preparation and results.  It is however to say we have to pay as much attention to detail as possible.

When we have failed to do this is when we have had too many athletes to look after at a time.  Too large a team size or too many athletes per coach detracts from the quality of the training.  Numbers are not the answer – in fact too large a team can detract from the quality of the preparation – and quality preparation is the answer.

All evidence suggests we are better now than last year or ever.  It is only August, almost September, but time has flown this summer and though there is a long time until winter a longer time until 2010, 2014… there is not one day to loose.

We are all in.

Are you?

Newell getting up to get down.  Power coming down on the poles here - efficient and effective.

Andrew Johnson and Zack Simons near the top of an interval.  Control and having the discipline to go the right intensity is vital to training a lot and training hard a lot.

Here Ben Sim of Australia leads a FIS race.  Ben took second to Andrew and the fellow from France - here on the left - took third.  Races are when the cork comes out of the bottle.

Colin Rodgers and Zack Simons - both of Sun Valley Ski Ed Foundation and the Fischer Race Team doing easy distance.

Liz Stephen doing a pyramid workout with Coach Pat Casey watching closely.

The Matukituki valley.

Coach Matt Whitcomb video tapes Andy Newell (note high hips and forward position) and Chris Cook in an interval session.

Rollerski intervals in the pouring rain down in Wanaka.  Johnson - 6 x 3mins.  Photo taken from the warm drivers seat!

Torin Koos always a student of the sport reviews video with Coach Whitcomb before heading out for a training session.

View from Snow Farm.

Torin Koos - airborne.

Where the Buck Stops (a short screed).

Excuses will not stand.  You either do something or you don’t.  After that you are left to judge it for what it was.  You are accountable… at very least to yourself, accountable for your own actions and their outcome…

Ask, is it true and is this the right thing to do?

Is it true because someone wrote it down?  Was it told to you through the filter of someone else’s agenda?  Is it an idea survived from the long past, the remnant of a different time and a historical context in which it might have made more sense?  Is it just an ideological alligator left over in swamps and estuaries and still waters where, untried and untested by the present, the old and ancient can still survive?

On the other hand is it based on a wishful and fanciful ideology for a future that no amount of belief can make true?

People believe in a lot of things and for a lot of reasons…

Is it true now if it ever was or ever can be?  And who decides these things?  Who really is “the decider”?  Who is responsible for what you believe, what you do, how you do it, and how well it is done?

You are.  And excuses will not stand.  You are accountable… at very least to yourself.  We should all own a placard stating: The Buck Stops Here.

There are no pictures from the best days.  At least it is often the case that on the most beautiful days there is no time to stop and frame any up.  In this job most of the shots are taken when the athlete is approaching for a lactate or not close enough for the video camera and so each shot is a little off the cuff, which turns out nice because they become real haiku – snap shots of a moment in the life.  But on the best days there are no photos to show and that seems appropriate.

(Vordenberg Images)