The Tortoise and the Hare is the worst children's story

 The children's tale of an overconfident hare racing against a humble tortoise is a staple of growing up. I'm sure there are multiple good lessons resulting from the story of the tortoise passing the napping hare for the win, but what stuck around for me was the saying that "slow and steady wins the race". Ultimately a good pacing strategy is a key to winning a race, but it is not a training strategy that will put you in a position to win the "race" in the first place. This mentality has been engrained in North American recreational endurance sport: so much so that people see it as more prestigious to seek out longer and longer distances that require one to go even slower and even steadier. Faster runners and faster cyclists are recognized as being able to hold a steady pace that is just less slow than everyone else. The idea of "steady" leads people afraid to feel even the slightest burn on hills even though they know the downhills wont require much exertion. 

The problem is, the body doesn't really get stronger in response to "steady". It gets stronger in response to being stressed by a hard effort followed by some time to repair. In weightlifting, this idea has reached the mainstream. Nobody goes to the gym and carries around a 30lb weight for the entire hour they are there. No, they lift up heavier weights, put them down, lift them up again, take a break, and repeat with other motions. If they come back the next day, they'll lift with motions requiring other muscles, giving the tired muscles from the day before a break. The loading, unloading, and resting of muscles is anything but steady. Getting stronger requires getting uncomfortable.

People make a lot of sacrifices to be able to spend time outside. Maybe you don't have any racing or ambitions to push to the limit, but perhaps there is an upcoming cycling or running vacation where you plan on tackling a challenging route. You can spend some time now on your "training" activities exploring the fringes of your comfort zone on your own terms, throwing caution to the wind with regards to pacing rather than be forced into the deep end by the terrain too early into an activity while you are supposed to be on vacation. Whether you are racing or not, the steep climb to get up to the funner trails up high (as opposed to the more basic trails along the valley bottom) or the final climb to complete the loop and bring you back to where a nice meal is waiting for you will require you to dig deep, finding a "race pace" 

Ski Mountaineering in the Olympics

Big announcement this morning with Ski Mountaineering being included in the Olympic games starting in Milan-Cortina 2026. For some, it is a long time coming while others (obviously skeptical of the corruption associated with the IOC) are leary. What does it mean for ski mountaineering in Canada or the evolution of the sport in general?

In Canada, I predict that interest will pique as many athletes who have been turned off of traditional Olympic sports; either they just couldn't make it, or were never interested; might give the sport a try. What they will discover is that the sport is very grassroots: The organizers, officials, and the racers are very passionate, doing this for the love of the sport. We are all trying to do our best with the conditions and opportunities we have. It is not club Hockey.

Similarly to Youth Olympic Games (YOG) qualifying, a very select group of 24 men and 24 women will take to the start line. Qualifying spots are allocated at both the continental and world championships preceding the Olympics. 

If a similar criteria to youth Olympic games were used, the host country, (Italy, for Milan-Cortina in this case) gets an automatic 2 spots. Otherwise the rest of the countries finishing in the top 8 at world championships will get 2 spots. Right now, Canada and USA don't have much competition for the 2 spots (1 each) available at continental championships. Other spots are available trickling down at worlds, but you have to be the host or a top 8 country to get 2 spots. It is unclear if additional spots are available to create a full team for the relay. 

Right now, Italy (host), Switzerland, and France should be a lock to get 2 spots each for Men and Women. Austria, Spain and Germany will also very likely get 2 spots M/W. Countries like Andorra, Norway, Slovakia, Romania, USA, Russia (on the womens side), Sweden (womens side), will fight for the remaining 3 chances at 2 starters possibly along with Canada and Slovenia. So before you get your hopes up, I think Canada is pretty much a lock on 1 spot for the Olympic games, but it will take a great performance at worlds to get that 2nd spot. The 2nd ranked Canadian can share their disappointment about not making the Olympics with the 3rd ranked Italian, who likely finished top 6 at world championships!

In terms of the evolution of the sport, fears are that similarly to mountain biking and cross country skiing, the adventure and technical aspects that recreational skiers associate with "ski mountaineering" will be lost as ski mountaineering competition enters the big stage. Courses are at the mercy of weather conditions and television schedules so conservative on-piste courses will likely be preferred so that they can be easily groomed and avalanche controlled so that the race will go off safely, fairly, and on schedule. 

Over time, mountain bike races have gotten shorter: winning times used to be around 2.5hrs, now they are under 1.5hrs. Laps have gotten shorter so that the athletes ride by camera positions and spectators more frequently. Those changes in isolation might be met with eye rolls from the purists, but over the past couple of years, courses have started to include some very challenging features. Winning requires not only fitness but superior bike handling skills. Regardless of what you think of the racing, there is no question that champions like Nino Schurter, Jolanda Neff, etc.. embody what it means to be a true mountain biker. 

Whatever the format becomes, I can see it still requiring incredible fitness, ridiculously fast downhill skiing and seamless transitions. It will take a couple of cycles for the youth programs to really get going. Countries like France, Italy, and Switzerland have mastered youth development, distilling the skills and fitness requirements of the sport into their programs.

Where you are now

 Last year, in the early stages of the pandemic when people were taking to the outdoors and clogged the trails in the river valley, I was riding home along a particularly busy stretch of paved trail and I saw a speed inline skater frustrated at having to slalom around groups of headphoned pedestrians. I would certainly question his choice of busy trail: he could have gone out to the suburbs and experienced relative solitude near the homes that these very headphoned pedestrians had abandoned to come of the river valley that evening. But I was grateful that when I was young, I took up cycling and skiing (and eventually hiking and running), relatively simple activities that do not always require flat pavement right next to the river on one of the most popular trails in the city. Activities I can do right from the front door on a variety of routes. It reminded me of a Pepsi commercial where a young Jimi Hendrix is decides to purchase a Pepsi from a vending machine in front of a guitar store rather than a Coke from a machine outside of an accordion store.