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The workers stoke the engines with more and more coal. From the heat, they rumble. So unbearable is the heat that, finally, they must evacuate. Such is what I am thinking to myself yesterday during my first time trial of the season. In my mind, I am sending orders down to the engine room for more power, asking my muscles to forego collapse in the burning of the lactic acid that is building within them. The pain and agony fuse together with my motivation to keep going. I reach a mental state that has my mind in synergy with the physical, perhaps a wee bit on the crazy side.
It has been nearly four years since the world came to the snow of Soldier Hollow for the 2002 Olympic Games. During that event, I was a forerunner for the competitions. With this role, I had an almost limitless pass to the course. From the sidelines, I watched the best athletes in the world in pure pain. So great was the pain that it was visible not only on their faces, in the gritting of teeth, but also in every cruel move they put their bodies through to get just a little closer to the finish line.
Before my time trial, I am not sure why I thought that the experience would treat me with less harshness. It only took one lap before I realized my preconceptions were misplaced. And because I had thought myself immune to this pain, because I had “acclimatized” for the previous four weeks, I felt that I could speed right from the start. Of course, once I had gone around the first lap at such a pace, building ever more lactate in my blood, I could not go back and re-do the first lap and erase the lactate. I had four more laps to do and I am not one to give up easily.
The time trial was the first of the season, but it was also the first time that I combined shooting with any physical work. Before this, all of my shooting and physical training were done separately. In this time trial, I expected to write myself a report card on what I needed to work on the most. I excelled in the prone position, but failed miserably by my standards for this season in the standing position. It did not help that I had no coach at the range changing targets for me, or that I forgot to reset one of the targets. The latter circumstance was not much of a problem though because I did not hit many targets on it in the previous bout.
If I am to perform well at the Olympic Games next February in San Sicario, which is the primary goal for the season, then certainly I am going to have to be able to ski fast and tolerate the pain. Located at a higher altitude than the Olympic venue, Soldier Hollow is a perfect place to further my performance in this regard.
Peace,
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