Family, Friends, Food, Football, and FITNESS

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It has been a long time since my last update!

Over the summer I got to spend amazing time with family and friends.  I learned how to speedfly (more coming on that in a later blog post).  I also spent a significant amount of time working on a mountain rescue crew for a natural gas operation.

Appalachian forests...

and Appalachian sunsets.

Hiking in the Rockies with Kelly.




Over the autumn I poured a lot of time into CUFST.  Recruiting went well and we've got a great team this year!  We're poised for another freestyle skiing national title and countless adventures in the mountains of Colorado and beyond.  A big part of the ski team is our dryland training.  We train hard in the preseason to be ready for the ski season.  We do everything from cardio, to weights, to diving boards to trampolines.

Check out this video of the college whipper-snappers working on the diving boards.




After the blood disease I had last spring (which wore me down a lot) and a lot of sitting around waiting for rescues this summer, I desperately needed to get fit this autumn.  I've spent 4+ days a week getting to the gym as well as numerous outdoor activities to get myself back in shape.

If anyone is interested, I'd be happy to share with you the workout regiment I've been using to build strength, endurance and explosiveness.



When Thanksgiving came around I flew to PA to be with family and see friends.  I also ate a TON.  Although there was a lot of friends, food and football, fitness for the upcoming season remained a priority.

Nothing like good friends and football.

Guns and snow!

Kelly and I enjoying some farmer's market sausage.

Grandma cooking stuffing INSIDE A PUMPKIN.  Amazing.

The anual family photo-bombing.





My Grandfather provided the extra inspiration I needed to continuing to work on my fitness while in PA for Thanksgiving.

Generations in the gym.


Grandpa was the person who introduced me to the mountains and helped me fall in love with adventures.  He has also been fit for life.  He climbed Mont Blanc 3 times in the 1930's and 1940's.  He has been to mountain ranges all over the world.  In his 70's Grandpa was still ski touring in the Canadian Rockies.  In his 80's he finally gave up mountain biking after breaking his leg.  But, that hasn't slowed him down much.  Now that he is pushing 90, he walks in the woods every day, and makes it to the gym to swim or lift weights several days a week.

On the left is a picture of Grandpa at the summit of Mont Blanc, on the right are his leather boots and a piece of the old climbing rope that he used.


Those legs have seen a lot of hard miles, but they're still pumping!

BOOM!





If Grandpa can do it, I have no excuse!  I pulled myself out of my turkey coma to get after it.


It may be a little more weight than what Grandpa does, but he has a good excuse.



If you've never done cleans, they're a full-body exercise that guarantees you'll make a ridiculous face.









A healthy body is part of a healthy life.  I think it is important for me to remain fit even if it weren't for skiing.  Like anything else worthwhile, fitness takes sacrifice and dedication.  I hope that I am in half the fitness of my Grandfather when I reach that age (if I ever do!).