“Uh oh, you’re not going to like that,” my wife said. We were in a bookstore, and I had picked up a copy of The Sports Gene. I often sneer at discussions about genetics in sport. It’s not that I disbelieve that genes set our limits. They do

When I introduced an allowance to our oldest son, I used three jars: Spend, Give, and Save. The three jars represented three big-picture elements of managing money. After describing the first two, I got to the one that I was most excited about, the Save jar. “And with this

Performance in an endurance event comes from the highest average speed. Training determines what the highest average speed–“race pace”–will be. The higher the race pace, the faster the time. The faster the time, the better the performance. So the more race pace training an athlete can tolerate, the

The 2018/2019 skimo season was my best ever. I finished the season sixth in Canada and went to the World Championships in Switzerland. A lot of factors contributed to that outcome, luck included. My 2018 training cycle was a big factor. It was much different than in previous years

In 2005, I went with three friends to get our first VO2 max tests. I didn’t know what the results meant. But fourteen years later, that first test is a good benchmark, and I can make some unfortunate conclusions. When compared to two more tests that bracket six years

Between 2005 and 2010, I focused on sport climbing. I redpointed 13c and flashed 12c. A key part of my progress was avoiding 5.11. When I was sport climbing, I learned a lot from my friends Jay Audenart and Simon Villeneuve. Simon in particular has a fun, irreverent attitude

I recently discovered that my treadmill doesn’t report its actual speed. At first, I was disappointed. Then I calibrated the machine and found that it under-reports its speed. Phew! The other day at the gym, I warmed up on a treadmill that I had used many times in

When I “fill the bowl”, life is too jam-packed. Everything in the bowl competes for space. When the unexpected happens, the important things suffer. The solution? Don’t fill the bowl. — Most mornings, I eat eggs with lentils, bruschetta, and hot sauce. This morning was no different, but all