Mt. Washingto Hill Climb Video and rest.

Norway Day Six, ND6. As my friends are slugging it out in Penticton and Louisville today, I sit in the little hammer and take care of myself. After Ole and Tia's departure at 0630 for Malaga I checked e-mails and promptly returned to the warmth and comfort of my room. My lower left side was asking in a most earnest manner if this might be the long awaited and oft neglected day of rest.

And it was to be. The run and step climb to the top of the Lillehammer ski jump can wait till tomorrow as I seek harmony, balance and restoration. It has been a long couple of days, we worked hard, we stressed the musculature and we tested our endurance. And now the need for recovery.

I was reading one of Chuckie V's rare, yet poignant, blog posts the other day and he was on the subject of rest and recovery. A topic we discuss with regularity as well. He says that the difference between pros and ams is in the ability of the former to rest like professionals, and the latter, well, like amateurs. So today, I am recovering like a pro. No run, no spin, no bike, no hike, no overlord resistance training and no swim, certainly no swim.

Between video work and reading I got in a nice long stretch. After some domestic chores and more RCV design, I sat in meditation, a practice while once a daily occurrence is now a whenever time permits (non) activity. Another of those pesky details where the body, the mind or the spirit sends subtle notices that an absence is noted and attention required, action necessary. You can pretend not to notice, or ignore, or cover up, but eventually being deaf to these signals will cause the body to assume command and shut the system down in order to get the recovery time it needs for repair, maintenance or upgrades.

Today was all three. If I was in Hawaii I would end this beautiful day with a hot bath and some fresh papaya. I am in Lillehammer, Norway, so it will be a hot shower and a salad.

Tomorrow we run the steps and I will feel like an Olympian. Or a Viking. Or just a refreshed and recovered day older version of me.

Oh yeah, here is some of the video work I accomplished today during the recovery phase. Five minutes from the legendary Mt. Washington Hill Climb we shot last Saturday way back in Gorham, New Hampshire. One should schedule a day of rest after these 7.8 uphill miles.