While here I am a week out after surgery lying in bed with my legs up in Vail, CO.  The whole process has been pretty amazing really.  I have met and been helped by some great folks.  The doctors and staff at both the Steadman-Hawkins Clinic and Howard Head Physical Therapy have been awesome.  Every patient who walks in the door is treated with world class professionalism and I recommend the services here in Vail to everyone with any type of orthopedic concern.  Not to mention, the fact that you may sit down for PT next to one of your favorite athletes from any sport whether it be soccer, football, baseball, hockey or skiing.  Baseball’s slugger Carlos Delgado was hanging around rehabbing while I was in the PT clinic yesterday!  Pretty cool.

My current status is really good. I have made great recovery gains in one week.  I have some residual bruising around the areas where the surgeon did his work, but all in all the swelling is down.  I got the OK to head back to Idaho when I get the urge to make the trip.  I still need to be on crutches for another week, but bearing weight on my feet is starting to feel alright.

It has been tough watching so many races this season, so I truly hope this surgery brings me back to my full potential.  I have to admit though I did have some great race experiences this season even if they were not my own.  Some of the highlights that stand out are the following-

• helping coach the SVSEF junior kids kick some butt in their races in Bozeman and Soldier Hollow
• watching former teammate Miles Havlik charge up Hermot’s Hill at Soldier Hollow to take the mass start 15k cl
• seeing Simi Hamilton battle in the rounds of the Olympic cl sprint at the with World Cup Sprint leader Emil Joensson
• watching live Petter Northug’s finish in the 4X10k Olympic relay and 50k mass start cl
• figuring out how to watch live coverage of the cross country world cups in Norway on fromsport.com and catching Andy and Kikkan both get spots on the podium!
• following OPA cup results these last few weeks and seeing my friends and teammates Nicole DeYong and Mikey Sinnott represent the USA with top 10 finishes in the OPA Cup Finals.

Well that is about all for now.  Enjoy the spring skiing for me! – Colin

Last weekend I traveled down to Salt Lake City, UT for two important reasons.  One was to help coach the Sun Valley Comp Team kids at their big Junior Olympic qualifier- known as the Super Qualifier at Soldier Hollow, UT.  They call it the Super Q because there are teams there representing the entire western US- Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, Dakotas, California, Oregon and Washington.   There were 640 athletes competing in total!  It was fun to be a part of and to watch our Sun Valley kids represent.

The second reason I was down there was to find some answers regarding my leg problems.  I had an appointment with Dr. Petron at the University of Utah Orthopaedic Center.  Dr. Petron has worked with many of the University of Utah’s top athletes as well as numerous professional basketball players, football players and ski racers.  His waiting area was peppered with action shots of all of the great athletes he has helped return to full form.  This was encouraging.

I first met with his assistant, former U of U athletic trainer, Bob Toth.  I answered a few initial questions regarding my symptoms and then Dr. Petron came in and stuck some big needles in my leg.  He tested me pre exercise at rest and my pressures were as follows:

lateral compartment: 18 mmHg

anterior compartment: 30 mmHg

deep posterior: 9 mmHg

superficial posterior: 13 mmHg

Supposedly, any compartment pressures bordering on 20 mmHg pre-exercise are in question.  If they are above 30 mmHg post exercise then a compartment release surgery is warranted.

I then went out, put on my rollerskis,  and skied up Immigration Canyon (very close to the orthopaedic center).  I did whatever I could to replicate the symptoms of tightness and fatigue I have been feeling this winter.  It was not that hard.  I did a few uphill speeds using the jump V1 technique and then did a few really fast striding intervals on steep terrain.  They got pumped before I knew it and I had a feeling that the post exercise pressures were going to be high.

I immediately returned to the hospital and they tested me again.  This time my pressures were as follows:

lateral compartment: 38 mmHg

anterior compartment: 60 mmHg

deep posterior: 12 mmHg

superficial posterior: 16 mmHg

To say the least, my pressures were high, especially in my anterior compartment.  Now I have a tentative date for surgery in the beginning of March.

This has all been a bit bitter sweet.  It is nice to know why I have not been skiing well this season, and good to know there is a solution.  It is disappointing though, to learn that my whole racing season, including what was supposed to encompass the best races of my career, has been a wash.  I have learned from this that some things, no matter how hard you try, you just cannot control.  Attitude is what it is all about.  Moping does not make life any better, or any easier so all of the energy I have needs to be put into finding a positive solution.  Let me tell you it is easier said than done, but I know the direction I have to go.

Hello out there everyone.

I apologize for the lack of communication.  I know I owe all of my supporters an explanation.  This racing season has just turned out so differently than I planned that it has been a challenge.  I always believed I was a performer when it was all on the line.  I knew that going into the racing season the compartment syndrome sensations in my legs were going to make it tough, but I truly thought I could overcome the problem with proper treatment.  Instead, I found myself completely off mark.  You always hear about amazing feats in athletics when the athlete overcomes all odds with diligence and persistence and goes on to achieve his or her goal.  I thought that was going to happen to me, this year.  Instead I just got beat up.

This injury has been hard because I can still ski.  Each day I can go out there and do the work that I think is necessary to go faster in the next race, but when I go hard I realize I am not actually going faster.  It would be much easier if I was just hurt and I could not go out the door.  Then there would be no question.  Instead there is a gray area.  Now that gray area is no longer gray- it is black and white.  I need to do something more drastic to fix my increasing problem.

I have taken a break from my racing because I cannot perform at the level I know I am capable of.  This was killing me. The idea of surgery is out on the table and I am meeting with a doctor who has diagnosed numerous compartment syndromes in Salt Lake City on Thursday.  I am still staying involved with the sport that I love, by doing some coaching with the Sun Valley high school aged kids and they have been kicking butt!  Really fun to see.

So, although my story is not going to take me to competing at the Olympics this year like I had dreamed of,  I am still going to continue this blog and do an even better job with it now than I did before.  Like they say, “Life is a journey” and when it does not turn out the way you plan you move forth with the next day.  I had envisioned telling all of you supporters out there about my success and when that never came this early winter I just did not know what to say.  Now,  I realize I am just going to be telling a bit of a different story and that is going to be OK.  There will be success later on down the road.  My ski career is not over February 2010.

Photo  Bob Hallinen- Anchorage Daily News

Simi Hamilton heads towards his first National Championship Title

Saturday was a great day for my team- Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation and teammate- Simi Hamilton.  Simi won the skate sprint at US Nationals here in Anchorage, AK!  It was great to see my friend and teammate dominate all day long- from qualifying in the morning to the finals in the afternoon.

Photo  Bob Hallinen- Anchorage Daily News

Simi on the top step of the podium!

When I can’t be there it is great to have my teammate on top! Nice work Sim!

Well, sorry everyone out there for not posting for awhile.  To be honest I have been very disappointed about the way the season has started.  I have been struggling with the current situation in my legs (compartment syndrome)  and that has been tough to handle.  Now I am trying to stay positive and focus on the classic races here in Anchorage.  We have a mass start 30k cl race on Wednesday and a cl sprint on Friday- both of which can be very good for me.   I had some great training over the holiday here in Anchorage and am now tapered way down and starting to feel pretty sparky.  I am working on finding that elusive “good feeling” in my body and have had some positive interval sessions.  Now it is time to go out and throw down on the race course!

Simons came through again with some cool black and whites from last weekend at Bohart Ranch outside of Bozeman.  This was one of the coolest classic courses I have raced on in awhile.  I am not where I want to be right now on the results page, but the skiing was still fun.  It hurts to get my butt kicked right now, but I love to ski race and sometimes that is part of the game.  We are still in the early innings.

Dig deep when you are down.

Compartment syndrome is an acute medical problem following injury, surgery or in most cases repetitive and extensive muscle use, in which increased pressure (usually caused by inflammation) within a confined space (fascial compartment) in the body impairs blood supply. -Wikapedia.org

I have been dealing with these symptoms in the anterior tibialis compartments of my lower legs.  It has quite severely affected my skating this year and has been an issue I have been trying to combat for several seasons now.  Originally I thought I just needed to change my technique and that would fix the problem.  That has not been the case.  I can ski easy without negative affects, and even threshold skating is manageable, but as soon as I begin to build lactate it becomes nearly impossible for me to flush without slowing down significantly.

Massage, acupuncture and a fascia manipulation technique called ASTYM have all helped me to relieve my symptoms.  I was even in a place this fall, before I was on snow, where I thought I was on top of the problem.  I wanted to do everything possible to keep from having surgery.  I did not want to risk losing valuable training time going into the Olympic year (especially, when my main shot at an Olympic spot is in the classic technique).  Now after trying the first few skate races of the season I know that skate racing to my full potential without undergoing  surgery is not likely.  In fact,  skating is just hindering my ability to classic race- not physically, but psychologically.

Now all of my eggs are in the classic basket.  I do believe I still have a good shot to compete at the highest level in classic sprinting this year.  I just have to find my form.  Now, I am in Silver Star BC sitting out the skate races trying to get quick for two classic sprint drag races in Canmore AB in a week and a half.  Will I be able to put it together?  Sometimes I have to get beat up before I come through when it counts.

Well for those of you out there who follow ski racing in the US you already know I have not started the racing season off with a bang.  This year I adjusted my training to come into the season fresh with the hopes of throwing down some good results right off of the bat.  Whatever the reasons may be that goal was not accomplished.  I do know that I have worked hard and been very focused on skiing fast this season.  I know it will happen, usually for me it just does not happen the first weekend.  Now I have the first races behind me and I am looking to the future.  Next weekend are the Bozeman SuperTour races- Skate Sprint on Saturday and 15k Classic on Sunday.  Look to see  my name closer to the top of the results sheet.

My buddy Zack Simons took some great pics of me racing.  Check’ em out.   Thanks for sharing them Zack.

No matter what keep on laying it out there.

Two weekends ago a crew of “hardcore athletes” gathered in my hometown, Westford, VT to test themselves against the elements. The event was designed by Stuart Ashley, local police officer and former teacher’s assistant in my first grade class, and Tom Lane former biathlete from Chugiak Alaska and current ace groomer of the Westford Ski Trails. I heard all the way in Idaho about how much of a success the event was. It is amazing how the simple pleasures in life, like racing through a river on a cold November day, keeps Vermonters happy ! Thanks to everyone who showed up. I wish I could have been there to take part. Your great energy will be helping me on the race trails this winter! Below is a race re-cap from my mom.

On a brisk and breezy Saturday morning earlier this month, a hardy group of runners (spanning ages 10 to 65) from northwest VT convened at the elementary school for a little run in the woods. They had heard through “word of mouth” about a little XC challenge to raise their spirits and benefit their hometown boy, Colin, in his pursuit of Olympic glory.

At more or less 10 AM a group of about 30 runners and two eager dogs took off across the school athletic fields, crossed Brookside Road and disappeared into the woods. About 20 minutes later they reappeared, a little more muddy, but each one smiling and with a tale to tell…a tale of mud, logging roads and single tracks, a rope-assisted ascent and a ledge-top ramble. They crossed back onto school property to vault two hay bales (the large round rolled type) and then enjoy the varied terrain of the Westford School XC trails. A slight diversion off the trails led to the dreaded (but really not so terrible) Browns River crossing (x2). After the first shock of waist-deep frigid water wore off and numbness set in, the deeper, second crossing really wasn’t so bad. Soggy shoes were a factor as racers closed in on the finish.

Congratulations were in order as this motley crew crossed the finish line. I think there was a watch at the line, and I hear there were some fast sprints to the finish, but more important were the grins and love of high-spirited fun that the “competitors” enjoyed!

Thanks to all who came to run and for your support of Colin! A particularly warm thanks to Tom Lane and Stewart Ashley who conceived, organized and ran the event. This was another successful fundraiser, and your support, again, was greatly appreciated!

By Peggy Rodgers

11/16/09

Check out the pics!

On October 11 my family helped me organize a hometown fundraiser in Westford, Vermont.  There was a great turnout and we estimated 80 people attended!  I gave a talk about my background in ski racing, played a little slide show and people mingled and ate some homemade pie that my mom and her friends prepared.  It was a great event and it meant so much to have the encouragement that I did.   Having support from your roots means the most!

Looking out into the audience as I spoke I realized how many great people are behind my quest to ski fast this winter.  Having so many wonderful friends and family makes me feel very fortunate, which I am.  So, first of all, thank you so much to everyone who came to hear what I had to say!

Not many people know this, but the event raised $7,035 dollars!  That is just from those who attended that afternoon.  There have been many other donations from those who could not make the event.  As I sat and added all of the contributions the next day I was blown away by everyone’s generosity.  I had no expectations for the gathering.  I just thought it would be cool to explain what I do to everybody back home.  A lot of folks hear that I still ski race, but don’t really know what it is all about.  It was great to communicate that.  The fact that I raised the amount that I did, just says a lot about you great people out there who are behind me!  As of November 5 I have raised $16,680 dollars! Amazing!

I am working on getting some photos and video from the event so I can post them on the blog.  Check back soon.