I’ve had a pretty interesting last couple of weeks – I’m happy and lucky to be so busy! Immediately after the Men’s Health shoot two weeks ago, I drove down to LA and hopped a flight to Stuttgart, where it was off to Porsche headquarters for a day and a half of official photography for all of Porsche and Penske’s promotional needs for 2008. Being inside a photo studio for 6 hours a day is about as fun as it sounds, but as a group we always find ways to make it fun. We even managed to talk the director into letting us set up a few of our own group shots! Think Zoolander meets the Brady Bunch.

From there, we flew as a group over to Fuertaventura in the Canary Islands for winter fitness camp. This was the 6th Porsche camp I’ve been to, so I had an idea of what to expect. We stayed at a Robinson Club property on Fuertaventura, which is a high-end, German based all-inclusive resort, so we had high-level sports and training facilities to work in. The place was pretty spectacular – they have everything from outdoor fitness studios to gyms and private saunas and plenty of beach access for us to play beach soccer and the like. This year, there are three new factory drivers, so it was great to get to know them over the entire camp.

Fitness camp is pretty intense – we worked about seven hours per day for 10 days on a pretty comprehensive bunch of sports and gym routines, all focused on strength, cardiovascular fitness and sensory motor coordination. As a group, we’ve all worked with many of the same doctors and physios for several years, so we’re able to make a great deal of progress as a group. We really had to push ourselves to get all the benefit of the camp - but the idea is that the doctors help us individually as well as a group. Each year, these camps get harder, but the goal for us is to collectively push ourselves to new levels. It’s undoubtedly cool to be able to do this as part of my job; all the travel I do is satisfying, but I’ve been able to go to some new, gorgeous place for fitness camp every year. It’s a great perk! Five days in, every muscle hurts and it’s hard to get out of bed to go for a run before breakfast, but it’s pretty great that there’s a whole team there to help us.

Once we wrapped up in the Canaries, I went off to Toronto by way of Stuttgart for a few days to hang out and have some city time. Going from a beach resort to Toronto in the middle of February’s a bit of a shock, but Toronto’s a great city and it’s always a pleasure to be there. The following Monday, I went back to LA and straight back to Willow Springs for another test. It’s ironic and cool that I get to drive there at the top level with Penske after having virtually grown up there as a kid. In fact we actually drove some of the same track that I grew up karting on, so it’s great to make a return.

The test itself was great, and it’s gratifying to be part of the collaboration between Porsche and Penske – the RS Spyder was pretty dominant last season, but we know there’s a big fight brewing with the Acura contingent this year. Sebring’s right around the corner, and I’m excited to get there and get the season underway!