Skating...We'll Leave it at That

So now after swearing off skate skiing I gave it another shot and finally...this time...it's better.  I can at least surpass the time it normally takes on the classics which makes it worth sticking with.  The one problem I am having is going up hill which at time it seems like I come to a complete stop so if anybody has any pointers let me know.  

I think this is going to be a better form of training for me due to the power it takes as compared to striding.  It's almost like striding is awesome for aerobic while skating is great for building power.  Well I'll just stick with it as it can only get better from here....right?

Balancing Life and Racing With Dave Wiens 6x Leadville Winner

Want to know how to balance life, work, family and racing?  It's a tough task that I am sure anyone that goes through it can attest to, but in a 2 part series, EVOMO interviews the 6 time Leadville 100 champion as he explains how he balances his time and still managed to keep the streak alive by knocking off 7 time Tour De France champion Lance Armstrong.  I along with other teammates on the EVOMO team were able to ask questions in regards to training and prep for this race with the type of schedule he has and more. 

To be honest my wife and I don't have kids yet, but the balance is still difficult with family and work taking up the better half of the day while sleep takes up the other.  I really have to give it up for guys like Dave Wiens and Scott Cole for bringing the rukus the way they do with their busy lives off the bike, but to get a better Idea of how Dave goes about it click here for the first part of the interview with part 2 here.

As far as today goes, I got a good 1.5 hours in on the skis (need more klister by the way) and another 1.5 hours on the trainer.  Big weekend ahead.

As Any Other Day That Ends With a "Y"

Skis were prepared, breakfast down, looked outside......and I about crapped myself.  Once again the skies opened up and dumped about 4-6 inches of pow pow (yeah that just happened) freshly on my deck leaving me with two things to think about. 1) I get to shovel the crap when I get home and 2) my skis were not set up for fresh snow ooops this will teach me to not check the weather the night before a race again. It was too late to re-wax, so I packed up my brown blazer and headed to nine mile.  I was gladly relieved that they mentioned the fresh grooming had taken place so I had a snowballs chance to glide efficiently and later found I couldn't be more wrong even if I was George W. Bush the last eight years.  The trails were not groomed and people made paths in the skate lanes which really left me scrambling and only after bringing forth the rukus on the first large climbs, it all went down hill and I couldn't catch a nice track to stride in, but all in all it was good prep for next weekends beating I am lucky enough to bring on myself.

Tickets for Sea Otter are purchased and accounted for now.  Last things to do is find a place to crash for the few days I'm there.  The course is about 38 miles which is nice, but rumor has it that it's not super technical which can be boring but this early in the season an easy race technically might be a better option as I prepare for the human sacrifice that is trans iowa.  Salsa 24 fest looks to be a place to be at in 2009, but I am not sure I am up for it if the performa crew doesn't go as it falls the same weekend as the Green Bay WORS race.