Trying out a new sport: skate skiing

As a xmas present a few of my friends and clients bought my girlfriend and I day passes to the Callaghan, Whistler Olympic Park.  The Park has ski jumping, classic and skate skiing, not to mention beautiful views.

We took advantage of the generous gift and tried out a new sport on January 1st : skate skiing.

We picked up our rental gear and started out on this new adventure.  Driving up the road we began to feel excited and nervous.  At the lodge we managed to get the skis on and tried out the poles...we soon found out that Kelly had brought gloves far too large to fit into the pole straps....after some technical difficulty we were on our way...

The first few minutes on snow were a challenge.  We spent most of the time learning how to get up after falling flat on our butts multiple times.  After 20 minutes we felt ready to tackle the first of 3 green runs of the day....after about 15 KM and 3 hours we were both pooped and ready to head home.

We both felt challenged by the new experience and have decided to add this new sport to out training routine next season....Thanks again Heather, Allison and Amanda for the new, fun experience.

XC bike ride "Wonderland"

My girlfriend has found a new love for mountain biking and she lead me on a trail called Wonderland.  It was a quick, mellow ride with a fun descent.

We started out from the house and past the golf course to a short climb, that brought us to Jack's trail eventually spitting us out at Alice Lake.  At the lake we practiced some "wheelies" and speed bump "bunny hops".   After playing around for a bit we rode to the Alice Lake entrance and the trail head.

And this is where the video starts...enjoy.

The late golfer's warmup

We have all been there.

You booked a tee time and have all the best intensions to show up with enough time to warm up; hit a few balls and maybe even putt a few.  Unfortunately someway, somehow time slipped away and you arrive just in time to hear over the pager:  

"next on the number one tee is the (insert your name) foursome". 

That means you have exactly 7 minutes to check in and grab tees, mark your ball and let r' rip.

What can you do to prepare the body with such a small window of time?

overhead squat

1. The overhead squat with glof club will open up the hips, loosen the low back, activate the core and gluts and open up the shoulders.  If you have time for nothing else, a few reps of this movement will help tremendously.
• stand with feet shoulder width apart
• point toes slightly outward
• hold the club over the head with straigth arms
• maintain your natural lumbar curve
• sit back and bend from the hips
• drop down as low as you can while maintaining straight arms and lumbar curve then hold for 3 seconds at the bottom
• squeeze the butt to stand 
• return to start position
• travel slowly and in control
• repeat for 6 - 12 repetitions

arm circles

1. The second peice is to prepare the shoulder rotators for the first swing.  A simple series of arm circles will help avoid shoulder pain and injury. 

• start with small circles
• move slowly and with intention
• thumbs pointed up
• then thumbs pointed down
• circle forward 
• and circle backward
• 6 rotations of each hand position and direction

Keep in mind that this is the "late golfer's warmup", and not a complete warmup.
 
To learn about a full golf warmup and about golf fitness see your local TPI certified golf fitness instructor.
www.mytpi.com

First bike ride of 2011

Today, Kelly and I went for our first bike ride.  Considering this was the first ride for Kelly we decided to travel a relatively simple route for a medium distance.  The route consisted of 7 km of single track and 3 km of logging road.  The first half consisted of climbing over roots, and through puddles.  And the second half we would enjoy our labor with a fun, flowing downhill ride.

We set out down the road on our way to the trail head.  Due to the cold temperature and rain we decided to travel relatively quick and avoid breaks.  Each break would allow cold to set in.  Something we both wanted to avoid.

Kelly's first bike ride

Our first break was about 20 minutes into the ride.  We had a quick discussion about proper gear changing, breaking techniques and dealing with wet roots.

We hopped back into the saddle and rode the uphill portion of the ride for about an hour which took us through the woods across a number of creeks and though a tonne of mud puddles.

The turn around came after passing a few dog walkers, and we enjoyed a snack of dried mangoes and walnuts.  The cold started to set in and it was back in the saddle again.  At this point we were at the top of our ride approx. 500 feet above where we started.  This is where the fun began.  We traveled back through the woods carrying much more speed.  Down hill is so much more rewarding than the climb.  The only problem was the cold setting in and my fingers started to lose feeling.

Kelly having fun

Kelly was doing great until the descent.  At this point she felt slightly intimidated with the wet roots, rocks and puddles.  Also the fact that the brakes on our bikes seemed less powerful in the rain.  She walked a few technical parts and then her confidence grew again.  Behind me I heard a few "Woo hoo's".  Then the next thing we knew it, a bridge and a small hike-a-bike was in our way.  We pushed the bikes over the bridge and up a small steep slope that brought us to the next descent.

dirty, tired and hungry

We were nearly home.  That was great to think because hunger was setting in an the idea of a hot shower sounded awesome.


We popped out of the trail into the park and it was a short pedal back to the house.  We dropped the bikes in the garage, threw all our  wet, muddy clothes into the washing machine then it was shower and beef stew for lunch.  All and all this was a fun experience for the both of us.