Article in WSJ about Skate-Skiing

http://www.wsj.com/articles/skiing-cross-country-or-skate-style-fights-winter-blues-1454342079

By JEN MURPHY
Feb. 1, 2016 10:54 a.m. ET

Temperatures in the double digits below zero don’t stop Seth Colton and his ski buddies from bundling up, donning head lamps and venturing forth on their Wednesday night skate-ski outings.

“I could go to a gym in the winter, but that gets boring,” Mr. Colton says. “Minnesota is cold and dark in the winter. If you don’t get outside it can get depressing. Plus, the faster you go the warmer you get,” he says.

Mr. Colton, a lawyer in North Oaks, about 10 miles north of St. Paul, grew up doing both downhill and cross-country skiing. Five years ago, he learned skate skiing, a cross-country technique that involves a lateral movement similar to ice skating and requires the arms to pole in unison with the legs.

“I’d be out cross-country skiing and would see people on skate skis going 20% faster,” Mr. Colton, 59, recalls. He decided to try it out and tagged along with a friend who skate skied, then took two group lessons to pick up the technique. He liked how skate skiing combined the speed of downhill skiing with the accessibility of cross-country.

In winter, Mr. Colton is able to skate ski two to four days a week, because his home is a quarter-mile from 10 miles of trails. “I can do it when I please,” he says. “It doesn’t take any planning. I just strap on my skis and go.”

These days, Mr. Colton alternates between classic cross-country, downhill and skate style. “I love how skiing is always different,” he says. “There are miles of trails around Minneapolis, and some are lighted at night. If not, a head lamp works. Better yet, on a clear night with a full moon, it’s a wilderness experience in the Twin Cities.”

Mr. Colton says he likes how cross-country skiing, whether classic or skate, is a full-body activity. But skate in particular is a killer upper-body workout, he says. “Poling is like doing massive amounts of crunches. A double-pole stroke is initiated from the abs, and after an hour or two, you’re worked.”

The Workout
Mr. Colton does a 10-mile loop around the trails near his home as many as four times a week. On Wednesday nights, he and three to six friends meet to skate ski around the trails. “The post-ski pizza and beer is probably the reason we do it,” he jokes. “We’ve gone out in blizzards.”

On weekends, he goes to a nearby state park and will skate ski or cross-country ski 10 to 15 miles. “Skate skis are shorter and skinnier so they’re fast and exciting, especially on the downhill sections of the trail,” he says. “But classic cross-country is so Zen.”

In March 2014, Mr. Colton blew out his left knee while downhill skiing in Vail and needed ACL reconstruction surgery. His surgeon at TRIA Orthopedic Center, in Bloomington, recommended the TRIA Lower Extremity Agility Program, developed by the center’s team of physical therapists, athletic trainers and orthopedic physicians to prevent re-injury. The six-week program met twice a week and focused on core strength. When it ended he continued to do the exercises.

“I skied Vail one day short of eight months postsurgery,” he says. “I stopped most runs with no leg burn, skied all day with no fatigue and wasn’t eating bottles of Ibuprofen by midweek—something that hasn’t happened since I was a ski bum after college.”

He now performs exercises from the program two to three times a week. He warms up with high skips, side shuffles, jogging with high knees and jogging and kicking his heels to his rear. He holds plank pose while alternating arm and leg lifts and will balance on a stability ball on his knees. He then hops on one leg across a room, pausing to hold the landing of each hop along the way. Other exercises include leg lifts, opposite knee crunches, bench press and tuck jumps, where he jumps up and brings his knees to his chest and then lands and repeats.

The Diet
Mr. Colton has a boiled egg, an English muffin, juice and a few cups of coffee for breakfast. If he’s not working out he just has juice and coffee. Lunch is a handful of nuts and fruit. When he’s more active, he’ll have herring fillets on crackers with low-fat cottage cheese and a pickle. “Whatever my wife cooks for dinner, I eat,” he says. “She’s a fabulous cook, that’s why I eat so little the rest of the day.” She often makes chicken or salmon, and vegetables and salad. Wednesday night skate-ski sessions end with pizza and beer.

Gear & Cost
A day pass to use the trails at Elm Creek Park Reserve costs $8; a season pass, $65. William O’Brien State Park and Interstate State Park charge $15 for a season ski pass. Mr. Colton waits for deals on gear during end-of-season sales and has paid around $250 for most of his sets of skis. “I’m 6’ 4’’ and by the end of season people are trying to get rid of skis for taller people,” he says. He has Salomon S-Lab Classic cross-country skis and Salomon S-Lab Classic boots. His skate-skis and boots are made by Atomic Sport and he uses an older pair of skate skis for bad conditions. “Those are my rock skis. I don’t care if I wreck the bottoms,” he says. Mr. Colton says cross-country ski gloves sell for $40 a pair at sporting-goods stores. He says work gloves from a hardware store that he uses cost $10.

Playlist
“I don’t listen to music when I ski. like to empty my head when I exercise, not fill it.”

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