In high school, I swam for the fine Normandy Invaders--I spent four years trying to deny that I was a backstroker, rather than the sprint freestyler or flyer I imagined myself to be.

My junior year, I took up running to stay in shape for swimming--track that spring, then cross-country and track senior year.  I found that track practice was a lot more interesting than swim practice--actually going somewhere has something to be said for it, as opposed to back-and-forth along the black line, get to wall, turn.  But running also gave me instant crippling shin splints.  I ran my fastest half-mile in the last half-mile I ever ran--then promptly collapsed when I tried to warm down.  Ow.

I continued my swimming career at Wooster, and somehow got elected co-captain my junior year.  I think that surprised pretty much everyone, heh.  My junior and senior years, the individual highlights were probably swimming against my not-so-little brother Todd, who swam for our conference rival, Wittenberg.  I defended my honor pretty effectively in those matchups, I believe, though on one sad occasion Todd cheated and beat me.  It was while on a swimming trip my freshman year that I picked up the nickname "House of Muscles," from the fine Dr. Steve Page.  It's a long story, and it is well-known that I shy away from long stories.

In addition to swimming, I took up rugby in college.  I had decided at some point in high school that I wanted to try either rugby or lacrosse in college... since lacrosse was a varsity sport involving large quantities of expensive equipment and numerous highly experienced players from the mid-Atlantic states, I went with rugby.  I played for 8 years, eventually playing almost every position on the field--lots of laughs for a 160 pound guy.I'm now retired from rugy--I haven't played in years. I miss the game sometimes, but I had a good run and I don't miss the aches and pains. 

So nowadays I play basketball three times a week with the UMD faculty and staff, whee! I also lift irregularly so I can look pretty for Kristin. I also run a little bit--motion control shoes and orthotics seem to have solved that irritating shin splint problem. 

I think my favorite shoe is the Nike Air Durham, which is being discontinued this year, sigh. I've also worn the Nike Air Ulysses (heavy), Asics Gel Kayanos (fragile), and Nike Air Kantaras (imperfect fit, but nice and light) with reasonable success in recent years.

Since moving to Minnesota, Kristin and I have taken up cross-country skiing. We tried classical skiing but found that we lacked the expertise required to pick the right wax; hence we both learned to skate. We live 2 blocks from Lester Park (trail map, trail report) which has been great this winter, given that we have real snow for the first time since we moved in.

For the latest Minnesota, UP, and Northern Wisconsin trail reports, see skinnyski.com.

Right now, I'm skiing pretty exclusively but thinking it's about time to start running again to my latest campaign for the Bjorklund half-marathon in June.