I rented skate skis today and gave it a whirl. My goal was to get all the way up to the "middle earth" trail. And let me tell you, it was tough and I wanted to give up several times, but I knew that I'd never forgive myself if I didn't reach my goal. Skate skiing is much harder than classic and requires so much more effort. I'm not in good enough shape for it. Maybe if I lose weight and get more cardiovascularly fit I'll try again. But for now I'm sticking with classic skating. In spite of how hard it was, I'm glad I did it. I skied for an hour and 15 minutes and went 3.14 miles. I had some crazy weather: sunny, cloudy, and finally snowing. I have a lot more respect for those Olympic skate skiers!

P.S. I hurt my right knee yesterday so I'm mad about that. Just like when I ran on the 4th of July and then my knees hurt for a couple of months when walking. The moral for me: don't do extreme stuff that gets you hurt so you can't do the regular stuff! I need to keep walking and classic skiing and not mess that up by trying harder stuff.