Sunday, August 1, 2010

Meet Skylar!

Yo yo! Today we've got a pretty great surprise for you all: it's guest post time. You'll be hearing from one of our BFF4Ls Skylar! He's your typical endurance athlete, a pretty freaking talented one at that. Below is a photo of all of us from the Charlottesville Half Marathon during our first year at UVa. Sky decided to just do the race for fun and told Mary and I (I being Alexis) that he would run with us and enjoy the experience. That lasted for about 25 seconds.. thanks Sky! We quickly forgave him for running on ahead when he finished SECOND in his age group at a distance he had never before endured. Skylarr you did ittttt yeahhhh!!

The crew:

Enjoy the read, along with your Sundays!

Greetings, Virginia! My name is Skylar and I’m the one that’s not like the others. Cross-bred with an adrenaline nut that spent his early days mountaineering and jumping out of airplanes with a once-neurotic fitness addict, it’s no surprise as to what popped out…



Me sliding down the continental divide in the Wind River Range of Wyoming on my NOLS backpacking course last summer. I spent 28 days in the woods, basically. It reinforced my psyche for nature. Like Shelby, I am also climbing a Colorado Fourteener soon: Holy Cross. Pictures later if I take them…

I am now planning to go mountaineering next summer in Bolivia, climbing the mountains Pequeno Alpamayo, Huayna Potosi & Illimani! Yes, I just copied and pasted that.

Here is my dad. If you asked me what I would be like when I’m 58, this could be it…


This picture was taken during my first time tandem skydiving by the photo dude. Props to him for capturing some sick shots. This is just one of the many photos he took. I’m the guy in purple pants. Obviously, I like purple.

The photo guy also made a sweet video of my jump, but I don’t have it with me right now. Maybe another post…

I’ve always had a good idea of what makes me a happy person, but every now and then I can get a bit sidetracked. I can’t say for sure that I have found it, but I’m pretty damn close. In fact, I can sum it up in 2 words: endorphins and adrenaline.

I’m an endurance athlete, always have been and always will. I played soccer all through childhood until the 10th grade. While I was a decent player, I was able to stay competitive because of my speed and inability to tire out. Often times the coach would just put me at sweeper and let me run the entire game.

It wasn’t until the junior year that I thought, “Hey Skylar, I think you could put your talents to something else. You don’t even like soccer that much.” So I joined the cross-country team and fell in love, almost.

I couldn’t get enough of running. Like many would say of the activity, it turned into a drug. What happens when you stop using a drug that you’re addicted to? Withdrawal. And by withdrawal, I mean college.

During my first year or so at UVA, running didn’t seem to be a priority for me. I began to lift instead. While it did add muscle mass, I wasn’t happy with myself, I knew something was missing.

Luckily, I found mountain biking, which has become my favorite spring-summer-fall activity to date. I like it almost as much as I do snowboarding, which is the single-most enjoyable activity I do. I re-found my passion for cardio and endurance, along with some adrenaline, in mountain biking, which also has reacquainted me with my other love, running. I guess I’m a polygamist. (I should probably stop saying, “love” or I’m going to kill it’s meaning) In fact, I just signed up for the XTERRA Triathlon at Walnut Creek Park on August 22, which involves an 11.6 mile trail ride and 4 mile trail run. Super! More on how that turns out later…

All this cardio, along with a friend of mine, sparked life into my lifting routine. As a college student, there simply isn’t much time to lift, run, party, etc. So I have started incorporating both cardio and weight training into one: circuit training. I usually start out by running 3 miles or so, to get the blood flowing. Stretch after. Then I pick 6 exercises that encompass a majority of the muscles, and do them consecutively in a row, without resting. Then rest for a minute, and repeat. Do this 3 times initially, and see how you feel. I like to focus on lifting my body weight in different ways. For example, I will pick push-ups (try varying this with small weights), pull-ups (vary the styles: bicep or lat specific), dips, abs, and alternate some other dumbbell exercises. I sweat bullets doing this. I think circuit training will really help me in preparation for my triathlon. Oh yeah, and make sure you eat afterwards. Protein is key. Try mixing peanut butter, milk, a banana, and berries in a blender.
That was a brief bio, and I hope to write more in depth articles later!

Always wear sunscreen, get adequate sleep and take your multi-vitamins
-Skylar

1 comment:

  1. Hi Skylar! I saw that you were into vitamins and was wondering what your thoughts were on fish oils and acai supplements?

    ReplyDelete