March 21, 2025 • 54 mins
When Andrea Dehnke watched Apollo Ohno glide across the ice during the 2006 Winter Olympics, something clicked. Living near Colorado Springs at the time, she could actually watch the national team practice at the Olympic Training Center—the same athletes she'd just seen winning medals on television. What followed was an intensive journey into the world of short track speed skating that would shape her entire life.
Andrea pulls back the curtain on the strategic complexity of her sport. Unlike long track where the fastest skater wins, short track demands tactical brilliance in a pack-style race where positioning and timing can matter more than raw speed. Her explanation of racing dynamics—from drafting techniques to the high-risk strategy of trying to lap the entire field—gives listeners rare insight into the mental chess match happening at 30+ mph on razor-sharp blades.
The physical toll of elite competition becomes painfully clear as Andrea reveals how herniated discs and degenerative disc disease ultimately forced her retirement before the 2014 Olympic trials. Despite doctors' warnings, she continued training twice daily, six days a week until her body simply couldn't keep up with her competitive spirit. Her candid discussion about the psychological impact of injuries, combined with the emotional devastation following a teammate's suicide, paints a nuanced picture of the hidden struggles behind athletic achievement.
Perhaps most surprising are Andrea's stories about the physical dangers inherent in short track. Multiple incidents involving skaters being severely cut by blades—including a teammate who severed a nerve in her leg and another who was cut in the neck above her protective gear—highlight why the sport now requires full-body cut-proof protection. These sobering tales serve as a reminder that even beautiful sports can carry serious risks.
Whether you're a skating enthusiast or simply interested in the psychology of elite athletes, this conversation offers valuable perspective on setting goals, overcoming obstacles, and finding purpose when life forces you to rewrite your story. As Andrea says, "When you stop doing your sport, you're just always going to miss it"—a sentiment that will resonate with anyone who's ever had to walk away from something they love.
“Black Label Supplements. Built for athletes who don’t compromise.”
So go to blacklabelsupplements.com and remember to use the code Howdoyousk8 for your 15% discount at checkout. .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}Mark as PlayedTranscript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey there, welcome to how Do you Skate, the ultimate
destination for all skatingenthusiasts.
We cater to everyone, frombeginners to pros.
Whether you love inline and iceskating or prefer quads and
skateboarding, we have it allcovered, and we bring you
exclusive interviews withprofessionals, talented amateurs
(00:30):
and influencers in the industry.
So sit back, relax and getready for an exciting journey
into the world of skating.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Welcome to this week's episode of how Do you
Skate.
I am your host, Sean Egan, andtoday I get to actually have my
first short track speed skateron Andrea Denke.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Great.
Thank you for having me on.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
You're welcome, and it's kind of funny how we met,
because it was actually at yourhusband's show with my friends
when darkness falls, so I don'tusually run into skaters at
metal shows.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
So yeah, I know that that was really funny, and I
guess it wasn't even gus whotold you it was the drummer of
his band it was laura, you canblame her.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yeah, so when did your whole journey in skating
start?
Speaker 3 (01:21):
it started in 2006.
I was watching the watching theWinter Olympics in Torino on TV
and I saw Apollo and all thoseother skaters skating short
track and I thought like this isjust the coolest thing ever and
I just really fell in love withit then and just really wanted
to do it.
And I was kind of lucky becauseat the time I lived in Monument
(01:45):
, colorado, which is just northof the Springs, and Colorado
Springs is where they have theOlympic Training Center and at
the time they had the nationalteam for short track stationed
in the Springs, so I even got togo a couple of times and watch
them skate.
So it was really cool that Igot to watch these people that I
had just seen on TV winningmedals, like here in this rink
(02:07):
that was close to my own house.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, now did you skate before that, or was that
like your first induction intoskating?
Speaker 3 (02:16):
I mean, I thought I was like 14.
I thought I knew how to doeverything.
And my mom was the one who waslike, no, you need lessons.
And she signed me up for, like,learn to skate, but for figure
skating, because I don't thinkthey had to learn to speed skate
class yeah so before I couldeven join the club that was in
the springs, I had to learn howto do figure skating basics well
(02:42):
, the cool thing about thefigure skating because, not
gonna lie, I took figure skatinglessons to ice figure skating
basics.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Well, the cool thing about the figure skating cause,
not going to lie, I took figureskating lessons to ice figure
skating lessons too, but back inCalifornia, um, it gives you
like the foundation of skating,like how to.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I mean it was really useful.
I'm not going to say I didn'tlearn anything.
Like I I'm, I probably shouldbe thanking my mom that she made
me take those lessons.
But at the time I was I waslike I don't need this, I can
skate, I can get on the ice.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Well, it's a big adjustment from going from like
figure skates or skates withboots to the shorter cut boots
that speed skate that we use inspeed skating.
So it's still taking me alittle while to get used to it
again.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
So yeah, and and the the blades to like.
The blade is much thinner andlonger, so it's a very different
way of standing on the skate.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
So when did you start your speed skating career with
short track?
Speaker 3 (03:37):
I.
So when I started the at theclub it was in 2006.
It was after the Olympic gamesand I there wasn't much that we
could do for training on a teamthere.
I think they had ice maybetwice a week and then it was dry
land on your own, and thenwhenever we could, I would just
(03:57):
go and skate public skate at allthe other ice rinks that were
around town.
Um, just to kind of get used toskating on the ice.
And I was able to go to somesimple competitions like
nationals.
I don't know if I was doingAmerican Cups while I was in
Colorado, but I did a fewcompetitions.
I did juniors and I ran intoMike Corman at one of the meets
(04:22):
and he kind of recruited me.
He said I have this highperformance team in Salt Lake
City.
It's called the fast team.
Um, it would be great if wecould have you out there.
And so I got really excited.
I told my mom and my wholefamily moved out to Salt Lake
City in 2008, I think.
So just two years after Istarted um, I was skating on the
high performance team and thenthat's when I started competing.
(04:43):
A was skating on the highperformance team, and then
that's when I started competinga little bit more at like
American Cups and othercompetitions around the country.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
That's actually really cool that your family did
that for you, Because I know ifsomething happened like that to
me and I told my mom that she'dbe like no too bad, wait till
you're 18, that that would bethe story.
So yeah, now, what was thetraining like with the high
performance team, because thatlike opened up more doors.
(05:15):
Now, how did you meet him?
Did you meet him at like one ofthe um nationals or one of the
other ones, or how did that allcome about?
Speaker 3 (05:23):
I don't remember which meet, but I'm sure it was
either like juniors or nationalsUm, and I think he was just
trying to recruit people and heI think he probably saw I didn't
have a club that I was reallyskating with and he just, um,
invited me to come onto the highperformance team and it was a
really big shift because youtrain six days a week and most
(05:43):
of the days you train twice aday.
So it's, it was a really bigshift because you train six days
a week and most of the days youtrain twice a day.
So it's, it was a lot moretraining than I was originally
used to and you, from what Iremember, I think I adapted
pretty quickly, but you're stilllike exhausted when you first
start out.
You're just not used to trainingthat much.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Now were you still in high school at the time.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yeah.
So I moved on my senior year ofhigh school.
I completed high school in Utahand I graduated early.
They even had like a requiredcourse to take a gym class and I
had to tell them like, hey, Idon't really need a gym class, I
go and train every single day.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Yeah, I would say that that would qualify for gym
Now.
Were you training before andafter school then, or?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Yeah, so I I had kind of like a special schedule
where I got to train kind ofaround going to school.
And then once I graduated, Iwas able to train more full time
.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
And then, what was the training Cause?
I love short track, but I'm notfamiliar with, like, how it
actually works.
Can you explain at least thatpart to us?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Like the part of racing or the part of like
training for it.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
We'll start with the racing first.
So I understand, like how, howyou end up winning or how it's
scored.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Yeah, I mean, usually I compare short track to long
track first, so I I understandlike how, how you end up winning
or how it's scored.
Yeah, I mean, usually I compareshort track to long track and
what it is is it's in pack styleracing yeah so you race within
a group of people and thenwhoever wins the race um is the
winner, whereas in long trackyou are racing individually and
whoever is the fastest is thewinner.
(07:25):
So you don't necessarily haveto be the fastest skater in
short track to win, but you dohave to have the best strategy.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Okay.
So I saw one video of a girldoing short track and when they
first took off, she took offreally fast, lapped and got at
the end of the pack and then didthe whole race at the end of
the pack and then did the wholerace at the end of the pack and
actually ended up winning therace because she was actually in
the lead and I don't thinkanybody else caught that.
And I'm like dude, that is sucha good strategy.
Have you ever it depends.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
So you see people doing that sometimes and it kind
of depends on the person whodoes it, because it usually it
always happens in a 1500 meter,because those are the longest
races that you do individuallyin short track and they usually
start out very slow.
So while everyone's going veryslow, you can decide to take the
risk and lap everyone.
(08:16):
But you're also going to bereally exhausted by the time you
get there and also, if thegroup decides that they want to
chase you down, you're going toexpend a lot of energy trying to
get ahead of them and if theychase you down, you're going to
be more tired because you'regoing to be in the front.
You don't have a draft fromanyone.
So I've seen people do it and besuccessful, like that video
that you're talking about, andI've also seen people do it and
(08:39):
crash and burn.
So it depends on the groupyou're with.
It depends on whether theskaters think you're a threat or
not, cause some people try andlap and they don't make it all
the way around, so they're justout there struggling by
themselves and then the groupcatches up with them and passes
them.
So it's it's a big risk forsomeone to take, but if you can
do it, it really pays off.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
So now 1500 meters.
How far is that in Americanterms?
Cause we have to be differentthan the rest of the world.
Oh, boy Cause I know the 5,000is three miles, the 10,006 miles
5k is 3.1 miles.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
So I really don't know.
Somebody Google this.
I really don't know.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Somebody Google this, we can look it up.
It's like one of those funnythings that you do right in the
middle.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
It's almost a mile.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Okay, so that's not too bad.
Yeah, and how long normallywould a 1500 meter race last?
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Because I know like you have people running under
four minute miles and you go alot faster on skates.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah, it's like two minutes and change.
Okay.
So now what was your trainingschedule like?
I mean, I know it's twice a day, but like, what did your
training involve?
I know it couldn't have justbeen skating and dry land.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Yeah, I mean when you're in the middle of the
season, that's pretty much allit is.
You will skate.
Let's see you skate six days aweek, so Monday through Saturday
, and then on Mondays andWednesdays we would skate also
in the afternoons.
So, that's eight times a weekthat we're skating, and then
(10:24):
Tuesdays and either Thursday orFriday, we would do weights in
the afternoon, and thensometimes, after ice sessions,
we would also have a dry landsession on top of that.
So literally during the season,it's pretty much all ice and in
the weight room, but when thethe summer, when we're trying to
build volume, uh, we have lessice time and instead of doing
(10:47):
that, we are on the bike a lotokay and um, it kind of depends
on who our coach is.
I've had coaches that have putus in the pool and had us do
like water aerobic exercises orplay ultimate frisbee as like
part of like some light trainingand I've also lost lost my
(11:10):
thought right now but we've alsodone like hill sprints,
workouts in the park, like bigdry land activities that take
maybe a couple hours.
We go, go on runs, we might goon a hike, so like over the
summer it's just kind of likewhatever we can do to stay
(11:32):
active and then we slowly willbuild up our volume on the ice
and get more ice time the closerit gets to the season and now,
did you stay on the utah teamthe whole time, your like whole
short track career, or did youactually eventually come back
and train in Colorado, because Iknow the altitude difference
plays a huge role in things too.
I was on the high performanceteam for six years in Salt Lake
(11:54):
and I was with them the wholetime.
After I stopped skating I wentto college in California for a
(12:15):
year and then I had this likefour month gap between community
college ending and going toUCSB and transferring to that
and then also where I was living, they were remodeling my house.
So I was like, well, I'll justmove back to Utah and I had done
short track the whole time andI was like, well, what if I just
try long track for a summer?
(12:36):
So for the four months that Iwas in Utah I tried long track
and I was not very good at it.
We didn't.
We didn't get I didn't get upmuch ice time.
But, um, it's not as easy totransition between those two
sports.
Even though they are verysimilar, they're still different
sports and sometimes it's justnot very easy to pick it up
(12:58):
right away and.
I'd never really done it before.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
I'd been short track the whole time and with long
track even the skates aredifferent, because with short
track you have a fixed blade,Long track you have the clap
skate.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
So did you try the clap?
Speaker 2 (13:14):
skate.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
I love the clap skates because you can go so
fast on them.
My problem was actually thelong track skates have less
ankle.
Support was actually that longtrack skates have less ankle
support, so I didn't realize howmuch I relied on like that,
maybe one or two inches of extraankle support in my short track
(13:36):
boot because it was so hard tolike stand and start on long
track skates.
But you do get so much more push.
And then the ice in Salt Lakehas so much glide so you don't
even have to put much effortbehind it and you're just flying
.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Have you ever got to go to the track in Wisconsin?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
I've been to the Pettit Center.
I prefer Salt Lake, probablyjust because I would train there
so often, but I have competedin short track events at the
Pettit.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Yeah, the statue's really great.
We always try and mimic it.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Nice.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Very twisted statue.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Who's the statue of?
Is it anybody in particular?
Speaker 3 (14:18):
I don't remember.
It might be an abstract statueof Eric Heiden.
Let me, I want to look it up,cause I really want to know.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
I'm planning on hopefully getting him on in the
near future too.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
He'd be great.
I met him because I have backissues.
It's the reason that I quitskating when I did and while we
were still trying to figure itout.
He's an orthopedist or he wasin Salt Lake.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
I was like this isn't really how I wanted to meet him
, but it's kind of cool that Istill got to meet him that way.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Now is the back issues.
Is that what stopped yourskating career?
Yeah, and was it from an injuryor was it?
Speaker 3 (15:00):
So it was Hold on, we have an answer?
No, we don't.
I think it's just an abstractstatue of a skater.
Sorry to mislead you.
So yeah, when I started likeskating high performance in 2008
, and then I think in 2012 iskind of when I started noticing
(15:25):
that I had some back issues 12is kind of when I started
noticing that I had some backissues and eventually I got an
MRI and they said, oh, you havetwo herniated discs in your
lower back.
You also have something calleddegenerative disc disease, which
sounds kind of like what it is.
They're like your back's justgoing to keep getting worse and
you probably shouldn't skateanymore.
And I was like, no, I don'twant to listen to that.
(15:46):
So I kept skating and my backissues kind of just kept getting
worse and worse and it wasgetting harder to ignore and I
got like a cortisone shot thatdidn't do anything.
I was seeing like I went to DrHyden and there just wasn't much
that we could really figure outto do with it.
(16:09):
And mostly what I was doing isjust kind of like sitting out a
set or two during training orlike modifying my weight program
, cause what I was doing at thetime was like these big Olympic
lifts, like cleans and jerks andall that which I love doing.
Um, and it just got to the pointwhere I was like I just can't
(16:29):
do this, I can't train the way Iwant to.
And it was pretty hard on mementally because I always knew
that I could, like physically,perform better and my back was
holding me back and, uh, I waskind of wrestling with quitting
(16:50):
around the 2014 games.
I was like, if I can justqualify for trials say that I
skated Olympic trials, I wasn'treally expecting to make the
team um, that would be great.
And then my best friendcommitted suicide while we were
in the season for short trackand I that kind of was like the
(17:10):
final straw for me mentally.
I was just kind of like I can'treally do this anymore, like
physically I'm not there,mentally I'm not there.
So I kind of cut my seasonshort before Olympic trials.
And that was when I decided Iwas like you know what, I'm
going to get out of Salt Lake.
I'm going to get out of SaltLake, I'm going to get out of
the state, I'm going to go tocollege in California and I'm
(17:33):
just going to start a new life.
But it was kind of hard.
It was hard to just kind ofdrop everything and leave that.
I think when you're a full-timeathlete, um, it's hard for that
, but also when you're acompetitive person it's kind of
hard to to just give up onsomething that you love so much.
(17:57):
Um, but yeah, that's.
That's how I stopped skatingnow?
Speaker 2 (18:03):
are you still working with eric hayden, the with your
back, or what's going on withyour back now, is it?
Speaker 3 (18:08):
No, I.
I saw him once for anevaluation and the consensus was
kind of like well, if you juststop skating, your back will get
better.
And that's not exactly whathappened.
But I did figure out that if Ican keep my core strong, if I
can stay in shape, that'susually what makes it better.
And I was seeing a chiropractorpretty regularly, regularly for
(18:32):
a long time, and he was like awizard, like I'd go in and I'd
have like some slight neck painthat I wouldn't even tell him
about, and he'd be like oh, thisthing in your neck is a little
out of whack, let me fix it forfor you.
I'm just like, wow, I don'tknow.
He always seemed to know whatwas going on with me.
So whenever I can find a goodchiropractor, I always feel like
(18:56):
I'm doing well.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Yeah, was that in Salt Lake or was that in Santa
Barbara?
Speaker 3 (19:03):
That was in Salt Lake .
I did find another chiropractorin Santa Barbara and they were
good, but they weren't quite thesame.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Because have you heard of Denver Sports Recovery?
No, they have a goodchiropractor, they have sports
massage therapists.
They have the cryo, they havethe cold baths.
It's designed for athletes.
My massage therapist is Yesenia.
She's someone I love and hateat the same time.
(19:29):
She's the only woman who canactually make me cry without
even saying anything to me.
Oh yeah, but she's really goodand they have a chiropractor and
then they do the dry needlingalso, so it's like a really cool
spot.
You might want to check it out.
I mean, I just kind of pay as Igo and if you have um, I have
Kaiser insurance, but if youhave like blue Anthem or blue
(19:50):
shield, they'll take that forthe chiropractic and the dry
needling.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Okay, so I'll have to see, but please like send me
that information.
I definitely want to check thatout.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Definitely so now.
You haven't skated at all sincethen, or do you strap on the
skates every now and then?
Speaker 3 (20:11):
I.
So it's funny because when Iquit skating I asked all my
inline friends I was like, doyou have a pair of boots?
Do you have like wheels?
Do you have a frame?
And I got a whole setup from myinline friends to skate.
And when I moved to CaliforniaI like, oh, I'm gonna like skate
on all these trails, it'll besuper great and I don't know
(20:32):
what it is.
But I feel like a baby gazellewhen I am on inline speed skates
, like it's, I don't know.
It's like I've never skated aday in my life.
I just don't know how to handleit.
I own quad skates.
I can handle myself on quadskates like I can handle myself
on any ice skate.
Inline speed skates they'rejust a mystery to me.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
I don't know it takes a little getting used to, and
now you see a lot of the peoplethat are inline, speed skaters,
crossing over and doing the ice,like Joey Manchia he was.
He was, uh, in line before that.
I think Victor Thorcrup was too.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
I'm not sure, but I thought he was yeah, I skated
with several people who went inline to ice or even was like a
program that Derek Parr startedbecause he used to do inline.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
And then he translated to ice and he has won
medals.
So I've I've met several ofthem, but I don't know.
I just don't know what it is.
Maybe I just needed to try itmore, but I don't know.
I tried the inline thing.
I couldn't get into it.
But after I moved back toColorado after college, I went
(21:42):
back to the club that I startedwith and I I think they used to
be called Broadmoor SpeedSkating, but now they're called
Colorado Gold.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
I love skating with them and I love training with
them.
But where I live now north ofDenver, it's a huge commute to
go down to the Springs now.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Where are you at now?
What city?
Speaker 3 (22:03):
I live outside of Boulder.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Okay, so you're not far from where I'm at.
I'm in North Glen.
Oh nice, yeah.
Um, I was going to saysomething.
Now I forgot what I was like.
Oh, just cause it was still onthe back of my mind when you
were in Santa Barbara.
How often did you go over toSolvang?
I know you had to only.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
I think I only went once Um, but I love that town.
It's just such a cute little.
Is it Dutch, danish, yeah?
Yeah, and the ostriches thatare outside of town and you go
and you have like some, someGerman pancakes or some Dutch
pancakes, Like it's.
It's a very cute space theyhave the best bakeries there.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
I did a father daughter trip with my daughter
there when she was younger.
She wanted to be a baker andshe got a tour of the place.
He walked her around.
They gave us some pastries totry.
I was like, dude, let's go tellthe other guy at the other
bakery too that you want to be abaker and see what they do.
But I guess that's like one ofthe oldest, it's like four or
five generations of family thathave run that bakery.
(23:04):
I know that has nothing to dowith skating.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
That's so cool, though, cause, like I feel like,
not many people outside of theSanta Barbara area, even though
what solving is.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Well, a lot of people in California do, because it's
like a tourist destination andit's.
We went there, but we actuallystayed at the motel six in Santa
Barbara.
So, but, um, so now how did youmeet your husband?
Because he's not exactly.
He doesn't exactly look like askater.
I mean, he'd be like someoneyou'd grab his hair on and just
(23:37):
like hold on while he skatesfast in front of you.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
He doesn't, but he can.
He can hold his own on skates.
I've seen it.
Um, so we actually met duringthe pandemic.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Since there was nothing much to do.
We were hiking a lot and we metthrough a mutual friend.
The first time we met was on ahike and I was with someone else
at the time.
So I was like this is a niceperson and it's usually how it
works.
Yeah, yeah.
Over time the other guy wentaway and gus and I just remained
(24:09):
friends for, I think, aboutyear, year and a half, and over
time we realized like, oh, Ikind of like this person and and
, um, we just kind of becamecloser and closer and until we
realized our feelings for eachother and realized that maybe we
just should hang out for therest of our lives.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Nice, yeah, cause I mean it was.
It was a very fun show.
Your husband is a good guitarplayer and I really enjoyed.
I really enjoyed the show lastweek, but it was just.
Is that your style of music?
Is it kind of?
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Not, not really that's.
That's kind of what's so funny.
Like I, I'm not a huge metalhead.
I do like rock.
I do like um heavy electronicmusic, so I like things that are
very similar.
There are some old bands thathe likes that I like too, and
then there are also somenon-metal artists that we both
(25:05):
share um an interest in as well.
But yeah, we we only kind ofmet because of the pandemic,
because he wasn't doing shows.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
He didn't have much to do, like that's kind of how
we met.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Cause he's in two bands now, right?
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Yeah, so he's in, saved by ruin and bury my demons
.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Okay, so we're giving a shout out to both of them.
If you guys haven't looked atthem, look them up on Apple
music or whatever your thing is,cause I've only seen saved by
ruin and they were an amazingband and it's kind of cool Cause
three of the members are female, so that's what made it cool
too.
So so now are you planning onlike getting doing more skating
(25:45):
just to kind of get you back ontrack, or like?
I know you miss it, becauseit's like one of those things
that once it's in your blood, itdoesn't go away.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
Yeah, exactly Like I.
I miss it a lot.
I I will say I feel like it'ssomething that never really
leaves you.
Um, and I think about it a lot.
It's just right now where I am.
It's hard to like actually dospeed skating.
Like I can go to public skateat our ice rink in town, but
(26:15):
it's just not the same.
It's like being able to go asfast as you want.
So it's a little hard Like westill have fun.
We've been to the adult rollerskating night at tracks uh, at
that club that's an interestingone because you get to drink and
skate exactly.
They give you like a littlesippy cup.
There's no kids.
(26:37):
It's great, it's super fun Ihave an ex-wife that can spill
it out of a sippy cup, sothey're not 100, so yeah, yeah,
and I I've, I've tried to get umback into the inline skating
thing again when I was inColorado and like I had a really
bad fall, um and scraped allthe skin off my leg and I don't
(26:58):
think I've really been on skatessince then, um, so so I I still
try to try to skate when I can.
I even brought Gus to Salt Lakenot November of last year but
the year before and he got toskate on the Oval and we met
some cool people there, likeShawnee Davis, I think, was
coaching an athlete there and Iwas like Gus I don't think you
(27:22):
understand, but like this dudeis a legend, he's super cool and
you just met him.
Like this dude is a legend andhe's super cool and you just met
him.
But he got to skate on that iceand definitely like there
really isn't anything else, likeit, like just being able to
skate, and that feeling you justcan't replicate it, at least
(27:43):
for me.
And I've noticed like someskaters they do wild ice skating
and out here I really want todo it.
I'm a little bit afraid becauseit's a little dangerous, um,
but I know there's a group outhere, so I've I've thought a lot
about like reaching out to themand trying to do some wild ice
skating and that's skating onthe lakes.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Yeah dude, I'm in, I want to.
So bad so we should plan it fornext winter.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
Yeah, I think I even had.
If I can find it um, I havethis lake picked out.
I think it's around Estes park,you kind of have to think up to
it, but it just looks sobeautiful.
I know someone that went thereand it just looks amazing, like
I mean pretty much you couldprobably pick any any lake in
the mountains of Colorado andit's going to be beautiful.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
Yeah, that's something I've really wanted to
try, but I think you really needto go with someone who knows
what they're doing so you don'tfall in.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
And by then I'll actually have a drone that
follows you when you skate orlike when you're doing it.
So I'm working on getting oneof those Now.
Have you ever actually thoughtabout coaching?
Speaker 3 (28:50):
No.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Cause I was going to say.
The one thing that does suckabout the short track here in
Colorado is it is in ColoradoSprings and you and I are
relatively close to each other,so that's, that is a track down
to Colorado Springs.
So if someone got with one ofthe rinks up here and started a
program up here, that would becool.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
So that would be cool .
I've I've honestly like I neverthought about coaching.
I know several skaters thathave continued on and done
coaching and I think that's sowonderful for them.
I would so much just ratherkeep doing it than than watching
other people do it yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Like.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
I love helping out people when I can.
Um, I just don't want to tomake it a whole thing.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
So you would be able to, like we'd be able to get
together and you'd be able toteach me stuff, is what you're
saying?
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Oh yeah, I can.
I can help you, I can teach youhow to skate.
Just don't expect me to do itlike every Sunday at 2 PM.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Oh no, it's, it's.
You know, like I always say,friday night is skate night,
saturday night is date night,and then usually Sunday sleep in
.
So yeah, but so now, what areyour like future plans, like
what?
I mean, I know you went tocollege and everything, so what
kind of I don't even know whatkind of like line of work you're
(30:08):
in now, so does that?
Speaker 3 (30:11):
So my major in college was comparative
literature, which is what I liketo think as a better major than
like English.
Sorry to all the English majors, but it's pretty much the same.
You study literature, but youstudy it in a more broad sense
rather than just like people whowrote in England or in America.
And I really wanted to be aneditor.
(30:35):
I, after college, I got it inmy head that I really wanted to
do book editing.
I went to the Denver PublishingInstitute at DU, which is a
graduate program that they do,and I learned all the things I
needed to learn to become a bookeditor.
I was interning with apublisher here in Colorado and
the pandemic hit and thepublisher basically completely
(30:59):
dissolved because of thepandemic and I was like maybe I
need to rethink my careerchoices if book publishing is so
fragile.
Yeah need to rethink my careerchoices if book publishing is so
fragile yeah, um, I have beenkind of working in like online
publications.
Okay, since the pandemic and Iworked for outside magazine and
(31:19):
all of the brands that they ownunder that umbrella, which are a
lot of like outdoor activelifestyle brands- and I
currently work for the paleodiet and as in Rob Wolf.
No.
So, this this is the originalpaleo diet that was started by
(31:39):
Dr Lauren Cordain.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Okay, no, her too.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Yeah, so we own the registered trademark for that.
I know there are a lot of otherpaleo brands out there, but
this one is ZOG, so I currentlywork creating and managing
website content for that brand.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Okay, and do they have like food or cause?
I mean, I was like really intoRob Wolf for a while there and
Lauren always got mentioned,like he gives all his credit to
her.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
So yeah, so we currently work with certifying
and licensing other food brands.
We don't currently have anylike food products of our own at
the moment, but we have tons ofrecipes on our site, the
paleodietcom, and lots of advicefor nutrition and how to eat
(32:30):
right.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Nice.
And now how does that correlate?
Because you and I both knowfollowing the paleo, you know
grains, that kind of stuff, soyou get away from a lot of that
stuff and a lot of inflammatoryfoods.
Now how would that kind of dietaffect, Because I know it's
really big with CrossFit, butfor speed skaters or skaters in
(32:52):
general, how would that workwith them?
Speaker 3 (32:55):
I mean part of the Paleo diet.
I mean Lauren Cordain, the sameperson who started it.
He wrote a book called thePaleo Diet for Athletes and how
you can actually use Paleo tooptimize your performance.
And I I ate like shit.
When I was skating, like I wasnowhere close to paleo diet.
(33:15):
I was like 20 years old andjust like I can eat complete
junk food and be fine.
So, I haven't really had thechance to really experiment with
it and be like how can thisactually optimize me?
But I can say that, like when Ido eat paleo which is not all
the time, don't come for me, myjob.
But it's not a requirement tobe paleo to work at the paleo
(33:41):
diet.
But when I do eat paleo foods II definitely feel so much
better.
I don't have digestive upset, Idon't feel super tired, um,
from the foods that I eat, Idon't have mental fog.
So I can see all these thingsworking to help you in your
athletic performance.
You're not dealing with allthese like weird little
(34:01):
nutritional side effects thatyou get from eating bad food.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Yeah, and I've eaten my fair share of bad food and
have had some of thosedistresses you've talked about.
So, um, is that where you'replanning, like, are you so you
just do the content, the websitecontent and all that stuff for
them?
Um, so what are, like, yourfuture plans?
Are you planning on doing that?
Or like, are you gonna diveback into skating or do you?
Speaker 3 (34:29):
think you'll ever be competitive again in.
Oh, probably not.
I'm geriatric for skating age.
But I mean I will say, after Iretired, I you know it's back to
this competitive thing, likeit's so hard to let it go.
You're always thinking like Icould have done this better.
(34:51):
Maybe I could have done thatbetter.
And also after I stoppedskating, I was like I mean, I'm
still relatively healthy.
I have this back issue, but I'mstill strong.
What if I just did like anothersport Like?
What if I did like whitewaterkayaking or horse jumping or
something that's like a summerOlympic sport?
(35:11):
Yeah, you know now that I thinkof those two, two like those
would probably still mess up myback.
But royally.
Speaker 2 (35:18):
my, my uncle did whitewater kayaking and sea
kayaking and you I think speedskating safer.
And then with the horses, thejumping just that impact on your
spine every time you land,especially if you're not up in
the right position.
I watched a show calledHeartland and she trained horse.
(35:42):
She was a horse whisperer andit's like you see everything
they do.
It's like, oh, I'd really loveto have a farm.
And then I've actually went andfixed a heater on a farm and
I'm like how dirty I got justdry.
Yeah, I don't want to farm.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
I mean, like I did a hundred jumper for a little bit
in high school, around the timethat I started skating, and I
really loved it.
But yeah, you have to have theright horse, cause you can have
a horse that doesn't like doingthe jumps.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
Come on, girl, let's do this, or you can have one
that like they get excited andyou it's really easy to just go
with them.
But and that's kind of why Iwas thinking about doing the,
the horseback riding as a sport,because I was like, well, I've
done it before, like I, I likebeing with horses, I like riding
them, um, but we never owned ahorse and I'm like that just
(36:32):
seems very expensive and like avery expensive hobby, and so I
never really picked up any othersports.
I just love skating still, and Itry and do it when I can and
otherwise, like Gus and I bothwe still love lifting weights
(36:53):
and going on hikes all the timeand trying to be active.
Like I, I think two years ago Isigned up for a Tough Mudder,
which I don't know.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
If you know what it is but I know exactly what a
Tough Mudder is.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
Yeah, and I did that and I was so proud of myself and
it was fun like that.
That kind of stuff I love to do.
I hate running.
I'm not a great cyclist.
I'm not crazy about sitting onmy bike for an effort, hours and
hours but like an obstaclecourse race.
I'm like, yeah, I'm down forthat.
I love that.
So that was really fun thing todo.
(37:29):
That was a fun goal to have tolook forward to.
But funnily enough, like Gus isalso used to be an elite
athlete too.
He was a professionalbasketball player and football
player when he was in brazilokay we were just talking last
night about how much we we missdoing our sports and it's just
(37:50):
um.
I think it's something.
When you stop doing your sport,you're're just always going to
miss it.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Yeah, Cause I mean I go every Friday night to skate
city Westminster and do adultskate night.
So you guys are more thanwelcome to come.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
Are you wait?
Are you on quads or in lines?
Speaker 2 (38:08):
I do in lines so I can skate on quads, cause, um, I
have my own health issues.
Uh, but some of the medicationI'm on because I was doing rink
hockey with my 17-year-oldbecause he was like the goalie,
so we were playing on the sameteam for Westminster and I was
getting ready to start doingroller derby yes, but because I
(38:30):
can't take the chance of gettinghit in the head and having
internal bleeding in the head,Cause I won't stop bleeding.
Um, I have to take it out, butat least like speed skating,
cause I did speed skating in theearly nineties and without a
coach, so I was uncoached then,but, um, was this in line?
(38:52):
Yeah, we don't have a whole lotof ice in California.
Was this in line?
Yeah, we don't have a whole lotof ice in California, and I
think the short track was at theBelmont Mall or San Mateo.
It was San Mateo Mall, but youknow, at that time you'd take
BART out there and it was justmore of a hassle to get out
there then and even though it'scloser than Colorado Springs, it
(39:14):
took longer to get there thanColorado Springs just because of
Bay Area traffic.
But so now it's like nice.
It's like speed skating is thatone thing that you can always
do?
But I mean, I don't wear myspeed skates in there, but they
also have speed skating.
Each skate city has a speedskating team as long, as well as
(39:36):
roller city also know that so Imean they have speed skating
lessons.
You can do that 8 am on saturdaymornings or you can be like
human and go do it like seveno'clock at night at arvada.
So it's just.
The skating community is huge.
So I don't even know if yourealize how big the skating
community is between inlineroller hockey, speed skating and
(40:01):
also even skateboarding.
It's huge out here in Colorado.
Speaker 3 (40:05):
I know they have a lot of roller derby teams and I
have mad respect for rollerderby.
I think it's very similar toshort track, but they're
definitely.
They're much tougher in rollerderby.
That's why I never got into itbecause, like, in short track
you can kind of bump people alittle bit, you can kind of get
(40:25):
with them, but there's a lot ofrules around like you cannot be
rough with people, like youcan't flat out do the things
that you do in roller derby, andI was like, yeah, I don't think
I could like get thrown down orget hit or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
Well, short track.
Speed skates, though, are likerazor sharp the blades aren't
they yeah?
So I don't remember where Iheard it I might've been ES, but
this was probably 30 years agothat I heard it where a guy went
down I don't know if it was ina race or practice and someone
else's skate just went straightup their chest and sliced their
(41:02):
chest open and it was like 55stitches to repair it.
So yeah, you don't want to doroller Derby stuff with short
track ice speed skates.
Speaker 3 (41:10):
Yeah, so I I had.
I have a few stories aboutpeople getting cut and I believe
whenever I first startedskating, you had to wear a neck
guard and you had to wear ankleguards, and I wore shin guards
too, but I don't remember ifthey were required.
And while I was training inSalt Lake, we were at a meet and
(41:35):
one of my teammates fell withanother one of my teammates and
she cut a nerve in the back ofher leg, oh, and she had to be
rushed to the hospital.
She was told that she wouldnever walk normally again and
she recovered fine, like sheactually got back into skating
and competed at Olympic trialsthe next cycle.
Like she actually got back intoskating and competed at Olympic
(41:57):
trials the next cycle.
But either that same season orthe following season, jr Selsky
fell in a race and he cut hisown leg with his skate.
And at the time the swift skinsthat they were wearing had cut
proof stuff sewn into it.
But people kept getting cutaround the cut proof stuff, so
(42:22):
that following season they werelike, okay, now we have to wear
full body cut proof becausepeople keep cutting themselves
open.
Um, and I think it was becausebecause of those two ones,
because I think JR cut himselfpretty bad and then my old
teammate.
She also had a very severeinjury as well.
So, and also like, even inpractice, like one of my
(42:43):
teammates got cut in the neckabove her neck guard.
Speaker 2 (42:46):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (42:47):
And the person who cut her was so shaken by what
they did they just got off theice.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:53):
Like it's no joke.
I still have a scar on my legfrom when I got cut in training.
Like it, it happens a lot.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Yeah, you just don't hear about it a lot.
Speaker 3 (43:04):
Yeah, luckily now it seems like they they have better
um protection because it's fullbody now instead of just
certain spots um on your body.
So but yeah, there's a lot of alot of stories about people
getting cut in short track andeven even in the mass start and
long track.
I remember when they firststarted it, they didn't wear
(43:25):
helmets, they didn't wear theprotection that they do now and
now that now every time I see amass start, I see them putting
on like the gloves and all thisother extra protection and I'm
like thank God, cause it'sliterally, it's just like short
track, you can get easily cut.
Someone can slice you in theface Like it.
It could happen anytime,anywhere.
Speaker 2 (43:44):
I mean, if I ended up getting sliced in the face, I'd
come up with a lot better storythan it happened at practice.
I'd be like I took on this gangand I beat them and this is all
.
I mean, you gotta have the goodstory for that, you know.
Speaker 1 (43:57):
So so what?
Speaker 2 (43:58):
what was your skate Like?
What kind of boot did you useand what kind of blade did you
use when you competed?
Speaker 3 (44:05):
I was on Paul Marchese boots and, important
detail, they were purple andblack and my blades I.
I think my current setup ismaple duros.
I know for a while was on maplegolds, um, but I don't even
know, I don't think people evenlike that maples are even the
(44:26):
blade of choice anymore.
Yeah, this is the same oldsetup I had like 10 years ago
when I stopped.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
So yeah, now who was your biggest influence for
skating?
Speaker 3 (44:41):
Honestly, I feel weird saying this.
Um, it was probably Apollo Ono,cause he was the one that I saw
.
He won.
I don't know how many medals,um, but I saw him winning medals
in 2006 okay and I think thatis what really inspired me to
start skating.
But I will say, after I startedskating I I think two people.
(45:06):
One was katherine reuter.
Um, she was a short trackskater and she was tall like me.
She had red hair like I used tohave, so she kind of looked
like me and I don't normallylook like a lot of short
trackers.
Short trackers are usually muchsmaller yeah kathy barter was
like very successful and has herown olympic medals, so I was
(45:29):
like, okay, she can do that, Ican do that, yeah.
And then the other person I'dprobably say would be jr selsky,
because he always just looks sorelaxed and at ease when he was
skating.
I think that's how I alwayswanted to skate and even when he
broke the 40 seconds in the 500meter for the first time, like
(45:52):
he was the first person in theworld to do that, yeah, when you
watch the video he just lookslike he's in such control, like
it's just a walk in the park andthat's how I always wanted to
skate you'll get there now thatwe're older now that we're older
and no better.
Speaker 2 (46:11):
It's kind of like when we get out there, because
when I go to compete this year,I'm doing it for me, I'm not
doing it to win anything.
So, however I do, and then it'slike you said, you come back to
the drawing board and you know,prepare for next season and
make whatever tweaks or changewhatever you need to in your
program.
So, but I'm not, I'm not goingout there because I'm going to
(46:33):
be the best in the world and winevery race.
I'm going to do it because Iwant to do it.
Speaker 3 (46:40):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (46:41):
And that's the whole point of it.
But now, what advice do youhave to young or even older
people that want to jump intoskating, and especially short
track speed skating, sinceyou're my first short tracker?
Speaker 3 (46:57):
I don't know if it's so much advice, but one thing I
want to say whenever I startedskating, I set a goal for myself
of I want to be the best that Ican be, and it wasn't.
It wasn't like, well, I'm goingto make the Olympics or I'm
going to do this and that,because that's something that
I've heard a lot with youngerskaters.
When they first start and whenthey're at a camp or something,
(47:19):
they're like how many yearsuntil I get a gold medal, or how
many years so I make theOlympics, and especially with
short track, there's, there's noguarantee.
Yeah, I've known skaters whowere like the best in the world,
um ranked on the world teams,and they never made an Olympics
because they got injured.
(47:39):
Or I know people who have somany world records and all this
and that, and they don't have agold medal, um, so you know,
there's there's no set formulafor success.
But I think if you take a stepback from that and you just
focus on yourself and say I wantto do this to the best of my
own abilities, whatever that maybe, I think you're going to be
(48:02):
much happier and more fulfilledthan trying to reach more lofty
goals.
And if you do get there, thenthat's also wonderful.
Speaker 2 (48:10):
Yeah, and the cool thing about your skating career
was you made the decision to doit.
It wasn't like your mom's likethis your parents are.
This is what you're going to do.
There was a documentary out awhile back I forget when he put
it out but it's called TrophyKids.
I don't know if you've everseen it.
It was on HBO for a while andit's by the same guy that did
(48:31):
Bigger, stronger, faster, andwhat it was going about was like
these parents that are pushingtheir kids so hard, like the
parents couldn't make it, so nowthey're making their kids do
this, and it's like you see howfrustrated the kids get, and
like there was one kid thatdidn't want nothing to do with
his dad and didn't even want toplay the game anymore just
(48:51):
because he wasn't playing itbecause he enjoyed it.
He was playing it because hisdad wanted to.
So that's another importantthing to piggyback.
What you said is that make sureyou want to do it, that you're
doing it for yourself and notbecause, if you're younger, your
parents want you to do it.
So that's my little tidbit forthat.
Speaker 3 (49:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (49:13):
But now, how can my people follow you, if they want
to follow you, if just?
Speaker 3 (49:19):
Oh, I mean if they, if they want, they can follow me
on Instagram at it's Andreasilly, but I think I'm private.
Speaker 2 (49:28):
Okay, yeah, so, and but they can.
Paleo dietcom, is that what itis?
Speaker 3 (49:34):
Yeah, you can follow real paleo diet on Instagram.
Go to the paleo dietcom.
Um, pretty much any recentcontent you'll see probably went
through my hands.
Speaker 2 (49:45):
Okay.
And then, since we've mentionedyour husband's bands, do you
want to let people know how theycan follow the bands?
Speaker 3 (49:53):
Yes, so Gus Gus's stage name is Gus Stroyer.
He has a couple of singles outon Spotify.
His one of his bands is bury mydemons and they are going on
tour next month, april 2025.
So and they're traveling allaround the country.
(50:14):
So if you are interested inchecking them out, go see if
bury my demons is going to be inyour city.
And then his other band issaved by ruin, the one that you
saw yep um, which I always havea great time seeing.
I mean not that I don't enjoybury my demons, but you know
(50:34):
they their drummer doesn'theadbang like laura does, and
also angelique is just amazingon stage her her vocal range is
amazing too, yeah.
Speaker 2 (50:45):
So I mean, if you ever get a chance to see them
live, go watch them.
They put on a great show, sothey'll probably be happy that
they got the shout out too yeah,absolutely so, absolutely so
well, I appreciate you coming on.
Speaker 3 (50:59):
Yes, thank you so much for having me.
This was a great discussion.
Speaker 2 (51:02):
Yeah, I enjoyed it too, so Thank you, thank you.
Hey there, welcome to how Do you Skate, the ultimate
destination for all skatingenthusiasts.
We cater to everyone, frombeginners to pros.
Whether you love inline and iceskating or prefer quads and
skateboarding, we have it allcovered, and we bring you
exclusive interviews withprofessionals, talented amateurs
(00:30):
and influencers in the industry.
So sit back, relax and getready for an exciting journey
into the world of skating.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Welcome to this week's episode of how Do you
Skate.
I am your host, Sean Egan, andtoday I get to actually have my
first short track speed skateron Andrea Denke.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Great.
Thank you for having me on.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
You're welcome, and it's kind of funny how we met,
because it was actually at yourhusband's show with my friends
when darkness falls, so I don'tusually run into skaters at
metal shows.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
So yeah, I know that that was really funny, and I
guess it wasn't even gus whotold you it was the drummer of
his band it was laura, you canblame her.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yeah, so when did your whole journey in skating
start?
Speaker 3 (01:21):
it started in 2006.
I was watching the watching theWinter Olympics in Torino on TV
and I saw Apollo and all thoseother skaters skating short
track and I thought like this isjust the coolest thing ever and
I just really fell in love withit then and just really wanted
to do it.
And I was kind of lucky becauseat the time I lived in Monument
(01:45):
, colorado, which is just northof the Springs, and Colorado
Springs is where they have theOlympic Training Center and at
the time they had the nationalteam for short track stationed
in the Springs, so I even got togo a couple of times and watch
them skate.
So it was really cool that Igot to watch these people that I
had just seen on TV winningmedals, like here in this rink
(02:07):
that was close to my own house.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, now did you skate before that, or was that
like your first induction intoskating?
Speaker 3 (02:16):
I mean, I thought I was like 14.
I thought I knew how to doeverything.
And my mom was the one who waslike, no, you need lessons.
And she signed me up for, like,learn to skate, but for figure
skating, because I don't thinkthey had to learn to speed skate
class yeah so before I couldeven join the club that was in
the springs, I had to learn howto do figure skating basics well
(02:42):
, the cool thing about thefigure skating because, not
gonna lie, I took figure skatinglessons to ice figure skating
basics.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Well, the cool thing about the figure skating cause,
not going to lie, I took figureskating lessons to ice figure
skating lessons too, but back inCalifornia, um, it gives you
like the foundation of skating,like how to.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I mean it was really useful.
I'm not going to say I didn'tlearn anything.
Like I I'm, I probably shouldbe thanking my mom that she made
me take those lessons.
But at the time I was I waslike I don't need this, I can
skate, I can get on the ice.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Well, it's a big adjustment from going from like
figure skates or skates withboots to the shorter cut boots
that speed skate that we use inspeed skating.
So it's still taking me alittle while to get used to it
again.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
So yeah, and and the the blades to like.
The blade is much thinner andlonger, so it's a very different
way of standing on the skate.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
So when did you start your speed skating career with
short track?
Speaker 3 (03:37):
I.
So when I started the at theclub it was in 2006.
It was after the Olympic gamesand I there wasn't much that we
could do for training on a teamthere.
I think they had ice maybetwice a week and then it was dry
land on your own, and thenwhenever we could, I would just
(03:57):
go and skate public skate at allthe other ice rinks that were
around town.
Um, just to kind of get used toskating on the ice.
And I was able to go to somesimple competitions like
nationals.
I don't know if I was doingAmerican Cups while I was in
Colorado, but I did a fewcompetitions.
I did juniors and I ran intoMike Corman at one of the meets
(04:22):
and he kind of recruited me.
He said I have this highperformance team in Salt Lake
City.
It's called the fast team.
Um, it would be great if wecould have you out there.
And so I got really excited.
I told my mom and my wholefamily moved out to Salt Lake
City in 2008, I think.
So just two years after Istarted um, I was skating on the
high performance team and thenthat's when I started competing.
(04:43):
A was skating on the highperformance team, and then
that's when I started competinga little bit more at like
American Cups and othercompetitions around the country.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
That's actually really cool that your family did
that for you, Because I know ifsomething happened like that to
me and I told my mom that she'dbe like no too bad, wait till
you're 18, that that would bethe story.
So yeah, now, what was thetraining like with the high
performance team, because thatlike opened up more doors.
(05:15):
Now, how did you meet him?
Did you meet him at like one ofthe um nationals or one of the
other ones, or how did that allcome about?
Speaker 3 (05:23):
I don't remember which meet, but I'm sure it was
either like juniors or nationalsUm, and I think he was just
trying to recruit people and heI think he probably saw I didn't
have a club that I was reallyskating with and he just, um,
invited me to come onto the highperformance team and it was a
really big shift because youtrain six days a week and most
(05:43):
of the days you train twice aday.
So it's, it was a really bigshift because you train six days
a week and most of the days youtrain twice a day.
So it's, it was a lot moretraining than I was originally
used to and you, from what Iremember, I think I adapted
pretty quickly, but you're stilllike exhausted when you first
start out.
You're just not used to trainingthat much.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Now were you still in high school at the time.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yeah.
So I moved on my senior year ofhigh school.
I completed high school in Utahand I graduated early.
They even had like a requiredcourse to take a gym class and I
had to tell them like, hey, Idon't really need a gym class, I
go and train every single day.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Yeah, I would say that that would qualify for gym
Now.
Were you training before andafter school then, or?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Yeah, so I I had kind of like a special schedule
where I got to train kind ofaround going to school.
And then once I graduated, Iwas able to train more full time
.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
And then, what was the training Cause?
I love short track, but I'm notfamiliar with, like, how it
actually works.
Can you explain at least thatpart to us?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Like the part of racing or the part of like
training for it.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
We'll start with the racing first.
So I understand, like how, howyou end up winning or how it's
scored.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Yeah, I mean, usually I compare short track to long
track first, so I I understandlike how, how you end up winning
or how it's scored.
Yeah, I mean, usually I compareshort track to long track and
what it is is it's in pack styleracing yeah so you race within
a group of people and thenwhoever wins the race um is the
winner, whereas in long trackyou are racing individually and
whoever is the fastest is thewinner.
(07:25):
So you don't necessarily haveto be the fastest skater in
short track to win, but you dohave to have the best strategy.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Okay.
So I saw one video of a girldoing short track and when they
first took off, she took offreally fast, lapped and got at
the end of the pack and then didthe whole race at the end of
the pack and then did the wholerace at the end of the pack and
actually ended up winning therace because she was actually in
the lead and I don't thinkanybody else caught that.
And I'm like dude, that is sucha good strategy.
Have you ever it depends.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
So you see people doing that sometimes and it kind
of depends on the person whodoes it, because it usually it
always happens in a 1500 meter,because those are the longest
races that you do individuallyin short track and they usually
start out very slow.
So while everyone's going veryslow, you can decide to take the
risk and lap everyone.
(08:16):
But you're also going to bereally exhausted by the time you
get there and also, if thegroup decides that they want to
chase you down, you're going toexpend a lot of energy trying to
get ahead of them and if theychase you down, you're going to
be more tired because you'regoing to be in the front.
You don't have a draft fromanyone.
So I've seen people do it and besuccessful, like that video
that you're talking about, andI've also seen people do it and
(08:39):
crash and burn.
So it depends on the groupyou're with.
It depends on whether theskaters think you're a threat or
not, cause some people try andlap and they don't make it all
the way around, so they're justout there struggling by
themselves and then the groupcatches up with them and passes
them.
So it's it's a big risk forsomeone to take, but if you can
do it, it really pays off.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
So now 1500 meters.
How far is that in Americanterms?
Cause we have to be differentthan the rest of the world.
Oh, boy Cause I know the 5,000is three miles, the 10,006 miles
5k is 3.1 miles.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
So I really don't know.
Somebody Google this.
I really don't know.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Somebody Google this, we can look it up.
It's like one of those funnythings that you do right in the
middle.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
It's almost a mile.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Okay, so that's not too bad.
Yeah, and how long normallywould a 1500 meter race last?
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Because I know like you have people running under
four minute miles and you go alot faster on skates.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah, it's like two minutes and change.
Okay.
So now what was your trainingschedule like?
I mean, I know it's twice a day, but like, what did your
training involve?
I know it couldn't have justbeen skating and dry land.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Yeah, I mean when you're in the middle of the
season, that's pretty much allit is.
You will skate.
Let's see you skate six days aweek, so Monday through Saturday
, and then on Mondays andWednesdays we would skate also
in the afternoons.
So, that's eight times a weekthat we're skating, and then
(10:24):
Tuesdays and either Thursday orFriday, we would do weights in
the afternoon, and thensometimes, after ice sessions,
we would also have a dry landsession on top of that.
So literally during the season,it's pretty much all ice and in
the weight room, but when thethe summer, when we're trying to
build volume, uh, we have lessice time and instead of doing
(10:47):
that, we are on the bike a lotokay and um, it kind of depends
on who our coach is.
I've had coaches that have putus in the pool and had us do
like water aerobic exercises orplay ultimate frisbee as like
part of like some light trainingand I've also lost lost my
(11:10):
thought right now but we've alsodone like hill sprints,
workouts in the park, like bigdry land activities that take
maybe a couple hours.
We go, go on runs, we might goon a hike, so like over the
summer it's just kind of likewhatever we can do to stay
(11:32):
active and then we slowly willbuild up our volume on the ice
and get more ice time the closerit gets to the season and now,
did you stay on the utah teamthe whole time, your like whole
short track career, or did youactually eventually come back
and train in Colorado, because Iknow the altitude difference
plays a huge role in things too.
I was on the high performanceteam for six years in Salt Lake
(11:54):
and I was with them the wholetime.
After I stopped skating I wentto college in California for a
(12:15):
year and then I had this likefour month gap between community
college ending and going toUCSB and transferring to that
and then also where I was living, they were remodeling my house.
So I was like, well, I'll justmove back to Utah and I had done
short track the whole time andI was like, well, what if I just
try long track for a summer?
(12:36):
So for the four months that Iwas in Utah I tried long track
and I was not very good at it.
We didn't.
We didn't get I didn't get upmuch ice time.
But, um, it's not as easy totransition between those two
sports.
Even though they are verysimilar, they're still different
sports and sometimes it's justnot very easy to pick it up
(12:58):
right away and.
I'd never really done it before.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
I'd been short track the whole time and with long
track even the skates aredifferent, because with short
track you have a fixed blade,Long track you have the clap
skate.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
So did you try the clap?
Speaker 2 (13:14):
skate.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
I love the clap skates because you can go so
fast on them.
My problem was actually thelong track skates have less
ankle.
Support was actually that longtrack skates have less ankle
support, so I didn't realize howmuch I relied on like that,
maybe one or two inches of extraankle support in my short track
(13:36):
boot because it was so hard tolike stand and start on long
track skates.
But you do get so much more push.
And then the ice in Salt Lakehas so much glide so you don't
even have to put much effortbehind it and you're just flying
.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Have you ever got to go to the track in Wisconsin?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
I've been to the Pettit Center.
I prefer Salt Lake, probablyjust because I would train there
so often, but I have competedin short track events at the
Pettit.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Yeah, the statue's really great.
We always try and mimic it.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Nice.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Very twisted statue.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Who's the statue of?
Is it anybody in particular?
Speaker 3 (14:18):
I don't remember.
It might be an abstract statueof Eric Heiden.
Let me, I want to look it up,cause I really want to know.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
I'm planning on hopefully getting him on in the
near future too.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
He'd be great.
I met him because I have backissues.
It's the reason that I quitskating when I did and while we
were still trying to figure itout.
He's an orthopedist or he wasin Salt Lake.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
I was like this isn't really how I wanted to meet him
, but it's kind of cool that Istill got to meet him that way.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Now is the back issues.
Is that what stopped yourskating career?
Yeah, and was it from an injuryor was it?
Speaker 3 (15:00):
So it was Hold on, we have an answer?
No, we don't.
I think it's just an abstractstatue of a skater.
Sorry to mislead you.
So yeah, when I started likeskating high performance in 2008
, and then I think in 2012 iskind of when I started noticing
(15:25):
that I had some back issues 12is kind of when I started
noticing that I had some backissues and eventually I got an
MRI and they said, oh, you havetwo herniated discs in your
lower back.
You also have something calleddegenerative disc disease, which
sounds kind of like what it is.
They're like your back's justgoing to keep getting worse and
you probably shouldn't skateanymore.
And I was like, no, I don'twant to listen to that.
(15:46):
So I kept skating and my backissues kind of just kept getting
worse and worse and it wasgetting harder to ignore and I
got like a cortisone shot thatdidn't do anything.
I was seeing like I went to DrHyden and there just wasn't much
that we could really figure outto do with it.
(16:09):
And mostly what I was doing isjust kind of like sitting out a
set or two during training orlike modifying my weight program
, cause what I was doing at thetime was like these big Olympic
lifts, like cleans and jerks andall that which I love doing.
Um, and it just got to the pointwhere I was like I just can't
(16:29):
do this, I can't train the way Iwant to.
And it was pretty hard on mementally because I always knew
that I could, like physically,perform better and my back was
holding me back and, uh, I waskind of wrestling with quitting
(16:50):
around the 2014 games.
I was like, if I can justqualify for trials say that I
skated Olympic trials, I wasn'treally expecting to make the
team um, that would be great.
And then my best friendcommitted suicide while we were
in the season for short trackand I that kind of was like the
(17:10):
final straw for me mentally.
I was just kind of like I can'treally do this anymore, like
physically I'm not there,mentally I'm not there.
So I kind of cut my seasonshort before Olympic trials.
And that was when I decided Iwas like you know what, I'm
going to get out of Salt Lake.
I'm going to get out of SaltLake, I'm going to get out of
the state, I'm going to go tocollege in California and I'm
(17:33):
just going to start a new life.
But it was kind of hard.
It was hard to just kind ofdrop everything and leave that.
I think when you're a full-timeathlete, um, it's hard for that
, but also when you're acompetitive person it's kind of
hard to to just give up onsomething that you love so much.
(17:57):
Um, but yeah, that's.
That's how I stopped skatingnow?
Speaker 2 (18:03):
are you still working with eric hayden, the with your
back, or what's going on withyour back now, is it?
Speaker 3 (18:08):
No, I.
I saw him once for anevaluation and the consensus was
kind of like well, if you juststop skating, your back will get
better.
And that's not exactly whathappened.
But I did figure out that if Ican keep my core strong, if I
can stay in shape, that'susually what makes it better.
And I was seeing a chiropractorpretty regularly, regularly for
(18:32):
a long time, and he was like awizard, like I'd go in and I'd
have like some slight neck painthat I wouldn't even tell him
about, and he'd be like oh, thisthing in your neck is a little
out of whack, let me fix it forfor you.
I'm just like, wow, I don'tknow.
He always seemed to know whatwas going on with me.
So whenever I can find a goodchiropractor, I always feel like
(18:56):
I'm doing well.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Yeah, was that in Salt Lake or was that in Santa
Barbara?
Speaker 3 (19:03):
That was in Salt Lake .
I did find another chiropractorin Santa Barbara and they were
good, but they weren't quite thesame.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Because have you heard of Denver Sports Recovery?
No, they have a goodchiropractor, they have sports
massage therapists.
They have the cryo, they havethe cold baths.
It's designed for athletes.
My massage therapist is Yesenia.
She's someone I love and hateat the same time.
(19:29):
She's the only woman who canactually make me cry without
even saying anything to me.
Oh yeah, but she's really goodand they have a chiropractor and
then they do the dry needlingalso, so it's like a really cool
spot.
You might want to check it out.
I mean, I just kind of pay as Igo and if you have um, I have
Kaiser insurance, but if youhave like blue Anthem or blue
(19:50):
shield, they'll take that forthe chiropractic and the dry
needling.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Okay, so I'll have to see, but please like send me
that information.
I definitely want to check thatout.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Definitely so now.
You haven't skated at all sincethen, or do you strap on the
skates every now and then?
Speaker 3 (20:11):
I.
So it's funny because when Iquit skating I asked all my
inline friends I was like, doyou have a pair of boots?
Do you have like wheels?
Do you have a frame?
And I got a whole setup from myinline friends to skate.
And when I moved to CaliforniaI like, oh, I'm gonna like skate
on all these trails, it'll besuper great and I don't know
(20:32):
what it is.
But I feel like a baby gazellewhen I am on inline speed skates
, like it's, I don't know.
It's like I've never skated aday in my life.
I just don't know how to handleit.
I own quad skates.
I can handle myself on quadskates like I can handle myself
on any ice skate.
Inline speed skates they'rejust a mystery to me.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
I don't know it takes a little getting used to, and
now you see a lot of the peoplethat are inline, speed skaters,
crossing over and doing the ice,like Joey Manchia he was.
He was, uh, in line before that.
I think Victor Thorcrup was too.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
I'm not sure, but I thought he was yeah, I skated
with several people who went inline to ice or even was like a
program that Derek Parr startedbecause he used to do inline.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
And then he translated to ice and he has won
medals.
So I've I've met several ofthem, but I don't know.
I just don't know what it is.
Maybe I just needed to try itmore, but I don't know.
I tried the inline thing.
I couldn't get into it.
But after I moved back toColorado after college, I went
(21:42):
back to the club that I startedwith and I I think they used to
be called Broadmoor SpeedSkating, but now they're called
Colorado Gold.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
I love skating with them and I love training with
them.
But where I live now north ofDenver, it's a huge commute to
go down to the Springs now.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Where are you at now?
What city?
Speaker 3 (22:03):
I live outside of Boulder.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Okay, so you're not far from where I'm at.
I'm in North Glen.
Oh nice, yeah.
Um, I was going to saysomething.
Now I forgot what I was like.
Oh, just cause it was still onthe back of my mind when you
were in Santa Barbara.
How often did you go over toSolvang?
I know you had to only.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
I think I only went once Um, but I love that town.
It's just such a cute little.
Is it Dutch, danish, yeah?
Yeah, and the ostriches thatare outside of town and you go
and you have like some, someGerman pancakes or some Dutch
pancakes, Like it's.
It's a very cute space theyhave the best bakeries there.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
I did a father daughter trip with my daughter
there when she was younger.
She wanted to be a baker andshe got a tour of the place.
He walked her around.
They gave us some pastries totry.
I was like, dude, let's go tellthe other guy at the other
bakery too that you want to be abaker and see what they do.
But I guess that's like one ofthe oldest, it's like four or
five generations of family thathave run that bakery.
(23:04):
I know that has nothing to dowith skating.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
That's so cool, though, cause, like I feel like,
not many people outside of theSanta Barbara area, even though
what solving is.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Well, a lot of people in California do, because it's
like a tourist destination andit's.
We went there, but we actuallystayed at the motel six in Santa
Barbara.
So, but, um, so now how did youmeet your husband?
Because he's not exactly.
He doesn't exactly look like askater.
I mean, he'd be like someoneyou'd grab his hair on and just
(23:37):
like hold on while he skatesfast in front of you.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
He doesn't, but he can.
He can hold his own on skates.
I've seen it.
Um, so we actually met duringthe pandemic.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Since there was nothing much to do.
We were hiking a lot and we metthrough a mutual friend.
The first time we met was on ahike and I was with someone else
at the time.
So I was like this is a niceperson and it's usually how it
works.
Yeah, yeah.
Over time the other guy wentaway and gus and I just remained
(24:09):
friends for, I think, aboutyear, year and a half, and over
time we realized like, oh, Ikind of like this person and and
, um, we just kind of becamecloser and closer and until we
realized our feelings for eachother and realized that maybe we
just should hang out for therest of our lives.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Nice, yeah, cause I mean it was.
It was a very fun show.
Your husband is a good guitarplayer and I really enjoyed.
I really enjoyed the show lastweek, but it was just.
Is that your style of music?
Is it kind of?
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Not, not really that's.
That's kind of what's so funny.
Like I, I'm not a huge metalhead.
I do like rock.
I do like um heavy electronicmusic, so I like things that are
very similar.
There are some old bands thathe likes that I like too, and
then there are also somenon-metal artists that we both
(25:05):
share um an interest in as well.
But yeah, we we only kind ofmet because of the pandemic,
because he wasn't doing shows.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
He didn't have much to do, like that's kind of how
we met.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Cause he's in two bands now, right?
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Yeah, so he's in, saved by ruin and bury my demons
.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Okay, so we're giving a shout out to both of them.
If you guys haven't looked atthem, look them up on Apple
music or whatever your thing is,cause I've only seen saved by
ruin and they were an amazingband and it's kind of cool Cause
three of the members are female, so that's what made it cool
too.
So so now are you planning onlike getting doing more skating
(25:45):
just to kind of get you back ontrack, or like?
I know you miss it, becauseit's like one of those things
that once it's in your blood, itdoesn't go away.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
Yeah, exactly Like I.
I miss it a lot.
I I will say I feel like it'ssomething that never really
leaves you.
Um, and I think about it a lot.
It's just right now where I am.
It's hard to like actually dospeed skating.
Like I can go to public skateat our ice rink in town, but
(26:15):
it's just not the same.
It's like being able to go asfast as you want.
So it's a little hard Like westill have fun.
We've been to the adult rollerskating night at tracks uh, at
that club that's an interestingone because you get to drink and
skate exactly.
They give you like a littlesippy cup.
There's no kids.
(26:37):
It's great, it's super fun Ihave an ex-wife that can spill
it out of a sippy cup, sothey're not 100, so yeah, yeah,
and I I've, I've tried to get umback into the inline skating
thing again when I was inColorado and like I had a really
bad fall, um and scraped allthe skin off my leg and I don't
(26:58):
think I've really been on skatessince then, um, so so I I still
try to try to skate when I can.
I even brought Gus to Salt Lakenot November of last year but
the year before and he got toskate on the Oval and we met
some cool people there, likeShawnee Davis, I think, was
coaching an athlete there and Iwas like Gus I don't think you
(27:22):
understand, but like this dudeis a legend, he's super cool and
you just met him.
Like this dude is a legend andhe's super cool and you just met
him.
But he got to skate on that iceand definitely like there
really isn't anything else, likeit, like just being able to
skate, and that feeling you justcan't replicate it, at least
(27:43):
for me.
And I've noticed like someskaters they do wild ice skating
and out here I really want todo it.
I'm a little bit afraid becauseit's a little dangerous, um,
but I know there's a group outhere, so I've I've thought a lot
about like reaching out to themand trying to do some wild ice
skating and that's skating onthe lakes.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Yeah dude, I'm in, I want to.
So bad so we should plan it fornext winter.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
Yeah, I think I even had.
If I can find it um, I havethis lake picked out.
I think it's around Estes park,you kind of have to think up to
it, but it just looks sobeautiful.
I know someone that went thereand it just looks amazing, like
I mean pretty much you couldprobably pick any any lake in
the mountains of Colorado andit's going to be beautiful.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
Yeah, that's something I've really wanted to
try, but I think you really needto go with someone who knows
what they're doing so you don'tfall in.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
And by then I'll actually have a drone that
follows you when you skate orlike when you're doing it.
So I'm working on getting oneof those Now.
Have you ever actually thoughtabout coaching?
Speaker 3 (28:50):
No.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Cause I was going to say.
The one thing that does suckabout the short track here in
Colorado is it is in ColoradoSprings and you and I are
relatively close to each other,so that's, that is a track down
to Colorado Springs.
So if someone got with one ofthe rinks up here and started a
program up here, that would becool.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
So that would be cool .
I've I've honestly like I neverthought about coaching.
I know several skaters thathave continued on and done
coaching and I think that's sowonderful for them.
I would so much just ratherkeep doing it than than watching
other people do it yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Like.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
I love helping out people when I can.
Um, I just don't want to tomake it a whole thing.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
So you would be able to, like we'd be able to get
together and you'd be able toteach me stuff, is what you're
saying?
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Oh yeah, I can.
I can help you, I can teach youhow to skate.
Just don't expect me to do itlike every Sunday at 2 PM.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Oh no, it's, it's.
You know, like I always say,friday night is skate night,
saturday night is date night,and then usually Sunday sleep in
.
So yeah, but so now, what areyour like future plans, like
what?
I mean, I know you went tocollege and everything, so what
kind of I don't even know whatkind of like line of work you're
(30:08):
in now, so does that?
Speaker 3 (30:11):
So my major in college was comparative
literature, which is what I liketo think as a better major than
like English.
Sorry to all the English majors, but it's pretty much the same.
You study literature, but youstudy it in a more broad sense
rather than just like people whowrote in England or in America.
And I really wanted to be aneditor.
(30:35):
I, after college, I got it inmy head that I really wanted to
do book editing.
I went to the Denver PublishingInstitute at DU, which is a
graduate program that they do,and I learned all the things I
needed to learn to become a bookeditor.
I was interning with apublisher here in Colorado and
the pandemic hit and thepublisher basically completely
(30:59):
dissolved because of thepandemic and I was like maybe I
need to rethink my careerchoices if book publishing is so
fragile.
Yeah need to rethink my careerchoices if book publishing is so
fragile yeah, um, I have beenkind of working in like online
publications.
Okay, since the pandemic and Iworked for outside magazine and
(31:19):
all of the brands that they ownunder that umbrella, which are a
lot of like outdoor activelifestyle brands- and I
currently work for the paleodiet and as in Rob Wolf.
No.
So, this this is the originalpaleo diet that was started by
(31:39):
Dr Lauren Cordain.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Okay, no, her too.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Yeah, so we own the registered trademark for that.
I know there are a lot of otherpaleo brands out there, but
this one is ZOG, so I currentlywork creating and managing
website content for that brand.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Okay, and do they have like food or cause?
I mean, I was like really intoRob Wolf for a while there and
Lauren always got mentioned,like he gives all his credit to
her.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
So yeah, so we currently work with certifying
and licensing other food brands.
We don't currently have anylike food products of our own at
the moment, but we have tons ofrecipes on our site, the
paleodietcom, and lots of advicefor nutrition and how to eat
(32:30):
right.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Nice.
And now how does that correlate?
Because you and I both knowfollowing the paleo, you know
grains, that kind of stuff, soyou get away from a lot of that
stuff and a lot of inflammatoryfoods.
Now how would that kind of dietaffect, Because I know it's
really big with CrossFit, butfor speed skaters or skaters in
(32:52):
general, how would that workwith them?
Speaker 3 (32:55):
I mean part of the Paleo diet.
I mean Lauren Cordain, the sameperson who started it.
He wrote a book called thePaleo Diet for Athletes and how
you can actually use Paleo tooptimize your performance.
And I I ate like shit.
When I was skating, like I wasnowhere close to paleo diet.
(33:15):
I was like 20 years old andjust like I can eat complete
junk food and be fine.
So, I haven't really had thechance to really experiment with
it and be like how can thisactually optimize me?
But I can say that, like when Ido eat paleo which is not all
the time, don't come for me, myjob.
But it's not a requirement tobe paleo to work at the paleo
(33:41):
diet.
But when I do eat paleo foods II definitely feel so much
better.
I don't have digestive upset, Idon't feel super tired, um,
from the foods that I eat, Idon't have mental fog.
So I can see all these thingsworking to help you in your
athletic performance.
You're not dealing with allthese like weird little
(34:01):
nutritional side effects thatyou get from eating bad food.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Yeah, and I've eaten my fair share of bad food and
have had some of thosedistresses you've talked about.
So, um, is that where you'replanning, like, are you so you
just do the content, the websitecontent and all that stuff for
them?
Um, so what are, like, yourfuture plans?
Are you planning on doing that?
Or like, are you gonna diveback into skating or do you?
Speaker 3 (34:29):
think you'll ever be competitive again in.
Oh, probably not.
I'm geriatric for skating age.
But I mean I will say, after Iretired, I you know it's back to
this competitive thing, likeit's so hard to let it go.
You're always thinking like Icould have done this better.
(34:51):
Maybe I could have done thatbetter.
And also after I stoppedskating, I was like I mean, I'm
still relatively healthy.
I have this back issue, but I'mstill strong.
What if I just did like anothersport Like?
What if I did like whitewaterkayaking or horse jumping or
something that's like a summerOlympic sport?
(35:11):
Yeah, you know now that I thinkof those two, two like those
would probably still mess up myback.
But royally.
Speaker 2 (35:18):
my, my uncle did whitewater kayaking and sea
kayaking and you I think speedskating safer.
And then with the horses, thejumping just that impact on your
spine every time you land,especially if you're not up in
the right position.
I watched a show calledHeartland and she trained horse.
(35:42):
She was a horse whisperer andit's like you see everything
they do.
It's like, oh, I'd really loveto have a farm.
And then I've actually went andfixed a heater on a farm and
I'm like how dirty I got justdry.
Yeah, I don't want to farm.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
I mean, like I did a hundred jumper for a little bit
in high school, around the timethat I started skating, and I
really loved it.
But yeah, you have to have theright horse, cause you can have
a horse that doesn't like doingthe jumps.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
Come on, girl, let's do this, or you can have one
that like they get excited andyou it's really easy to just go
with them.
But and that's kind of why Iwas thinking about doing the,
the horseback riding as a sport,because I was like, well, I've
done it before, like I, I likebeing with horses, I like riding
them, um, but we never owned ahorse and I'm like that just
(36:32):
seems very expensive and like avery expensive hobby, and so I
never really picked up any othersports.
I just love skating still, and Itry and do it when I can and
otherwise, like Gus and I bothwe still love lifting weights
(36:53):
and going on hikes all the timeand trying to be active.
Like I, I think two years ago Isigned up for a Tough Mudder,
which I don't know.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
If you know what it is but I know exactly what a
Tough Mudder is.
Speaker 3 (37:06):
Yeah, and I did that and I was so proud of myself and
it was fun like that.
That kind of stuff I love to do.
I hate running.
I'm not a great cyclist.
I'm not crazy about sitting onmy bike for an effort, hours and
hours but like an obstaclecourse race.
I'm like, yeah, I'm down forthat.
I love that.
So that was really fun thing todo.
(37:29):
That was a fun goal to have tolook forward to.
But funnily enough, like Gus isalso used to be an elite
athlete too.
He was a professionalbasketball player and football
player when he was in brazilokay we were just talking last
night about how much we we missdoing our sports and it's just
(37:50):
um.
I think it's something.
When you stop doing your sport,you're're just always going to
miss it.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Yeah, Cause I mean I go every Friday night to skate
city Westminster and do adultskate night.
So you guys are more thanwelcome to come.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
Are you wait?
Are you on quads or in lines?
Speaker 2 (38:08):
I do in lines so I can skate on quads, cause, um, I
have my own health issues.
Uh, but some of the medicationI'm on because I was doing rink
hockey with my 17-year-oldbecause he was like the goalie,
so we were playing on the sameteam for Westminster and I was
getting ready to start doingroller derby yes, but because I
(38:30):
can't take the chance of gettinghit in the head and having
internal bleeding in the head,Cause I won't stop bleeding.
Um, I have to take it out, butat least like speed skating,
cause I did speed skating in theearly nineties and without a
coach, so I was uncoached then,but, um, was this in line?
(38:52):
Yeah, we don't have a whole lotof ice in California.
Was this in line?
Yeah, we don't have a whole lotof ice in California, and I
think the short track was at theBelmont Mall or San Mateo.
It was San Mateo Mall, but youknow, at that time you'd take
BART out there and it was justmore of a hassle to get out
there then and even though it'scloser than Colorado Springs, it
(39:14):
took longer to get there thanColorado Springs just because of
Bay Area traffic.
But so now it's like nice.
It's like speed skating is thatone thing that you can always
do?
But I mean, I don't wear myspeed skates in there, but they
also have speed skating.
Each skate city has a speedskating team as long, as well as
(39:36):
roller city also know that so Imean they have speed skating
lessons.
You can do that 8 am on saturdaymornings or you can be like
human and go do it like seveno'clock at night at arvada.
So it's just.
The skating community is huge.
So I don't even know if yourealize how big the skating
community is between inlineroller hockey, speed skating and
(40:01):
also even skateboarding.
It's huge out here in Colorado.
Speaker 3 (40:05):
I know they have a lot of roller derby teams and I
have mad respect for rollerderby.
I think it's very similar toshort track, but they're
definitely.
They're much tougher in rollerderby.
That's why I never got into itbecause, like, in short track
you can kind of bump people alittle bit, you can kind of get
(40:25):
with them, but there's a lot ofrules around like you cannot be
rough with people, like youcan't flat out do the things
that you do in roller derby, andI was like, yeah, I don't think
I could like get thrown down orget hit or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
Well, short track.
Speed skates, though, are likerazor sharp the blades aren't
they yeah?
So I don't remember where Iheard it I might've been ES, but
this was probably 30 years agothat I heard it where a guy went
down I don't know if it was ina race or practice and someone
else's skate just went straightup their chest and sliced their
(41:02):
chest open and it was like 55stitches to repair it.
So yeah, you don't want to doroller Derby stuff with short
track ice speed skates.
Speaker 3 (41:10):
Yeah, so I I had.
I have a few stories aboutpeople getting cut and I believe
whenever I first startedskating, you had to wear a neck
guard and you had to wear ankleguards, and I wore shin guards
too, but I don't remember ifthey were required.
And while I was training inSalt Lake, we were at a meet and
(41:35):
one of my teammates fell withanother one of my teammates and
she cut a nerve in the back ofher leg, oh, and she had to be
rushed to the hospital.
She was told that she wouldnever walk normally again and
she recovered fine, like sheactually got back into skating
and competed at Olympic trialsthe next cycle.
Like she actually got back intoskating and competed at Olympic
(41:57):
trials the next cycle.
But either that same season orthe following season, jr Selsky
fell in a race and he cut hisown leg with his skate.
And at the time the swift skinsthat they were wearing had cut
proof stuff sewn into it.
But people kept getting cutaround the cut proof stuff, so
(42:22):
that following season they werelike, okay, now we have to wear
full body cut proof becausepeople keep cutting themselves
open.
Um, and I think it was becausebecause of those two ones,
because I think JR cut himselfpretty bad and then my old
teammate.
She also had a very severeinjury as well.
So, and also like, even inpractice, like one of my
(42:43):
teammates got cut in the neckabove her neck guard.
Speaker 2 (42:46):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (42:47):
And the person who cut her was so shaken by what
they did they just got off theice.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:53):
Like it's no joke.
I still have a scar on my legfrom when I got cut in training.
Like it, it happens a lot.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Yeah, you just don't hear about it a lot.
Speaker 3 (43:04):
Yeah, luckily now it seems like they they have better
um protection because it's fullbody now instead of just
certain spots um on your body.
So but yeah, there's a lot of alot of stories about people
getting cut in short track andeven even in the mass start and
long track.
I remember when they firststarted it, they didn't wear
(43:25):
helmets, they didn't wear theprotection that they do now and
now that now every time I see amass start, I see them putting
on like the gloves and all thisother extra protection and I'm
like thank God, cause it'sliterally, it's just like short
track, you can get easily cut.
Someone can slice you in theface Like it.
It could happen anytime,anywhere.
Speaker 2 (43:44):
I mean, if I ended up getting sliced in the face, I'd
come up with a lot better storythan it happened at practice.
I'd be like I took on this gangand I beat them and this is all
.
I mean, you gotta have the goodstory for that, you know.
Speaker 1 (43:57):
So so what?
Speaker 2 (43:58):
what was your skate Like?
What kind of boot did you useand what kind of blade did you
use when you competed?
Speaker 3 (44:05):
I was on Paul Marchese boots and, important
detail, they were purple andblack and my blades I.
I think my current setup ismaple duros.
I know for a while was on maplegolds, um, but I don't even
know, I don't think people evenlike that maples are even the
(44:26):
blade of choice anymore.
Yeah, this is the same oldsetup I had like 10 years ago
when I stopped.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
So yeah, now who was your biggest influence for
skating?
Speaker 3 (44:41):
Honestly, I feel weird saying this.
Um, it was probably Apollo Ono,cause he was the one that I saw
.
He won.
I don't know how many medals,um, but I saw him winning medals
in 2006 okay and I think thatis what really inspired me to
start skating.
But I will say, after I startedskating I I think two people.
(45:06):
One was katherine reuter.
Um, she was a short trackskater and she was tall like me.
She had red hair like I used tohave, so she kind of looked
like me and I don't normallylook like a lot of short
trackers.
Short trackers are usually muchsmaller yeah kathy barter was
like very successful and has herown olympic medals, so I was
(45:29):
like, okay, she can do that, Ican do that, yeah.
And then the other person I'dprobably say would be jr selsky,
because he always just looks sorelaxed and at ease when he was
skating.
I think that's how I alwayswanted to skate and even when he
broke the 40 seconds in the 500meter for the first time, like
(45:52):
he was the first person in theworld to do that, yeah, when you
watch the video he just lookslike he's in such control, like
it's just a walk in the park andthat's how I always wanted to
skate you'll get there now thatwe're older now that we're older
and no better.
Speaker 2 (46:11):
It's kind of like when we get out there, because
when I go to compete this year,I'm doing it for me, I'm not
doing it to win anything.
So, however I do, and then it'slike you said, you come back to
the drawing board and you know,prepare for next season and
make whatever tweaks or changewhatever you need to in your
program.
So, but I'm not, I'm not goingout there because I'm going to
(46:33):
be the best in the world and winevery race.
I'm going to do it because Iwant to do it.
Speaker 3 (46:40):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (46:41):
And that's the whole point of it.
But now, what advice do youhave to young or even older
people that want to jump intoskating, and especially short
track speed skating, sinceyou're my first short tracker?
Speaker 3 (46:57):
I don't know if it's so much advice, but one thing I
want to say whenever I startedskating, I set a goal for myself
of I want to be the best that Ican be, and it wasn't.
It wasn't like, well, I'm goingto make the Olympics or I'm
going to do this and that,because that's something that
I've heard a lot with youngerskaters.
When they first start and whenthey're at a camp or something,
(47:19):
they're like how many yearsuntil I get a gold medal, or how
many years so I make theOlympics, and especially with
short track, there's, there's noguarantee.
Yeah, I've known skaters whowere like the best in the world,
um ranked on the world teams,and they never made an Olympics
because they got injured.
(47:39):
Or I know people who have somany world records and all this
and that, and they don't have agold medal, um, so you know,
there's there's no set formulafor success.
But I think if you take a stepback from that and you just
focus on yourself and say I wantto do this to the best of my
own abilities, whatever that maybe, I think you're going to be
(48:02):
much happier and more fulfilledthan trying to reach more lofty
goals.
And if you do get there, thenthat's also wonderful.
Speaker 2 (48:10):
Yeah, and the cool thing about your skating career
was you made the decision to doit.
It wasn't like your mom's likethis your parents are.
This is what you're going to do.
There was a documentary out awhile back I forget when he put
it out but it's called TrophyKids.
I don't know if you've everseen it.
It was on HBO for a while andit's by the same guy that did
(48:31):
Bigger, stronger, faster, andwhat it was going about was like
these parents that are pushingtheir kids so hard, like the
parents couldn't make it, so nowthey're making their kids do
this, and it's like you see howfrustrated the kids get, and
like there was one kid thatdidn't want nothing to do with
his dad and didn't even want toplay the game anymore just
(48:51):
because he wasn't playing itbecause he enjoyed it.
He was playing it because hisdad wanted to.
So that's another importantthing to piggyback.
What you said is that make sureyou want to do it, that you're
doing it for yourself and notbecause, if you're younger, your
parents want you to do it.
So that's my little tidbit forthat.
Speaker 3 (49:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (49:13):
But now, how can my people follow you, if they want
to follow you, if just?
Speaker 3 (49:19):
Oh, I mean if they, if they want, they can follow me
on Instagram at it's Andreasilly, but I think I'm private.
Speaker 2 (49:28):
Okay, yeah, so, and but they can.
Paleo dietcom, is that what itis?
Speaker 3 (49:34):
Yeah, you can follow real paleo diet on Instagram.
Go to the paleo dietcom.
Um, pretty much any recentcontent you'll see probably went
through my hands.
Speaker 2 (49:45):
Okay.
And then, since we've mentionedyour husband's bands, do you
want to let people know how theycan follow the bands?
Speaker 3 (49:53):
Yes, so Gus Gus's stage name is Gus Stroyer.
He has a couple of singles outon Spotify.
His one of his bands is bury mydemons and they are going on
tour next month, april 2025.
So and they're traveling allaround the country.
(50:14):
So if you are interested inchecking them out, go see if
bury my demons is going to be inyour city.
And then his other band issaved by ruin, the one that you
saw yep um, which I always havea great time seeing.
I mean not that I don't enjoybury my demons, but you know
(50:34):
they their drummer doesn'theadbang like laura does, and
also angelique is just amazingon stage her her vocal range is
amazing too, yeah.
Speaker 2 (50:45):
So I mean, if you ever get a chance to see them
live, go watch them.
They put on a great show, sothey'll probably be happy that
they got the shout out too yeah,absolutely so, absolutely so
well, I appreciate you coming on.
Speaker 3 (50:59):
Yes, thank you so much for having me.
This was a great discussion.
Speaker 2 (51:02):
Yeah, I enjoyed it too, so Thank you, thank you.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.