My last few weeks in photos....

Seth after his first loop at the Fat Tire Festival's new 12 hour ride in Presque Isle at the Nordic Heritage Center. 

Seth and his friend Andy (Farmington, ME) rode as a team, alternating laps of the +/- 1 hour long single track course. It rained all night prior to the event and then into the morning so things got pretty soft and dirty out there! 

Dirty but I think he's still smiling!

After the Fat Tire Festival we headed to Jericho, VT for some rollerskiing and training. After Jericho Seth and I spent a night camping with my family just outside of Vergennes, VT. This is the view from the top of the hill that we camped on, Mt. Philo. That's Lake Champlain in the distance with the mountains of New York state behind it. 

Another view from the top....lots of fields that probably got really wet when Irene came through!

This tractor was spotted through Seth's new camera in the view from the above previous photograph. It's behind the house at the top edge of that field in the center of the picture....can you see it?

More views of Lake Champlain and some pretty clouds. 

My parents enjoying some much needed time away from the farm. 

After Vermont I went home for a few days before meeting back up with my MWSC teammates for our Sugarloaf Hill Camp. This is inside my family's farmstand, Beans and Greens. 

More of the stand...lots of fresh food. Eating at home is always enjoyable!

The view into the store from the barn's original front door. 

The new pavilion that the crew completed this spring.  

Amazing woodwork!

Camping in Freeport the night before our Sugarloaf camp started with a kayak trip. 

BethAnn and I doing some pole walking up Sugarloaf on a gorgeous early-fall type day. 

Seth and I enjoying the view from the top. 

Back at home after Sugarloaf, this time with Seth in tow. We got home just in time to help out with my parent's second Farm To Table dinner in the fields above my house. 

Fresh veggies abound on the farm....this salad was served for the dinner. 

Guests got a ride up to the field on the tractor while behind serenaded by: 

My dad's ski patrol friend Doug Hamilton. 

Appetizers....mmmmm, good. 

Pretty flowers. Yes, also from the farm. 

My parents are all smiles as things kick off smoothly. 

The guests enjoying the delicious food and peaceful setting. 

Dessert....also good, but way too much of it!

We got to spend an afternoon out on our island with some family. 

Kaiya loves the water...here she's sitting on a wind surfer that's laying on the dock supports watching as someone plays in the water nearby. 

My mom lounging in the sun and getting some much need R&R. 

My brother and cousin, Caroline, trying to stand up together on the wind surfer. It's harder than it looks when you have two people on it at once!

Alex, testing his sense of balance by trying to stand on his head while floating on water! Weird sensations abound with that one!

 Me paddle-boarding on the wind surfer with a row-boat oar. It's a little too short to easily reach the water but it was a fun challenge none the less! Even more fun when you get motor boat waves that try and throw you off!

After doing a road race in the morning, Seth and I went to work at Beans & Greens, helping tie things down before Hurricane Irene rolled in. Here's the gang we picked peppers with after harvesting somewhere around sixty (yes, that's 60) bushels of over-sized green and red peppers. My parents are supplying cut and frozen veggies to some local businesses this winter so lots of pepper processing came next!

Back on the home farm hurricane Irene looms in the distance as the sun sets on Saturday. 

Helping with the Anthem retreat at Pineland Farms. We set up a combo workout where the Anthem guests had to race on Ski Ergs and then try to shoot our laser rifles! 

Now I'm back in the county and getting back in the swing of things with a few normal weeks of training before I head to Utah for three weeks in October. The cooler fall weather this week has been amazing. Last night Seth and I went out for a mountain bike that turned into a three hour adventure bringing us home in the dark.  We saw a big bull moose and gorgeous sunset while dodging puddles that were all over the place. The sun today will have dried the trails up a bit. If we get more weather like we had today, it's going to be a beautiful fall! 

And I’m Old. Well, older anyways.

These last three weeks have been really busy, highlighted by the first annual Ride Aroostook, my 25^th (yes folks, I am a quarter of a century old) birthday, a trip to Edmundston, New Brunswick, seven sets of intervals in four days, new neon shirts (three to be exact…pink, green, and yellow), and our discovery of some awesome connectable curly straws at Marden’s.

Seth modeling the bows from the two boxes he had given me for my birthday.....they fit perfectly on his glasses! 

Seth testing out the connectable straws....once we had too many together it was too hard to suck the chocolate milk all the way to your mouth! Guess they have to be used in pairs. Oh well....they were still fun!

The weather up here in Fort Kent (and the rest of the county for that matter) has been pretty amazing for quite a few days in a row, until today of course. Today it rained most of the day but we didn’t get any of the “Strong to Severe” storms that were forecast. What makes a storm “strong” instead of “severe” anyways? Of course as I write this I glance out the window next to me that faces west and the sky is very dark. Of course.

Our tomato plants are sprouting lots of little tomatoes that will probably all be ripe when I’m gone in Jericho, VT or at home in NH the week after. Oh well….at least I’ve established the fact that I can grow them, right? My flower bed that I planted with two bags of mystery mixed seeds is really starting to look pretty, with some yellow, white, periwinkle-blue, and pink flowers opening up. It’s also full of morning glories that I’ve rigged up on sticks pulled out of the woods….they have yet to flower but when they do, my mornings will be pretty.

The first of the last two weeks was my capacity block: four days of intensity work, seven workouts, all interval sessions. PAIN! But it was good! I wouldn’t have believed you if you’d told me I’d say that when it was over, but it was. I felt like I skied faster and stronger with each progressive workout and was able to finish on a high note after day four. Of course doing those four days early in the week meant I had to sit out of the time trial on the weekend and just watch. Anyone who’s competitive will tell you that being sidelined for a race or game has got to be one of the hardest things for an athlete. All you want is to get out there and beat up on yourself (sounds fun, right?) but you can’t because, in my case, you’re recovering and resting up.

The following week was a low week. More recovery, lots of fun cooking, “Harry Pottering” as we geared up for the big finale, and Ride Aroostook. Ride Aroostook is a fundraising-bike ride to raise money for Camp Adventure, a summer camp for children with diabetes, sponsored by Cary Medical Center (one of the big sponsors for MWSC as well). A bunch of my teammates and I raised money and biked planned routes based out of the Presque Isle area for two days alongside 60+ other riders. It was quite the event, raising over $18,000 for Camp Adventure. Many thanks to everyone who helped put on the event and those of you reading who donated to the cause. It was AWESOME. And of course, the weekend would not have been complete without a viewing of the latest, and last Harry Potter.

Lauren Jacobs and I riding through farm fields somewhere outside Presque Isle (photo credit: Fred Bailey)

Gabby Naranja and Welly Ramsay riding....Gabby was hardcore and did the whole weekend on her mountain bike! (photo credit: Fred Bailey)

Gabby, Missy, myself and Fred post ride(photo credit: Fred Bailey)

Seth was a mechanic at one of the rest stops the second day. Here he's helping another mechanic try to lube up my bike....it was dirty and needed to be cleaned. (photo credit: Fred Bailey) 

This week has brought a return to more “normal” training, if there is such a thing. Some intervals, some shooting. Yesterday was my birthday so Seth and I went to New Brunswick in the afternoon to pay a visit to the New Brunswick Botanical Gardens. The place is really gorgeous and for those of you from the county, I’d strongly suggest a visit. Seth and I didn’t actually get to see everything as we were caught out in the first thunderstorm in a while. We tried to sit it out in their gazebo that overlooks a beautiful pond, but it wasn’t passing through so we bailed. I kind of felt like I was in The Sound of Music for a bit though….sitting with my boyfriend in a gazebo while hiding out a thunderstorm…okay, I’m a bit romantic, what can I say? He hasn’t seen the movie so he can’t relate.

This guy was at the entrance to the Botanical Gardens...kind of funky

Huge Butterflies....a little hidden and startling when you discover them right next to you!

Another big one next to Seth's hand so you can tell how big he is!

This pretty blue one was sitting on a dish of oranges that are left out for them to eat.

Seth on our way into the gardens....this pond was FILLED with lily pads. 

Roses....they had over 800 rose bushes in the rose gardens. If it hadn't been so rainy they probably would have been much prettier. Maybe when we go back..... 

More roses...

View back on the lily pad pond and welcome center from the top of the waterfall hill. 

Just a pretty garden....

The shade gardens....very shaded at this point but the thunderstorm that was bearing down on us!

Pretty flowers, even in the rain!

Waiting out the thunderstorm in the gazebo by another pond....

Flowers on the gazebo in the rain....can't wait to go back on a nice day!

This weekend is the Tour of Stockholm, my first. For those who haven’t been or heard, it’s a MWSC summer tradition. An adventure OD workout comprised of running, mountain biking, rollerskiing, and canoeing. The course is whatever Will (the Nordic coach) says it is and the goal: try not to get lost. Should be fun, will be sweaty, will be muddy, will probably be wet. Will be fun. 

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