Maine Team Camp 2013

Last week Fort Kent played host to this summer's Maine Team Camp, six days of training open to Maine juniors who qualified for Eastern High School and/or J2 Championships this past winter. In addition we were joined by most of the MWSC ODT and PG team members, making for a huge and very motivated training group. There were 43 juniors here this year; a record in attendance for the ME Team Camp! 

Large numbers mean lots of training partners and lots of goals to talk through....

Hot weather sent us in search of swimming several times. 

Relaxation on the green after dinner with Sarah Dominick. 

ODT (Olympic Development Team) members were in charge of helping with several aspects of this year's camp. I was given the task of designing Sunday's adventure workout: 2+ hours of running, there must be swimming, there must be mud. We ended up with a 21-location orienteering course with questions worth varying amounts of points at each location. Teams were done by age group according to the new FIS age groups (U16, U18, U23) with a handicap awarded before the start. The winners were two coaches who started with the same handicap as the U16s. 

Some of the ladies crossing back from an island point...

Our two new female PG biathletes, Maddie (L) and Mikaela, show of their lovely (and soggy) outfits and muscles. 

One of the question locations landed in the middle Mud Pond at 10th Mountain. Mud Pond lies in a low spot behind our biathlon range and is a frequent hangout for local moose. It's filled with flies, stinks and is generally just gross. 

 

Ryan and Kam ponder their attempt on Mud Pond. 

Ryan makes a quick escape after finding the point. 

Becky, Kaelyn, and Natalie dry off in the sun as they go through their answers and decide how many more points they have time to find.

The course had five points that were either near water or required some sort of river crossing so there was a lot of swimming. 

Ryan and Kam making a go at Jacuzzi Falls. The water came down a lot with all the sunny weather this week so the big jumping rock is finally accessible. 

One of the ladies heads for an island, shoes and all!

Dustin takes the leap while Seth looks on...

Daniel and Carter...

We have three weeks of training before the first set of trials races in Jericho at the beginning of August. This week we've been logging the rollerski hours with more still coming tomorrow as we take on a time trial at 10th Mountain. Next weekend we'll head to Katahdin with a HUGE group of juniors. Check back after for some pictures from that trip.  

June becomes July....

Every summer I am caught off guard by how fast the off-season months fly by. In May I can't wait for it to snow again but by the beginning of July I'm already wondering what happened to June. Last month brought some wet weather to the County but we got through it and have been rewarded with nice (but really hot) sunny days. 

Training is going well. Nothing special to report on that front: bounding, shooting, roller skiing, running, road biking, mountain biking. This weekend we did a new race in Ashland, ME modeled after (but with a much more back-woods approach) the Spartan and Tough Mudder events that are so popular. Having done a Tough Mudder race back home this spring I was very curious how Ashland's event would compare. It didn't really...they were so very different on all fronts but I think I enjoyed this latest version more. There were no electrical obstacles, no barbed wire and only 70 participants compared to the crowds in the thousands at Tough Mudder. The Ashland organizers sent us out into the woods, guided only by occasional neon arrows and a little spray paint here and there. We had to climb sawdust piles, cross ponds on ropes and inner tubes, pull chains up hill and bushwhack through Moose swamps for 7 kilometers. I got dirty, I got really sweaty, I came away leech-free and I had a great time. Definitely going back next year! 

This next week Fort Kent will play host to the Maine Team camp for Maine athletes who qualified for Eastern High School or J2 Championships this past winter. As has been the trend since I've been up here, it's a big group with 42 kids coming. I have my own training plan but it lines up with their schedule in a few places so I'm looking forward to some additional company. 

For now, here are some of pictures from my last few weeks in the great buggy, hot, humid, sunny, far north of Maine. As always, click on a picture to view them all in slideshow format. 

Gorgeous sunsets predicting yet another hot, sunny day tomorrow. 

 

Baking between training sessions...mmmmmm, good!

My latest crafting discovery: my own photos hand-mounted on canvases.

Seth trying to befriend a wild bunny on a dirt road in town and Seth holding up dinner! 

Lush green views both from the road and mountain saddles. 

The flowers in the picture on the left are lupines! 

Lupine season here reminds me of reading The Lupine Lady book as a kid....it's just like that here. 

Looking out over St. Agatha and Long Lake from my mountain bike saddle. Long training hours allow me to explore a little further than I usually get to! 

Jalbert and MWSC devo kids jumping for joy in June!

MWSC deco camp: (L) girlies rollerskiing with Annelies and I, and (R) one of the teams captures their "Planking" photo during an evening town scavenger hunt I put together. 

The same team poses for their "I can't believe we all fit" picture...good one! 

Up next: tomorrow's off-day after a long and hot week of training!