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!
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