August 24th, 2010
The past month has flown by with the past two weeks being my highest ever volume weeks.
I never quite realized how wonderful it is to do nothing sometimes. As an athlete you get so used to training every day and when you wake up and you don't have to train something seems terribly wrong. However, after the past two weeks of 25 hours and 20 hours my body was quite content to wake up and spend the day cleaning the house and gardening. I apologize for the long delay in an update but I promise to be much better and keep one going every two weeks.
This past month was incredible for training. The highlight was a team camp in Sugarloaf, Maine. We stayed at the brand new dorms at Carrabassett Valley Academy and had the most amazing cook for the entire week, which when you are training high volume means a lot. While in Sugarloaf we went on multiple team hikes, took advantage of the hills for intensity sessions and even had the opportunity to use the Skeet Shooting range. My favorite part of the camp was hands down the last hike we did on the Friday before we left. It was a base to base hike from Sugarloaf Alpine Lodge to Saddleback Alpine Lodge that covered 20 miles, climbed 8000+ vertical feet over 6 peaks and took 7 hours. We covered many miles on the Appalachian Trail, rested at some amazing river pools and ended the hike above tree line from Horn Mountain to Saddleback Mountain with views of the many lakes that Rangeley has to offer. Afterwards Will took us to an little country store in town and bought us the most amazing smorgasbord of snacks from fresh farm peaches and plums to mouthwatering birch beer soda. Needless to say the next morning I woke up exhausted and spent the entire day in front of a coffee shop quite content to read a book and play around on my computer. I do have a new favorite coffee now as well, Carrabbassett Coffee company. The entire week was incredible and I logged at total of 25 hours which was a new personal high. My body seems to be handling it really well and I am feeling really strong.
Getting back up to Aroostook County was a great feeling and I realized over the past four months the county has truly become my home. We had a great week of training and ended the week taking part in the Caribou "Under the lights" running race. It was a blast and so neat to see so many kids and parents out there supporting all the runners for just a fun event. I also ran a solid time which was pretty motivating as well because it definitely showed me the gains I have made in my overall fitness and that I am truly in the best shape of my life.
This week is a rest week and we have VO2 max testing at the end of the week. When I first arrived here in May we did baseline testing, so I am excited to re-test and see what kind of gains I have made with the past four months of training. It is crazy to think that September is right around the corner and that school has started and the leaves are changing. Summer flew by and I am really excited for fall training, which is my favorite time of year to train. There is nothing like the smell of fall leaves and a cool-crisp fall afternoon running through the trails. It also means snow is right around the corner.
Until next time enjoy the fast-approaching fall weather and the cool evenings which makes for quite excellent sleeping.
7/26/10
The past two weeks have flown by. After being home for a week it felt great to be back in Maine.
I figured it might be a good idea to actually give everyone a little background on who I am and where I came from. I was born and raised in Saranac Lake, NY which is a small town right next to Lake Placid, NY. I have one older sister, Jennifer who is currently going into her final year of Law school, concentrating in environmental specifically. I have told her on numerous occasions that when she gets a job it would be a great idea to sponsor her little sister instead of paying off her law school loans, I mean let's be serious. Not quite sure how that one is working out for me so far, but it's a work in progress. I went to Saranac Lake High School where I ran cross country and track, played soccer, skied, did musicals and participated in basically everything our school had to offer. Upon graduating in 2005 I attended Cornell University where I studied Nutrition with an Exercise Science minor (The Exercise Science courses were completed at Ithaca College.) While at Cornell I competed on the Division One cross country and Track team. In the winter I competed for the club ski team which raced in the USCSA league. We were a completely student run club, which meant my junior and senior years, myself along with two other co-captains ran the entire team made up of twenty-five skiers. This was an incredible learning experience and well, although at times I was in way over my head, I would do it again in a heart beat for all it taught me and gave me. I also held a part-time job in the fitness centers for all four years, was part of Cornell Traditions which was a community service and leadership based program, and spent much of my free time (which was not much) volunteering at the local SPCA walking dogs on Sunday afternoons. I graduated in 2009 Cum Laude and this chapter of my life came to an end. I was then hired through the United States Biathlon Team where I became a National Team Assistant. For the next year I was based out of the Olympic Training center in Lake Placid, NY where I helped coach, did much of the exercise physiology based work and worked with National Team Coaches and Athletes in the year leading up to the Olympics. I was given many opportunities to travel and learned many valuable lessons and skills that will stay with me throughout the rest of my career- both racing and professional. And as fate would have it, working with USBA led me to where I am now. During the two weeks I was in Aroostook County for Biathlon Nationals and US Distance Nationals I fell in love and one thing led to another and here I am today, a full time athlete living in Presque Isle chasing my dreams that I have had since I was a little girl.
As for training the past two weeks have been incredible. The first week at home was an amazing recovery week and allowed me to really get refreshed and re-energized. A fellow MWSC Biathlete, Corrine Malcolm and I went on an adventure in the high peaks and had an amazing hike. We started at the Adirondack Lodge and hiked up Wright peak, followed by Algonquin. We then went down the cole between Basin and Algonquin which drops you down into Lake Colden. From here we hiked out through Avalanche Pass and Marcy Dam, ending up back at the ADK lodge five hours later. It was an incredibly hot day, so our hike was nicely broken up with dips in amazing mountain pools and rivers. I grew up in the mountains so being able to get back home and hike was really special to me. I have actually hiked 45 of the 46 mountains in the Adk's above 4000 feet and plan to get the last one (Rocky Peak Ridge) with my family in the fall. This past week I was back in Maine and had a high volume week. Last Sunday was the infamous Tour of Stockholm which was a blast. We started with a bog run which is literally like running on a water bed and can entertain you/keep your heart rate above 200 (ok well not that high) for hours. We then were met by MWSC vans and put on rollerskis to hit the road back to Stockholm where our Mt. Bikes awaited us. This part of the tour was quite entertaining as I have not been on a Mt. Bike much this summer. It was complete with torrential rains, lots of mud, a few minor spills and even getting lost. Finally we found our way to the river where once again the MWSC crew met us with Canoes and Kayaks and we managed to paddle our way over beaver dams and downed trees to make it back to Stockholm in time for the most amazing pizza ever. It was quite the adventure and many, many thanks to Will Sweetser, Gary Colliander, Mike Smith, Seth Hubbard and Catherine Packard for all the time and organization that went into this event. On tuesday we had a 400 meter and 3000 meter time trial with the Biathletes which went really well. I managed to run a 68.2 in the 400 which for not having done much work on the track I was really happy with. The 3,000 meter went pretty good as well, in which I ran an 11:28, however all of us were definitely feeling a little tired in our legs after Sunday's adventure. On Wednesday I went to Paddle Night led by Fran Cyr, during which I had the opportunity to paddle his racing canoe that he had built himself. It was the most amazing feeling and I really want to get into canoe racing this next year as a great cross-training method. We ended the week with a ski-erg test on the double pole machine in Caribou. I ended up skiing a 1,000 meter test in 3:48.9 which posts the third top time in the country for those athletes that have completed the test (not all the National Team has done it.) However this was pretty exciting for me to see progress, although now I need to learn to apply this power and strength to skis.
This next week is a camp with part of it being held in Fort Kent and part in Caribou. I am looking forward to it and really excited to continue getting some good training under my belt. I'll be updating my blog every two weeks so I look forward to writing again soon as I have so much I want to say! Keep enjoying summer and Happy Training.
The view from Saddleback Mountain looking down on the lakes of Rangeley. (MWSC Biathlete, BethAnne Chamberlain pictured in front)
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Hiking the Bigelow Mountain Range at the Sugarloaf Camp.
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The beginning of the epic base to base hike. Sugarloaf to Saddleback, 20 miles, 8000+ vertical, 7 hours.
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All smiles after reaching the final summit, Saddleback Mountain. (Former athlete, David Chamberlain,center, MWSC elite athlete, Joey Bard, right)
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