You know something crazy has happened when you blink and all of a sudden the whole summer is almost gone. It's September? How did this happen? We've been having hints of it for a little bit with apples on the roadside and the odd tree branch showing its fall colors, but now it's really sinking in. The GRP is leaving in four days for a training trip in Austria and I can't wait to get real snow beneath my boots, but I'm also a little sad to be leaving Vermont.
In the meantime, here's a little view of summer training. We've been pretty darn lucky to have almost perfect weather for the testing week and the volume week that we just finished up. The truth is that summer in Vermont is pretty hard to beat, in between all the veggies growing in the garden, the swimming holes, and the green rolling hills for miles. In spite of a knee injury earlier in the summer and a nasty sinus infection, I'm feeling good about training and really excited to test out some of the technique changes I've been trying out on snow. I'll also be a lot better about updating my blog since we have a lot more down time during camp (and more photo inspiration!)
This is gonna be one of those blogs with a random and haphazard assortment of photos from the summer, so have fun sorting through!
Oh, and last slightly exciting thing, I added a "follow by email" option to my blog. I usually repost my blogs to Facebook, but I know that not all of you have the Book, so if you want to get an email every time I post a new blog just enter in your email address, then click the link when it comes to your inbox.
Alright here we go:
 |
| Roadside coaching from Peps and her trusty iPad (photo Caitlin) |
 |
| Summer evenings in the bury.. the double rainbow is real, just a little filter |
 |
| Getting tall(er than usual) in double pole (photo Caitlin) |
 |
| Herringbone speeds? On grass? With real skis? Why not! (photo Caitlin) |
 |
Cruising Vermont back roads with Heather
|
 |
| BKL campers crushing the rollerskiing earlier this summer |
 |
| Signs of summer- making flower arrangements for a local dinner |
 |
I absolutely LOVE tomato season. We got hit with a late blight,
so we're lucky to have any tomatoes, much less these beauties |
Although I spent a lot of time in and around Craftsbury in July and August, I did make the trip to NH one day to do some hiking with college ski friends. We did the Franconia Ridge loop, which I had never done before and had spectacular ridge views and waterfalls.
 |
| Once a wildkitten, always a wildkitten |
 |
| Love these guys, and love when we are all able to get together |
At the end of our testing week the GRP also did our yearly jaunt up Mt. Mansfield as part of Race to the Top of Vermont. Actually, I take it back, nothing about RTTOVT is jaunt-like, it's a full-on, pain-cave inducing, leg screaming, lung burning struggle up 4.3 miles to the top. As a taller and heavier athlete I don't exactly embrace hill climbs but I considered it a great workout and if nothing else, an opportunity to get fitter.
 |
It was sweet to have a few of the SMS-T2 ladies (Erika and Annie P,
in teal) come and race. Also, Caitlin absolutely crushed it, taking
2nd overall in the women's race |
 |
| It was a beautiful day to be up in the mountains |
Saturday was the last day of our testing and volume block, and we finished up with an OD run/mountain bike combo in East Burke on the Kingdom Trail system. The riding there is unreal, and it was a great way to finish off our block. We'll have a few more days of easy training, and then we leave on Thursday for 2.5 weeks in Ramsau, Austria training on the Dachstein Glacier. I hear the snow is a little patchy this summer but I'm crossing my fingers for snowstorms and packing my rock skis. Truth be told, any snow is a reason for celebration and I'm so excited to go back to one of my favorite places in the world that I would be willing to ski on just about anything!
 |
| Girl's ride at Kingdom |
 |
| Taking a breather at Heaven's Bench |
Checking out the forecast, it looks like we're going to have a real last taste of summer this week in the East (daytime temps getting into the 90's, yikes!), so stay cool everyone and I'll be checking in next from Austria!! YAYAYAY can't wait!
 |
| Necessary. |
