Vermonting

Most of the year, I'm a bit of a nomad, so summer is really the only time I have when I can put down roots and actually spend a good chunk of time in one place. Well, sort of. We didn't have any team camps or trips planned between early May and the end of August this summer. This meant that I could put my full focus into training at Craftsbury, and any time spent away would be for fun!

We got totally spoiled in Craftsbury last summer with dry, breezy, sunny days. Actually, according to Vermonters, it was a bit of a drought, not that I noticed being a Western girl from the desert. This summer has been the opposite. I just read in the paper that in June of 2016, northern VT reported 1.89 inches of rain. In June of 2017, they reported 7.32 inches!! That's a lot of moisture people. So while the wet weather has occasionally made it a little tougher to motivate to get out the door for training, when the sun does come out it's blindingly green on the hillsides. It also hasn't been very hot, which is great for training as well. I'm not complaining.

It's been since May that I last updated my blog, so I'll just give the quick run through in photos, rather than trying to sum it all up in words! Overall, training has been going well, life has been busy with work, gardening, traveling to see friends and go to weddings, and of course, time for summer activities like swimming, paddleboarding, and picking blueberries.

An early summer grass speed session- it's just what it looks
like- skiing uphill on grass, with real skis. Believe it or not,
it's a total blast (Photo Caitlin Patterson)

Pretty pretty. Craftsbury sunsets never disappoint. This one
is from the top of West Hill

About the only time I get to see all my college friends now is
for weddings. My UNH teammate Dylan got married (last summer
actually), but they had a big party down in Putney in June to celebrate

Cheers to Meg and Dylan, to seeing best friends again, and to
perfect VT summer nights (Photo Gretchen Powers)

Running on dirt roads past green fields- life isn't so bad (Photo Pepa)

I spent a few weeks in June dog-sitting for these two. I know
that I can't have a dog right now with all the traveling I do, but
looking after someone else's dogs made me so excited for the
day when I can!

I also got to enjoy spectacular sunsets from their owners'
lawn on West Hill in Craftsbury

Summertime means organizing and timing our weekly trail series
in Craftsbury. It's really fun to see how many people come out.
Every once in a while, they get to start under a rainbow (Photo Pepa)

Summer also means gardening, or in this case, unrolling a giant
bale of hay to use as mulch. Overhead from this activity,
"I don't need no stinkin' Crossfit when I have gardening!"

The rows of squash, peppers, and cabbage all happy with
their new mulch

Summer days on the dock at Craftsbury. Not a bad way to
supervise BKL camp

BKL campers rocking their lip sync to Barbie Girl. The 13
year old boy on the right definitely won the attitude award
for the day.

I've spent the past four 4th of July's in Craftsbury, so I decided to switch it up a little this year. It was great because the fourth actually coincided with a few rest days and I was starting to get a little antsy for travel, so I hopped over to Lake Placid for a long weekend and got to see some friends.

Hiking Pitchoff Mountain with my former UNH teammate
Elizabeth Izzo and her sister Anna

Playing in the mountains with friends pretty much always
equals #anotherbestday

Delicious dinner prepared by Clare, the best
company, and lovely views of the lake

Floaties! The 4th with Clare and her boyfriend Erik on Mirror
Lake in LP

However, my vacation was over before I knew it, and it was back to training in Craftsbury!

Just hop on the train if you want a ride! A lovely day for a
roll/run combo to Lake Willoughby in Barton, VT

This summer, the team has been working hard on improving
the trail system at Sterling College in Craftsbury. Here we
have all the tools of the trade- chainsaws, hammers, nails, ear
and head protection, and willing BKL laborers (just kidding)

And finally, at the end of July I got to go home for a week! It seems like every summer, a few more of my friends get married, and this time a high school (well, really more like middle school) friend was having her wedding in Park City. I had an amazing week of catching up with old friends, playing in the mountains, and of course, dancing my butt off.

Feeling very lucky to be back in my favorite mountain town

Wigs and little black dresses for the bachelorette party- why not

All friends of the bride from running together- high school cross
country on the left and college on the right

Making new friends- Cosette the horse, and Jill,
one of the other bridesmaids!

All of the bridesmaids and attendants

Reunited with my favorite running buddies. We don't run together
anymore, but it's like nothing ever changed when we get together

Exploring in the Wasatch once the wedding shenanigans wound
down.

Top of Clayton peak with Hannah, one of my oldest friends
from Park City. This year she's running a 50k mountain race
and doing an Ironman, so I'm always happy to take her out
for a long run

Pioneer Day, when the Mormons entered the Salt Lake valley,
is a big holiday in Utah. In recent years the pagans among us
have renamed it Pie n' Beer day, and I was happy to celebrate
by making my first ever pie. It looked prettier before I put it
in the oven and the filling volcano-ed everywhere, so we'll
just pretend this is how it looked when we ate it.

Anyways, I'm back in Craftsbury now, and after a little time off I'm really excited to attack our next training block with full energy. We now have less than one month until the team leaves for New Zealand, so I intend to fully enjoy summer while I can. Our blueberries bushes in the backyard have recently exploded with ripe berries, so I'm picking as much as I can. We also have fresh snap peas and a few tomatoes, and the rest is not far behind. I'll probably update next from New Zealand, unless I had a sudden flash of blog inspiration. Thanks for reading!