The Harvest

In between training sessions and working I have managed to have a little fun with the fruits of my labor this past summer. My garden was a busy place this summer. Lots of hard working going on all over the yard, mostly by the plants however.
While I always enjoy the cooler weather, my garden loved the warm sun we had so much of during the summer months. I am now enjoying the product of those many long hot days of June, July and August.
Pesto, tomato sauce, roasted beets and carrots, zucchini bread, borscht soup and so much more, the amount of cooking and baking I can do from my own back yard right now is impressive. There is something very satisfying about walking out your back door to pick the produce for your dinner.
Here are a few shots of my little bit of green in the back yard. Lots of good eatin' out there!
Bon Appetit,
BethAnn

3rd Annual Harvest Classic

Oh what a beautiful day it was! Yesterday, David and I put on the 3rd Annual Harvest Classic bike race here in Caribou. We had a great day with cool morning temperatures and sunshine. Besides a little wind and a few grumbling comments about the amount of hills on the course, we had a perfect day.
Many, many thanks to all of you who helped and participated. We had two events, a shorter, twenty mile tour and a fourth mile race course and had a good crew in both events!

David and I were up early marking the course.


Seth Hubard quickly shedding a layer before letting the hammer down.


Enjoying a quick warm drink after the start!


Some of the Tour riders patiently awaiting the finish of the race!


The sprint to the finish!
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Recovery week

We can't go hard all the time. Last week was good example of that. It was a recovery week. I took full advantage spending it with my family in MN. Alway great to be back in the land of 10,000 lakes.

A trip up the North shore of lake superior, a stop at Betty's pies, catching up with friends and family,(sorry I didn't get to see all of you!), ruff housing with my parent's and sister's dogs and a lot of quality time playing Auntie made it an exceptionally great trip home. This was all thrown in with a little bit of training each day. I covered some of my favorite ground and water in Duluth, Grand Rapids and the waters of Lake Vermilion. Oh and did I mention the average temperature was about 55. Simply delightful!

Handling the heat

It's no secret, I am not a hot weathered creature. I do enjoy a nice warm day here and there but while training or pretty much anytime I am not in the water or on the beach, I prefer weather on the cooler side. And by September first I am more than ready for cool mornings where long sleeve shirts and yes even pants are necessary. I know many of you reading this might be cursing my words, but what can I say, I grew up in Northern Minnesota and chose a profession in a outdoor, endurance, winter sport. I like the cold!
For the time being I working on making the most of the heat, spending as much time as possible in the water! Here are a few photos of an early morning kyack on Madawaska Lake the other morning. Even in the heat, I have to say it is pretty nice being out on the lake on days like this.
cheers, BethAnn

Range closed

I am back in The County. It is nice to be back and sleeping in my own bed again. Yesterday I headed out to Nordic Heritage to get my shooting on and was surprised to see all the targets stacked on the side of the hill! Not a great set up for shooting practice.
The work has begun for the range updates for the World Cup! While I was disappointed I couldn't get my shooting workout in, I was also very excited to see the updates getting underway!
Can't wait to see what it will all look like when it is done.
Cheers, BA

Sugarloaf

Here is a quick picture update from Sugarloaf. I am here in Western Maine for the week training with the whole MWSC clan, biathlon and cross country. It is fun to have everyone together like this. We have had a great time so far with lots of focus on volume training. Today we have an epic hike/run on schedule, from Sugarloaf to Saddleback. It cool out this morning and the sun is shining. Let's hope it stays that way.
cheers,
BethAnn

A character builder

I did it! I started and completed my first mountain bike race. I can't say I plan on doing another for quite some time but I at least now have one under my belt.
Last Sunday Nordic Heritage Center put on an awesome weekend of mountain biking fun. I am not much of a mountain biker and despite having run on the single track trails at NHC many, many times, I hadn't ever actually mountain biked on them. I am not sure it was the best decision to make my first trip out onto the trails during a race. But then again I am not sure you could call it a race, at least for me. There was a lot of stopping and starting, getting on and off the bike, (not always voluntarily) and pretty slow maneuvering through some of the more technical areas of the course.
I will be the first to admit, there were many moments of frustration throughout the morning, but I did finish it and was still in one piece when I did. I consider that a success for this year. I still haven't decided whether I will do the race again next year. I figure I have some time to forget some of my struggles from this year's race before I have to make that decision again! :)
Stay tuned for more updates from our camp in Jericho, VT!
Cheers, BethAnn