Picture tale

A Sunday morning early departure was the official end to our Utah training camp this year. I will admit it was a bit of a disappointing one, having had to spend much more time that I would have liked sitting on the couch with my foot elevated and numb from ice. I will still say it was a good time.
My ankle recovery is going a bit slower than I had hoped. I am currently doing all that I can to speed the recovery along. It is frustrating but dealing with injuries is part of being an athlete. And in the end, no matter how impatient I get, I will recover and chances are it will happen sooner than later at this point. So I won't whine anymore about that.
Since I am short on words this evening I am going to wrap up the rest of my camp summary in pictures. Hope you enjoy!
-BA

Utah

October training camp. Things start to pick up this time of year for Nordic athletes. Everyone is dreaming of the day, someday soon, when they can pack their rollerskis away for the winter and officially announce the start of the ski season.
I would gladly spend hours on my rollerskis right now however. Last week, about four days into our training camp here in Utah I severly sprained my ankle and it has left me hobbling around unable to do a lot of our scheduled training.
I have never been all that much of a patient person when it comes to injuries or sicknesses. Apparently someone thought I needed to work on this because here I am being challenged again to rest, recover and just wait it out! ERRRRR
I know I will make it and perhaps a little extra rest might do me some good going into November.
It has been beautiful out her in Utah. Perfect weather, as always, and a great group of biathletes, including those on my team at MWSC and many more from the National & Junior Teams and National Guard teams. Solider Hollow is a great place to train for any biathlete and I think this crew is taking full advantage of our time here.
I have many more photos to post...but must wait for a better internet connection to to so. Stay tuned.
Until then...think snow...
Thanks for checking in,
BethAnn

A traveling fool...

So it begins. Saturday I will leave for our training camp in Utah. The start of much more traveling ahead. II love the travel but struggle with a bit at times. I am always excited when it is time to pull out my luggage again, but I also like to create my own nest and have space of my own. I have gotten pretty good at doing so in any space I have, whether it be a hotel room, ten square feet around a bed, or car seat, which makes things much easier. Now if I could only find room in my suitcase for my husband, I'd be all set!
Regardless, deep down I do love it. Perhaps because the travel is associated with things I love, training and soon....racing! There are always a number of unknowns when going into a racing season, including my specific travel schedule. Things are always subject to change and a lot depends on how well I am racing.
Here are a few dates and places I do know and a few others that I hope to be at:
October 10th-24th - Solider Hollow Utah training camp
November 8th- ? - Canmore, Alberta, CAN, December World Cup trials
February 4th-6th - World Cup #7 Presque Isle, Maine
February 10th-13th- World Cup #8 Fort Kent, ME
March 1st-13th - World Championships, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia
March 17th-20th - U.S. Nationals, Mount Itasca, Grand Rapids, MN

A day in the life of...

Coffee. It is how I like to start my day. Not a quick cup while running out the door but getting up a bit earlier than I have to so I can sit for a few extra minutes and slowly sip my pipping hot cup'o joe. If I had my way I would start with an espresso, but until my piggy bank full of pennies multiplies into a full heard, (do pigs live in heards?), I will settle on my French press coffee with a splash of half and half.
After my coffee I am officially on the move. No two days ever seem to be the same in my crazy life as a biathlete and massage therapist.
As the days get colder and shorter, my schedule seems to fill up faster. I'll be posting much more on these events in the days, weeks and months ahead. With any luck one thing will remain the same, I will always be starting my day with my cup of coffee.
cheers, BA

FROST!

I have only lived in Northern Maine for around five years but even I know that getting the first frost of the year on the third of October is NOT normal. But let me make this clear...I am not complaining. There are more tomatoes then ever from the Chamberlain Families garden! Despite a good stretch of rain and wind last week, we've had a beautiful Fall.
I have continued to make the most out of it spending all the free time I can in the kichen. My cooking and baking list so far includes: Pumpkin cookies, bread and soup, carrot soup, apple sauce, tomato sauce, zucchini-lemon muffins, roasted beets and carrots and lots and lots of pesto! MMMM there will be a lot of good eatin' at my house for a while.
Last week was a kind of low/recovery week for me. It was well planned since it was pretty dreary and wet for a number of days in a row. I wasn't afraid of being creative on those days when the weather was so very NOT inspiring.... Training with high winds, cold temps. , hard rain or darkness, no matter. Nothing a good spin bike and Netflix on-demand viewing can't fix. I wouldn't recommend this on a regular basis but on occasion...it's pretty nice.
Today would not be one of those days however. I woke up and had to pull out the old Toko scrapper out of my glove box to scrape a heave frost off my windshield. (Yes I do actually use a ski scraper to scrap my car window, works quite well actually and ever breaks!) Once the sun finally did come up, it has warmed everything up nicely and it has turned out to be one of those picture perfect Fall days. The trees in near peak foliage and the air just cool enough to wear a sweater, but not cold enough to need anything else. I am off to go and dig out the rest of my ski tights and hats for the colder season ahead! Raking leaves today....making snowmen tomorrow!?! I can always dream!
Cheers, BA
A few shots from my adventures in the kitchen and garden.