This one is for Mom!
I’ll be the first to admit that the idea of blogging has never greatly appealed to me but it really is one of the best ways to show what we do on the Green Team in our daily lives so I am coming around to it. And since my mom keeps asking why I never post anything on the blog, I proudly bring you the summer in short!
I graduated from Dartmouth June 13th and moved into the house shortly thereafter. Transitioning from college life to being a full time athlete was harder in many ways than I expected. It involved a lot more downtime than I was accustomed to in my school days and it took a while for me to actually put my feet up for a while in the afternoon to absorb and recover from workouts. So for living situation and group dynamic at the house has been really productive. Having training partners around at a high level to push workouts as well as instant feedback from Pepa has been one of the biggest differences from past summers training mostly alone. As well, the farmhouse we live in was a bit of a shock compared to the college apartments that I had become accustomed to in the past years. There has been a remarkable dearth of small furry critters residing in the house, no electrical wiring that appears from the Edison era, or the nice leaded paint dust film that built up on the window sills of 14 West Wheelock Street. Moving into a clean, comfortable environment conducive to training, I just felt…better… than in the previous months. Unfortunately the roof of the farmhouse is much harder to get on than my previous residence.
Adapting to the actual training was probably one of the easier aspects of the move. Pepa’s coaching style is different in some ways to my past coaches, but in the whole very similar with a focus on summer volume while still maintaining quickness, speed, and good technique. I think by the end of the summer I might even be able to bench my body weight, finish a plyo jump workout without being incapacitated for a week afterwards, and do at least 50% of what Pepa can do on her wheel of torture ab roller!
Work at the center has also been great. The COC has a garage full of toys to help accomplish any job or task and Dylan and I have been quick to put the tractor and Argos to work on projects. Craftsbury is currently in the process of installing 8 large tracking solar panels on the upper soccer field and Dylan and I have been clearing the tree line to let in more sun as well as generally prep the site for installation. The installation of the panels should go quick once all the concrete footings are in place and be quite a sight!
Dylan and I putting the tractor and winch to work on the Solar Panel Project
Dylan getting in some extra pull-ups on the job
As well a bunch of us on the team have been hard at work cutting single track trails for mountain biking and trail running. The rocky terrain coupled with cedar bogs makes for some incredible riding terrain and technical challenges such as rock drops and log rides although it also makes the trails much slower to cut and buff out. Hopefully by the end of the fall we should have a linkable network of new and old single-track for longer rides. On top of the Kingdom Trails and Cady’s Falls network, there will be a great variety of riding all within a short drive!
Kingdom Trails-Life is Good!
September marks a bit of a turning point in my schedule. After a productive chunk of time in Craftsbury interspersed with some trips to Hanover and Home, I am headed out West for two weeks. Should be a blast!
Moab calls (again)! Post NCAAs 2010
Probably not this much snow in the La Sal Mountains this time around though...