Home for fall

Fall has arrived and it’s great to be home!  I can’t think of a better place to be in September and October than in Vermont. It’s not quite peak foliage but each day a few more shades of reds, oranges, and yellows shine through.  I love shuffling through the fallen leaves while running on the trails.  I swam in the lake after my workout this morning and it was definitely refreshing.  Almost everything has been harvested from the garden and we’ve had fun making applesauce, pickles, and pumpkin bread with the last of the crops.  And of course the cold nights and crisp morning air is an exciting reminder that winter is on the way.

The US team is currently together in Park City for the last training camp of the off season.  While I have really enjoyed going to the camps this summer, I opted to skip the camp and instead stay in Craftsbury and train with Pepa and the GRP.  Travelling to new places and training with different teammates is awesome but it can also makes me appreciate being at home.  We have a great training setup here with quiet roads for rollerskiing, lots of great trails and singletrack for running and biking, a lake for sculling, and a gym that nobody else uses.  We are also lucky to be part of a very supportive and active community.  Yesterday evening I did a short recovery rollerski on a loop around the town and I was honked at by four different cars.  However these  were not the “Get the hell off the road” type of honks that rollerskiers are accustomed to but were instead the “Hello! Good job! Keep up the good work!” kind of honks that were accompanied by a smile and a wave.  They made me be very excited to be in Crafsbury for next month while making the final preparations before the start of the season!