The New Casa

Hey Everyone,

I'm finally getting settled into my new home as an athlete with MWSC. I was lucky enough to get free housing in a cool little farmhouse along with a few other athletes. Technically it's in Fort Fairfield for those of you who care, but we're right on the town line with Presque Isle. It's a great place. We have a ton of rhubarb growing, and we've already frozen some. I've tilled a nice big garden plot, and I'll start planting this week. We are about 100 yards from the ski trails at the Nordic Heritage Center (where we do most of our skiing), and we have access to tons of single-track trails for running and biking. It's awesome! We also have a ton of land that we can explore and do stuff with. Hopefully, we'll be able to build a climbing wall in the barn too.

This weekend, I have blood-lactate testing and an uphill time trial. Then we're going camping for a couple days to do some paddling... should be fun. I've been doing a lot of odd jobs around town so far, but not official employment. I modeled for the UMPI drawing class's final exam, I've worked at four local track meets, and I've been picking rocks for a local potato farmer. I'm not getting rich, but at least I'm not starving yet either. I've also applied to coach a local middle school xc running team in the fall, which would be fun. I should hear about that in the next few days. I really hope I get that one.

Anyway, it's been hot and sunny here, and I need to get outside again now.

Love and Adventures,

Toast

Adventure RACING

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday I did my first adventure race. A partner and I went down to a small race south of Houlton, and it was sweet! We did orienteering, mountain biking, canoeing, and rock climbing, and although we had a bit of bad luck, we still had a lot of fun. We made a bit of a detour during the orienteering, and my teammate broke his derailleur during the biking leg. Luckily, the organizers eventually found a spare bike for him to use to finish the leg.

If we hadn't had the derailleur issue, we would have won the biking leg, and we had the third fastest paddling time, which was pretty awesome. I had a really good time exhausting myself, and I can't wait to do it again!

In other news, I am officially a pro athlete (a poor one, but a pro none-the-less). I've moved to Caribou for a couple weeks, and I'll probably move to Presque Isle soon. It was very hard to leave Madawaska. It definitely holds a place in my heart, but it had to happen. Just so you all know, if you need to mail me anything now, send it to 552 Main Street, Caribou, ME 04736. That's the address at the MWSC office, and I'll be able to get all my mail there from now on. I was allowed to keep my phone number, so (207) 227-3843 is still the number to dial.

I miss you all, and can't wait to see some of you this summer.

Love and Adventures,

Toast