It's been too long since I blogged here last. I have a new blog on the Maine Winter Sports Center website (mainewsc.org) that has been keeping me busy. Please check it out if you have a chance. It can give you a bit of an idea of what I've been up to lately.
It's been a good start to fall. Since an amazing trip home, where I hiked Mt. Massive with Sophie and Caroline Hunt among other things, I've been in Maine training and working. I have to apologize to Taylor for never making it up to visit him. I wish I had been able to, but the three weeks I was home ripped by sooooo fast.
I'll regale you with just a couple highlights from Ski Town USA. My dad and I got permission to fish a private section of the Elk River below a private club called Maribou. Maribou stocks big rainbows in their water (14in+), and the fish immediately spread out up and down stream. That meant that Papa Toast and I spent the afternoon landing fish after fish as big as 21 inches. It was awesome. Another great trip we took was a backpacking trip in the Zirkel Wilderness. We hiked in to Luna Lake, where we fished and hiked for the weekend. During the trip, we saw a herd of more than 20 bighorn sheep, I swam at my new highest elevation (above 11,000 ft), and we caught lots of happy, fat cutthroat trout.
Since Steamboat I've been doing an "intensity block" of training. I have done a couple cycles where I do intervals 4-5 times in 3-4 days. Then I take a couple days off to recover. Hopefully, it has helped bump up my top speed.
I've also been subbing in local schools. I had a conspicuous start to my teaching career when, as I got out of my car on my first day, two girls passed by, giggled, and sped up their pace. When I got to the door to the school, the girls were waiting there staring out the window at me. As I opened the door, they awkwardly turned away and pretended they weren't spying. One leaned over to the other and whispered something to the other. Then the other whispered back (too loudly), "He's right behind us!" That basically set the tone for things. The girls gawk and the boys try to show me that they're really cool. Luckily, because all the kids want to impress me, they are really well behaved. The third graders have been the roudiest bunch so far, and I've taught everyone from 3rd-12th graders.
Tomorrow, I'm heading out to a training camp on a ranch my coach's family owns near Cody Wyoming. It should be a really cool two weeks, and as you know, I'm always happy to be in the mountains.
I'll try to post here again soon, but if I lapse, check the MWSC blog. It's pretty cool.
Love and Adventures,
Toast
