An Easy Week

This week has been a recovery week following the conclusion of our most recent training camp with the National A Team. During last year's training camp in June it was all I could do to survive the high training hours and intensity. This year has been completely different so far. Last year's huge increase in training hours is paying off. Rather than struggling to just make it through the camp this year I was able to focus on getting the most out of strength, technique, and shooting sessions.

At the conclusion of last week Sara and I drove over to Dartmouth's Mt. Moosilauke Ravine Lodge for the wedding of two good friends from college. The rustic lodge sits about halfway up Moosilauke Mountain and serves as the end point for Dartmouth's first-year wilderness trips each fall and the start of the famed Moosilauke Ski Team time trial (a brutal 3.6 mile run to the summit) among other things. We attended the outdoor ceremony and then hiked with the bride and groom and a large group to the summit before returning to the lodge for dinner and dancing. Getting away from the Training Center for a couple of days was a fantastic way to start the easy week.

Sara and me at the summit of Moosilauke

Sara and I returned to Lake Placid Sunday evening. A friend had asked us to take care of his parent's home while they were out of town for a couple of days so Sara and I got to look after two great dogs and utilize their yard and kitchen. Both Sara and I share one room doubles at the OTC so it was a blast cheffing it up and kicking back on a porch with a great view for a couple of afternoons. Monday evening we were treated to a fantastic lightning storm that played itself out over the distant mountains. The following evening another storm rolled through and left a beautiful rainbow, which we enjoyed while cooking up gluten free crepes with fresh mint and strawberry yogurt fillings and a spinach salad with fresh strawberries from a small farm in VT. It's not often that we are able to slow down enough from training to take the time to cook so we really enjoyed the opportunity.

Storm remnants

Gluten free gourmet

I got back into the training routine for the second half of this week. There isn't much more to report other than that I'll begin a big block of training starting Monday morning. I'll be in Jericho, VT for the early part of next week training at the Ethan Allen Biathlon Range. A rollerskiing loop with a small firing range is being built here in Lake Placid, but until it's completion we'll probably make the trip to VT every week or two in order to do rollerski combos.