Fall and Falling

It is PEAK FOLIAGE time in Maine and wowzers...it's so darn pretty outside. I have been just thrilled to be outside the last couple of weeks. I do love summer but fall is just so pretty!

A river in Kennebunk ME

My favorite playground, near Sugarloaf USA

I was out of town for a wedding this past weekend and had the chance to ride with 2 amazing fella's - the FM Brothers I'll call 'em - up in the Maine mountains. It was a balmy 35* and pouring rain so obviously we had to get out and do some mountain biking on the trails of Carrabassett Valley. Now, these two guys have been riding a long time. FM1 was a former semi-pro crit cyclist and long time mtn biker and FM2 (and my personal MTB coach and favorite adventure dude) has been riding those trails for years and was a mtb bike coach.

My babies, my QR and my EVA

on Eva on a dry day this summer

A girl and her bike, always ready for ADVENTURES

FM1 brought his Specialized Fat Bike to ride and FM2 stuck with his favorite hard tail. I had my beautiful Raleigh Eva from Kennebunkport Bicycle Co of course.

Me with the FM boys, the route we rote and my hot tea

We got bundled up and rode right out of the house to the trails. I was a bit nervous riding with these two veterans in slippery conditions to be honest, but...I was able to hang on we had a blast. We were SOAKED and very cold...and we opted to take the road back to save some time but as soon as we hit the road, the headwind was super cold AND it was some slow going for sure, increasing the hypothermia factor greatly. While FM1 took off flying down the road, FM2 and I snuck off and hitched a ride home with a friend down the road. IT was THAT wet and cold.

Before long, I was stripping off the cold, wet layers and warming up with a cup of tea in front of a roaring fire! Ahhh....

Even in the freezing rain, I had a blast out there riding. I am SO loving mountain biking and I cannot believe I waited so long to hit the trails. I was so afraid of injury while training for so many big triathlon races...now I can see how it will just make me a much better athlete overall. Plus, it really is my happy place.

This week I got out for some running miles in the sunshine...and trails! I will let the pics speak for themselves.

I managed to keep my falls to 3 and the last one, I jammed my arm into a tree root pretty well (bruised) and managed to put a tear into my favorite light weight running tights. I was still smiling though...I stopped at 4 miles to enjoy a little break on this bridge and stretch, plank and just look around.

Blessed. Every day.

WHAT IS MAKING YOU SMILE THIS WEEK??

Reset Run

The last two weeks have been crazy. like UBER crazy and im trying to catch my breath. keep up.
between the many classes I am teaching per week--bootcamp, cycling, fitness.
covering for co-workers (which I LOVE) who are sick or away
being Mommy. wife. Jen.
and now add new SWIM COACH position to the mix (fist pump excited about it)

my own workouts have been missed. this is strange for me. i don't like it

but today? i made time for this.
it was heaven on earth.

*le sigh*

All I had to do was follow the YELLOW trail. Yup. still got lost. Ended up on Blue. Red.
It was fine. I was so ok with getting lost in the woods.

My incredible strength parted these trees. Not really...

Bridge Planks. Cuz that's totally normal when you are in the woods. 

DIRT!! WOOO HOOOO

Trail blocked...keep going!

I'll be doing that again soon...I have not had a re-set run like that in a LONG time.
all is well with the world

Adventures!

A tree recently downed by Sandy

I am thoroughly enjoying my little off-season break from any scheduled training. I have a general idea of WHAT I am doing on a certain day but there are no scheduled workouts, no yardage to hit in the pool, no HR intervals on the bike and no track-tasticness to tackle. That will be here soon enough!

I've been hitting up the weight and I am pleased with how quickly my body is responding to getting back into the gym. I really did miss weight training this past season and definitely feel that this needs to stay in my training regime this season.

I'm now teaching another group exercise class and the Y on Thursdays (awesome!) so I had a killer set planned for Thursday and then I have my normal bootcamp class on Friday morning. I have been actually DOING my classes (wow! work!!) so between Thursday, Friday, running and some additional workouts I was doing, my lower body was WORKED. My shoulders and core were that sublime sore that is a gentle reminder of how hard you worked.

I have been loving running and have been getting in at least 3 miles every day for the last week or so...Saturday morning, I hit up the TM at the house early for a quick run. It was one of those runs where the first 10 mins was a little rough and sore but then my body responded and I felt fantastic. Happy. I could feel every muscle in my body and I was just enjoying the feeling of the run.

Then I got for out a "naked" bike ride for a couple hours. It was a bit chilly but it was so nice to out and just riding with no plan, no agenda, no destination and no Garmin. JUST GO and enjoy the day.

Sunday I hit up some trails and just ran, had fun and was my dorky self--Enjoying every minute of it. I don't know why I don't do this more!!

I was seriously contemplating taking a swim...there was this little waterfall then lead into a somewhat shallow pool at the bottom. Maybe in warmer temps...

There were all kinds of trails all color coded so it made it pretty easy to follow. I never once thought about getting lost-except the HOPE of getting lost! I could have stayed out there all day, running around and playing.

This was the "pink trail" and we had a lively conversation about what the colors stood for. Was the "black trail" black like a black diamond trail skiing? My running buddy has his own idea of what the pink trail was for...PANSIES! (not his exact words for the pink trail...lol)

Showing that tree some of my sweet moves!

It has been my intention all along heading into the off season to get onto the trails running and to get some mountain biking in. I tend to avoid these kinds of activities during big training cycles and near races since I fear injury (my middle name is NOT Grace).

Rev 3 has an adventure race series and this year they are doing this pretty epic race in Wyoming. The Cowboy Tough Expedition Race in July. It is a four day race covering 320 to 485 miles.
*drool*
So.Want.To.Do.THIS.

So maybe I have a tiny bit of motivation to get out there and get a little more adventure into my life. Now to learn orienteering...