Bloggin' and boggin'

Welcome to another installment of the blog of Ben Allen! Last week was a very low week in terms of training hours because the 2 weeks before that were high in hours. That means there was lots of sitting around and resting, which is a very important part of training. Stress and recover is a good way to think of it. 

This will not turn into a blog about food, but I must share what Austin made on Monday night. Quesaritos. A cross between a quesadilla and a burrito. The best of both world. I highly suggest you make it, its quick and easy. Plus you can make it if 3 cross country guys living by themselves can make it. 

On Thursday we went bogging. This just means running through a bog. This was a different kind of bog from the Sugarloaf camp, where this had no standing water. The best way to describe it is that my feet were confused. As Dr. Casey Smith described it, "Its a cross between a waterbed and a tempurpedic mattress."

 After we bounded through the bog we played ultimate frisbee, because the bog was so soft you could dive for the frisbee without a worry that you were going to get injured.

Friday the biathletes came down from Fort Kent and we all went blueberry picking.

Saturday Lance and I did strength and as you can see Lance gained an insane amount of muscle mass. 

Sunday we all went to the Northern Maine Fair to see what it had to offer. The tractor/truck pull is where we ended up, and oh boy was it awesome! The power that these tractors had was jaw dropping. They were so loud and make so much smoke it made me want to drive one. In my opinion they should have this every single weekend, year-round and add obstacles and jumps. It should also be added into the Olympics, just my opinion.

This is me inside a tractor wheel. 

Thanks for reading! Tune back next week!

Volume Week and Canada

Hello family, friends, and anyone who wants to know what a post graduate is doing! This week was, just like every other week, very exciting and filled with new adventures. This week I have lots of pictures, just warning you.

This week Austin Huneck came back from his trip out west that included climbing Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier. Also we had a guest, Nate Moreau, who skis for Bates College. He came up to the county for a change in training from southern Maine. Once everyone got settled in, I preformed the duty of grill master and cooked up some hamburgers.

Thanks for the grill Grandma!

(photo: Austin Huneck)

Wednesday was another event filled day. Austin and I had to go see Lance because Austin left lunch meat in his fridge (another story). As usual, hanging out with Lance always ends with an adventure and on this day it ended with rebuilding his zip line in his back yard. It had been a couple years since this zip line was used so it took a little work but we eventually got it to work.

Action shot

(photo: Austin Huneck)

On the way back to the house Austin and I saw a cluster of food vendors in a parking lot just off of Main St. Through some investigating, we found out that it was the beginning of the Potato Blossom Festival. I am still unclear why there is a festival for this but it turned out to be awesome later in the week. Since it was a potato festival we though that we could buy potatoes in bulk for cooking. Unfortunately that was  not the case. We asked the locals we could buy bulk potatoes and we were directed to Goughan's Farm.  Again we were disappointed no to find what we were looking for but we did find mini golf!! Even better it only cost $3.50!

Austin and I decided it was a no-brainer and played 9 holes of mini golf behind a farm stand.

Taking the first shot

(photo: Austin Huneck)

The 9 holes were really nicely laid out

We found a goose

On Friday night Mrs. Bartley, junior skier Jason and Max Bartley's mom, had us over for a dinner of pulled pork sandwiches. It was absolutely delicious, thank you Mrs. Bartley! There was a dance where the food court was earlier in the week. They blocked off a part of Main St. and had a band playing. It felt like we were at a county fair in the midwest, except we were in northern Maine. 

The band played out of a tractor trailer 

Saturday we had intervals and speeds when a group of bikers went by.

Saturday afternoon we left for Kamouraska, Quebec. This was a trip for post graduates and Olympic Development Team members.

Kamouraska was amazing, It was so nice to be back at the ocean again. I had forgotten how much I missed it. It's a very unique place also. All around is farm land except for small ridges that ran parallel to the St. Lawrence. The ridges were only about 500 to 1000 yards long. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before.

On Sunday one group went for a 5 hour road bike and another group went for a run/hike. I was a hiker and we set out to climb the ridges and make our way back to the campsite. What ended up happening was we bushwhacked for 2 hours along a "trail". This trail was marked but that's about it. It was still uncut so it made a rough going, but it was an excellent hike. 

Near the end of the hike

(L to R: Bates skier and runner Gabby Naranja, me, Bates skier Nate Moreau, Casey Smith MWSC ODT biathlete)

Slack lining

On Monday, 7 of us went rock climbing. I haven't gone in a while but it was a beautiful day and many of my teammates were really good at it.

Kelsey Dickinson scaling up the face

Another incredible day 

On they way back from Canada Austin and I decided to take a dip in Lake Madawaska. It felt amazing.

One last thing. Shout out to my teammate Austin Huneck recently got sponsored by the skiing company Alpina. He's worked really hard and definitely deserves it.

Sugarloaf Camp

Hello Everyone! This week was an especially exciting week because we were at Sugarloaf mountain in Carrabassett Valley, Maine. We stayed in the Carrabassett Valley Academy dorms and ate meals in their dining hall. The cooks at CVA are outstanding, everyone ate very well thanks to them. 

From Presque Isle to Carrabassett Valley is about 5 hours including stops, quite a change from the usual 2.5 hours it is from Portland. The first full day we were there the the work out was L3 uphill repeats. I wasn't so great at them, but it was great to see my teammates crushing it. 

Olympic Development Team Athlete Kelsey Dickenson

After most workouts we went to a near-by swimming hole which was cool and refreshing. 

 Everyone watching the Would Cup semi-finals (except for Mitch)

 The walk back from dinner

The second day everyone went on a hike through the Bigelow Mountains. It was an beautiful day with  great views. 

 Looking back to Sugarloaf

 Biathlete Brian Halligan

 The next day the workout was a 2 hour double pole along rt 16, between Rangely and Stratton.

 Bounding up Sugarloaf!

The final day of this training camp consists of my favorite workouts. What happens is MWSC coaches and Welly place questions all around a certain area, like the one below. Then they mark the general area on a map and clues as to where the questions are. You can score points 2 ways; one way is you just find the question and write it down, the other way is to get the question right. The harder the question is to get to the more points you score. There were grammar, math, and SAT questions and a riddle. Casey Smith, a biathlete and ODT was my partner and we ended up winning! Not because we got a lot of questions right but because we went to every question. In total we were running/looking for clues for 3 hours! 

  Can you figure it out?

Answer at bottom of page

Some questions were underwater!

If you want to see more photos of the Scavenger Hunt or the hike go to the Maine Winter Sports Center page on Facebook. Thanks for reading!

Answer: Brad and Beth. Combine those and get Bad Breath! 

Recovery Week

Sorry I got this up later than I originally stated! So last week was a recovery week, which means that I trained less hours than 2 weeks ago and next week. I also forgot my camera a lot.

Tuesday was a busy day for me, we had a workout in the morning, then Lance and I went swimming in a culvert on the side of the road. Yes, we were that desperate but it was totally worth it. Later in the day, Will picked Nate and I up and we head up to Lake Madawaska because Carl Soderburg (top 50 most influential people in Maine named by Maine Magazine) invited us up to his camp. After a workout on an old logging road, Carl took Nate and I tubing behind his boat.

  Nate takes a spill

(Photo Credit Welly Ramsay)

             

                                      

Standing up on the raft

                                      

I eventually got thrown off. 

Thank you Carl for the awesome evening!!

On the fourth of July, the town of Stockholm has a parade and I got to be in it! Russell Currier is a biathlete who skied and shot for team USA at the Olympics this past winter. It was decided the he should be the Grand Marshall of the parade and there should be a group of people rollerskiing behind him. The parade consisted of lots of interesting fire trucks from surround town, girl scouts, a band, politicians, and young marines. All in all it was sweet to be in a parade.

 Where they blocked off the road.

 Skiing to the front of the line

 All the skiers lined up waiting to start skiing

 The banner that was made for Stockholm's first Olympian

 A picture of all the people that skied with Russell

 After the parade most of the Maine Winter athletes went over to Will Sweetser's house for lunch and skeet shooting!

 Cake that Kam made. It was impressive

Bates Skier Nick Michaud 

 Will throwing a bird, but normally we used a device that flings it, kind of like the thing you use when throwing a tennis ball with a dog.

 Shooting my first shotgun! It was sweet

'Murica

On Saturday we went back to Stockholm for intervals, as it so happened it was raining quite a bit, but I still would rather have it be 55 and raining that 90 and sunny. Its probably just the skier in me.

 Work out briefing by Will

 Brendan, Lance and I after the ski. At that point it felt like I put ski boots on, walked into a lake, and just stood there for 2 hours while it rained. It was still a beneficial workout even though my boots took three days to dry. 

One last very important event that happen last week. While we were looking around in Marden's, I stumble upon a 3 pound bag of gummy bears. They weren't even the crappy kind of gummy bears that you buy at gas stations because you found a couple bucks in the seat. No, these were the high quality gummy bears that only high quality people have. And on that day I became a high quality person. Now, they were supposed to be for the 5 hour car ride to Sugarloaf the next week, but nope they got eaten in 5 days. Currently the bag is empty and I will be making back to Mardens and buy as many three pounds bags of gummy bears as my heart desires.

Best four dollars I ever spent.

This week I'm in Sugarloaf for a six day training camp!