How Do You Know? Summertime Musings

Summer is in full swing in Southern Maine bringing with it hot weather, long hours and summer employment.

This summer is much different from summers past because I am working part time at LL Bean. I am grateful for the employment, since college expenses loom and it affords me a foothold in one of the most employee friendly corporations in the word.

On hot days it pays to be coastal 

My job has made it necessary for me to adjust how and when I train. I am working on balancing available training time with recovery needs and my job schedule. This experience will be very handy when I join my teammates at UNH this fall for training and studying. Despite this change I have trained more hours this season then I did at this time last season. Not having to spend time on the range also contributed to the increase in physical training hours. As the previous sentence implies, my biathlon sabbatical has entered its 4^th month. I have taken this time to focus on my skiing, clear my head and examine my priorities.

Working on that classic technique 

During a recent rollerski training session I was doing just that... Thinking through where I had been, what I had done, where I was and where it is I want to go. As these thoughts mixed with exercise induced chemicals, fatigue and mild dehydration I looked to my left and saw a woman I had passed 2 hours earlier on the first portion of my ski. She shouted as I passed, “How do you know where you are going? How do you know where you have been?” I was taken aback for a moment and replied something along the lines of “I go out and back!”  As I continued back to my car, I began to consider ever broadening interpretations of her question.

Once a field now a forest  

After returning to my car and re-gaining normal thought process I re-visited her odd query. I decided that no matter where I have been or what lies ahead I will endeavor to, as my coach Bill Meyer puts it “Enjoy the Journey”  

Mamma Snapper in the sand during a plyo session 

The journey continues this month with additional hours, a dash high intensity work and of course a few summer fun days as well.