Maine Camp Report From Erika

On Friday the SMS T2 team finished up our mini camp in Maine. We had a solid four days of speed, intensity, kayaking, lobster and surfing.

After a 3 hour running and roller-ski workout Wednesday morning, the camp headed to the coast for the afternoon and jumped in kayaks for some good “recovery.” We tried to follow the lead of coach Gus and Welly Ramsey of Maine Winter Sports who looked like total naturals in their boats and led the charge around some small sea islands. Unfortunately not everyone made the transition from skiing to water so easily. Skyler and Andy spent more time on the rocks than on the water while trying to navigate a tricky tandem kayak and the girls were easily distracted by starfish and eagles, looking for any excuse to rest our arms from the rapid paddling pace set by the leaders. Our efforts were rewarded however by an incredible lobster bake courtesy of the Fuller family and Flying Point photography.  Annie tried her first lobster and we all stuffed our faces with copious amounts of clams, mussels, and homemade blueberry pie.

Our last day in Maine finished with a complete round of classic sprints from qualifying to final heats. Pineland farms offered some good rolling terrain for an out and back sprint that mimicked the course profile of many city sprints. Cows, pigs and chickens lined the course for the race and some light cloud cover made for perfect sprint weather. Famished after some hard racing Sophie and Annie came up with the ingenious idea to cool down with a ski to the local market to pick up some tasty sandwiches for lunch.

We were sad to leave the beautiful Maine coast but had an awesome time with the Maine Winter Sports Club. Thanks for a great camp!