Adventure Camp

We had Loppet Adventure Camp week last week.  A huge thank you to the City Of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation for providing scholarships for 12 kids from the Boys and Girls Club to enjoy Loppet Adventure Camp for the week.  The crew has been looking forward to Adventure Camp week all summer.  The camp is a week long all day camp near Wirth Lake where adventurers get to learn and perfect their skills at mountain biking, roller skiing, trail running, orienteering, canoeing, capture the flag and more.  Challenges are added each day as the kids skills improve and it is a blast to help the kids go from barely standing on roller skis to competing in a 1 km race.  Everyone had a great time last year and it was fun to have a full van of kids ready and waiting even before 'The Club' opened up so that they would be on time to Adventure Camp.  Also thank you to Anthony Taylor for helping to transport the kids when my training got in the way.  

Getting strong and having fun at Adventure Camp

Powered by Fruit Share Organic Apples help us to keep going strong all day long.

Fueling right can keep you energized and having fun all day long..  I know I am not the only one with a sweet tooth and fresh fruit is nature's candy.  I think Janaya was the most excited about the fruit.  Throughout the week we enjoyed fresh apples, plums, nectarines and peaches.

Devon, psyched to have the front seat.

Brianna and Amori still smiling after a full day of physical activity in the warm weather

I training 26 hours the week of Adventure Camp and also worked every weekday.  It is pretty amazing how the smile on the kids faces can energize you.  On Wednesday, Caitlin and I flew out to California for her Uncle Kelly and Fran's wedding.  I will miss the crew at the Club but am looking forward to a bit more recovery between sessions.

Noah showing me around the Donner Ridge trails on a 3-hour 20 mile run.

Summertime Routine

One of my goals this year is to limit my number of out-of-competition travel days.  I love going to training camps but I have found that if I am always moving around it is hard to really get in to a good groove.  I have really enjoyed the last four weeks of staying at home and training and working in Minneapolis.  I have been training a lot, logging just over 30 hours a week ago and that load is so much easier if you can do most of it right outside your door.  I even had one whole week where I didn't use the car once.  Although that was because Caitlin had the car for a camp up in Wisconsin.  Still, it is pretty fantastic to have great training and a great job right in your backyard.

'Everyone who wants to play line up at the Glengale Park Sign"

This summer has been busier than ever at the club and our attendance is at a record high.  The Jerry Gamble Boys and Girls Club is really understaffed so if you have a few spare hours drop on by and volunteer.  It is so much fun to be able to be with the kids consistently and fun to see our Run Program continue to grow.  We have a date set now of September 7th for us all to compete in the 5km Heart of the City Race.  We are super excited.

"Get outside and play an hour or more each day"

One of our favorite new games is to set up challenging obstacle courses and see if we can all complete them.  The playground offers some pretty hard challenges.

I try to get in two races each month and I was psyched to find a 5km running race just up the street in North Minneapolis yesterday.  I ran a PR on an offical USATF 5km course of 16:03.  I am still looking to break 16 minutes.  I thought I had it but couldn't hold the pace on the final mile.  I haven't done much foot speed though and was still happy with a PR.

I am pretty sure today marked my first prize money ever in a running race.  $50 for the win isn't much but it still helps.  I was lucky to have Caitlin and Lahti to cheer and provide splits out on the course.