ARC 2011

For those of you out there who do not know me on a personal level, I'm just going to throw it out there that I can be pretty man-ish sometimes. No, pretty bro. I like that term better. This afternoon (after an extensive trip to Mardin's) I returned from running camp #1, the Acadian Running Camp, in which the campers stayed at Smuggler's Den (it was pretty in-tents, ha ha!), a campground on the island. All but about three of the 85 some-odd campers are from Maine schools, which makes it pretty unique (FOC shall be fun). Back to my reasoning on being pretty bro. I am not the least bit ashamed to admit that I only took 1 (yes, one) shower during the whole time, and it was on the eve before we all departed. Not to say I wasn't clean(ish), because I went swimming in the pool, lake and ocean every day. And I reapplied deodorant at least 10 times there. After winning the rock throwing game and being a bit more, eherm, skilled at frisbee than several anonymous male folks (Jay Lesser and Alex Coffin), I was taken in and kind of became one of the guys. So now onto the actual running part of running camp..
The first afternoon I ran to Echo Lake with a group of Falmouth girls, which was about three miles. I tend to forget that Echo Lake doesn't get deep for a while, and always end up awkwardly running in and semi-diving into the knee-deep water. On the second day, the group was bussed to the wonderful carriage trails, and I ran around one of the many water resources on the island (that you are not allowed to swim in, what a tease) with Mallory Evans of York. Nina Boutin (also York) ran with us for a portion of the six mile run. We went into Bar Harbor for ice cream, and I also ended up in a knife/ gun/ binoculars/ ass-less chaps/ jewelry store.. quite an interesting place. On the third day, the camp did a 2 mile prediction run, in which the boys could not run faster than 16 minutes, and the girls 18. I predicted 20 minutes for myself, as I thought I could easily settle into what I assumed to be a 10 minute mile pace. I ended up 7th overall, with a 19:49.. 11 seconds fast. And finally, on the last morning (yes, it was waaaay too short of a camp), all I did was take down tents and play more frisbee because of a blood blister I got on my toe as a result of the dance the previous night. I'm most definitely looking forward to next year already, because the camp allots incoming freshmen in college to attend as well, so I will still be eligible. Also, anyone reading this should come to the Summerfest 5k in downtown Farmington Friday night!
KKNW, Addie



My yummy blister, excuse my dirty summer toes..

Finally a Laker.

I have been competing on the Laker's team (that enables athletes to qualify for the USATF National races) for the past three years. It is only now, however, that I can truly call myself a "laker." During our summer run yesterday, I finally, finally (FINALLY!) ran completely around the lake, something I've aspired to do since freshman year. I don't know what was holding me back for so long, but I'm usually a pretty low-mileage kind of gal (not that seven is anything to shake a stick at). So there, I did it.
KKNW, Addie

Bass Park, where the team meets... this blog was created after an incident here that promoted our first post!


Wilson Lake, Wilton

Correct Your Form, Before It Is Too Late.

If you have ever had the misfortune to see me run, you'll chuckle and understand why I say "misfortune" (you were also probably wincing a little as I passed by).Unfortunately, growing up in a running family has not blessed me with flawless running technique... at all. For those of you lucky enough to have never witnessed a race that I have been in, I'll help you visualize my "form" going into high school. Picture a person sitting with a straight back. Maintaining the angle of their back, they were then coaxed into imaginary alpine ski boots, which make one sort of in a sitting position, and provide no alternative to taking heel-slapping steps. Add some arms awkwardly bouncing at 160 degree angles at the sides and a stationary ponytail and you've got me. The past three years I have really been working on my arms. I've even run with giant branches in my hands to remind me that I've got arms that require more acute-angled swings. I haven't entirely corrected my arms, but I'm actually using them somewhat now. Bit of a hypocrite, really, as my favorite cheering phrase is use your arms, they will carry your legs! Anyway, the point of this post is to let you know that if you are naturally a sit-runner like myself, that you really must work on leaning forward. I gained thirty strides on my mother in two minutes by leaning forward (it corrects the heel landing).
KKNW, Addie

Here's a wonderful demo on good running form.

Transition Into XC

Ahhh, XC. I can practically smell it in the humid Maine July air, with preseason starting "just 36 days from now" (exclaimed my mother this morning while she enthusiastically typed out an email to the team). The last time that I raced was at the Bowdoin Gala on June 17, after taking my Calculus and Chemistry finals on my last day of school. Needless to say, it wasn't a fantastic race, because I decided to not use a watch in the mile but pace off of another racer seeded with a 5:20. My advice after that experience- you cannot rely on others in order to have the race of your life, because they might just end up having the worst one of theirs. Lets just say my pacer did not have the race of her life. Enough said. Alright! In the meantime, the team gets together a couple of times a week for low-key workouts/runs. I've also been doing a lot of cross training this summer (more than running, in fact)- rollerskiing and hiking. This past weekend my family and some family friends went on our annual wilderness camping trip on Flagstaff Lake. The teens all got up on one of the mornings and hiked to the top of Avery Peak on Bigelow, which is a 9 mile hike. It literally took all day, but was literally a lot of fun.
KKNW, Addie



Ashten Hackett (remember that awesome State Champ Hurdle/Jumper from Edward Little??) and I atop Avery Peak, Bigelow Mtn.