I was raised on Clarklake, a small all-sports lake in Michigan that always seems to have a little something going on.  Clarklake’s Summerfest includes Crab races, a Trirathlon/Dualthon, Lobsterfest, Clarklake Run & ends with Raft-o-Rama.  I was able to make it home for many of the festivities this year.

Lobsterfest is an evening of delicious food, great music, socializing, and dancing on Eagle Point.  Daryl, from Daryl’s Downtown personally came to the lake with a crew and created a delicious Lobster, steak or chicken dinner.  Yummy!!  Wheatfield Soul performed and kept people dancing into the night.  It was a magical evening on the lake! 

The next morning was the Clarklake Run, which has options for everyone to be involved…there is the 5K run/walk, the 12K run/walk, and the ¾ mile kids fun run.  So with my belly full of lobster from the night before (I mean a girl has to eat!!) I began the 12K with several members of the running organization Soul2Sole.  This group is inspiring!!  It is a running club that is diversified, supports community events, is committed to cross-training and yoga, makes donations to less fortunate runners, competes in U.S. and international marathons, works to bring an international member to the United States, and has some pretty amazing members!  I was honored to run with them…if only for a little bit before they moved ahead of me.  

The 12K was on the Clarklake Spirit Trail which is a paved path around the lake dedicated in memory of Tom Collins, a Clarklake legend.  The trail has been a wonderful addition to the lake, it is a great place for everyone to be active and enjoy the scenery around the lake…but who can ever make it ALL the way around without a stop into someone’s house for a story or two?  Except when running a race of course…but it was tempting with all those friendly and familiar faces cheering us on.

The final day of Summerfest is Raft-O-Rama where families and friends decorate their pontoon boats and have a parade around the lake.  This year was the 50^th Anniversary of Raft-o-Rama and the theme was Anything Gold Does.  The lake was filled with many creative pontoon boats on the lake that day, smiling faces, and laughter.  What a great way to spend a summer day!

We’re been enjoying our summer and here are some memories of the past few months:

 New aspen leaves bringing color after the stark alpine winter…The scent and vividness of wildflowers along the trail…Baby mountain goats hiding behind their mamas…Sitting by the river at dusk sipping Gin and Tonics…Learning to row a raft on the Rogue river…Gazing at impossibly blue skies…10 p.m. sunsets…owl hoots at dusk…Cooling down in the creek after a long ride in the hot sun…a hail storm raging through the valley…climbing cracks…the Lucky-dog dragging a small tree to us for a game of fetch…Getting our cultural fix and getting to dress up a bit at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival…Watching an Osprey dive and come up with the day’s best catch…celebrating the 4^th and my brothers 40^th with a river-side dance party.

This past month, the Canadian National Ski Cross team gathered in Whistler for the summer dry land training camp and testing.

The crazy part about that is… I went too! 

After last winter, one of the most challenging winters of my life for so many reasons, I wasn’t sure if I would ever go back again. I kinda thought I would join the masses and be a regular ol’ mom, doin’ one of the toughest most thankless jobs out there. Turns out… I prefer to add a little more to my plate, you know, just to push it to the very edge.

Anyway, I arrived at the Whistler Athletes Olympic village site on a quiet Monday. That was cool to see for the first time, the area is quite beautiful.  We met in the gym which during the Olympics was the “games” room containing pool & foosball tables and TVs. 

The grueling week at Whistler would consist of exquisite activities such as, Blood Lactate testing which means, ride the stationary bike as long as you can while every minute someone pricks your finger with a pin and squeezes it to get your blood, then they increase the resistance till you can’t make the peddles turn around anymore! Then to top it off, they yell at you to keep peddling!

Tuesday we did Functional testing which means; how high then how far can you jump? How many push-ups and pull-ups can you do? what is the maximum amount of weight you can put on your back and squat down (and the clincher, stand back up!!!) then the crusher…how many times, in 90 seconds, can you go into a 90 degree squat with half of your body weight on your shoulders (you should try that!), then they make you jump on a box 6 or 8 times to see if you can balance on one leg when you land!?

I’m pretty sure EVERYONE felt lasting pain from the 90 second test for days into our camp!! I’m happy I live in a rancher with only 2 excruciatingly painful stairs to climb to get in the house!

The following days included a couple field workouts with medicine balls, resistance bands, more pain and an afternoon of paddle boarding and one much needed yoga session!

The only difference between my workout days and the other team members was I went home to my two lil’ niblets! Which as many of you know, is a whole ‘nother workout in its self!

So, my afternoon “workouts” included 2 full days at the Whistler water park, washing the car in the driveway, weeding the garden, some slip and slide action and because life is a wonderful adventure, an evening on Susan Chapelle’s boat, kids and all!

Well, so far I guess my decision has been made for my upcoming 10 months…I’m racing Ski Cross again this winter and, at the very least… I’m going to get back in shape

I have a profound love of motion. Chinese medicine calls it moving your qi. Westerners call it exercise. I call it play. Any form of movement makes me happy: dancing, rolling, striding, sliding, swimming, paddling. I love movement in all seasons and mediums, especially when I am outdoors. There is no time when I feel more happy, free or focused.

For such a kinetic being, injury is a grave sentence with lessons I have to relearn again and again. I struggle with the physical limitations imposed on me. So each time I am broken, sprained, strained or otherwise out of commission, I am reminded to slow down and appreciate the smaller more subtle movements and gifts of my life. Overwhelmingly, my experience is gratitude. I am grateful for the amazing network of support I have from family and friends. I become grateful for all the time in my life when I have perfect health. The opportunity to move and be in the mountains or on the river become more precious.

Despite surgery on my broken elbow (which is doing beautifully thanks to my very skilled surgeon and the miracle of healing) I was able to travel with my family to Ontario, Canada and spend time at the summer camp my Dad was the director of when I was growing up. It’s the kind of place time has forgotten. My husband Bart and I also made a trip to Denver to visit his Mom and brother. We visited the botanical garden and enjoyed the Henry Moore sculptures, as well as the King Tut exhibit. It was a highly cultural weekend.

Now I wait, heal and slowly bring movement back into my life. Each day I hope I’m a little bit wiser.

Sally on vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Having lived for almost five wonderful years in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, every return visit now feels like a homecoming. There are friends to catch up with, favorite restaurants to eat at, and a long list of fabulous hikes, trail runs and climbs to do. This summer’s trip was no exception. And even though we had just six days there, I managed to check most of my must-do’s off the list—including relaxing with a latte by the creek in back of Pearl Street Bagels, a yummy dinner of Pad Gar Proa on the deck at Teton Thai, and several bbqs with friends.

On our way to Jackson from Boulder, we spent the weekend camping and sport climbing at Wild Iris in Lander, WY. The crag is at about 9,000 feet, so the weather was cool enough to be comfortable and the lupine and other wild flowers were in full bloom. Having become mainly a gym-only climber of late, my poor fingers were quickly scraped raw by the rock. But that didn’t dampen my enthusiasm! I even decided to try leading a route—my first outdoor lead since my last visit to Wild Iris four years ago. The fact that I had a little meltdown just above the third bolt and demanded that my partner lower me down didn’t feel like a failure. I’m sure if I’d had another day there, I would have made it to the top of  that route—and others—with no problem!

My favorite day in Jackson involved a spectacular—and strenuous—hike up to a high alpine lake in Grand Teton National Park. Thanks to a bit of bushwacking, steep terrain, and an icy stream crossing, this is one of the Park’s less-traveled trails. In fact, we saw only a handful of hikers all day long. By the time we got above tree line, I was feeling the altitude and my pace slowed. About halfway up the seemingly endless talus field we had to traverse, I was ready to turn around. But finally, we topped out and got our first glimpse of Timberline Lake—with its turquoise waters just barely visible through the still-thick layer of snow and ice. After stopping for a well-earned cookie, we hiked back out, soaked our feet in a creek at the trailhead, and basked in the glow of yet another glorious Jackson day.