I missed out on a lot in Europe this summer, my streak of three consecutive summers overseas was broken. When we first made this decision I was a little bummed out as the adventures are always memorable, but it was a great decision. With Alex in Europe following the circuit I was able to be planted in Austin without work travels for about six weeks....the longest gap in work related travel I have had since March 2008. The one place I did get to travel to during this time was Maine.

I went up to Vacationland for just that, a vacation. The trip up to the homeland was a great chance to relax, see fam & friends and to get out of the Texas heat (although my first day in Portland was 103...hottest day ever in July). My goal of the trip was to visit Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. Its sad to say but being a Mainer since 1990, I had never been to what people describe as one of the most beautiful places in the state. I had high hopes but when I got there I had no where to stay and no one to go with....but that soon changed.

I got a facebook message from Riley Masters, 3:58 miler from University of Maine, saying he and a few other guys would be up near Acadia training for a few weeks and asked if I wanted to come hang out. Naturally, I jump at any chance to live in an old cabin with a bunch of college xc runners living off ground beef and oatmeal while also incorporating minimal amounts of proper hygiene...well, thats what the lake is for.

I made the 2+ hour trek up on the Concord Busline and had a blast. The crew consisted of Riley, Erik Van Ingen (3:57 miler from Binghamton), Kyle Merber (3:58 miler from Columbia), Mark Feigen (3:43 1500 from Columbia) and Chris Derrick (13:29 5k from Stanford).  Oh wait...and there was Kevin, a former jumper and teammate of Van Ingen's at Binghamton who was there to help document the trip via video. 

From 10 lb beef tubes to great run to Reese Hoffa eating a turkey leg to stories around the camp fire every night, there was a lot of good times and great personalities. I was able to capture some interviews and moments with the group that I will be releasing over the next couple weeks. Erik Van Ingen will be putting together a documentary of their time summer together to give athletes and fans of the sport an inside look at what they did during summer training. Hopefully my videos open up some of the personalities of the group and help get the word out about the documentary. Looking forward to seeing how it comes out. 

Here is an interview with Van Ingen on the project and what his goal with the project is. Stay tuned for more from the group, but for now I must get ready for Daegu!!

Watch more video of The Real Maine on flotrack.org