April 24, 2008

Spring!?


With a wave of unseasonably warm weather, spring has arrived in more ways than one. This week is the first week of training in the 08-09 season. It seems strange that we've already come full circle back to the beginning. There's one big difference, though. Whereas last year at this time I was finishing up school with a whole month of classes left, this year I am beginning to train full time. It's going to be a huge advantage to have a whole month more than last year. And after a nice break from biathlon, I'm really looking forward to training again and kicking this season off right!

April 9, 2008

End of the Season

Vacation!

The 07-08 competition season is done, and it ended with a bang for me! Canadian Nationals was a huge success, as I finished 3rd overall and top US athlete (again!) in the Sprint race. I was really happy with my race. I skied hard and shot well, with only 2 penalties for the day. It was a great end to the individual race season.

Women's Sprint Podium

The relay was the last competition for the year and it was a great race. Though my legs were tired from 2 weeks of racing, I felt pretty good and had a lot of fun in my first relay competition. The way the teams worked was that there was 2 men and 1 woman (although some teams had 2 women and 1 man-our setup was the faster choice), and as with all relay competitions, you had three extra rounds to hit the five targets at both shooting stages. My teammate tagged off to me in 2nd place, but I was quickly passed by a team who had chosen to send their men in the first and second positions rather than first and third as our team had elected. I skied well though, and used 2 extra rounds to clean my target both in prone and standing and tagged off in 4th place to our last leg. Although he had some trouble in the first shooting stage, he skied well and moved us up to 3rd place. It was pretty neat. Getting to stand on the podium three days in a row was definitely a great experience, and a great end to the season.

Getting into position in the relay.

After the races, my parents, who had come to see me race, and my boyfriend Zach and I drove down to Seattle where my parents flew back to Boise to work and Zach and I continued down the Oregon coast for a little vacation. It was a bit rainy and cold, but very nice to have a break from skiing. We had nowhere to be and nothing to do; it was great.

Zach and me on the Oregon Coast.

Now I'm home in Boise for a week and then back to Lake Placid to get going on next season...