May 21, 2009

Overdue Update

Hello!

Wow, what a whirl-wind season it's been! It's already May and things are in full swing again for the coming Olympic season. Before we get rolling on that, though, let's get caught up.

Many of you know by now that my World Cup debut was very successful. I had a 38th place in the sprint race with clean shooting-scoring 3 world cup points and posting the second best US women's World Cup result of the entire year. It was a great way to start my World Cup career and has made me very excited about next year when the Olympics will be held on the same courses.

Heading to the finish in Vancouver.

From Vancouver I headed to Fort Kent, Maine for US National Championships. I definitely felt like I was coming off a high, but put together a decent race the first day. I was really looking forward to the pursuit competition on day two, but right before the race, disaster struck. I fell coming into the range for zero on an icy corner and broke my stock. I was still able to pull off an ok race with a borrowed rifle. I finished the series with a 4th place in the Mass Start, which I was happy with considering the circumstances.

Rifle in two pieces; not good.

The next week was Canadian Nationals in Valcartier, Quebec, Canada. It was a tough week for me, as I was both mentally and physically exhausted. The weather was ridiculous, with warm weather making for slushy, slow skiing conditions and three exhausting races in a row. Luckily, they were the last three of the season, and I had a nice vacation trip to look forward to at the end.

After taking a couple weeks off to travel and get some good relaxation in, I'm back at the training center getting ready for the summer. We already had a small camp here with a few of the B team women, and we'll have our first big camp starting the second week in June.

It's hard to believe that May is half over and the Olympics are just about 9 months away. It's going to be a whirlwind, but I'm ready and looking forward to it!

Heading out of the range in Fort Kent.

The men's mass start in Ft. Kent.