Sara Studebaker - Biathlete

Sara Studebakerova

2012-01-14T14:16:00.006-05:00

Hello from Czech! We’re currently in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, site of the 2013 World Championships, for World Cup 5. The post-Christmas World Cups can so far be summed up in one word: windy. Oberhof, Germany (site of World Cup 4) is known for it’s wind, and while the women’s sprint was relatively calm, our stay there saw all kinds of weather. So far, Nove Mesto is proving to be the same. Everyday we’ve come to the range to find the same wind from the left side, often with big gusts. Yesterday, during the women’s sprint, the weather added lots of snow to the mix in the middle of the race. It seems anything can happen here…but that’s biathlon, right?

We've all been getting used to our Czech names (which consist of the announcer adding -ova to the end of all the women's names) and it will be strange to be Sara Studebaker again next week when we head to Antholz. I'm looking forward to it...we're hoping for some sun!

And now, some pictures of 2012 so far:

It was a little bit windy in Oberhof...and Nove Mesto for that matter!

Various long car ride activities...

Stretching is important post-race.

We found this beautiful church in the town we're staying in here in Czech. The walls form a star pattern and inside is a cemetery. It was a little wind-swept on top, but the views were great!

Jet Lag and God Jul and Jet Lag

2012-01-02T15:16:00.005-05:00

Beautiful, snowy Hochfilzen!

How crazy the past few weeks have been! And when I say crazy, I mean that in the best possible way. From Hochfilzen home to Idaho for Christmas, then back to Germany 13 days later. While there was no snow in Boise, I was able to get some good training in up in Ketchum/Sun Valley area. It was great skiing with my brother and Zach, and spending quality time with my family. We had our usual Christmas Eve party with lots of good friends, food and cheer; it was nice not to think about biathlon for a couple weeks and just enjoy being home.

Coach Armin on the range during the mixed relay. I had a great leg, tagging off just 14 seconds back from the leader. It was a great race to end December on!

While home I went to practice with the Bogus Basin Junior Nordic Team. It was great to connect with my old club and show them some new exercises...but boy did it make me sore!

Our Christmas Eve Smörgåsbord beginning to take shape...don't worry, there's much more than this!

I arrived today in Oberhof, Germany where it has, unfortunately, been raining for two days. All the snow they had is nearly gone, and the organizers are scrambling to make things ready in time for the races. Our women's group is down to three since this week is also the second round of World Cup trials in Forni Avoltri, Italy. This means we won't have a relay team on Wednesday, but hopefully we can qualify one or two for the first mass start of the year on Sunday! We'll see what the conditions bring, but whatever happens, I'm excited to be back on the circuit and looking forward to racing on Friday!

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for 2012! ~Sara

Ok...

2011-12-09T11:50:00.006-05:00

Christmas comes to Östersund - but we found winter in Austria!

The first week of World Cup competition is completed, and we're already getting things underway here in Hochfilzen for World Cup #2. It's amazing how quickly the season starts to go by once the racing begins! Fortunately, Hochfilzen has had a nice snow storm to make the skiing good and the view wintry. Unfortunately, France cannot say the same. Instead of heading to Annecy-Le Grand Bornand next weekend, we'll be staying put for another week in Hochfilzen. We were all looking forward to skiing a new venue and seeing some new places along the way, but mother nature just didn't want to cooperate this year. Annecy hopes to host in December of 2013 instead.

My racing so far has not been exactly what I hoped for. While I was able to shoot well and move up into the points in the pursuit in Östersund, my skiing just hasn't been there. I tend to do better as the season goes on, and indeed last year my best races were in February. However, it's still hard feeling like you're not skiing where you feel you can. My coaches are confident the times will come, and already they see improvement from Östersund to Hochfilzen. I'm trying to be patient and confident too...though that's sometimes a tall order for an athlete!

Shooting has been solid; now we just wait for the skiing to follow. (photo: Jonne Kähkönen)

With 2 penalties, I just made it into the pursuit here tomorrow so I'm looking forward to shooting a little better and hopefully moving up. Every rung on the ladder must be touched before I can get where I want to be, so tomorrow I'm hoping to take another step up!

And it Begins...

2011-11-30T13:26:00.004-05:00

The stadium in Östersund, pre-snow storm.

The men have kicked off another World Cup Biathlon season with the Östersund Individual today, and the US men have set the bar for themselves and the team nicely! Lowell Bailey had a great race with only 2 penalties, putting him in 9th. Jay Hakkinen also put together a great race, finishing 18th with the same shooting. Two men in the top-20 is a great start for us, and the rest of the men looked strong and I'm sure are psyched to get the season going.

Some of our teammates raced on Sunday in the IBU Cup...in the middle of the first snow storm of the year!

The first race is always tough because you have no idea what your shape really is against all the other teams. It can be nerve-wracking and exciting all at once. Often times, you'll see athletes struggle in the first races, but when you can overcome that exhilarating feeling of kicking things off, then great races can happen. Tomorrow, I'll be aiming to put nerves behind me and kick off the season on the right foot. I already feel worlds ahead of last year, when parasites in the water knocked me down for the first weekend of World Cup racing. So no matter what, this is a much more positive start for me!

Skiing out on the extra 3km loop...before...

And during the storm! Much better...

The weather has been decidedly eastern here lately: with snow, rain, thunder and wind often all in one day. The snow has set up nicely, though, and the conditions should be fair and good for the race tomorrow. Wind may be a factor, but I plan on just going with what's dealt.

Racing starts at 5:15pm CET (+6hrs to EST) tomorrow. You can watch live feed and live results at www.biathlonworld.com. I'll be bib #29...and ready to get things going!

Östersund sunset...about 3:00pm!

Alive!

2011-11-19T08:02:00.001-05:00

Yes, though I may have seemed more than a little M.I.A. these last couple months, I've actually been quite busy. It's been pretty much the usual fall schedule since I left Alaska (with my cousin's wedding thrown in): Utah camp, prep for snow, head to Sweden, begin skiing...you get the idea. One major difference is that unlike last year's frigid weather, Sweden is this year offering very little snow, and balmy, just near freezing temperatures. But more on that later. For now, it's time for the here's-what-you-missed-in-photos blog post!

Training in AK...you work with what you've got.

My brother and me at my cousin's wedding. We clean up well!

What fun is a wedding without wheelbarrow races?! This counts as training, right?

Rollerskiing on the loop at Soldier Hollow, Utah. All but one day brought us amazing weather!

Annelies, Corrine and I enjoy the sunshine on a hike in Park City.

Along with several other people, we saw several Mountain Goats on Mt. Timpanogos!

Annelies and me on the way down from Timp. Snow turned us around early, but the hike was great anyway!

Corrine shows her excitement at the dusting of snow we hiked through before I left Lake Placid for Sweden. Ironically, there's more snow in this picture than in Ostersund!

Germany and Beyond

2011-09-21T16:15:00.004-04:00

It seems that despite all the best laid plans, my blogging efforts have been stalled for the past few weeks. Sorry about that. Since my last post, I spent a week in Oberhof, Germany before flying back to Lake Placid for three short days and then heading off to Alaska to visit Zach. Last week, Zach and I went off into the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve where we backpacked into some beautiful country looking for moose. We were unsuccessful in our moose hunt, but the trip was well worth it.

Hooked up to all kinds of fancy machines at the Salzburg University sport center. We stopped here briefly on our way from Ruhpolding to Oberhof for some shooting position analysis.

Inside the Ski Hall in Oberhof. I really enjoyed the opportunity to be on-snow, but the 1.7km loop became pretty repetitive!

We even had spectators checking us out from time to time!

While we didn't find any moose in Wrangell, we did find plenty of Caribou antlers!

Next week I head back to Lake Placid for another brief stop before our October camp in Utah begins. Yes, October. I can hardly believe how quickly August and September have flown by. I'm enjoying fall, though, and already looking forward to winter!

Time for Time Trials

2011-08-29T02:25:00.006-04:00

Hello from Germany!

Things have finally cooled off a bit here in Germany, and though I'm not going to complain about sunny days after the winter we had here, the cool down was MUCH appreciated! Last week was a pretty big one for us, with two time trials. The first was a normal biathlon time trial with the Italian team, Slovenians, Estonians and us (as well as Andrea Henkel). It was a hot day, but things went well for me. Given that the Italians were all on fast rollerskis and I was still 4th, I was happy. Shooting felt solid and the skiing was much better than Jericho a couple weeks ago. It was nice to do a time trial with the pressure of an international field, too: we were able to see where things might stack up this winter. Our coaches were pleased and I think we're all looking forward to fine tuning things in the next couple months before the snow flies!

Annelies shows off our ice bath post-time trial.

On Saturday, we did the epic Rossfeld uphill skate time trial. It was just our team, but that did not diminish the feat. Rossfeld is a fairly steep but skiable uphill (it averages an 8.5% grade) that takes about an hour to complete. The women's start point makes the course 10km, while the men start a bit lower for a 12km total. It's definitely an exercise in mental toughness - having to stay focused for that long, plus pacing correctly so you don't bonk before the end. Despite being a foggy, rainy day, it was a solid time trial. No one was complaining about the weather, because if it had stayed hot we would have all been more than miserable. I was very happy with my effort, and extremely glad to have the workout behind me!

Me, at the start of the Rossfeld TT. (photo: Jonne Kahkonnen)

Our women's group is now complete, with yesterday's arrival of Laura Spector (thanks, Irene, for letting her out!). Today we head off to Oberhof where we'll be able to ski in the ski tunnel the next few days. On the way, we'll stop in Salzburg for some shooting tests. Only one more week left in the camp, and only a couple more day left in August. The summer is ending and things are feeling on-track for a good winter. Here's to a great fall of training!

Beautiful Salzburg! (photo: Zachary Hall)

SUNpolding!

2011-08-21T15:07:00.002-04:00

See "Rainpolding" for contrast...

Greetings from SUNNY Bavaria! The first week of the Europe camp has flown by, and though the weather is always a worry, Ruhpolding has been cooperating fully by giving us bright, sunny days and thundering only at night. It’s been a great start!

So far, the team has been spending a lot of time on the roller loop at the Chiemgau Arena (where this season’s World Championships will be held) and running, biking and rollerskiing all around the Ruhpolding area. Thursday, we went on a 5 hour long bike/kayak excursion that took us into Austria and then over to the famed Chiemsee Lake before we circled back for delicious lunch.

Annelies getting ready for the kayak section of our adventure.

Biking in Bavaria...

Enjoying a well-earned Bavarian lunch post-bike!

Yesterday, after some technique combo work, we ran from the venue through a beautiful valley, ending at a ski resort hut where we had a quick snack while taking in the view before driving back to our hotel. This is an amazing place to train, not only because the people seem to think biathlon practice is a spectator event (it’s amazing how many people are in the stands just to watch us do L1 combos…and of course by “us” I mean Andrea Henkel and Magdalena Neuner), but also because of the sheer number of trails and roads just out the door for running and biking. It’s no wonder Germans excel at many sports – the atmosphere is just so conducive!

Andrea Henkel signing autographs while out at dinner.

This coming week will be our last in Ruhpolding. It will be a big week, including a time trial with the Italian, Slovenian, German B team, and Russian teams, and a much smaller hill climb time trial at the end of the week. It will be interesting to see how things shake out! Then off to Oberhof for some skiing in the ski tunnel there. It should be a great couple weeks!

Jericho, Take 2 and Other Adventures

2011-08-14T09:29:00.006-04:00

Alaska Adventures soon to come... Photo Credit: Zachary Hall

It's hard to believe that August is already here and the "travel" season is beginning for me. I'm heading out to Europe for a three week A-team camp in Ruhpolding and Oberhof, Germany. It should be a great camp and a fun start to the fall training season (I know, August seems a bit early to be saying "fall," but trust me, it will be here and gone before you know it). But first, a short re-cap of the North American Rollerski Biathlon Championships last weekend in Jericho, VT.

True to Jericho form, it was HOT and almost unbearably humid. Saturday's race was around 83F with about 85% humidity, making the race a tough one for sure. Many of the national team athletes have had issues with the heat in the past, and the sprint race was no exception. I was happy with my performance, though, and felt able to push through 2.5 of the 3 laps before completely bonking. At the time I was bummed with that, but it turned out to be further than most of the other women made it, and with only 1 penalty, it was enough to take home the title for that day! I've never been much of a performer in the summer months, and so having some success in Jericho was a boost for me, though I'm quick to say that performance in August does not necessarily correlate with performance in December...and December is the goal.

Heading out in the Sprint Race. Photo Credit: Judy Geer

The pursuit on Sunday saw no respite from the temperatures, and unfortunately for me, no repeat of the successes of Saturday. My skiing just wasn't there...I was not able to find my rhythm and my standing shooting was terribly off. But these things happen. I know you have to have bad days in order to learn and get to the great days. And as I said before, it's August, so not to worry.

After Jericho, most of the A-team headed back to Lake Placid for a week of solid, but relaxed training before leaving for Europe. After our three weeks in Germany, I'll be back to Lake Placid briefly before heading out to Alaska to train and see Zach. By the end of that trip, it will be October and Utah camp...and ski season is just around the corner from there! It's always amazing how quickly time goes when you're training. I'm looking forward to the traveling and adventures of the next couple months, but am being sure to stay focused and healthy as we creep up on December.

A Day in the Life

2011-08-03T14:29:00.005-04:00

I'm often asked what exactly I DO as an elite athlete every day. The answer is never as simple as one might think...it really depends on what kind of training week we're in (high volume, intensity focus, rest week, etc) and what time of year it is. In the spring things are much more free-form and less ski-specific than in the fall when we're gearing up for competition season. Nevertheless, here's a little peak at what a fairly typical August training day looks like (it happens to be my day yesterday, Tuesday August 2).

6:45am - wake up (remember to take morning heart rate!)

7:00 - Head down to the OTC cafeteria for breakfast (cereal, yogurt and fruit).

7:25 - Head back to room and get ready for training. This morning is a ski walking L3 workout at Whiteface Mtn, so I need to be sure to have extra clothes and water and food for post-workout. Don't forget bounding poles!

7:45 - depart with coaches and teammates for Whiteface.

8:15 - Arrive at Whiteface and begin warm-up (30min) followed by 5min L2 ski walking and then a 20min L3 block. After 20min, we meet up with our coaches and take lactates to be sure we're in the right zone. My lactate was 2.7 mmol/L, which is perfect for a L3 workout. However, I was feeling pretty tired so my coach and I decided that instead of 20 more continuous minutes of L3, I would do 4x5min. After the level 3, we did 3x1min of harder bounding (about L4) just to get the heart rate up a bit more. We then hiked/jogged back down the mountain to the van where we changed and stretched before heading back to the OTC.

11:00 - Arrive at the OTC. Shower and change before heading down to lunch.

11:30 - Lunch (grilled cheese sandwich, split pea soup and a salad).

12:15pm - Head back to the room to relax and nap before afternoon training. This time can be filled with any number of activities, including errands to town, writing blog posts, and calling family and friends. Yesterday, I updated USADA with my whereabouts for the coming weekend in Jericho and our upcoming training camp in Germany, then I took a nap.

3:30 - Meet teammate Annelies Cook for a run and strength workout. We did a short warm-up jog (30min) then 3x10min of circuit strength together. This is a great workout to do together; we were able to push and motivate each other and the workout was done before we knew it.

4:45 - Return to room. I'm having a small foot issue right now, so I was sure to ice it after my workout and stretch before showering. I then had a small snack since I wasn't going to head to dinner right away.

6:30 - Resident Athlete meeting. All OTC residents are required to attend these monthly meetings to discuss issues and events. They don't usually last too long and are usually pretty entertaining.

7:00 - Head to dinner (grilled chicken, wild rice, and LOTS of steamed veggies).

8:00 - Back to my room. Evening activities vary just like our off time during the day. Sometimes we have dry-fire work alone or with a coach, or updating your training log. Yesterday I worked on getting somewhat organized for Jericho and did some laundry while I watched a movie.

11:00pm - Bed! A good night's sleep is imperative for getting through tough training day after day!

Hopefully this gives you a better perspective of what life as a biathlete is like. More questions? Head to my facebook page and ask away!

Jericho, Take 1

2011-07-26T14:59:00.005-04:00

Last week the women's team headed over to Jericho, VT for a week of training on the rollerski loop and range there. Usually, Jericho is either unbearably hot or incredibly rainy, but this time we got (mostly) lucky. With only one day of rain, and a couple really hot days, the week was pretty pleasant. It was also the first time that the whole women's team has been together in a while. Laura Spector came over from school for the weekend, and all of us were back from our various vacations and off weeks. It was great having a solid group again, and gave us a short window to make a video for the US Ski Team Women's Video Challenge. Check out our entry here. The week culminated in a ride back from Jericho to Lake Placid. Nearly 100 miles on the hottest day of our camp was a bit brutal, but we survived and actually enjoyed it. At the very least, it was some great team bonding!

6:45am...heading out!

Heading up the Keane Hill...almost home!

We now have a bit of a break before we head back to Jericho for the National Rollerski Biathlon Championship races. For most, it will be the first part of trials for the December World Cup and IBU Cup races. Since I'm already qualified, it will just be a good chance to check up on the training I've been doing all summer and get that racing feel again. After the races, it's off to Europe for our August camp! It's amazing how fast the summer is flying by. I'm not quite ready for the training season to be done, but I think we're all starting to feel the slightest hint of that winter itch.

Home

2011-07-13T18:34:00.007-04:00

After a good training block in Lake Placid, I headed home to Boise at the end of June for a friend's wedding and to hang out with my family. Of course, I was still training, but it was nice to have a break from Lake Placid and have some different training venues and adventures to mix things up. Perhaps the biggest adventure was going on a hike in the Sawtooth Mountains with my mom and running into a black bear. He was probably more scared than we were, and quickly ran away...but it was enough to get our hearts racing and keep us talking loudly for the remainder of the hike. Clearly, I had no chance to get pictures of this encounter, but here are some I was able to snap on my trip.

My good friend Courtney got married while I was home and I was so excited to take part in her special day!

Post-bear encounter at Hell Roaring Lake. So beautiful!

The view from the top of Mount Baldy in Sun Valley. It was a great place to do some L3 ski walking...

...especially because once on top, you can ride the chair lift and gondola down! What a fun way to end a tough workout. :)

I'm now back in Lake Placid for a few days before our team heads over to Jericho, VT for a week of training. It will be nice to get in some solid skiing and shooting training...and to have all the women back training together for a while!

Tweet Tweet

2011-06-13T13:58:00.003-04:00

I'm now on twitter! Follow me here (@SaraStudebaker).

Hello June!

2011-06-08T11:46:00.000-04:00

Hiking in the Adirondacks a few weeks ago...things have become MUCH greener!

I've been more than negligent in my blog posting recently, but luckily that has not extended to my training in general. We're currently in the middle of a 22hr training week, and looking forward to a short shooting-focused camp next week. This will be the second National Team training camp of the year, and it's amazing to me how fast things have gotten underway. In fact, it's not just this year that's flying by...

Four years ago, I graduated from college and began pursuing biathlon full-time. It doesn't seem like that long ago, but I was recently reminded just how much can change so quickly. My time in biathlon has been full of trials and triumphs, not the least of which was making the 2010 Olympic Team. One of my biggest supporters along the way has been my younger brother, who, incidentally, entered into his own journey 4 years ago when he started college. A couple weeks ago, he graduated with a degree in Architecture from Yale University. I couldn't be more proud of him and what he's accomplished. Congratulations, Luke...and thanks for all your love and support! I can't wait to see where you go from here.

Luke, heading to Graduation!

The good news is that the rain has been letting up, and summer seems in full-swing. I'm looking forward to a trip home, and by the way June snuck up on me, July will fly by and our August camp in Europe will be here before I know it. Keep checking in...I'll be training hard as always!

My family celebrating Luke's graduation. What better excuse to get us all together?!

Back to It

2011-05-06T21:05:00.010-04:00

My spring break is over, and I'm back in Lake Placid after a relaxing month at home and on vacation around the west and in Mexico. It was really nice to be away from the OTC for a while and see my family, but it's also nice to be back in the rhythm of training. A new season has started, and with it have come some surprises.

Getting glittered up at a Fast and Female event in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Getting in some shooting training at a fair in Mexico.

The coming months and season will be a different one for me as my boyfriend, companion and training partner Zach Hall has decided to retire from biathlon. He's excited about the chance to do something different, but it will mean some adjustments for me. Perhaps I'll be doing more training in Alaska...

Zach and me in Mexico.

Another change in the team is the retirement of Haley Johnson. She will be missed next year, but as all athletes know, sometimes it's just time for a change. We all wish her the best.

Perhaps the biggest difference this year is harder to see from the outside. The women's team underwent several big changes last year: mid-summer we got a new coach, we had three women qualify for mass start races throughout the year (among other stellar team results), and we gained one more World Cup start spot. This year, we are beginning things with new confidence, and a sturdy coaching staff that will allow us to begin quality and consistent work right away. It's a very exciting time for the USBA women, and I'm looking forward to beginning this new season on the right foot.

Already back to dry-fire...

So far, it's been a very rainy spring in Lake Placid. Hopefully sun will return to the north country soon, but in the meantime, we'll be training full-time and trying not to float away!

The Finish Line

2011-03-29T17:15:00.003-04:00

Oslo-Holmenkollen finish line - the end of a long but fantastic season!

The season is finally over; "finally" in the sense that it has been a long one, not to say I'm relieved to see it done. While I'm certainly excited for some down-time, this has been an amazing season. I saw a huge jump in my results and have readjusted my perspective and goals in a positive way. I'm leaving this season behind more motivated and energized as I look towards the seasons to come. This is just the beginning of an exciting road to Sochi.

A fan's Good Luck sign for Haley and me in Oslo before the mass start.

That said, I've taken the typical post-season road and promptly became sick as soon as I arrived home in Boise last week. The good thing about being sick in the off-season is that you don't worry about it, the bad thing is that you don't feel good when you should be out enjoying all the things you don't get to while racing. There are worse things than spending your days drinking tea and cuddling up on the couch with a book.

Already I'm looking towards the coming training season, though. Things will ramp up with a camp in Lake Placid in May, though training will begin before then on my own. Until then, though, I'll be enjoying my time off-sleeping, reading and just generally relaxing!

Well, I was in 8th place...

2011-03-19T14:41:00.004-04:00

Unfortunately, I can't say I stayed there. Let me explain.

The Sprint in Oslo on Thursday went well. I had one penalty and finished 23rd-just 0.7 seconds behind my teammate, Haley Johnson. Today was the pursuit, and it was really exciting having the two of us starting so close. I shot well, with only 1 penalty in the first three stages. Leaving the range after cleaning my first standing shooting, I heard the announcer say I was in 8th position. I focused on skiing my own race, and tried to catch a ride when another woman passed me out on the trail. As I came in to shoot, I tried to think about my own race and doing things the same as any other stage, and not about the fact that I would be shooting on point 9...because I was in 9th place. Unfortunately, my legs and my nerves did not cooperate and I missed 3 targets. I was able to have a solid last loop and finished in 20th place. Haley also had a solid result, finishing just behind in 21st. It was an amazing experience for me, one that I will learn a lot from and certainly benefit from in the future. I would have loved to have shot better in the final stage, but even so it was a great race. And next time, I'll be better prepared and hopefully things will go differently. It really allowed me to see what's possible and where I should strive for next season.

The course in Holmenkollen overlooking Oslo.

The best part of the results was that both Haley and I qualified for the Mass Start tomorrow. It's the first time, perhaps ever, that two US women have started a World Cup Mass Start. It will be a tough race at the end of a long season, but it will be a great way to end this fantastic year. And then-back to the US for some much deserved rest and relaxation! Just one more time!

On to Oslo

2011-03-15T09:52:00.003-04:00

Sunset at the stadium in Khanty.

After the World Championships in Khanty-Mansyisk concluded with Sunday's relay, it was off to Oslo. As a team, our relay did not go as well as planned. I did, however, have a great leg and felt very good about how I ended the series. It's always nice to have good results to go along with good efforts, but today it just wasn't there for us. It was, however, an improvement for the team as we all skied well and placed 14th, 3 positions higher than our Olympic finish.

Racing in the relay. Photo: NordicFocus

Most of the team is now in Oslo for the final World Cup. It's an absolutely gorgeous day here-and even after such a long season, moral is high and everyone seems to be looking forward to the last races. I'm excited for one more weekend and the opportunity to race another mass start. We'll see how things go, but I feel good. There's no better place to end the season, and hopefully it will be a good finale!

One Windy Day in Khanty...

2011-03-11T13:54:00.005-05:00

When I set my goal of having fun and staying relaxed in the Individual race and World Championships, I could not have know how tough that would be. After days of sunny, breezy weather, we awoke on Wednesday to a blizzard with gale force wind gusts...not ideal for a shooting race such as the 15km. I kept my mind off the weather, however, realizing that everyone would have to deal with the wind and it was not worth stressing about. As the day went on, the wind calmed slightly...meaning there was less danger of mats blowing away...it was still quite windy. At zero, though, I realized there were moments of predictable wind, and with a good zero, I was confident I could wait for the breaks and still shoot well. While some women went ahead and shot their normal cadence, my plan to wait and risk spending more time in the range worked out well. I hit 18 of the 20 shots and skied a fantastic last loop to a 17th place finish. Only one woman shot clean and one had only 1 miss, making 10 people of 93 finishers who shot 90% or better-something unheard of in an Individual race where the shooting is so important. I was ecstatic with my result and my effort. It was a tough day and I was pleased to have been able to overcome the elements and give myself a great World Champs race to remember.

Heading out for a classic ski to enjoy the sun the day after the Individual race.

Now the US women are looking forward to the relay on Sunday. After the men's 6th place performance today, we are pretty excited to see what we can put together. It will be a fun way to end the 2011 World Champs...then it's off to Oslo for one last World Cup. We're on the home stretch now...

Lowell Bailey and the rest of the men's relay field in the first leg.

The men at the flower ceremony after their 6th place performance. Congrats guys!

World Champs-Halfway

2011-03-08T06:35:00.007-05:00

Birch trees. The native people here use birch bark to create many beautiful crafts.

After a strong relay performance, I was looking forward to the sprint and pursuit races this past weekend here in Khanty-Mansiysk. After missing 3 in my sprint race and crossing the line already 3:25 behind the leader, though, I thought my chances for even making the pursuit would be slim. Usually, around 2:00-2:30 behind is the normal top-60 margin. But apparently the course here in Khanty is anything but normal, and as the race wrapped up, I stayed 3:25 behind and landed in 48th place. Not where I was hoping to be, but to make the pursuit without having a great race was solid.

Unfortunately, I was not the only US woman to suffer from a less-than-stellar result. Only two of us made the pursuit, and the team had to work hard to look for the positives and re-group for the coming races. For me that meant right away. Sunday's pursuit was much colder, and like Ostersund, I opted for some face tape to keep cold and frostbite at bay. Starting so far back was tough: while the sprint loops are 2.5km, the pursuit loops are only 2km, and markedly easier. The 2km cuts out one hill entirely and significantly shortens the climb into the range. In the relay, the loops were taking between 5 and 6 minutes. I knew shooting would be key with the short loops and the already large margin I would start behind. I skied solidly and with only 4 penalties, managed to keep from being lapped by the leaders and move up, finishing 38th and gaining a couple more World Cup points. In the end, 14 women were lapped, proving again what an strange pursuit this was. I was very glad to shoot better and finish within the points, and though it was not my best race, the result gave me some confidence as I look forward to the rest of the races here.

Annelies Cook and I after a cold pursuit. Pleased with the effort but ready for a rest day!

Many times this season I've had the chance to reflect on how far I've come in just one year. One of the best examples is the first half of this World Championships. In the sprint, with three misses, I placed 48th and was not satisfied. Then, I shot 80% in the pursuit and moved up to 38th and felt it was simply a decent race for me and a good comeback considering how far back I had started. Last year at the Olympics, missing 1 target in the sprint race, I placed 45th and was ecstatic. And then, shooting 90% in the pursuit, I ended up in 46th place. It's great for me to see the change in my expectations and ability, but every once in a while I must remind myself that just last year simply getting World Cup points was cause for celebration. Before this season my best result had been 34th in the Olympic Individual, and so far this year I've had 8 results better than that one. Things are certainly heading in the right direction!

Huge, brightly colored Matryoshka (nesting) dolls are positioned all around the town square.

Coach Jonne getting in his "Rocky" workout...the rest of us opted to walk up!

Tomorrow is the 15km individual race. I feel ready and confident, but without pressure. I know this year has been great for me, and to prove it again here at World Championships would be fantastic. But that's not the focus. Tomorrow's goal: have fun and enjoy the experience, whatever the outcome.

USA women with Coach Jonne Kahkonen, enjoying the sun on an off-day exploration of Khanty-Mansiysk.

Getting things going in Siberia

2011-03-04T06:47:00.003-05:00

Greetings from the cold north!

World Championships is underway with last night's mixed relay. It was a mixed bag for me, with great skiing and mediocre shooting, but it was a good way to find my race legs again and get psyched for Saturday's Sprint race. Having to use 5 extra rounds didn't set the team up very well, but my team had an overall solid day, finishing 13th. Feeling so good on skis gave me confidence going into tomorrow, and hopefully the shooting will go a bit smoother!

Opening Ceremonies in the stadium.

Out on course in Khanty.

Siberia has been fun so far. Warmer than anticipated weather and sunny days have allow us to really enjoy the World Championships atmosphere. While this definitely isn't Central Europe and far from the US, the differences aren't too stressful. Military presence around the whole venue is perhaps the most obvious change, but for the most part the guards are friendly, even stopping me on my ski today to ask to take a picture together!

A beautiful (and huge!) Russian Orthodox Church just down the road from our hotel.

A view over Khanty-Mansyisk...then out to the Siberian tundra!

The adventure continues with the Sprint and Pursuit races this weekend. I'm looking forward to both-hopefully my luck from Maine has followed me almost halfway around the world!

Russia Bound

2011-02-24T08:09:00.002-05:00

After a good week of training here in Lake Placid, I'm off this morning for Russia! It will be a long next couple of days of travel (overnight in Oslo before leaving for Khanty Saturday morning). It's exciting to finally be heading off to World Championships, I'm really looking forward to racing again. I'll keep you posted as things get underway!

Fort Kent

2011-02-12T21:15:00.004-05:00

Thank you Maine! (photo: Viktoria Franke)

Maine seems to agree with me. After a stellar weekend in Presque Isle, the World Cup moved up the road to Fort Kent for three more races: a sprint, pursuit and mass start. With only 57 women here, I was guaranteed at least 2 starts, but would have to earn my place in the mass start since only the top-25 overall World Cup ranked women, plus the next top-5 from the weekend of racing qualify. Not being in the top-25 overall, and having never made a mass start before in my career, I knew it would be tough, but certainly attainable.

After a clean sprint on a VERY cold day earned me a 17th place, I was in a good position. It felt great to have another clean race here in Maine, and though I didn't feel the courses here agreed with me as much as in Presque Isle, I was very pleased with the outcome. Warmer temperatures greeted us for the pursuit race, but my ski speed just wasn't there. Despite only 3 penalties on the range, I dropped down to finish 27th. Not that I'm complaining about another top-30 finish, but I thought my chances for the mass start were gone. Luck was on my side, though, and with a few women pulling out of the mass start, I grabbed the last spot: bib number 30. My first World Cup mass start ever, and on US soil! I was excited-this would be an experience to remember.

After two weeks of racing, and three days in a row on the tough Fort Kent courses, we were all pretty tired. You could tell right away that the big hill on the course (nicknamed the Mt. Everest of biathlon by some of the Germans) was not going to be a place to get away, but simply to get through. My strategy was to try and shoot well, and just enjoy the experience. Being my first Mass Start, I wanted only to have a solid race and gain the experience of starting with the 30 best women on the World Cup. I only had one hiccup in my plan, missing 2 targets in my second shooting stage, but otherwise I was clean, and skied fairly well. I finished 23rd, with time to give a wave of thanks to the crowd as I finished. All in all, it was a great weekend and an amazing experience to race World Cups in the US. Hopefully it won't be so long before we're back!

I'm now back in Lake Placid for a week before leaving for World Championships in Russia. The work is pretty much done now, just some fine-tuning left. The final stretch is here!

PB in PI

2011-02-08T19:58:00.004-05:00

As the Swiss coach told me after congratulating me on my performance in Presque Isle, I couldn't have picked a better time for a stellar result. My 14th place personal best was also the best World Cup finish for a US woman in a decade. With my parents, grandpa, aunts, uncle, cousins and plenty more fans watching, it was a perfect day to have a great race. I cleaned my shooting and felt good skiing. I know that top-15 is not something to be expected always, but I'm getting there. It's very exciting.

Presque Isle Opening Ceremonies. Yes, they are dancing on rollerskis!

The mixed relay and pursuit were also good races for me. Our team missed the flower ceremony (top-6) by one place, and on a windy and snowy pursuit day I was able to hold on for top-30 with 6 penalties. With such a good weekend, it gives me a lot of confidence that I'm peaking just at the right time. Starting to get faster now, and peaking just in time for World Championships in a few weeks was always the plan, and it seems as though the plan is coming together nicely.

Exhausted after the tag-off in the mixed relay. (photo credit: AP)

I'm currently in Fort Kent for one more weekend of US World Cup racing. A much needed snow storm has been raging all day, and the temperatures are supposed to dip to frigid tomorrow. Not exactly the weather we were hoping for, but at least it's not warm and melting. The organizers and volunteers in both Ft. Kent and Presque Isle have been amazing. Being the home team, we're been getting lots of pats on the back and "good luck," but more than that, you can tell they really want everyone to enjoy these events and are doing what they can to make things perfect. Northern Maine may be far away for the Europeans to travel, but I think the hospitality and preparation has made it a trip to remember. Hopefully this weekend will be another one for the books!

USA!

2011-02-01T08:59:00.005-05:00

Zach and I after he had a great race in Lake Placid on Sunday. (photo: Mary Boschen)

At long last, I arrived back in the US last Monday to spend a week training and re-grouping before heading to Northern Maine for World Cups 7 and 8. Lake Placid has been having a great winter, so the training was fantastic. There was even a NorAm Cup Saturday and Sunday for which I played the role of "official" cheerleader. It was great to see so many competitors out and some great racing by Canadians and Americans alike.

On Monday, the group of World Cup athletes based in Lake Placid (Tim Burke, Lowell Bailey, Haley Johnson, Laura Spector and me) took a charter flight to Portland, Maine for a press conference at Anthem, a major sponsor and supporter of the Maine World Cup races. We then flew up to Presque Isle and got settled in our hotel for the week. It was a great event, and certainly much more relaxing and fun than a 9 hour drive! A major plus was the clear weather, making for two gorgeous flights over the northeast.

Haley and I getting ready to head to Portland! (Thanks to Laura Spector for the plane pictures!)

The LP jumps just after take-off.

Mt. Katahdin from the air, as we flew to Presque Isle.

The frigid weather predicted for this week seems to be mellowing a bit. It's still going to be cold, but at least legal racing temps...a good practice for World Champs in Siberia! Whatever the weather, it's going to be a fun couple of weeks up here at our "home" World Cups. The lack of travel makes it relaxing, and also will many plenty of fans yelling for Team USA. I'm looking forward to it!

Team USA women getting the star treatment!

Antholz in Pictures

2011-01-31T09:59:00.001-05:00

Post-relay. A great start for Team USA women!

Annelies and I watching the women's mass start.

Lowell Bailey in second place in the first leg of the men's relay.

Lowell shooting on the big screen!

Relay exchange 1-yep, that says USA in 2nd place! Great legs from Lowell and Lief...things are coming together!

Cheering for the men on their way to a 9th place relay finish.

"Rainpohlding"

2011-01-20T11:14:00.003-05:00

It was a busy week in Ruhpolding, having a (mostly) full team and my parents there for the races. It was also a mixed bag as far as how things went. Pouring rain defined the week, and though the courses held up amazingly, Ruhpolding will not easily shed it's new nickname. The individual was run in perhaps the worst rain I've ever skied in (summer training included), which made for a tough race. I had 3 penalties and ended 55th. The weather and the results improved from there though. With a clean sprint (2nd one of the year!) I ended up in 32nd place-and all three American women qualified for the pursuit which made the day that much better! Unfortunately I wasn't quite able to hold onto my momentum and finished 43rd with 3 penalties in the pursuit race the next day. Though sun was on the menu for the final race in Ruhpolding, we were all glad to head to Antholz, or "Suntholz" as our Italian coach promised!

Mom and I on our way to Antholz from Ruhpolding. It was so fun having them here to see me race!

Our drive over was beautiful, as was the first day of training. And though the sun has taken a break for some light snow and clouds the last two days, we're optimistic that the women's sprint tomorrow will be bright and beautiful. This is the last weekend of racing before we head back to the USA, and with a relay (finally!) on tap, we are all excited to go out with a bang. Wish me luck!

I seem always to have others around that take lots of pictures, so I'm less inclined to take them myself. I really am trying to get better, even if it's just to take pictures of others taking pictures...hi Dad!

Oberhof-ing

2011-01-09T14:44:00.005-05:00

Representing for the stars and stripes at the Oberhof Opening Ceremonies!

That is the verb heard around the US team to describe the conditions we had this week here in Oberhof, Germany. The foggy, rainy, windy conditions that plagued, in some form or another, each race. Fortunately, the fog let up a bit for the women's sprint and we had much better conditions than the ones the men battled the day before.

It felt great to race again after a long break for the holidays. I felt very good skiing and with two penalties in standing, ended up 40th. It was a big improvement for me to be able to net points with two misses. And to top things off, Laura had a great day, ending up 19th and qualifying for the mass start! It was a great day for the US women, and everyone is looking forward to more racing.

We head off to Rupholding, Germany in the morning. World Cup 5 starts off on Wednesday with the men's individual race, and we'll race an individual on Thursday. Our team will once again be full, as Haley Johnson will join us from the IBU Cup. And in Antholz we will have a full relay team, which we're all looking forward to! Another set of world cups is off and running!

Charging up one of the (many) hills in Oberhof. Photos: Viktoria Franke

Hello 2011!

2011-01-05T10:34:00.006-05:00

It seems like just a short time ago that I was welcoming in 2010 and imagining the possibilities it could bring...how time passes! A lot has happened in just one year; I've met and surpassed many of my personal goals and seen some great things happen within the US Biathlon Women's Team. I can't wait to see what 2011 brings...let's hope the successes and excitement keep coming!

I'm currently in Oberhof, Germany, site of World Cup 4. Laura Spector and I will race the sprint race on Saturday, but since it's back to only two of us, we won't have a relay team tomorrow. Since we only have one race, we're treating this week as an extension of our holiday training block. Laura and I were both in Ridnaun, Italy, along with my boyfriend Zach Hall, who is competing in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic this weekend for a chance to make the World Cup team. It was a great couple weeks of training-a rarity for us during the winter. We race so much that often we end the season slightly out of shape since we've been racing and not really training. With World Championships being so late this year, it was really important for us to get in some good mid-season training, and Ridnaun was the perfect place. Thanks to Gabriel and his family at the Landhaus Rainer for a great place and warm hospitality! There were too many wonderful experiences to mention, so hopefully you'll enjoy some pictures instead!

On an off day, we took a trip into the small town of Vipeteno/Sterzing to check out their Christmas Market.

We had a few cloudy days in the beginning of our vacation, but it was still beautiful.

The trails went through small villages and around a couple hills with churches on top.

Most days were sunny, though, which made for beautiful training and happy athletes!

Beautiful Val Ridanna.

A mini smörgåsbord on Christmas Eve!

View down the valley from the trailhead...though you could really jump on the trails from anywhere!

Happy New Year 2011!!

Best Yet, Take 2

2010-12-17T08:44:00.008-05:00

Beautiful Bled!

Hello from Slovenia! We arrived in Bled Monday afternoon and have been enjoying some sun and great skiing up at the venue in Pokljuka. Things got underway for the final pre-Christmas World Cup yesterday with the Individual races. Watching the men's race before we left the hotel left me a little nervous. Many of the best men in the field had terrible days on the range. Our men were no exception, with the best shooting coming from Lowell Bailey with 5 penalties-not what you normally see in an Individual style race were each miss adds one minute to your time. The wind had been switching around a lot, and though some athletes were lucky enough to best the conditions and walk away with only a few penalties, not one man hit all 20 targets-nearly unheard of for this caliber field in this type of race.

Luckily, when we arrived at the stadium (a windy 30 minute drive from our hotel- thank you Bogus Basin for preparing me well to deal with winding roads to races and training!) the wind had settled a bit and was more consistent. There was still some gusting, though, and some swirling wind you had to be aware of especially in prone. I went off early with the top group of starters, which meant I had some great people to try and stick with and was able to see the level of where I need to be to win medals. It was tough to be passed by these girls, but I looked at it as motivating to see how long I could stay with them and where they would gain time on me-letting me know what I needed to work on. But the Individual race is usually won and lost on the range, and I was confident about my ability. With only one penalty, coming in the third stage in prone position, I knew I could have a solid day. As is my usual style, I had a great last loop after cleaning my final standing stage, and ended up placing 21st.

In less than a week I've managed two personal bests with two top-30 results. It's really motivating to be shooting so well and see my skiing improve each week. And the Pokljuka venue is beautiful, so no better place to have some solid results!

In the ski room post-race, and very happy with my 21st!

This weekend is the final two races before we break for the holidays. Sprint race on Saturday and a Mixed Relay on Sunday (featuring 2 women and 2 men it's a really fun event). I'm looking forward to the races; knowing we have a nice break afterward allows you to really push through the weekend. Then I'll be off to Italy for some relaxation, training and sun! I'm already heading in to Christmas with more World Cup points than my total from all previous years, which makes me very excited for the rest of the season...things have hardly begun!

Best Yet

2010-12-11T07:01:00.005-05:00

Attempting a jog on the snowy running path.

Greetings from SNOWY Hochfilzen! It's been snowing here almost non-stop since Wednesday, which made for some tough conditions in yesterday's sprint race. The women's race was snowy right from the get-go, so conditions were tough but fair. Going into this weekend I was looking forward to having a good race, but nervous since last week had been so rough. I knew I was feeling good, but in biathlon anything can happen, so you can never count on results, especially in this kind of weather.

I must admit I was a little nervous the morning of the race, but kept myself calm enough to execute my race strategy. I focused on staying calm and not letting my skiing get too short and choppy, and having a good range approach. The range here can be tough, with a long flat section and an uphill right into point 30. My plan worked out well for me, as I cleaned (hit 5 for 5) both my standing and my prone. Leaving the range after standing shooting, I was psyched. Shooting clean is a tall order, and some biathletes never have a clean race. This was my second clean World Cup, and it couldn't have come at a better time to boost my confidence. I received a split on my last loop saying I was just out of 20th position, and though I knew there were still some fast women behind me, I knew I could hold on for a good finish. When all the racers were in, I was left in 26th place, a career best finish! I am more than pleased with my comeback from Swedish parasites-clean shooting and a top-30 result.

The best part is possibly that we have a pursuit race tomorrow, so I'll have the chance to improve and score a few more World Cup points. Both Laura Spector and I qualified for the pursuit, so we're psyched to have another chance to race well. Laura had 3 penalties yesterday, but skied exceptionally, giving her a great shot at moving up in the pursuit. We're both very excited to have good results already this season, and feel this is a sign that the US women are headed in the right direction. Now we just need to get a few more over here so we can field a relay team!

Pursuit race tomorrow, most likely in the snow as it shows no sign of letting up. Should be a good fight, and a fun race. Having a career best finish this early in the season is great, but I'll continue to call it the "best yet" and save my "best ever" for another time. It's nice to feel good again, and see all my hard work paying off...hopefully this is just the beginning!

Laura and me, enjoying the snow!

Adjö Sverige, Guten Tag Österreich!

2010-12-05T10:46:00.004-05:00

The final score here in Sweden left the parasite up two-nothing after not quite having the legs or shooting for a good enough sprint to move me on to the pursuit. Tomorrow we're off to Hochfilzen, Austria and I for one am looking forward to re-starting the World Cup season. It's been a rough week here in Östersund, but after talking to my coaches I've decided to take these races as practice and nothing more. I'm finally feeling normal while training and am confident the parasite will not follow me on to Austria.

Internet is sometimes tricky in Hochfilzen, so in case I can't update, you can follow the team on our website or at biathlonworld.com. Wish me luck!

Getting ready for the COLD sprint race. Hopefully Hochfilzen is a bit warmer...

Ready, Set, World Cup!

2010-12-02T04:22:00.000-05:00

Sunset over the biathlon venue with Östersund's lake in the background from our room.

With the Östersund individual race over, the World Cup season has officially begun. For me, it was a decent race, all things considered, though certainly not the way I had envisioned beginning the season.

As you may have heard by now, the town of Östersund is having some trouble with their water supply. Since before we arrived, there has apparently been a parasite (Cryptosporidium) contaminating the drinking water and many of the athletes, including myself and several teammates, have been unlucky enough to contract the bug. For me it has meant several days of upset stomach, some throwing up, and general weakness and feeling drained from not being able to eat much. I didn't train much in the days leading up to the race, so simply being able to start and have a couple of solid laps was great. I was pretty happy with my shooting and proud of myself for fighting through a less than perfect situation.

Bottled and boiled water...

I'm definitely on the mend now, though my appetite is not 100% and neither is my feeling. However, I am confident that I can have a great sprint race regardless. My shooting is solid right now and I know I am in great shape, so as soon as I can get this bug completely kicked out of my system, I'll be ready to rock.

The day was not a complete bust, though, as my teammate Laura Spector had a fantastic race. She shot 19/20 and skied great, ending up in 25th place! It was her first World Cup points ever, so congratulations to her! I think it's a great indicator of where the US women can be this year.

The men begin their season tonight with the 20km Individual. A few of the men are recovering from Crypto symptoms as well, but hopefully we'll all be back to 100% in a few days. Off we go!

The sun DOES come to Sweden, and yesterday we saw it! What a nice sight!

Hej från Sverige!

2010-11-23T11:40:00.010-05:00

A view of the Östersund biathlon range with the lake in the background.

It's winter here in snowy Östersund, which suits me just fine as I'm putting the final preparations in before the first World Cup, which starts exactly a week from today! Trials in Canmore are over, and the rest of the WC Team will be joining us in the next few days. Congrats to Laura Spector, Russell Currier and Lowell Bailey for making the World Cup team, and to Tracy Barnes, Annelies Cook, Zachary Hall and Bill Bowler for making the IBU Cup team. The IBU Cup Team heads to Europe in a little over a week for the second and third IBU Cup in Martell, Italy and Obertilliach, Austria.

Being here a few days early has been nice. The training has been great, as the snow here is a plentiful mix of man-made and natural. A few teams have been here for the past week, but most are just starting to arrive, making the atmosphere feel more and more like the World Cup. I've been staying in town for the past few days which has allowed me to explore Östersund a bit more. On Friday, I'll move up to the hotel at the venue, where we'll be through the races. It will be very convenient to be right at the race venue, cutting down on travel and logistics for the races.

They continue to make more snow and perfect the trails. This weekend the range will be getting buffed out and World Cup ready. Its hard to believe the races are so close after so much preparation, but my mindset is switching over to race mode. Hej World Cup!

The tracks in Östersund at 4pm-ironically the lightest time to be skiing!

The pumpkin pie I wish we were having on Thanksgiving. One thing's for sure, the Swedes will feed us potatoes!

Hello, Goodbye!

2010-11-13T18:34:00.003-05:00

A snow gun going full-blast in Canmore trying to make up for a snow-less November.

I thought this post would be a hello from Canmore, Alberta, Canada, where USBA is currently having it's on-snow camp and December World Cup/IBU Cup trials. However, it is instead a hello from the Albany airport, where I am currently killing time waiting for a shuttle back to Lake Placid.

The quick version of the story is that, until yesterday, there was no skiing at all in Canmore. So, the National Team coaches and staff decided that those of us pre-qualified athletes should leave Canmore and head to Sweden early where there is already 5km+ of great skiing. This has meant a lot of shuffling of tickets and last minute preparation, but here I am, just 6 days after leaving, back in Albany and heading to Lake Placid for re-packing and a quick turn-around for Sweden.

I'll be off on Wednesday for Östersund, the site of the first World Cup, and am looking forward to a more relaxing lead-up to the first races. It will be nice to be there early and hopefully I'll have more time to explore the city than I did last year. It's going to be hectic couple of days back in Lake Placid, but well worth it to get good skiing in sooner. I'll keep you all posted as I continue to country hop!

Östersund here I come!

Something New

2010-11-01T08:50:00.002-04:00

As some of you may know, my boyfriend and fellow National Team member Zach Hall is gluten intolerant. For those who don't know, gluten intolerance is, very basically, an inability to break down the protein gluten (found in rye, wheat and barley). Zach's intolerance is thankfully not celiac disease, which is the same general idea, except instead of having an upset stomach and GI issues, celiac sufferers can become violently ill when they eat gluten in any amount.

Zach has been able to manage his intolerance with only a few issues (mostly while on the road, when language barriers can present a problem), and since going gluten-free his junior year of college, he's seen a steady improvement in his results. Recently, there's been a lot of news about other sports teams going gluten or wheat-free (namely the Garmin Slipstream Cycling Team, featured recently in Men's Journal). Since Zach and I share many meals anyway, I decided to try it while at our Utah camp. What I found was that my legs felt lighter and less tired, I was recovering faster, and I lost a couple pounds (putting me at my race weight in October, something I've never been able to accomplish). So I've decided to go gluten free for the season and see how things go.

Like Zach, I expect to encounter some issues, especially while traveling. However, since it is not an allergy that keeps me from eating wheat and gluten, it will be less worry-some for me. That's not to say that I won't be trying to keep this diet 100%. Luckily one of my sponsors, PowerBar, has several wheat and gluten free products that range from recovery bars to drink mixes to snack-type bars. I've already ordered several boxes to take with me to Europe. (Note: if you have issue with oats, many of these products will not be suitable for you. Check out celiac disease and oats here.)

PowerBar stash! The drink mix label was a casualty of travel, but what's inside is the Endurance Beverage in Lemon-Lime.

I'll be keeping close tabs on how I feel and what I eat to make sure I'm getting enough of the right nutrients, but I'm confident in my decision. Hopefully it will yield the results on the ski course that I am looking for!

Circling Back

2010-10-25T18:00:00.009-04:00

The Teton Mountains, view from Idaho.

After a good camp in Utah and a great celebration of USBA's 30th anniversary in Jackson, WY, I'm finally back in Lake Placid for a final couple of weeks of training before we get on snow in Canmore, Canada. Fall is definitely in the air, and though the last couple days have felt more like spring, we know winter is right around the corner.

Our camp in Utah was a great chance to really nail things down both on the range and skiing before the snow flies. While I've made some big gains in the last few weeks, pretty much all the work is already over. You might think that's relieving, but it's actually pretty scary to think that all the training is behind me and now I just have to see how things shake out. We'll be on snow in a little over a week, and ready to hit race mode full-on in just a month. I've put over 6 months of really good training in (plus countless number of years before that!) and we're almost to the point where I get to see the payoff.

Working on my range procedure at Soldier Hollow, Utah.

Talking to new Women's Team Head Coach Jonne Kahkonen after a tough interval session in Utah.

While our fall camp was a lot of work, that's not to say that we didn't have any fun. Utah is beautiful in October, and traveling to Jackson, WY was an added treat for us. It was a weekend full of catching up and fun events, like skeet shooting just over the Teton Mountains from Jackson. Thanks to all the USBA staff who helped organize this fantastic weekend!

Hiking in Teton National Park with Zach and some of the USBA Board of Directors members.

Learning to shoot skeet at the Lazy Triple Creek Ranch with USBA members just outside Driggs, Idaho. Thanks for a great time!

So now we're back in Lake Placid getting things turned around to head out to Canada in search of snow. I can't wait to get on snow again and leave the rollerskis behind. Winter is what skiers wait all year for, and I'm feeling more ready than ever to get this season going!

Zach and I outside Jackson, WY.

Back West

2010-09-26T11:24:00.005-04:00

First things first-I'm back! Back not only to my blog and my western home, but also to training 100%. Recovering from an injury is never easy, but after a couple weeks of careful practice, I've been able to complete all my normal training for the past weeks, and even had a couple of really solid time trials. The athletic trainers at the OTC have told me I'm "not injured" and should train as usual. I've still be icing every once in a while to prevent soreness, but mostly things are back to normal. Just in time...

Photo-op in the foothills above Boise.

As we have done this time of year for the past several years, the US Biathlon team is now in Utah for our fall altitude camp. I always love coming west in the fall-the weather is fantastic, training is starting to become more specific as winter approaches, and I get to spend a couple days at home seeing my family and friends. This time my trip home was made extra special because I was being inducted into the Boise High School (my alma mater) Hall of Fame. Boise High has had 4 Olympians, and three of us were at the Homecoming football game to be inducted during halftime. All Boise city high schools play varsity football on the now famous blue turf of Boise State University, so it was a fun experience to be on the field that was showcased the next night on national television. I'd also like to think that the presence of three Olympic athletes helped infuse the field with a little luck that helped BSU to a win over Oregon State!

Olympic tailgate before the Boise High Homecoming Game.

Receiving my plaque for the BHS Hall of Fame out on the blue turf!

Boise High Olympians: Lisa Kosglow (BHS '92, Olympian '98 & '02), Sandra Shellworth Hildner (BHS '62, Olympian '68), Sara Studebaker (BHS '03, Olympian '10)

I arrived in Utah last night. I'll be spending the next week with the men's A and B teams until the women's B Team arrives on Saturday. It should be a great camp-the weather is shaping up to be perfect and our coaches are looking forward to lots of ski specific training and focused work before we get on snow next month. It's hard to believe the season is just around the corner, but feeling fall in the air is getting me excited to ski! It won't be long now...

Some pictures from the past couple weeks...

Black Bass, anyone?

Apple Picking in Maine near my aunt and uncle's house.

Bouldering near Saranac Lake with a few of my teammates. Coaching extends beyond biathlon-thanks Patrick!

Stationary

2010-08-22T21:45:00.005-04:00

My new friend-The Concept 2 double pole machine.

I'm slowly recovering from my injury, but my limited range of motion and inability to do any lateral movement has made this week a pretty low one for training. While that was not in the plan, it has worked out fine for me to have a bit of down time. The one big problem is that I'm starting to go a little stir crazy. I've read one and a half books in the last week, and gotten lots of non-training things done, but not being able to go out and rollerski, run or bike has been hard. Luckily, this weekend I was cleared to do some light biking and double poling, with one caveat-all my activities have been stationary training. In order to keep my knee stable and not have any worry of re-injuring it, I must start with stationary activities, before adding outside elements into the mix. So, the stationary bike, the double pole machine, and I have been getting to know each other well. It's not the most exciting training, it is training, and has been keeping me occupied. Even so, hopefully by this time next week, I'll be back to business as usual!

Training!

Injury

2010-08-15T15:17:00.003-04:00

It suppose it is just a matter of time in an elite athlete's career before they have some sort of big injury. Friday was my time. I was lucky, however, and in the realm of "serious" injuries, this one is not too bad. I was in Jericho, VT at our second women's team camp and NorAm rollerski races. While getting out of prone position during an easy combo workout, I dislocated my left patella (knee cap). My coach was right there, and we were luckily able to get it right back into place. My coach then drove me to the ER in Burlington. The hospital took X-Ray's and determined that there was no ligament damage, which was very good news. The doctor advised that I use a brace to immobilize my leg and keep it from dislocating again. After talking to the sports physiologists in Lake Placid, the agreed that was the best course of action until the swelling went down and they could examine me. I'm now back in Lake Placid, trying to rest and ice my leg so that tomorrow we can start figuring out where to go from here.

Creating a distraction on the range in my leg brace during practice. In good spirits despite it all!

Having never been injured before, it's a tough situation to be in. I'm having to lay low, even though I feel good (minus my knee!), and it takes me twice as long to get anywhere. But, I'm confident that if I can just relax and stay positive, I'll recover quickly and be back to training in no time. In the meantime, I'll just have to enjoy my down time.

Photos

2010-08-01T10:12:00.006-04:00

Pictures from my friend's wedding in California where Zach and I debuted our talents as florists!

Starting to work on the arrangements for tables.

Putting the finishing touches on the bouquets.

The table arrangements all finished!

Boutonnieres for the groom and groomsmen.

The tables all set for the reception dinner...a beautiful location!

Zach and I right before the ceremony-notice the beautiful bouquet!

July?

2010-07-30T16:18:00.004-04:00

It's July already. And not only is it July, it's the END of July. I can hardly believe how fast this summer is going by, and how much I've already fit in. June was a whirlwind of National Team camp and a trip to Alaska (it's SO light there in the summer!). Now July has almost past between a shooting camp, a family reunion, a friend's wedding and a trip home that's now half over. I'm heading back to the east (Jericho, Vermont more specifically) on Wednesday for our last camp of the summer. It will include the US National Rollerski Biathlon Championships, so that should be a fun way to test out where we all are right now in our training. We've had a bit of a different philosophy this year, waiting to do much intensity until fairly recently. The coaches decided that was a good plan of action so as not to burn us out too early, especially with World Championships being so late this year.

July has also brought some changes to US Biathlon. A new head women's coach was hired, and we're all looking forward to start working with Jonne Kähkönen, former Finnish National Team Head coach. We know he will be an excellent addition to our staff, and I am really looking forward to having him and his family in Lake Placid.

Typically, I don't have any pictures to put up right now-Zach is the master picture taker, and he (along with his camera and pictures) is currently in Italy at a training camp with the men's team. But I promise to post some soon (MUCH sooner than the interval between this and my last post...sorry about that). For now, I'm off to brave another workout in the heat of Boise (with a high near 100 F it's looking like a good afternoon for the gym and strength inside!). Stay cool, wherever you are.

RestWise

2010-05-26T15:31:00.003-04:00

I've been using a new product to help quantify my recovery. RestWise is a completely revolutionary idea and incredibly useful for athletes. Check out a recent interview I did with them on their blog:

http://www.restwise.com/blog/

Rested Up and Ready to Go

2010-05-22T13:44:00.010-04:00

Spring is the rest/vacation/down time for an athlete, and within reason, coaches usually suggest you don't start training until you really feel you want to again. That means lots of fun "workouts" and general stay-in-shape activities for a few weeks before the real training starts. So I've taken that approach with my blog and not written anything until I was inspired. Hope you won't mind a quick pictorial look at some of my spring activities.

Relaxing on our porch in Mexico. A warm climate, a good book, and a great view = the perfect post-season vacation.

Dinner with Zach's brother, Christopher, in Mexico. Incidentally, Christopher is a GREAT cook.

Pozole-our last meal in Mexico!

Speaking to students at Boise High School-my alma mater.

View of the Washington Monument, just before going in to the White House to meet the President.

In the blue room at the White House!

May in Lake Placid...luckily it's gotten more spring-like since then.

Now I'm back in Lake Placid and already back in full training mode again. Our first National Team camp started this past week, and though the re-organization of US Biathlon means a bit smaller training group, it's a good group and I'm looking forward to the season ahead. I made some big jumps in results last year and was named to the National A Team, so will compete in the December World Cups along with one other woman who will be named after trials in November. Right now the focus remains on the basics and volume to re-set us all for the new season ahead. With World Championships in March this year, it will be a long season. Starting a little later this year has helped everyone recover a bit from a stressful Olympic season and really be ready for what's to come. Ready...begin.

One Last Push

2010-03-19T06:37:00.003-04:00

The Holmenkollen Ski jump from the biathlon stadium.

I have been terribly delinquent in updating my blog the past weeks, but in my defense, things have been a bit crazy.

Right after the Olympics I traveled home to Boise for one day (yes, I know it sounds crazy, but even being home for just one day was so refreshing). I then returned to the OTC in Lake Placid for 5 days of training (which were rudely interrupted by sickness) before flying off to Europe for the last couple World Cup Races. I left Lake Placid last Monday morning and arrived in Kontiolahti, Finland Tuesday late afternoon. We trained Wednesday and Thursday and then raced Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Monday we traveled to Oslo, where I currently am, and raced yesterday and will race again (for the last time this year) tomorrow. Whew, makes me tired just thinking about all the travel I've done lately!

Skinny tires on snow? No problem in Finland.

However much travel it's been, though, it's been more than worth it. While sickness and jetlag made optimal performance tough in Finland, I was still able to gain some valuable experience. We had a mixed relay which gave me another opportunity to mass start against some of the best, and I made the pursuit which gave me another start there to add to my experience level. Yesterday's sprint here in Oslo/Holmenkollen went a bit better. I felt much better skiing, and finished 46th-qualifying me for the pursuit and putting me only 10 seconds from top 40 (World Cup points). The pursuit race on Saturday will be exciting, and hopefully I'll be able to finish the season on a high note!

Oslo biathlon range, with a view of the controversial behind-the-range finish loop.

Whatever the outcome tomorrow, this has been an amazing season for me. Between making the Olympic Team, having some great results, and learning so much just being on the World Cup circuit, I know I have progressed a ton in these past few months. And while I'm looking forward to some rest and time away from biathlon after these races are done, I'm also really looking forward to next season and improving from this start point.

View of Oslo from our hotel window (it's currently too foggy to even see the trees, but when it's clear, the view's amazing!)

MY Olympics

2010-02-25T13:32:00.006-05:00

What a whirlwind! It's really hard to be believe that my Olympics are essentially over! All my racing is done, now all that's left is for me to enjoy the last few days of being here and take in some of the things I haven't had time for before now. Let me do a quick re-cap of the last two races.

The Individual race was a bit crazy. I felt really confident going in since my shooting had been so good in previous races. In an Individual format race, you have to have good shooting or you won't have a solid result. It's tough for even the best skiers to ski off a minute penalty. I had the slight advantage, and slightly nerve-wracking privilege of having bib #1 that day. It was a bit of an advantage because the day was very warm and so the snow stayed cold and hard for most of my race, which was lucky. But, being #1 was still a bit scary-no one out in front to get things going, only me! It was neat to have so many people cheering for me as I got the race started. I also had the chance to ski for a short bit with eventual race winner and bib #2 Tora Berger from Norway. She has an amazing engine, and it was great to be able to see where I need to go from here, and what speed will win medals. I had only 1 penalty in my third (prone) stage, and was able to hold on to 34th place when all was said and done. I was extremely happy with my performance, and though I felt I could do better skiing, I cannot complain about a top 35 result at my first Olympics. Making the day even better, my teammate and roommate Lanny Barnes had a great race, shooting clean and ending up 23rd! It was a solid day for the American women.

My brother, aka best cheering section ever, showing his pride.

Then it was just the relay left. I was slated to lead off in the "scramble" position, which I was pertty excited about. I like the excitment of the first leg and feel that I deal well with some of the crazy things that happen in the first lap of a mass start race. This race was no different-right away there was a scramble for position as those with faster skis (myself included) got a bit stuck in behind some of the slower skiers on the first little downhill. Then, on the big uphill about 0.5km in, a girl fell right in front of me and I had to quickly shift and double pole on one leg around her to avoid getting caught in the crash. I came in with the pack of women and used only one extra round to clean my prone. I left the range with a group and was able to stick with them into the second shooting. I cleaned standing without any extra rounds, and took off from the range, leaving several teams behind still shooting. I had a great last loop, catching a couple more girls, and coming in just behind the first chase group and only 30 seconds out of the lead in 11th place. I was very happy with my race, and my coaches were also pleased with how well I had done. Unfortunately, we were unable to hold our strong start and finished 17th, but it was a fun day for everyone anyway, and a great note for me to end on.

Women's Team having some fun in the sun the day before the relay.

Now I've been enjoying walking around Whistler, sleeping in a bit and hanging out with my family and friends who were here to see me race. It's nice to have a few days here before we head out. I really feel like I can take everything in now and really enjoy the Olympic fever. After closing ceremonies, I will head back to Lake Placid for a few days and then back to Europe for the last couple World Cup races. We'll be off to Kontiolahti, Finland and Oslo-Holmenkollen, Norway and I'm really looking forward to racing there. I feel I've had great results here in Vancouver and am only improving, so hopefully I can have a strong end of the season. Although in some senses it feels like the season should end with the Olympics, I'm still feeling ready to go, and am glad we get a couple more chances to race!

Getting ready for the press conference in the "green room." Very big time, right?

A view from the top of the Whistler Olympic Village. When it's not raining, it's beautiful here!

Halfway

2010-02-17T19:07:00.006-05:00

Completing the pursuit race yesterday brought me halfway through my racing at the 2010 Olympic Games. It's hard to believe that there are only two races left for me here in Vancouver, but I am very pleased with my results so far. Leaving no regrets behind is sometimes a very big challenge in big races like this, and so far I feel I am doing a good job.

Not only was Tuesday's pursuit my first Olympic pursuit race, but it was also my first ever international pursuit. I had fantastic shooting with only 2 penalties, and though I was hoping to have a better result, it was a great experience for me. With such good shooting in the last couple races, I am really looking forward to the Individual race tomorrow. The sunshine today and promises of more to come certainly aren't hurting my outlook either!

Inspirational Rocks are tucked away all around the village, it's fun (and inspiring) to try and find all of them!

Starting Off on the Right Foot

2010-02-14T14:00:00.006-05:00

One race down, and I couldn't have asked for a much better start. One penalty, 45th place, qualified for the pursuit and top American! I'd say that's a pretty successful way to start off the Olympics. While I feel there are things I could improve in the race, I am happy with the outcome, and excited to race the pursuit on Tuesday. I haven't done a pursuit at this level before, so it should be an interesting and fun experience.

The highlight of yesterday's race has to be the crowd. When I started, there was an uproar of cheering from the crowd. My first thought was, "Did some German just shoot clean or something?" but then I realized, no, the cheering was for ME! Being used to pretending other people's cheers are actually for you (a necessary tool when cheering in Europe happens mostly for Europeans), it was amazing to have all the cheers really be for me. I almost smiled, and had to re-focus myself back into race mode as I left the stadium. It was an amazing experience, one I will never forget. I think it's finally hit me...I am at the Olympics!!!

Every Four Years-4 days to go!

2010-02-08T23:25:00.005-05:00

The opening ceremonies for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games are only 4 days away, and things are starting to heat up! Although I won't be able to march in Opening Ceremonies (our first race is the next day), it's rapid approach is getting us all excited. I, along with the rest of the US Biathlon Team, have arrived in the village after a week at Mt. Washington on Vancouver Island for a training camp and a day in Vancouver at team processing. It's very exciting to be here, as you are surrounded by Olympic atmosphere constantly. The village is beautiful and being at the Olympics-being an Olympian-is really starting to feel real to me! I have not taken too many pictures so far, but below are a few of the past couple days, and I promise more to come soon!

I also want to quickly say THANK YOU to the Bogus Basin Nordic Team for sending me a great congratulations poster! It's hanging in my room here in the village...it really made my day getting such a great package. Good luck to you all at the final Intermountain JOQ-home course advantage! :)

A big part of processing? Trying on tons of clothes to make sure they fit!

Boxes and boxes of Nike and Ralph Lauren clothing at team processing.

Too many clothes to fit in your suitcase now? No problem-they have plenty.

Modeling the Closing Ceremony look.

3/4 of the women's team-me, Haley Johnson and Lanny Barnes (missing:Laura Spector)

Now THAT'S a Sporting Event!

2010-02-01T23:05:00.003-05:00

Ok, things have been more than a little crazy, and I have completely neglected my blog. I know things are not going to calm down as we get closer to the Games, but the Olympics is an experience I truly want to share, so I'm going to work on it.

On course in Ruhpolding-hours before the start of the men's sprint.

The last World Cups in Ruhpolding, Germany and Antholz, Italy were good. I didn't have the results I know I am capable of, but given the stress and excitement of the prior weeks, I was happy with the experience. In Ruhpolding, I had the chance to scramble (go first) in the relay in front of over 20,000 fans-probably the closest I'll ever be to knowing how NFL stars feel taking the field in front of a packed stadium. It was an amazing experience, and not only did I have a great time, I had a pretty good leg. I tagged off in 12th place, less than a minute out of the lead, and had clean shooting in prone, and used only two extra rounds in standing. It was a great experience, and made me really look forward to the Olympic relay.

Some of the 20,000 fans leaving the stadium after the women's relay in Ruhpolding.

Antholz was beautiful, and just what we needed after three dreary weeks in Germany. Because of the race schedule, we were able to watch some of the men's racing, which was really fun. Normally we don't get a chance to watch other races, so it was neat to be able to cheer on our teammates.

Beautiful Antholz!

After Antholz I spent 5 days in Lake Placid doing some easy skiing and resting and recharging before the Olympics. I am now at our pre-Olympic camp at Mt. Washington on Vancouver Island. We're here for 5 days before heading to Vancouver for team processing and then moving up to the Whistler Olympic Village. It's really starting to sink in that I'm going to the Olympics and I'm getting pretty excited. It's going to be an amazing experience, and it's just around the corner!

"I think my heart is going to explode"

2010-01-15T07:25:00.005-05:00

This is the thought that ran through my head as I neared the top of the biggest climb on the Altenberg Sprint course for the final time. I had received a split saying I was 20 seconds behind one of my teammates after the final shooting and was determined to make up some of that margin. When this thought flashed in my mind, it was quickly followed by the other half of my brain screaming, "no it won't! You've trained hard and done tougher intervals than this-1.5K left, GO FOR IT!" It might be tough to understand how quickly these thoughts come and go in a race, and how ridiculous your mind sounds when you look back at what you were thinking, but if you've ever done a really tough race, or just pushed yourself to that limit, you know what I'm talking about.

The one sunny day in Altenberg-the day of our Time Trial!

In the end, I made up all but 6 seconds on my teammate and finished 26th overall. It was a decent race: good skiing and some tough shooting conditions put me in 3rd for US finishers. We were all pretty close though, which makes a big difference with the point system since it's based on your percent back from the winner, not your place. I was solidly in the lead for Olympic qualifying, and that, coupled with my win in the time trial, made all the difference since the final qualification race was canceled because of fog. When not all the races are held, the team is selected by first the winner of each race and then a discretionary pick for the final spot. So all that internal babble paid off-I reached my goal of making the Olympic Team!

Susan and I looking for the targets during zero for the Pursuit-the race was canceled because of visibility problems (an understatement?).

Back to the present, we are in Ruhpolding, Germany for the second to last World Cup before the Olympics. I had an alright sprint race, but coming off a couple of hard races and a very stressful week of trials, I felt ok about it. Today we have the relay-the first relay the US women will do this season. We are all pretty excited to see how we stack up. I'm leading off, which should be really exciting in front of so many fans (I've heard estimates of 15,000 or more!). It will be a great experience for me, and I'm psyched to see how things go.

Next, we'll be off to Antholz, Italy for the final Pre-Olympic World Cup. Antholz is in the Italian Alps, and is a beautiful place to ski, so we're all looking forward to being there for the week. I probably won't have internet for the next couple of days, but check back early next week for a post on the relay competition!

Olympian!

2010-01-11T16:22:00.002-05:00

With a win in the first trials race, and a strong finish among tough conditions in the second race, my Olympic trials are over. Late last night, I was named to the US Olympic Team for 2010, and could not be more excited for the chance to represent my country in Vancouver! It's been a long journey, and a long day of travel to Rupholding, where I will race in the World Cup later this week. Please stay check back soon for a more detailed post-and thanks again to all my supporters!

Turkeys?

2010-01-06T11:16:00.002-05:00

Hello from Altenberg! Despite rumors of no snow and a 4-5hr drive that turned into 9hrs, we are here and things are going off as planned. Training over New Years was great in Ruhpolding-the atmosphere there is so conducive to good training and getting psyched to race fast. I’m hoping to get a chance to get back there for the World Cup. Since there were between 20-50 people out on any given training day to watch us, I can only imagine what a big race day is like!

Part of the amazing fireworks display on New Year's Eve-anyone can buy big fireworks in Germany, and they all do, so the show is unbeatable.

Tomorrow is the first trials race here in Altenberg-a sprint time trial with just the US team participating. Then this weekend we will race in the IBU Cup Sprint and Pursuit as the final two trials races. It’s an exciting and slightly nerve-wracking set, but I’m feeling good and am excited to get racing again.

In other news, all our new team clothing finally arrived. There are mixed feeling about the new color, but if one thing’s for sure, we are certainly visible-which makes it a little sad our suits have stayed dark blue (blending in with many other World Cup nations’ suits). The bright turquoise color has provided us some comic relief, since some f our German staff keep calling it “turkeys” since that’s about how the color is pronounced in German. I for one am enjoying my new “Turkey” outfit, but it is a bit bright all together!

Looking sharp in turquoise...or is it turkeys?

Austria-Slovenia-USA-Germany

2009-12-26T11:30:00.004-05:00

Sounds like a whirlwind, doesn't it? So far, it has been, but it's also been a great trip. Currently, I'm home for the Holidays, but only briefly. I arrived late Monday night and leave Sunday afternoon. It's been so nice to be home to re-charge before trials; but I'm getting ahead of myself-let's rewind back to World Cup 2 in Hochfilzen.

Hochfilzen was an interesting, if short, race series for the US women. With slushy, slow conditions on race day, it was one of the toughest races I have done. Though I had the top US result, it was not good enough to make the pursuit. Putting that aside, I hoped to make Pokljuka and the final pre-Christmas World Cup better.

The women's relay in Hochfilzen with fans lining the course.

Conditions in Slovenia were much better than Austria. Though it was cold, and at times fairly windy, the snow was pretty fast and hard, so I was looking forward to three good races. In the individual, things went pretty well-right up until the last stage. I had one miss in my first standing stage, and then added three more in my final stage. Even with a pretty fast ski time and an excellent last loop, four misses (and subsequently 4 minutes of added time) were too many. It was slightly heart breaking to see that if I had been able to hold it togther for that final stage, I would have been top 30. But I still had the sprint to think about, so I moved on. Unfortunately, it was not in the cards for me there either. With a very rough prone shooting stage, I put all my effort into simply finishing the race and skiing well. I had a solid ski time, which was a small silver lining, but the week overall was disappointing. Luckily, I had home and a week of down time to look forward to, and to help me get ready for Olympic Trials.

Which brings us back to the present. Being home has been great. I've been able to mentally move forward from tough races in the last two World Cups, and am feeling ready and excited for trials. Sunday I will travel to Germany for a week long camp in Ruhpolding with some of the other trials qualifiers. Then we travel to Altenberg for a time trial and two IBU Cup races that will decide the Olympic Team. Team naming happens on January 11-just over two weeks from today! It's crazy that all the preparation and all the hard work is finally culminating in this. So, here's keeping my fingers crossed for the results I know I am capable of. Keep checking back, I'll be sure to update as often as internet access allows! Happy Winter!

Haley Johnson looking out onto the town of Bled, Slovenia from the castle above.

A view from Bled (the town we stayed in-about a 30min drive from the venue in Pokljuka).

World Cup 1

2009-12-05T10:55:00.004-05:00

Hello from the World Cup!

The first weekend of World Cup racing is over for me, and it was a solid start to the season. I was the top US finisher in both the Individual and Sprint, and had respectable placings, finishing 60th in the Individual and 59th in the Sprint. With over 110 finishers, I am pleased with the outcome and looking forward to improving on those results next week.

There was some real excitement for the US team here in Ostersund, though. Tim Burke placed on the podium in both races: 2nd in the Individual and 3rd in the Sprint. It was awesome, and extremely motivating to see. I think the whole team is riding a high seeing what Tim has been able to accomplish in just the first two races of the season. It's giving us confidence going into the season...it's a very exciting time to be involved in US Biathlon!

Monday we leave for Hochfilzen, Austria. A new course and a new weekend will be welcomed by all. We hope some sun is also in the forecast for Austria...though I'm sure it can't be as bad as 3pm sunset! Internet can be spotty in Hochfilzen, so I may not be able to update my blog, but you can follow the action on biathlonworld.com. With a couple more World Cups under my belt, I'm feeling stronger and more confident as we head into the next races.

Prepping the stadium and race courses for the Races.

Stadium and shooting range during the men's relay.

Välkommen till Sverige!

2009-11-23T14:30:00.008-05:00

I have arrived in Östersund, Sweden! Aside from needing to get a bit more snow, things are going well. Not all the trails are open here, but what is open is pretty good. So far, I like the course, and the area is beautiful. I haven't had a chance to take any pictures yet (it is getting dark around 3pm!), but I'll be sure to post some soon. We have one week of training here before we move away from the venue into town and settle in for racing. I'm so glad to be on snow, and really looking forward to starting to race. Until then, I'll be staying focused and relaxed, and trying to simply enjoy my time here in Sweden!

Almost Winter

2009-11-17T19:29:00.007-05:00

At the end of the week, the team will be scattering throughout the world in search of snow. I will be off to Sweden for a week long camp before the first World Cups. While many skiers find it imperative to be on snow in early November, I have been having great, focused dry-land training here in Lake Placid for the last couple weeks. The temperature has been dropping, but the sun has continued to shine and make rollerskiing fantastic. Those of us here have counted ourselves lucky that even though there hasn't been any snow, the pavement has stayed dry and clean for us to continue rollerskiing. This time of year, skiers can often be relegated to running and indoor workouts because of the weather, so we really have had a good situation.

Making the best of some inclement (but short lived) weather last week.

Even so, I'm looking forward to getting on snow. The next couple days will be spent getting ready to head over seas and packing, and then I'll be off! I've never been to Sweden, so definitely excited to see some new places. As always, I'll be sure to keep you updated! Think Snow!

Les Bois, Les Bois!

2009-10-29T00:18:00.011-04:00

Fall in Boise

I'm back home for a brief visit in beautiful Boise after a tough three week camp in Utah. It was a great training camp, with some solid races, but it's so nice to be relaxing at home now. There's really no better place to be on an off week than at your true home where you can be with family and really enjoy doing nothing. This is my favorite time of year in Boise, when the trees are changing colors and losing all their leaves. I'm especially looking forward to Halloween, since my house always gets tons of trick-or-treaters.

As you know, an off week for me does not mean completely down. I took a couple days at the beginning of the week to catch up on sleep and truly relax, but I do have a couple workouts to keep myself in shape. Today I joined in the Idaho Nordic practice for some plyos and strength. It was fun to connect with such a motivated group of local skiers, and it was a great workout! It was one of the harder strength workouts I've done recently, and certainly better than going out for a jog and doing strength alone! Thanks for letting me join you guys!

I'll be finishing out this week at home and then diving back into training for the last dry-land block before the World Cup in December. It's crazy that Sunday will be November, but I'm feeling fit and ready for the season. November is when skiers start to search the sky for flurries, but it's important to stay focused and get in quality workouts regardless of the weather. So while I'm looking forward to snow, I'll be putting my head down and focusing on the work at hand. But still, THINK SNOW!

Zach and I on a bike ride in Utah.

View down into the Heber Valley, our October home.

Utah Fall Camp!

2009-10-17T21:44:00.015-04:00

The women's team is all together for one last dry-land camp in Utah. We've been training at the beautiful Soldier Hollow venue (site of the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Nordic events). It's been great to be all together again, but unfortunately the internet at our house is spotty at best, so I've been unable to get a post up until now.

Today we had our first "test" of the camp with and 15K Individual time trial. It was a good race for me. I felt I skied strong and shot well, with only 2 penalties (out of 20 shots). I ended up 3rd, and feel I'm just where I want to be at this time of year. The last couple weeks of fall are going to be important, but I'm already getting psyched for snow!

Racing at Soldier Hollow

Since there are no World Cup trials spots up for grabs this year for the women, everyone seems much more relaxed than last year, and I feel I've been able to focus more on getting in one last big push of training. We will have a Sprint time trial on Monday and then one more week of training before we all scatter. I'll be home in Boise for a week before heading back to Lake Placid for a couple weeks of training and then off to Sweden for the pre-World Cup camp and racing.

Soldier Hollow Panorama

It's been great to be out here with (mostly) beautiful western fall weather while our friends out east contend with not enough snow to ski on, but too much to rollerski with. Everyone is eager to get this season rolling, but we'll have to stay focused on training for just a few more weeks before we can switch to race mode.

Fall, Briefly

2009-09-17T17:09:00.004-04:00

The temperature is dropping and the leaves are changing here in Lake Placid. Despite the almost unbearable heat and humidity of the August camp, September has left us with no doubt that it is truly fall. However, on Sunday I'll be headed out west (home to Boise for a couple weeks, then off to Utah for our fall camp) until early November. As I write this (6pm mountain time), it is 83 degrees in Boise. So, it will be back to summer for a little while, which I don't mind at all. Though fall is wonderful, and there's nothing like red leaves and the crisp scent the air gets here in the east, dry western summer weather will be welcome before I'm ready to really welcome the chilly weather and snow that will soon follow.

Training has been continuing as usual, and as the weather turns, the attitude is starting to get a bit more serious. The upcoming season is creeping up on us quickly, and it is important to make these last couple of dry-land training blocks very high quality in order to get the most out of the quick transition to snow and racing. I have been making some huge strides this summer in technique and shooting, and so am very happy with where I am right now.

I've posted a couple video below from the last couple training sessions at our roller loop at the Lake Placid ski jumps. The shooting video (sorry it's so small!) was shot with our new "EyeOn Performance" video technology that shoots video from four different locations simultaneously. It's a pretty neat tool for us to have, and we have only begun to scratch the surface of what it can help us with.

Next update will be from west of the Mississippi. Enjoy the beginning of fall or the end of your summer...depending on your location!

Quick Update

2009-08-05T16:07:00.005-04:00

We've just begun our second (and last!) camp of the summer. All the women are back together in Jericho, VT for two weeks (including two races this weekend) and then we'll be off to Bethel, Maine for a week long distance camp. For these first two weeks we are staying on the Ethan Allen National Guard base, which of course means-barracks! That's right, the women's B and Development Teams, the entire Junior National group, a small contingency from Minnesota, some athletes from both the Northern and Southern Maine MWSC groups, and the Gunstock, NH Nordic team all together in two big bays in the army barracks (men on one side, women on the other). It's quite the party! And though it may sounds crowded, it's a great opportunity for us older women to get to know the young ladies just coming up into biathlon and stay in touch with that group.

I always remember being so excited at camps to meet the older girls and get to talk to them, so it has continued to be important for me to get to know the young girls when we have a chance (which, unfortunately, is rare). This week is the perfect time. Not to mention, the young girls always seem to have the best collections of DVD's and card games to keep us busy on an otherwise isolated army base! We're soaking up the occasional chaos, because come next week, it will be just the older women and a few MWSC girls left.

So, between bonding time, races, and getting in some quality training all together, it's going to be a busy three weeks. We're already into August, and so it's getting close to crunch time for all of us. I'll be using this camp to continue with solid training and getting ready for fall. Keep checking back and I'll try and keep things updated!

(And finally, some pictures from the June camp and off time with my family!)

Post-mud run in Fort Kent (you can't see it to well, but we were MUDDY!)

The magical place in Westport, MA. A fun time in a beautiful location with my family!

They had a kitchen, which is a novelty for me, living in the dorms at the OTC! I took full advantage of it and (along with much help) made some delicious pizzas one night!

"How does this thing go together again?" Grilling at a Dartmouth-owned cabin in New Hampshire.

Women's Camp Wrap-Up

2009-07-07T20:49:00.009-04:00

The first women's Team camp of the year is over, and, minus the weather, it was a great success. After spending a slightly rainy week in Lake Placid with heavy emphasis on hard intervals, we headed to Fort Kent, Maine for two weeks of focused combo work (skiing and shooting combination workouts). Unfortunately, the rain followed us, and we spent two weeks with only fleeting glimpses of the sun and clothing that would never dry. Despite that, though, we had a great camp: we got some real quality workouts done on the range/roller loop and some great team bonding over traditional Aroostook ploys (buckwheat pancakes) and chicken stew and Taco Tuesday on Thursday night. (BIG thanks to all the local families that cooked for us!)

In our first week in Maine, we had a time trial, which happened to fall on the one day that was full of sun and extreme heat and humidity. Dealing with the elements is just another part of the job. It was made a little better by the fact that the local sports reporter came out that day to check out what we were doing. Below is a link the video story, complete with some good rollerski footage:

http://www.wagmtv.com/newssource8/story/2009-06-29-olympic-dreams

It was a tough three-week block of training, but well worth it. I am now enjoying some well-earned relaxation at the Massachusetts coast with my family. I'll be heading up to Dartmouth's Moosilauke Ravine Lodge this weekend for the lodge's 70th birthday, and then it will be back to the grind in Lake Placid. More pictures to come once I get back to Lake Placid and get them downloaded! Check back soon!

8x4min uphill intervals in Lake Placid...plus our four-legged friends who joined us mid-way through!

Mourning One of Our Own

2009-06-23T14:27:00.001-04:00

At this point, many of you have heard of the tragedy that recently befell the XC Skiing, Biathlon and Maine Winter Sports Communities. Willie Neal, a young, talented skier/biathlete and extraordinary young man, was killed Sunday while rollerskiing in Northern Maine. I will leave out the details, but you can find more information at fasterskier.com, in a blog from the editor and a press release.

This tragedy is a reminder to all of us that sometimes life is terribly short, and suddenly taken away for no reason at all. While there were a few factors that perhaps could have helped the situation, I am prone to believe that this was simply an unfortunate incident of a smart young man being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As you go about your life in the coming days and months, please remember the Neal family as they grieve. Also, as you head out rollerskiing or biking, please remember to be safe: stay on the correct side of the road, wear bright colors, use roads with good shoulders and avoid high traffic areas, and always wear a helmet! One tragedy for our small community is one too many.

RIP Willie. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Women's National Team Camp

2009-06-15T19:52:00.006-04:00

The women's team camp is getting underway here in Lake Placid, and day one was a interesting one. The weather here has been nothing if not interesting, so it was no surprise that the light drizzle that started after our morning workout quickly became a downpour that continued all afternoon. That made for a wet afternoon ski, but luckily it has been warm, so no one got too cold or miserable. Hopefully things only calm down from here...

Almost all the women who will be competing for spots on the Vancouver 2010 team are here this week training together. It's a great group, and a fantastic opportunity for us all to catch up. Skiing and shooting together as a big group is a great learning experience, and helps push us all to improve.

The plan is to be in Lake Placid until Sunday and then head up to Fort Kent, Maine for two more weeks of training on their roller loop and range. I've never been to Ft. Kent in summer, so it will be a nice change of scenery. It's going to be a tough few weeks, but as usual, I'm sure it will go by in a flash.

Scat work: dry-firing with a laser so you can get instant feedback.

Shooting at the "new" range by the ski jumps...new as in last August.

Mid-workout firing pin replacement.

Skiing in the rain...we've had a lot of these already this year.

Overdue Update

2009-05-21T20:47:00.001-04:00

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.

News

2009-03-02T14:12:00.006-05:00

I recently learned that instead of staying in Lake Placid and training until US Nationals in two weeks in Ft. Kent, Maine, I would be traveling to compete in the World Cup in Vancouver, BC, Canada. I have never raced in a World Cup, and to have my first be at the 2010 Olympic venue makes this opportunity extra special. I am more than ready to race at this level and see what I can do. I feel like this is the perfect time and place to make something happen. I can't wait!

Hopefully my success on the same courses last year transfers to the World Cup.

Back "home"

2009-02-15T13:37:00.009-05:00

Out on a ski in the mountains (Alps) above the Antholz venue.

The IBU Cup and World Championship Team trials are over, and though I had some great results in Europe, I just missed making the World Champ Team. I was upset not to make the team, but my results proved that I had made a huge jump since last year, and being so close to making the team made me feel really good about where I am.

After the IBU Cup in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, I was able to go to the Antholz, Italy World Cup as an alternate. I was not able to race, but it was an invaluable experience to see a World Cup live. I got to see how things run and what the stadium is really like on race day, which was fantastic. I feel that now when I get the chance to compete in a World Cup, I will not be as surprised on unprepared as I would have been having never seen one.

The view from our hotel in Antholz.

Looking back into the stadium from out on course in Antholz.

I then headed back "home" to Lake Placid. It was nearly three weeks from when I got back until the next North American Cup race, so it was a good chance to put in some solid training. The snow has been fantastic, so we were able to have some very high quality workouts. We also competed in the Cross Country SuperTour race in Stowe, VT last weekend, which was a fun and different break from biathlon racing. It was definitely interesting going back to a Nordic race, having not done one for over a year, but I enjoyed it, and the biathlon group did well. Susan Dunklee was 7th, I was 9th, Bethann Chamberlain was 10th and Jen Wygant was 17th in a field of 173 skiers.

This weekend was the Lake Placid NorAm Cup race, but things didn't go off as planned. Though we've had great snow until now, the weather picked this week to start being uncooperative. With warm temperatures Sunday through Wednesday, and rain Tuesday night and Wednesday, the race organizers decided to cancel the NorAm as scheduled. Despite the range being completely gone (it was a big puddle on Wednesday that turned into an ice sheet on Friday), they were able to pull off a club race. The courses were a bit modified, but with lots of shoveling by volunteers, the range and course ended up in fairly decent shape.

I had decent races, finishing third both days. In the sprint on Saturday, I felt a little flat skiing, like I hadn't raced in a while. Then in the pursuit format today (Sunday), my skiing came together, but my shooting was off. It was a good weekend to get things back on track and get back into that race mode.

Next weekend it's off to Presque Isle for the NorAm there. It sounds like there's plenty of snow up there, so hopefully the weather cooperates and we can hold the NorAm this week!

A video from the Antholz World Cup sprint race of Andrea Henkel (GER) shooting. She cleans: the crowd loves it!

**Update: This post was supposed to go up a week ago, I'm not sure what happened. Anyway, the Presque Isle races went well, despite the small number of racers. I was 1st in the sprint race on Saturday and 2nd in the mass start on Sunday. I'm now in Fort Kent training for the week and then will be heading back to Lake Placid for another round of training. More details to come, stay tuned! ~Sara

Playing Catch-Up

2009-01-12T14:48:00.008-05:00

Hello!

It's been a while since I've written. A lot has happened, so I'll try and do a quick catch-up of the last couple months.

November

After returning to the training center after the October camp, training continued as usual. We didn't have any snow and abundant rain and sand on the roads that made rollerskiing difficult. It was a lot of running and treadmill rollerski interval workouts before we finally left for West Yellowstone after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, West Yellowstone did not have any snow in town either. After successfully driving up to the plateau for a couple days of great skiing, the road was closed by the Forest Service and we were in a tight spot. There was much diliberation amongst the USBA coaches as to what to do. Move the NorAm's? Wait for snow? Try to make it work for a few more days? In the end, the NorAm's were moved, and we were out of there a week early. I love skiing in West, and so was sad to leave, but hiking the 3.5 hour round-trip up the the plateau to ski just wasn't worth it. In the end, it was a good thing we left because they didn't end up getting significant snow until mid-December.

December

Once we arrived in Minnesota for what was now to be two weekends of racing (5 races total), we encountered an entirely different problem-cold. Though we were thankful for the great snow and got some really good training in during the first week we were there, it was freezing! The first race (a 7.5km Sprint race) went off despite a short delay due to temperatures and an ever increasing blizzard, but the second race was cancelled due to forcasted friggid weather. When we awoke that morning, it was -30F, so no one was complaining about not having to go outside. Temperatures warmed a little, but the next three races were still pretty cold. We ended up having one more delay, but things went pretty smoothly consudering the adverse conditions. I had a couple of good races, my best being the third race-a Pursuit style, which I won by a margin of 50 seconds. Zach also had some good results, winning the first Sprint race as well as the final race-a windy and cold Mass Start. Because of our results in Minnesota, both Zach and I qualified for the IBU Cup Team and began to get psyched for racing in Germany and the Czech Republic in January.

A cold late afternoon ski out on a lake in Minnesota. (photo: Zachary Hall)

Carolyn Bramante and I on the podium at the Mt. Itasca Sprint race.

We spent a little over a week in Boise for Christmas. It was nice to have a break from focusing so intensly on biathlon, not to mention how nice it was to finally see double digit temperatures! But it was a short break, and soon we were headed back to Lake Placid for three days and then off to Germany!

Getting ready for our big Christmas Eve Smorgasbord.

My brother and I enjoying the snow in Sun Valley.

January

So here we are in Altenberg, Germany, finally caught up! We just finished the first weekend of racing here, and though I had some ups and some downs, I have been learning a ton from racing here, and really enjoying the whole experience. The level of racing here at the IBU (International Biathlon Union) Cups is so much higher than anything we have in the US. It is really good to see this level in order to get a better idea of just how fast I have to be in order to be competitive. I definitely have some work to do, but it's not impossible.

The stadium in Altenberg-what a crowd! (photo: Zachary Hall)

Heading to the finish in Altenberg. (photo: Gary Colliander)

After the races in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic next weekend, they will name three women and one man to the World Championship Team that will head to World Cup #6 in Antholz, Italy and then on to Pyeong Chang, South Korea. I need to have a couple more good races in order to qualify, so I'll be working on making every second and every shot count. Wish me luck!

Auf Wiedersehen!

Utah Camp Update

2008-10-22T00:17:00.005-04:00

Beautiful Heber Valley

Greetings from the Beehive State!

I've been in Midway, Utah for the past couple weeks training with the National A, B and Development Teams. This is our big fall camp, and we also had three trial races for the December World Cup Team. The training has been great, and it's been fun to see everyone and train together. The races were a good way to see how things are shaping up for the season. Overall, I had a good races, and was happy with my performance considering it is still only October. Unfortunately, I ended up fifth in the overall points from the three races, and only the top four are being taken to the World Cups in December. However, my results were very encouraging as I head into the season.

On a bike ride above the Soldier Hollow venue

We have one more week of training here, and then I'll be home for a couple days before heading back to Lake Placid. At the end of November, we'll be off to West Yellowstone, MT and then Grand Rapids, MN for the first North American Cup races (NorAms). The NorAms will be qualification races for Europa Cup races and the World Championship trials in January.

For now, I'm focusing on making the most out of these last couple days of camp and then getting some much needed rest heading into the last period of training before the season really gets started. Think Snow!!

A great hike in the snow! Unfortunately it all melted by that afternoon...

Snow makes all workouts more fun!

Motivation and Dedication

2008-09-19T01:49:00.006-04:00

It's been a little while since I've written, and I'm now up in Alaska visiting Zach's family and getting some final training in before our big October camp and races in Utah. It's been nice to be away from the sometimes-chaotic OTC and have some relaxing but quality training leading up to the beginning of our season. It has been a good lesson in motivation and dedication, which, as anyone who's ever been an athlete knows, are quite possibly the two most important attributes one can have in order to be successful.

Alaska!

When Zach and I arrived in Alaska, we were heading into a medium week followed by two more intense training weeks. We had just finished two tough weeks of training, with lots of intervals, two time trials, and a lot of training at our new (completely uphill) rollerski range. They were great weeks of training, but very draining on us. So, we decided that while training was very important, our minds needed a bit of a rest if the next two weeks were to be successful. We did one good interval session, and a bunch of distance, and then headed out for the weekend to go hunting. We were unsuccessful (minus 6 rabbits that made delicious paella when we returned), but it was a great get-away from thinking about training. We hiked a lot, but didn't worry about time and just enjoyed being outside looking. When we returned, we were ready to tackle the next two weeks with renewed motivation. And one day into our interval week, we realized what it is to be truly dedicated.

Unfortunately, he wasn't legal.

Bear Tracks!

Our beautiful escape.

The new range being built in Anchorage at Kincaid Park is pretty much complete. It's a great 30-point range within the great mass of ski trails Kincaid has to offer, and is going to be a fantastic venue. The remaining project is the paving of the firing line, which began nearly two weeks ago. Why it takes so long to pave a 100-meter stretch is beyond me, and beside the point. The point is, we have not been able to use this wonderful range. Instead, we used the Rabbit Creek Rifle Range on Wednesday to do our running combo and shooting workout. For $9, we could wheel a biathlon target they had out on a private "instructor's range" and run out and back on the nearby wildlife refuge trails. I felt like I was back in high school when we would go out to the desert outside Boise and shoot at a little gun club. We would run out and back up this dirt road and return to shoot five quick shots, much to the amazement of the hunters sighting-in their rifles. Wednesday was much like this, but add a much more dilapidated target (we had to rig one paddle with a rock so it would work). It was true dedication, and I'd like to thank my coach Eric for preparing me to deal with this adversity. :)

Making due with what we've got.

Shooting clean on our fantastic target (it's supposed to be all white).

Anyway, we have two more interval sets left in this week (one more where we'll likely be returning to Rabbit Creek), and then a volume week before resting up and heading to Utah. It's important to be able to re-group and realize when you need a little break, whether mental or physical. And being able to do that is going to help me be able to be in the best place possible for the Utah camp and trial races.

Re-Cap

2008-08-24T11:03:00.011-04:00

It's been a busy last few weeks between camp and races in Jericho, a short camp in New Hampshire and then a few days with my relatives in Maine. Let's start back in Jericho.

Jericho Races

I had great races in Jericho. It was a great opportunity to get some hard racing in and see how my training is progressing to this point. Despite being away from biathlon-specific training while I was home in Boise, I shot very well and also skied well. I was third in the sprint, only 36 second from first and 6 seconds from second. I missed only 1 prone shot, so I was very happy with my whole race. The pursuit style race was the next day and I had a great race, missing only 2 shots over 4 shooting stages and won the race with a big margin. It was a great boost for me to see that my training has been on point.

Clean shooting in the pursuit race

Getting interviewed by the local news after the sprint race

A few days later I raced in the NENSA rollerski race. It was fun to do a cross-country race, but very different. Race strategy is completely different when you add shooting to the mix. I ended up 4th, but was very happy with my race considering it was my 3rd race in five days, and my 4th hard workout of the week. All in all, our time in Jericho was very well spent.

Chasing down racers in the NENSA rollerski race

New Hampshire Camp

After the Jericho races, the "B" team headed over the Jackson, NH in the shadow of Mt. Washington. Jackson is a somewhat special place for me. Not only was it the site of my first cross country skiing Junior Nationals, it was also the site of the 2007 NCAA Skiing Championships where Dartmouth won it's first NCAA title in over 30 years. It was great to be in Jackson in a completely different capacity. The focus of our camp was volume, so we did some great bike rides, hikes and rollerskis. It was a great break from the shooting and biathlon-specific training of Jericho.

Just below the summit of Mt. Washington

One of our long bike rides...beautiful!

Off-week: Maine!

After the long week of training in New Hampshire, Zach and I headed to Maine to hang out with my aunt, uncle and cousins. We had a great time sleeping in, cooking, berry picking and kayaking. We went sea kayaking with my aunt and uncle, which was really fun, despite some harrowing water on the way back. It was definitely a fun few days.

Huge hail stones during a thunderstorm in Maine

What's a trip to Maine without lobster?!!

Kayaking off the coast in Maine

Hanging out on the beach we kayaked to.

Now we're back to Lake Placid and gearing up for a couple more weeks of training here before heading off to Alaska. After a couple of good camps and some great races, I'm feeling very confident going into this next block of training. As the summer comes to a close, I'm getting ramped up for the fall and feeling like I'll be ready for the fast approaching competition season.

Home Sweet Home, and Rain, Rain, Rain

2008-08-03T15:37:00.001-04:00

I'm a little behind in things...ok, a lot behind. I have not uploaded any pictures from the last couple weeks, so the visual side of the story will have to be in the next post. However, a quick update is definitely in order.

I spent the last couple weeks at home in Boise. The first week I was home I spent a lot of time getting in one last big week of training. It had been a while since I'd trained hard during a Boise summer, so I was enjoying early mornings and bone dry heat. A nice break from the humidity of the East! At the end of the week, my family went backpacking in the Sawtooth Mountains with some family friends. It was great to get into the mountains again and even better to be with such great company!

The second week I spent at home was an off week from training. While that doesn't mean that I don't train at all, it does mean very low hours and much more time for seeing friends and hanging out with family. We enjoyed a couple of late night, backyard dinners, and some good catching up.

I returned to Lake Placid refreshed and ready for a new training block. On Wednesday, we headed over to Jericho, Vermont for a week and a half of training and racing on the roller loops there. This coming Tuesday and Wednesday are biathlon races, and Saturday is a NENSA series Nordic rollerski race. The last couple days have been so rainy that I can't imagine there will be any rain left for the race days, but in New England, you never know. Hopefully we stay dry, and hopefully I'll remember my camera so I can get some pictures to you soon!

Volume!

2008-07-17T00:09:00.004-04:00

Last week was a big volume week, and boy did I feel it! The last few volume weeks we've done I haven't felt too bad at the end, but during this one, all I could think about was Saturday afternoon and our rest day! It's been hot, which definitely takes a lot out of you, and starting this week after a long travel weekend (involving some car trouble) for the 4th of July did not help either. But, I made it through, putting in a lot of quality hours. It's weeks like this one that make me feel really good about my training. I know I'm pushing my limits and thus improving my capacity. It's a good feeling, no matter how tired I am at the end!

Rollerskiing near the OTC

I'm now home in Boise for a couple of weeks. It's hot here, but I've been getting in some good training this week before we head off on a backpacking trip and then a much deserved rest week. I'll come back to Lake Placid just before our camp and rollerski races in Jericho. It's nice having some time away from the OTC and the training group to just hang out with my family. I think it's going to help me be even more ready for Jericho. But for now, I'm only going to think about the immediate future: getting through one more week with high quality training, and then enjoying my rest week here with my family!

Camp Re-cap and Rest Week

2008-06-29T10:30:00.004-04:00

Now that the national team camp is over, and we're finishing up a busy rest week, I finally have time to catch up on things.

The camp ended well. The second week started with the duathlon I wrote about in my previous post, and ended with a trip to a good friend's wedding in New Hampshire. In between, we had VO2 Max testing on the big treadmill at the OTC. Overall, it was a great camp, with some really high quality training. It was great to get to train with such a big group of girls and I'm definitely looking forward to the next camp when we're all together again.

VO2 Max testing.

Though the camp was great, I was more than ready for the rest week that followed. After a quick trip to New Hampshire over the weekend for my friend's wedding, Zach and I spent the next couple days house and dog sitting for a friend in Lake Placid. It was great to get out of the OTC for a few days and get to cook and enjoy having a whole house to relax in. We began some light training at the end of the week, and are gearing up for an interval week next week. After heading to Jericho, VT for some combo training (rollerskiing and shooting) on the roller loop there for Monday and Tuesday, Zach and I will go down to Rhode Island to spend the Forth of July with my family at the beach. While training won't stop for the holiday, it will be nice to hang out on the beach a bit and see my family.

Dartmouth Nordi girls reunion! Post-wedding hike up Mount Moosilauke.

A beautiful rainbow while house sitting.

Week 1

2008-06-17T15:30:00.004-04:00

We are just beginning the second week of our first training camp. Everyone is here-the National A and B teams and the Development team along with some potential recruits for next year. It was a big week in terms of hours and intensity, but I feel like I handled it well. Some highlights include a couple fun shooting competitions, a 7 hour day that included a long hike/run and a bike ride, and of course lots of long rollerskis with good conversation.

Melinda, Wynn and Zach on our long hike/run at Avalanche Lake.

Shooting work on the Scat machine.

This week is another big week-the last week of camp. We began with a swim-bike race yesterday that was really fun, and quite entertaining seeing a bunch of biathletes attempt to swim fast-a difficult feat when you don't float too well. Later this week we're going to be doing some VO2 Max testing. The testing will make for a bit lower hours this week, but it will be interesting to get to see how we do in testing. Then, at the end of the week, Zach and I head to Dartmouth's Moosilauke Ravine Lodge for a friend's wedding. It should be a great week, with a much deserved break waiting at the end.

Pre-swim-a little wary
.

Biathletes swimming...not too bad actually...

Heading off on the bike portion.

Back to School

2008-06-06T10:42:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since I last wrote, so what better time to catch up than sitting in a coffee shop across the street from my alma mater?

This weekend is Dartmouth graduation, and an easy training week for us before the national team camp begins on Monday. It seemed like a perfect time for Zach and me to get away for a little break from the OTC and to catch up with a few people here on campus. So far, it's been a nice visit. Today's rain is definitely putting a damper on things, but the weather looks much better for Sunday's commencement exercises: it's going to be 90˚F! I suppose summer really has arrived, despite the recent dreary weather.

It has been a busy last few weeks as training has ramped up and things have gotten back into full swing. Last week was a volume week with 25 hours of training for me. It was my biggest week ever, and though I did miss an interval session because I was feeling a sore throat coming on, I felt great about the training I put in. Making the decision to take the day off is tough, but you have to know when to rest. Training through sickness can just make you more sick and then you end up missing even more training. It was a good lesson for me: with a lot of rest and forgoing the intervals, I was able to stave off my cold and finish the training week. Knowing when to train is important, but knowing when to rest is perhaps even more important, and certainly more difficult.

It's not been all training these last few weeks, though. During our last low volume week (3 weeks ago), Zach and I went to Rhode Island to paint my Grandpa's house for him. We were lucky with the weather and were able to get a lot done. It was also great to spend some time with my Grandpa and my aunts, uncles and cousins. As an added bonus, we got to get all dressed up and go to the Providence Opera. It was amazing, and definitely not something we have the opportunity to do very often!

Safety first!

Just like new!

Off to the Opera. We clean up pretty nicely...

So, that's the cliff notes version of the last month. I'm really looking forward to the national team camp over the next two weeks. It's going to be great to get to work with the "A" team coaches and train with everyone for a while. This is a real "kick off" for the season, and I am more than ready to put in the work.

Spring!?

2008-04-24T12:23:00.004-04:00

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!

End of the Season

2008-04-09T18:45:00.005-04:00

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...

Canadian Nationals Day 1

2008-03-28T20:05:00.005-04:00

Wow! It's been an amazing week here at Canadian Nationals so far. In addition to being able to ski at an absolutely breathtaking venue that will host the 2010 Olympic Games, I had a fantastic race on Thursday. The Individual race (15K with 4 shootings and 1 minute penalty for each miss instead of the usual 150m penalty loop) went very well. I was able to ski each loop a little faster than the previous and had only 3 penalties for the day, putting me into third place overall! It was definitely a great result for only having 1 year of focused biathlon training.

Leaving the range

Tomorrow is the sprint race, followed by a mixed relay on Sunday. Both should be great races, and I'm especially looking forward to the relay since I have never raced one before. We are all taking advantage of being able to train and race at this venue, but I must admit, I am looking forward to after the race on Sunday when the season will be over and vacation will start!

Close-up of prone shooting.

Women's Individual Podium!

Photos courtesy of Max Cobb. Check out more photos of US Biathletes in action at http://gallery.mac.com/maxkcobb#100148&view=mosaic&sel=0

Nationals Summary

2008-03-25T18:12:00.008-04:00

Mass Start 2nd and 3rd place

US Nationals/NorAm Championships ended Saturday with the mass start competition. I had a good race with good shooting and skiing, despite a long week of racing. It was an exciting race, since it came down to the last lap.

Mass Starts are always exciting since you always know where you are and can often tell how other racers are doing. The first lap of the Nationals mass start was cool because the whole group of women pretty much stayed together, meaning we all entered the range at the same time. I had one penalty and left for the second loop with a small group of skiers, around 5th place. After clean shooting in the second prone stage I was just behind a couple skiers, and moving up in the standings. Standing shooting went well, as I had two penalties in the first stage and one in the second. By the last lap I had moved into 4th position, just behind third and within sight of second. I battled hard over the last 2.5K lap and took over 3rd position, and if the course had been another half kilometer I would have been able to catch 2nd place as well. It was a great race though, and very exciting to do well in the last domestic race of the season. Also, due to my races in Minnesota, I was able to take the NorAm Overall title for the 2008 season. It was a great first season as a full-time biathlete.

And it's not quite over! We are now just outside Vancouver, BC, Canada for Canadian National Championships at the 2010 Olympic venue. The area is amazingly beautiful, and the venue is fantastic. It's a great and inspiring opportunity to get to ski and race here now. It is the first large-scale biathlon events to be held at the Olympic venue, and so far everyone seems to really like the courses and the set-up. Some nationals team members are here, so I'm looking forward to spending time with some people I haven't seen all season. It's going to be fun to race here and end the season with such an exciting experience!

Range at the Olympic venue

US Nationals-2 down, 1 to go

2008-03-22T08:06:00.006-04:00

The races at US Nationals are almost over. Today's Mass Start will finish off the competition and then we'll be off to Vancouver for Canadian Nationals. Overall I've been happy with my races so far. The courses here at Mt. Itasca, MN are in great condition and challenging, but very fun to ski. It's been fun to get to see some people who I haven't seen since the beginning of the season and get to race against a couple of World Championship team members.

Thursday was the 7.5K sprint race. I was pretty nervous going into the race and it took me the first lap to ski into the race. Clean shooting in prone and good skiing in laps two and three helped me to a 4th place finish (3rd American) despite three misses in standing.

Friday was the 10K pursuit format (a pursuit style start-based on our sprint results-but an individual result). I was in a much better place mentally for this race. I was very relaxed and ready going into the race so was able to ski well right from the beginning. I had only 1 prone penalty (in my first stage) and three standing (1 and 2) penalties. I ended up 3rd (2nd American), lossing out only to one World Championship team member and a former Belarusian world cup athlete. I also had the best shooting of the day, which I was very pleased with.

Today's Mass Start will wrap up competition here. I think my races thus far have been good, and hopefully I can end on a high note with the last race today!

Post-race

US Women's Sprint Podium

NorAm 7 and Nationals Run-Up

2008-03-10T13:56:00.008-04:00

It's been a while since I last wrote, so lets catch up. The last "regular season" NorAm in Valcartier, Quebec went well. Although the sprint race was difficult due to lots of new snow and some wind, it was a good experience. I missed quite a few shots, but learned a lot about how to better tell wind values so I can better adjust my sights for wind in the future. The pursuit race went much better. Despite arriving only an hour before the race (the organizers had moved the race up an hour without making sure every team knew) and having a rushed zero, I hit 17 of 20 and won by 2 minutes. Overall is was a good weekend, but I was definitely looking forward to a bit of a break afterwards.

A break was exactly what we got last week. With three days off and then some easy training and one interval session, I'm feeling much more rested this week. We're now gearing up for US Nationals/NorAm Championships and Canadian Nationals. We leave Lake Placid on Monday for Minnesota where we will race Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Then we head to Vancouver and race Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. All together, I'll race 6 races (58.5 kilometers) in 11 days. It's going to be a whirlwind, so getting some good training in and then some rest leading up to the races is important.

After Vancouver, we'll be done for the season and I'll be heading home to Boise for a little relaxation before heading back to Lake Placid and getting ready to start things all over again.

Snow Day

2008-02-28T16:47:00.005-05:00

Although our main focus right now is training, resting and racing fast, we do occasionally get out to enjoy winter in other ways. Today, Zach, Jason and I went to the ski jumps and rode the chairlift and then the elevator to the top. It was a beautiful sunny day so the views were amazing. Here are some pictures from the ski jumps and the trails yesterday after a big snow storm. Enjoy winter!

View from the chairlift to the top of the landing hill.

Looking down jump.

Biathlon Stadium

Fresh tracks in 6 inches of powder!

La Patrie

2008-02-27T21:17:00.005-05:00

Well, it was another interesting weekend. First, let me say that La Patrie, Quebec is beautiful. The venue and trails were great (definitely not "world class" but very well done for such a small area). The trails wound through the woods and rolled up and down the hillside (well, to be honest it was considerably more up than down). And of course the sunshine definitely didn't hurt. It was a beautiful weekend.

Unfortunately, I was only able to enjoy one day of racing since I woke up Saturday morning with a strange sickness. I was dizzy and nauseous and thus spent the day in bed. It only lasted a few hours, and by evening I was well enough to go out to dinner with the team. Thank goodness for my healthy immune system!

Sunday I woke up feeling much better. Though my body was tired from having been sick the day before, the race went well. It was a Canadian style pursuit (5 second interval starts based on your sprint result), and since I didn't race the sprint I started last in the field of three women (so, 10 seconds behind the lead). I quickly moved into second after missing only 1 shot on my first prone stage. With only one more miss on my next stage, I took over the lead and stayed there for the remainder of the race, missing 2 and 2 on each of my standing stages. It was not a perfect race by any means, but a good one none-the-less. I was tired from the word go, but was able to pace myself and felt like I gave all I had. My shooting was not perfect, but not bad, and certainly better than last weekend's mass start!

The parking/waxing area.

The team (the three of us-Jason, Zach and I) has been feeling pretty tired this week and so our coach has opted to give us a little more rest. This weekend is the last weekend of racing before US Nationals/NorAm Championships in Minnesota. After this weekend we'll have about a week and a half of training to get ready for Nationals and Canadian Nationals which immediately follow the Minnesota races. We're on the home stretch of the season, which, as always, is hard to believe. It's been good so far, and I'm hoping to end on a high note with these last few races.

Post-race.
Such a beautiful day, how could you help but smile!?

What a Weekend

2008-02-18T14:57:00.008-05:00

Freezing cold and wild wind were the story of NorAm 5 in Lake Placid this weekend.

Though Saturday's sprint race saw temperatures below zero, I was able to put together a good race. My shooting was not great (one penalty in prone and 3 in standing), but I skied well and ended up first by 40 seconds. I was very happy with my result, especially since most of the other competitors shot better than I did, meaning my ski time was very strong.

Saturday's Podium

Sunday's mass start was a roller coaster ride for me. Despite very strong wind, the race began well. I was in the front pack for the first lap, and after 2 penalties in the first prone stage, was only a few seconds back from the lead. Clean shooting in the second prone stage put me into first place with a good lead over second. From there, however, it was all downhill. I missed 9 of 10 standing shots over two stages, and though I still ended up third it was a tough race. The wind was the main factor in my missed shots, and since it was my first race with any wind at all, it was definitely a learning experience for me.

All in all, it was a good weekend. I feel that my skiing is really strong right now, and my shooting is definitely coming along. I'm still learning a lot from each race and thus improving with each new experience. Next weekend will be a sprint and pursuit in La Patrie, Quebec. Until then, we'll be training and hoping for some more snow. The night after the mass start a warm front came through and we had another major melt (the third of the season). We'll be making it work for the next few weeks before heading off to Minnesota for US Nationals/NorAm Championships. The weather might not have been perfect, but at least the snow held up for the races!

NorAm Cup 4

2008-02-12T20:56:00.003-05:00

Last weekend was my return to the NorAm Cup Circuit in Jericho, Vermont. We raced a sprint on Friday and a pursuit style race on Saturday. Both races went well for me. In the sprint, I shot clean prone and then picked up only one penalty in standing, despite a dud bullet in my last shot. A "dud" is a bullet that does not fire when the firing pin strikes it. In biathlon, the rules stipulate that a competitor cannot leave the range until they have fired five shots, so when a bullet does not fire, you must hand load a bullet from an extra round holder. Some competitors have extra round holders on their rifle, while others have relay clips where rounds can be stored in the bottom of the clip. I have the latter kind, which takes longer to get the bullet out of, so when I had to hand load, I lost around 20 seconds. While it was an annoying incident, I learned a lot from having to deal with the problem. And, I hit that target anyway!

Women's Sprint Podium

In Saturday's pursuit, results were timed individual from Friday's finish, but we started in 15 second intervals which made things a bit more exciting. I started third, after finishing just 13 seconds from first place in the Sprint. Thanks to solid skiing and great shooting (just one miss in prone and one in standing for a final of 18/20 shots), I finished just behind the Saturday's winner and ended up first place once final times were released. Of course, I was very excited to have won my first NorAm race. It boosted my confidence and I am very excited going into this weekends "home" races: NorAm #5 right here in Lake Placid.

My mom and much of my family will be here this weekend to see me race, which should be fun. More snow has put the trails in perfect condition for racing, a major change from one week ago when the start area was nothing but a puddle. We'll be doing a sprint on Saturday and a mass start on Sunday, and we're all looking forward to the opportunity to race on our home trails.

SNOW!

Back to the Grind

2008-02-04T19:55:00.000-05:00

I've been back in Lake Placid for almost two weeks now, getting back into the swing of things and training hard to get ready for the next set of races coming up.

The last few days in Slovakia were good. Our team decided, due to a few under-the-weather teammates, not to race the relay. We did, however, do the pursuit. It was pouring rain, which made for an interesting day. I managed to move up in my placing and shot much better than the previous races. It was a great way to end my European racing.

The goal of the past week and a half has been to get in some good training hours in preparation of the next four weeks of racing. The NorAm circuit is starting up again with races this weekend in Jericho, VT followed by Lake Placid and the next two weekends in Quebec. I looking forward to getting back to racing. With biathlon, the pressure of race situations cannot be duplicated in practice, and so these next weeks will be another set of great learning opportunities for me. It should be good; keep checking for updates as the ball gets rolling again!

Junior women's pursuit race in Osrblie, Slovakia.

Slovakia

2008-01-18T14:09:00.000-05:00

What a stark contrast from Germany, and an even starker contrast from the US! Slovakia has been an interesting experience so far. (above: a view of the trail, surrounding hills and (lack of) snow)

Our hotel is very nice, and the meals have been good. Luckily, nothing too out of the ordinary in the food category. Normally I'd be all for trying local fare, but when you are racing, it's best not to test your system too much. The most notable difference has been the lack of vegetables except at breakfast where there is a plethora of greens. It seems the Slovaks don't like salad, except at 8am. We've been sticking with yogurt, cereal and eggs.

The area where we are staying and racing is tough to describe. It is a mix of Soviet era housing and infrastructure, and modern improvements. Minus the large oil pipeline going through the town between our hotel and the venue, there does not seem to be much going on. It really seems like a step back in time to the Soviet era. The weather has been cloudy and rainy and dark, making things look even more depressing than they really are. Strangely enough, this area appears to have many summer or vacation homes that are boarded up right now, and even a couple of alpine ski areas. Possibly in the summer things pick up a bit. I imagine the weather is better then anyway.

Today we raced the sprint race. My shooting did not improve, with four penalties total, but my skiing was good. I was passing a lot of people on the course and ended up with a definite improvement from last week. Tomorrow is the pursuit, and I'm very excited since I've never done a true pursuit (the pursuit in Canada was standardized to 5 second intervals, here you start however far back from the winner you actually were). I will start about 4 minutes back and am hoping to be able to move up a few places. I'm realizing that shooting is just going to take time. I have all the elements, but getting the race experience to gain consistency and confidence is going to be a big part of this season. Then, we get to race a relay on Sunday which should be very fun.

On Tuesday, I will most likely be heading back to the US and the NorAm circuit. Although I am very pleased with my races here, they have not been good enough to earn me a spot on the World Championship Team. I am excited, though, to head back to the NorAm races. It's been a good experience here, but getting back to more training before some more racing will be nice.

The more gradual of the two road bridges on the course, looking up the valley we race in. To the right is the range and to the left is the first picture.

Germany and Slovakia

2008-01-15T07:22:00.000-05:00

I was hoping to be better about posting while abroad, but unfortunately the circumstances have kept me from posting. While our hotel in Germany was very quaint and nice, it did not have wireless. So we were stuck using the lobby computer for quick email checks only. So I'll try and give a quick update.

Our hotel (above) was located in the town of Böbrach, about a 20-25min drive from the Langdorf venue. It was a great place to stay; we ate in the dinning room there and the meals were delicious. The venue was great too. The courses were tough, and the conditions were soft-especially since the women raced in the afternoon. The individual race went fairly well for me. I felt that I skied well, and though my standing shooting didn't go as well as I had hoped, my prone was excellent. The sprint race also went ok. Again, I struggled some in my shooting, missing one prone and three standing, but my skiing was good. In the race break-down I had the 20th fastest lap time for my last lap, which I was very excited about.

Both days I was down near the end of the results, but I learned a great deal in both races. Getting international experience in front of big crowds and with very competitive field (many of the women racing had raced the World Cup circuit earlier this year), is really what is important.

Yesterday we drove from Germany to Slovakia. Our hotel is just outside of the town of Brezno and about 25 minutes from Osrblie where the venue is. The courses don't look quite as tough as Langdorf (which is nice), but challenging none-the-less. I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Hopefully now with a couple European races under my belt I can improve on my results from last weekend. Regardless, I plan on racing my hardest and enjoying every minute of this wonderful opportunity.

Nearly Off

2008-01-06T15:09:00.000-05:00

So, we're packed and ready to head down to Albany tonight for an early flight tomorrow morning. After a long day in the Atlanta airport, we'll be on our way to Munich, Germany. I'm really excited to be on my way. Big races and great experiences are just around the corner, and I am so ready.

Getting Ready

2008-01-05T05:26:00.000-05:00

I've been back in Lake Placid for about a week now, training and getting ready to head to Europe on Monday. It's been great to get back in the groove of full-time training and get a good block in before heading off for the Europa Cups. Being home for Christmas was great, but there's something about the training center that makes everything seem very focused (I guess that's the point).

We've been enjoying great skiing here; there's a ton of snow. And although the temperatures were frigid on Thursday, making inside training a must, we've been getting in some good skiing and shooting work. Exploring the trails at Mt. Van Hoevenberg has also been fun.

We leave on Monday, so packing is just beginning-the project for the day. We've been slowly inching out way towards Central European time, even a couple hours of adjustment will make things easier once we get there. We arrive in Munich on Tuesday morning and race on Saturday, so there's a quick turn around and anything we can do to ease the transition is a good thing. I'm getting really excited to leave. It's going to be a great experience and I can't wait to race in this biathlon-loving environment.

Europe!

2007-12-17T21:50:00.001-05:00

It's been a little while since I've written, so let me do a quick update. The races at West Yellowstone went well. All of us were tired, but the skiing was great and we were all motivated to finish the first series of races off on a high note. For me, the sprint race went well but the pursuit format race was tough. My shooting was not great and skiing was pretty flat. Despite that one tough race, I was named to the Europa Cup team and will be traveling to Europe (Germany and Slovakia) in January to race. I'm really excited to have the chance to race in Europe, and feel like it's a great opportunity to take the next step in my biathlon career.

For now, though, I'm enjoying the holiday season and being home in Boise with my family. After an easy week last week, I'm back to normal training. Luckily, the snow has only been getting better at Bogus Basin, and I've been able to travel to Sun Valley and McCall to get some great skiing in. I return to Lake Placid on the 28th and shortly after we will leave for Europe. Until then, lots of training and gearing up to race again.

The Development Team on a ski near Lake Louise in Canada. L-R: BethAnn Chamberlain, Me, Caitlin Compton, Zach Hall, Haley Johnson, Jason Ray

The women's team on the deck of our place in Canmore. L-R: Me, Caitlin Compton, BethAnn Chamberlain, Haley Johnson (front)

Shooting prone in West Yellowstone.

Leaving the range in West Yellowstone.

0:0:0:0

2007-12-04T23:35:00.000-05:00

Shoot Clean: Hitting all five targets during one shooting stage.

The first races are over, and now the season has really begun. Saturday was the 7.5K sprint race (2 shooting stages) for the women (10K for the men), followed on Sunday by a Canadian style pursuit (4 shooting stages). Both days were brutally cold, claiming more than a couple frost nipped fingers and toes. Races were delayed one hour each day, but temperatures were still near -17ºC.

Saturday’s race went well for me. My prone shooting was good with only 1 penalty, but standing was rough, with 4. I felt that I skied well and ended up in fifth position (which would have been 6th except for an unfortunate mistake by one of my teammates which we were all able to learn a good lesson from). I was very pleased with my result given that it was my first real biathlon race in a long while.

Sunday’s race was 10K for the women and 12.5K for the men, and Saturday’s place determined your start. The winner started first, followed by second place 5 seconds later, third place at 10 seconds, and so on down the list. The first person to cross the finish line is the winner, regardless of actual ski time (so it’s an advantage to have a better finish the day before). It was a fun race since there were so many racers so close together. I started between two teammates at 20 seconds back. My skiing was less than stellar; my cough had come back, and though I did my best to ignore it, it was definitely taking a toll. Luckily, my shooting saved me. I shot clean, not just on one stage, but for the entire 4 stage race. It was a pretty amazing feeling and a very exciting experience. Something many biathletes go their entire career without ever doing. I ended up second to my teammate, Haley Johnson, and another American from the National Guard, Denise Teela, was third. It was a great end to the weekend.

We arrived in West Yellowstone last night in a big snowstorm. Today, there is about two feet of snow covering the trails, a major improvement from just a week and a half ago. It’s going to be another great weekend of races to decide the Europa Cup team. All I’ve got to do is keep my momentum and confidence rolling and things should work out well.

Turkey Day

2007-11-23T23:13:00.000-05:00

Despite being in Canada, we were able to pull off a successful Thanksgiving feast yesterday. It was an off day for us, so the majority of the day was taken up by cooking turkey, potatoes, yams, stuffing, bread and pie. It was a great day of eating and hanging out with the team.

The day before we had a great classic ski up near Lake Louise. We skied out to Moraine Lake, and though we had been on the trail before, this time we finally made it all the way to the lake. It was a beautiful spot, and the lake was frozen over so we were able to ski out onto the ice, which was very fun. After our ski, we went up to Lake Louise to check out the hotel and the lake. That lake had frozen as well, but it had frozen clear, so we could look down onto the logs and rocks on the bottom. It was a very cool, but very odd sensation.

Back to the present, today we had a time trial with some of the Canadian Development team and a few juniors. I have been a little under the weather, so took the time trial as a chance to get the feel for racing, but backed off the intensity. I was very happy with my "race," as it was a great experience and good to do something a little hard since I haven't been able to yet on snow. I'm even feeling a little better now, so I think that little intensity might have been just what I needed to kick this sickness.

The next week will be a lot less volume and more intensity so that we will be in top form for the NorAm next weekend. It's going to be great to really get things rolling.

Canmore Update

2007-11-19T22:22:00.000-05:00

The end of the weekend brought with it a drop in the temperature. While that made for more chilly training, we arrived at the range to the full roar of snow making. Since we've been skiing on a short out and back trail, hopefully the snow made today will allow for more open trails tomorrow.

Despite the lack of open trails, we've been getting some great training in. Tomorrow calls for intervals, and since racing is literally just around the corner, intervals are becoming more and more important. I'm definitely looking forward to our first set of on snow intervals, so it's off to bed in order to make the most of tomorrow's session!

At Last!

2007-11-16T19:33:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Canada yesterday after a ridiculously long trip. We left the OTC at 2am Eastern time and arrived in Calgary at 2pm Mountain time. We finally pulled into our (very posh) condo in Canmore at 5pm and proceeded directly to dinner and then to bed. 10 hours of sleep, and we were all new people this morning!

It is beautiful here, and though the snow is a bit lacking, it's worlds better than rollerskiing. The ski area is situated right at the base of the mountains and is one of the most inspiring places I've ever skied. We're all looking forward to the next few weeks here. I hope to have some pictures from the range and skiing in the next few days, but for now, the view from our condo will have to do.

Motivation

2007-11-13T19:52:00.000-05:00

Below is an article I wrote recently for the Bogus Basin Junior Nordic Team newsletter. I wanted to talk about what I'm doing and why I'm doing it, in hopes of inspiring some of the Juniors from my junior team to realize they can also get to where I am. Hopefully it will at the very least explain what has motivated me to get to where I am.

When you go away to ski camp, you spend the time training, eating, sleeping and relaxing. It is an enjoyable time, but also some of the most focused and intense training of your season. Now, imagine that you never leave ski camp. That’s my life now. After my graduation from Dartmouth College in June, I moved to the US Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY as a member of the US Biathlon Development Team.

I always knew I wanted to continue my ski career after college, however, I was not always sure that would be in the cards for me. As a junior racer, I had a lot of success, but in college, I had a couple of tough seasons. I kept at it, though: training hard and staying confident in my abilities. My senior year, after a summer of training and assistant coaching with BBNT, I made my goal to finish in the top ten of every Eastern Collegiate Circuit race (commonly referred to as carnival races). But after early season successes, I began to realize I could do more than finish in the top ten. I decided I wanted to make the NCAA Championship Team, and to my excitement, I did. The season ended with an invitation to apply for, and eventual acceptance to, the US Biathlon Development Team. Acceptance meant free room and board at the OTC, coaching, partial funding for summer and fall training camps, and nearly full funding for winter competitions domestically and internationally. All of this made skiing full time possible, since holding down a job during a 20-hour training week can be a difficult task.

Now, training and nearly beginning to race full time, I am realizing that hanging onto my goals, even through the tough times, was important. I plan on training hard and staying focused on my goals for as long as I have this opportunity. I am glad that I went to college and had that experience. I know now that I can always fall back on my education and other passions when I am done racing. This opportunity fell into my lap in part because of timing and luck, but mostly it was because of years of hard work and never giving up on my goals.

Side Trip

2007-11-11T12:33:00.000-05:00

First, in my last post I erroneously failed to mention how pleased our team was with the Soldier Hollow venue in Heber, Utah. The owners were incredibly generous in their allowing us to train every day on their world-class facilities. We owe them a huge thanks, and if you are ever in Utah, you must go ski at Soldier Hollow. It is inspiring to be on the same trails where Becky Scott won her Olympic medal and Ole Einar Bjorndalen won his many in 2002. It is an experience not to be missed.

Now for the update. This weekend, Zach and I headed over to Dartmouth for a quick visit. We had been hoping to find a time this fall to come over and join the team for a Sunday OD (over-distance) run, and we finally settled on this weekend. It worked out nicely since Dartmouth was celebrating 35 years of coeducation and consequently Dartmouth Skiing was hosting a kick-off event for the Women of Dartmouth Skiing to help us continue to stay connected and begin a campaign to raise $100,000 for the 100th Anniversary of Skiing at Dartmouth in 2009. It was great to get to talk with some of the alums, many of whom graduated in the late 70's and early 80's, making their stories of Dartmouth and the ski team much different from mine. However, it was also good to see that many things have stayed very much the same: from OD runs to bikini skiing and Moosilauke, our experiences have many things in common.

Sunday morning we each headed off with our respective teams for an early morning run in the woods. The women's team headed up Smarts Mountain, which offered us great views thanks to the sunny (though very windy) morning. The way down was slippery with ice and snow, which made us all excited for impending winter and ski season. It was so good to see the team and catch up on what everyone has been doing. While I'm glad to be out of school and extremely happy doing what I'm doing, I do miss my team and all our fun times. Luckily, Hanover is a mere 3 hours from Lake Placid, so I imagine we will be back again soon.