Halfway

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

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!

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!

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"

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!

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?

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?