Slovakia

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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.