Re-Cap

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

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!