Antholz in Pictures

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"

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

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!

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!!