USA!

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

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!!

Best Yet, Take 2

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

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!