Welcome to Sochi!

The Laura Biathlon Stadium; Olympic venue for 2014!

The World Cup's most anticipated stop this year is undoubtedly the new venue in Sochi - which will play host for the Olympic Games in February 2014.  It's safe to say that all the athletes and staff were eager to check out these new courses and get a feel for the area, so excitement was pretty high as we began our travel from Oslo to Sochi.  Travel days that end or begin in Russia are often long and can be difficult.  Gun control in Russia is serious, and papers must be in order (often many times over) well in advance of arrival.  We are lucky to have a staff that is very on top of logistics, so our entry into the country was relatively smooth.  Unfortunately, we had to wait for all the athletes on our flight to clear customs before our bus could leave the airport for the future Olympic village.  After an additional 2.5 hours waiting around, we finally arrived at our house (after what probably would have been a beautiful gondola ride up the mountain, had it not been midnight and thus pitch-black out). 

Susan enjoying the (dark) gondola ride up to the future Olympic village.

The accommodations here at the village are great.  We have a good sized house with 5 double rooms and a good sized common area.  All but two of the athletes are in one house (some of our staff is up here in the house, and some stays at the bottom of the gondola since all the housing is not yet finished in the village), so it's been nice having some good "team time" together.  While the accommodations are great, the food leaves a little to be desired.  Russian food is pretty different from what we're used to, and between the lack of fresh vegetables and fruits and all the mysterious-looking meats, it's tough to adapt to.  Eating gluten-free has been an especially tough challenge, but I was prepared, bringing some cereal and bread with me, and between myself and the 4 or 5 other athletes that are gluten-free, we've been having some luck getting the cooks to label things and have some form of GF carbohydrate for us to eat.  Buckwheat is a popular choice, and has become a staple of my diet here!

 

One of the cabins in the village, with the amazing mountain view behind!

Construction is nearly constant here. The Olympic village is nowhere near complete...it will be interesting to see what everything looks like next year!

A view from the walk between eating and our house - the venue is in the trees in the middle of the picture, and the cabins are off to the left at the bottom of this little hill.

The venue itself is amazing.  The building used for timing, jury meetings, doping control, media, and a host of other things, is the largest ever built for a biathlon stadium.  The stadium is huge and well-designed, and no-doubt will be packed next year.  Despite having to check our rifles in and out of a locked room each day, and the endless circulation of shuttles between the village and the stadium, things have come off without any major problems so far. 


The stadium, with lots of space for spectators and the massive timing etc. building behind.

The courses are some of the most difficult on the circuit.  The climbs are monstrous, and depending on conditions, the downhills can be tricky (several athletes had pretty bad crashes in the Individual race, causing some injuries and broken rifle stocks).  Working on V1 climbing skills will be paramount to doing well here next year.  However, the range approach is downhill into the flat stadium, which provides good rest before shooting.  And you can't beat the view...the Caucasus Mountains provide a beautiful backdrop to the venue and village.  While these are certainly not my favorite courses, I'm looking forward to improving my climbing ability and working  hard to better fit my skills for the next time we're here.


Skiing up the first big uphill out of the stadium. The Sochi venue is nothing if not picturesque! (Photo: Jonne Kahkonen)

This weekend racing continues with Sprints on Saturday and Relay races on Sunday.  Unfortunately, we only have three women here, so won't be fielding a relay team.  The Sprint should be exciting, though, and next week we head to Khanty-Mansyisk for the final races of the season.  It's about 11 months until the Olympics, perfect timing to be checking out the venue, and just enough time to work out the kinks and come back stronger next year!

One of our fabulous wax techs, Gara, and me enjoying some beautiful ski testing weather!

 

World Champs Wrap-up

In sport, as with life, it's important to remember that how things start is not always how they end up.  After a dissappointing Sprint race, I was looking forward to a chance at redemption in the Individual, and I was able to make it happen.  With just one penalty, I ended up with a seasons-best performance in 27th place.  Our team had a great day as well, with Susan Dunklee placing 15th despite a fall in the last loop, and Annelies Cook grabbing a couple World Cup points as well.  Hannah Dreissigacker had a solid day as well, with her best World Cup finish yet.  Despite some difficulties in the Relay, we had a good day, placing 11th, and I was especially happy to turn in a solid second leg. 

You might not be able to tell, but this was a nice sunny moment in Nove Mesto...we were basking in it!

Post-relay team cool down...excited to end the Championships with a solid relay! (photo: Annelies Cook)

After that, racing for the US women was done, but our job was far from over.  We headed out both Saturday and Sunday to cheer on our men in their Relay and the Mass Start.  It's always fun to cheer for your teammates, and we enjoyed getting into the spirit of things!

Lots of red, white and blue to cheer the men's Relay!

Once racing was over, it was time for some well-deserved rest.  Most of the team headed to Inzell, Germany (near the Ruhpolding World Cup venue) for a week of rest and training.  We hoped for some sun, but instead got near constant snowfall.  No one was complaining, though, as our hotel was fantastic, the skiing was great, and even the cloudy days were brighter than what we left behind in Czech! 

Sauna in the snow in Inzell! Thanks to the Rauchberblick for a wonderful week!

We arrived in Oslo Monday night, and have been enjoying constant sun since then!  Racing starts back up here on Friday with the Sprint race.  Though there's just three weeks left of World Cup racing, they will be packed - including a stop at the 2014 Olympic venue in Sochi March 5-10 to check out the tracks for next year's main event.  I'm looking forward to a chance for more racing...it will certainly be an exciting finish to the season!

World Champs, Part 1

I was hoping at this point in the Championships to have some fantastic results to report, but unfortunately, I didn't have the start I had wanted.  After a disappointing Sprint and failing to qualify for the pursuit, it was back to the drawing board to focus on tomorrow's Individual Race.  It's been a really good couple days here in Nove Mesto - cheering for Susan and Annelies in the Pursuit, breakfast making with the girls in our hotel suite, and some great skiing around the trails and jogs near our hotel. 

Hannah and I attended Opening Ceremonies on Wednesday...always fun!

Yummy GF French Toast and fruit. Cooking helps pass the time on our long mornings waiting to train and race!

Hannah and me checking out the church in Žďár nad Sázavou, Czech. 

Tomorrow is a new opportunity and I'm looking forward to getting back out there and enjoying the biathlon ride!

Pre-World Champs

Antholz!

How time flies!  Three weeks of racing already done in the new year, and World Champs just a week away!  Things started out great for me in 2013, with three top-40s and two clean races!  To top it off, we had our best relay result of the season (10th place) in Antholz.  It was the perfect way to end the trimester and head into World Champs. 

Pretty happy with our 10th place relay finish!

Now, we've been training and enjoying great food and sun in Antholz, Italy as we prepare for World Champs in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic.  The first race starts a week from today (Mixed Relay on Feb. 7).  I'm looking forward to getting to Czech and getting back to racing!

Susan doing strength with a beautiful view.

Shadows only happen when it's sunny! Beautiful ski at Platzwiese, Italy.

Post-ski coffe and conversation in the sunny Dolomites...life is good!

Auf Wiedersehen, 2012!

I'm sorry, I've been pretty bad about blog posting.  I'd like to blame lack of internet, or slow internet, but while that may play a role, it's not the whole story.  The good news is that whenever I fail to post for a while, you get a photo update!  So here we go, the last month in pictures...

After the not-quite-winter of Sweden, it was off to Hochfilzen.  They had plenty of white stuff waiting for us.

Our view upon waking up the first day in Hochfilzen...winter!

Susan and me enjoying the snowy conditions post-pursuit race.

It was not only snowy, but cold in Hochfilzen...parkas for cool-down skis!

After Hochfilzen, it was off to Bled, Slovenia for the Pokljuka World Cup races.  Bled is beautiful, and consequently Pokljuka is one of my favorite venues.  Conditions were great for the training days, decent for the sprint, but the pursuit was run in pouring rain.  However, I had some solid results, scoring points in both races!


The beautiful view of the lake and church from our hotel in Bled, Slovenia.

SUN! The training days leading up to the Pokljuka races were sunny and beautiful.

But the sun turned to rain, turning my bed into a drying rack...

Wet and ready for some time off, I headed to Anchorage, AK for the Christmas break.  I'd never been there that time of year, and though I was warned the sun was never up for long, the short days were sun-filled and beautiful.  It was the perfect mix of relaxation and training.



Cold temps but sunny weather met me in Alaska...making for some beautiful skis.

The sun never got very high in the sky, but it was still more sun than I'd seen most of the time in Europe!

No visit to Anchorage is complete without seeing moose while on a ski!

And of course I did some biathlon training...in the dark.  Luckily the Kincaid range is well lit!

And now I'm back in Europe!  Oberhof was a solid start with my best result of the season so far (29th in the sprint), and after a slight head cold, things are kicking off in Ruhpolding.  The season is about half over, and things feel like they're heading in the right direction for me.  Antholz is next, and then we'll be prepping for an earlier-than-normal World Champs in Nove Mesto.  Stay tuned for more as the season progresses!

One down...

The Ostersund Range, pre-World Cup preparation.

Finally, the World Cup season has started!  Yesterday was the Mixed Relay here in Ostersund, Sweden and while it wasn't the start I had hoped to have, it was nice to get things underway. 

After a decent double pole, I was tripped up and fell going out of the stadium, landing in last right away.  After some effort to catch back up in the first loop, I used 2 extras to clean in prone.  Heading into standing I felt good - just trying to focus on my own race.  But the effort and the early season rust were stacked against me, and after using all 3 extra rounds, I still had 2 penalty loops to ski.  I skied my last loop as hard as I could and managed to tag off in not-quite-last place.  Susan, Jay and Lowell had solid races and were able to move us up to finish in 17th place.  It wasn't what we were envisioning, but I know I just needed to get a little of the jitters out and dust off my racing legs.

The view of the tracks from our hotel.  That green grass on the side is now covered with a nice dusting of white.

The women don't race again until Thursday's Individual, so we have a nice break to reorganize.  The weather is slowly improving; things even look a little wintry here after a dusting of snow fell last night.  It should be a fun week of racing here before we head off to Hochfilzen and hopefully some more sun!

Luckily, even in the dark the stadium has some nice views.

Never-ending Autumn

The women's team (plus Andrea Henkel) on a hike outside Midway, UT. (photo: Hannah Dreissigacker)

Hello from Utah!  The national team is wrapping up our annual training camp in Soldier Hollow this week.  It's always nice to be out here in Utah for the fall, and though in one week I'll be heading back to Alaska and below-freezing temperatures, this has been an amazingly long fall for me.

After our Germany camp, I headed to Alaska, where the autumn colors and temperatures were in full swing.  I was ready for training in tights and long sleeves, and the colors of an Alaskan fall were the perfect addition.  About the time the temperature started dropping to that uncomfortable not-quite-fall-not-yet-winter level, I headed out for a week in Boise.  The high-desert climate didn't disappoint, and I was treated to cold nights and mid-60F, sunny days.  It was great to be home for a few short (and busy!) days.  I only wished it could have been a little longer.  But Utah was calling, and I headed to the Heber Valley for our annual camp.  Temperatures and weather continued perfectly for our first week, but we were in for a surprise during the second week.  A drop in temperatures and an early snowfall delayed our second time trial race, but otherwise only provided us with some excitment.  A few days later, the snow was gone, and week three has begun with bluebird skies and warm temperatures.  As Hurricane Sandy bears down on the eastern US, we are glad to be enjoying the perfect training weather Utah is offering us.

Birthday celebrations in Alaska!  Mmm, pumpkin pie! (photo: Zachary Hall)

Part way up Bogus Basin Rd. outside Boise. A beautiful rollerski I always try and fit in when I'm home! (photo: Beth Studebaker)

The women above Orem, UT on a long hike/run. Our new orange jackets were perfect for hunting season... (photo: Hannah Dreissigacker)

On Sunday, I'll be heading back to Alaska and marking the end of my autumn.  One week in Alaska, then off to Sweden for pre-World Cup camp and then the racing season will be off and running.  It's crazy to think the season is literally just around the corner, but I'm feeling excited and ready. 

A view of the Boulder Mtns from Pioneer cabin outside Sun Valley, ID.  (photo: John Studebaker)

Ciao, fall!