On to Oslo

Sunset at the stadium in Khanty.

After the World Championships in Khanty-Mansyisk concluded with Sunday's relay, it was off to Oslo. As a team, our relay did not go as well as planned. I did, however, have a great leg and felt very good about how I ended the series. It's always nice to have good results to go along with good efforts, but today it just wasn't there for us. It was, however, an improvement for the team as we all skied well and placed 14th, 3 positions higher than our Olympic finish.

Racing in the relay. Photo: NordicFocus

Most of the team is now in Oslo for the final World Cup. It's an absolutely gorgeous day here-and even after such a long season, moral is high and everyone seems to be looking forward to the last races. I'm excited for one more weekend and the opportunity to race another mass start. We'll see how things go, but I feel good. There's no better place to end the season, and hopefully it will be a good finale!

One Windy Day in Khanty...

When I set my goal of having fun and staying relaxed in the Individual race and World Championships, I could not have know how tough that would be. After days of sunny, breezy weather, we awoke on Wednesday to a blizzard with gale force wind gusts...not ideal for a shooting race such as the 15km. I kept my mind off the weather, however, realizing that everyone would have to deal with the wind and it was not worth stressing about. As the day went on, the wind calmed slightly...meaning there was less danger of mats blowing away...it was still quite windy. At zero, though, I realized there were moments of predictable wind, and with a good zero, I was confident I could wait for the breaks and still shoot well. While some women went ahead and shot their normal cadence, my plan to wait and risk spending more time in the range worked out well. I hit 18 of the 20 shots and skied a fantastic last loop to a 17th place finish. Only one woman shot clean and one had only 1 miss, making 10 people of 93 finishers who shot 90% or better-something unheard of in an Individual race where the shooting is so important. I was ecstatic with my result and my effort. It was a tough day and I was pleased to have been able to overcome the elements and give myself a great World Champs race to remember.

Heading out for a classic ski to enjoy the sun the day after the Individual race.

Now the US women are looking forward to the relay on Sunday. After the men's 6th place performance today, we are pretty excited to see what we can put together. It will be a fun way to end the 2011 World Champs...then it's off to Oslo for one last World Cup. We're on the home stretch now...

Lowell Bailey and the rest of the men's relay field in the first leg.

The men at the flower ceremony after their 6th place performance. Congrats guys!

World Champs-Halfway

Birch trees. The native people here use birch bark to create many beautiful crafts.

After a strong relay performance, I was looking forward to the sprint and pursuit races this past weekend here in Khanty-Mansiysk. After missing 3 in my sprint race and crossing the line already 3:25 behind the leader, though, I thought my chances for even making the pursuit would be slim. Usually, around 2:00-2:30 behind is the normal top-60 margin. But apparently the course here in Khanty is anything but normal, and as the race wrapped up, I stayed 3:25 behind and landed in 48th place. Not where I was hoping to be, but to make the pursuit without having a great race was solid.

Unfortunately, I was not the only US woman to suffer from a less-than-stellar result. Only two of us made the pursuit, and the team had to work hard to look for the positives and re-group for the coming races. For me that meant right away. Sunday's pursuit was much colder, and like Ostersund, I opted for some face tape to keep cold and frostbite at bay. Starting so far back was tough: while the sprint loops are 2.5km, the pursuit loops are only 2km, and markedly easier. The 2km cuts out one hill entirely and significantly shortens the climb into the range. In the relay, the loops were taking between 5 and 6 minutes. I knew shooting would be key with the short loops and the already large margin I would start behind. I skied solidly and with only 4 penalties, managed to keep from being lapped by the leaders and move up, finishing 38th and gaining a couple more World Cup points. In the end, 14 women were lapped, proving again what an strange pursuit this was. I was very glad to shoot better and finish within the points, and though it was not my best race, the result gave me some confidence as I look forward to the rest of the races here.

Annelies Cook and I after a cold pursuit. Pleased with the effort but ready for a rest day!

Many times this season I've had the chance to reflect on how far I've come in just one year. One of the best examples is the first half of this World Championships. In the sprint, with three misses, I placed 48th and was not satisfied. Then, I shot 80% in the pursuit and moved up to 38th and felt it was simply a decent race for me and a good comeback considering how far back I had started. Last year at the Olympics, missing 1 target in the sprint race, I placed 45th and was ecstatic. And then, shooting 90% in the pursuit, I ended up in 46th place. It's great for me to see the change in my expectations and ability, but every once in a while I must remind myself that just last year simply getting World Cup points was cause for celebration. Before this season my best result had been 34th in the Olympic Individual, and so far this year I've had 8 results better than that one. Things are certainly heading in the right direction!

Huge, brightly colored Matryoshka (nesting) dolls are positioned all around the town square.

Coach Jonne getting in his "Rocky" workout...the rest of us opted to walk up!

Tomorrow is the 15km individual race. I feel ready and confident, but without pressure. I know this year has been great for me, and to prove it again here at World Championships would be fantastic. But that's not the focus. Tomorrow's goal: have fun and enjoy the experience, whatever the outcome.

USA women with Coach Jonne Kahkonen, enjoying the sun on an off-day exploration of Khanty-Mansiysk.

Getting things going in Siberia

Greetings from the cold north!

World Championships is underway with last night's mixed relay. It was a mixed bag for me, with great skiing and mediocre shooting, but it was a good way to find my race legs again and get psyched for Saturday's Sprint race. Having to use 5 extra rounds didn't set the team up very well, but my team had an overall solid day, finishing 13th. Feeling so good on skis gave me confidence going into tomorrow, and hopefully the shooting will go a bit smoother!

Opening Ceremonies in the stadium.

Out on course in Khanty.

Siberia has been fun so far. Warmer than anticipated weather and sunny days have allow us to really enjoy the World Championships atmosphere. While this definitely isn't Central Europe and far from the US, the differences aren't too stressful. Military presence around the whole venue is perhaps the most obvious change, but for the most part the guards are friendly, even stopping me on my ski today to ask to take a picture together!

A beautiful (and huge!) Russian Orthodox Church just down the road from our hotel.

A view over Khanty-Mansyisk...then out to the Siberian tundra!

The adventure continues with the Sprint and Pursuit races this weekend. I'm looking forward to both-hopefully my luck from Maine has followed me almost halfway around the world!

Russia Bound

After a good week of training here in Lake Placid, I'm off this morning for Russia! It will be a long next couple of days of travel (overnight in Oslo before leaving for Khanty Saturday morning). It's exciting to finally be heading off to World Championships, I'm really looking forward to racing again. I'll keep you posted as things get underway!

Fort Kent

Thank you Maine! (photo: Viktoria Franke)

Maine seems to agree with me. After a stellar weekend in Presque Isle, the World Cup moved up the road to Fort Kent for three more races: a sprint, pursuit and mass start. With only 57 women here, I was guaranteed at least 2 starts, but would have to earn my place in the mass start since only the top-25 overall World Cup ranked women, plus the next top-5 from the weekend of racing qualify. Not being in the top-25 overall, and having never made a mass start before in my career, I knew it would be tough, but certainly attainable.

After a clean sprint on a VERY cold day earned me a 17th place, I was in a good position. It felt great to have another clean race here in Maine, and though I didn't feel the courses here agreed with me as much as in Presque Isle, I was very pleased with the outcome. Warmer temperatures greeted us for the pursuit race, but my ski speed just wasn't there. Despite only 3 penalties on the range, I dropped down to finish 27th. Not that I'm complaining about another top-30 finish, but I thought my chances for the mass start were gone. Luck was on my side, though, and with a few women pulling out of the mass start, I grabbed the last spot: bib number 30. My first World Cup mass start ever, and on US soil! I was excited-this would be an experience to remember.

After two weeks of racing, and three days in a row on the tough Fort Kent courses, we were all pretty tired. You could tell right away that the big hill on the course (nicknamed the Mt. Everest of biathlon by some of the Germans) was not going to be a place to get away, but simply to get through. My strategy was to try and shoot well, and just enjoy the experience. Being my first Mass Start, I wanted only to have a solid race and gain the experience of starting with the 30 best women on the World Cup. I only had one hiccup in my plan, missing 2 targets in my second shooting stage, but otherwise I was clean, and skied fairly well. I finished 23rd, with time to give a wave of thanks to the crowd as I finished. All in all, it was a great weekend and an amazing experience to race World Cups in the US. Hopefully it won't be so long before we're back!

I'm now back in Lake Placid for a week before leaving for World Championships in Russia. The work is pretty much done now, just some fine-tuning left. The final stretch is here!

PB in PI

As the Swiss coach told me after congratulating me on my performance in Presque Isle, I couldn't have picked a better time for a stellar result. My 14th place personal best was also the best World Cup finish for a US woman in a decade. With my parents, grandpa, aunts, uncle, cousins and plenty more fans watching, it was a perfect day to have a great race. I cleaned my shooting and felt good skiing. I know that top-15 is not something to be expected always, but I'm getting there. It's very exciting.

Presque Isle Opening Ceremonies. Yes, they are dancing on rollerskis!

The mixed relay and pursuit were also good races for me. Our team missed the flower ceremony (top-6) by one place, and on a windy and snowy pursuit day I was able to hold on for top-30 with 6 penalties. With such a good weekend, it gives me a lot of confidence that I'm peaking just at the right time. Starting to get faster now, and peaking just in time for World Championships in a few weeks was always the plan, and it seems as though the plan is coming together nicely.

Exhausted after the tag-off in the mixed relay. (photo credit: AP)

I'm currently in Fort Kent for one more weekend of US World Cup racing. A much needed snow storm has been raging all day, and the temperatures are supposed to dip to frigid tomorrow. Not exactly the weather we were hoping for, but at least it's not warm and melting. The organizers and volunteers in both Ft. Kent and Presque Isle have been amazing. Being the home team, we're been getting lots of pats on the back and "good luck," but more than that, you can tell they really want everyone to enjoy these events and are doing what they can to make things perfect. Northern Maine may be far away for the Europeans to travel, but I think the hospitality and preparation has made it a trip to remember. Hopefully this weekend will be another one for the books!