Pre-World Champs...camp?

Ridnaun Panorama (photo: Zachary Hall)

Some would say that the toughest days to be a skier (or possibly any athlete) are the days you are supposed to rest. While it may be easy to rest for one day after a really intense and hard week of training, if that day turns into several, or the training hasn't been too tough, some athletes start climbing the wall. I've always been pretty good at dealing with my down-time. I work hard and enjoy training, but also love the times when I can go spend hours in a coffee shop, or sleep in and spend the day in my pajamas...or better yet, actually get dressed in "normal" clothing and not change all day!

The Schneeberg Resort and beautiful backdrop. (photo: Zachary Hall)

That said, this week has been a major test of my ability to fill the time. We're in Ridnaun, Italy for our pre-World Championships training camp, and "training" camp might be stretching it a bit. As we start the peaking process for the end of the season, the training is minimal. We've done the work and now it's time to fine-tune and kick it into top gear. That means most days only one workout, shorter workouts, and a little more intensity. Yesterday, for example, we had a threshold interval set followed by "tolerance" - basically when you go as hard as you can for short burst of time (15, 30 or 60 seconds)...and usually on tough uphill terrain. The idea is that this wakes up your muscles and reminds you how to go hard...finding that extra boost! We followed that tough workout with an 90 minute easy ski with shooting and an afternoon off today. Pretty nice.

One of the comfy sitting areas. (photo: Zachary Hall)

Luckily, we're in an extremely beautiful place. Ridnaun is known for nice sunny days, and a good venue right next to our hotel. The toughest part of our job right now is trying not to eat too much of the great (and plentiful) food here at the Schneeberg. We've been taking full advantage of the huge sauna complex, and the great sitting areas that have pretty decent internet. Even with all that, though, I'm starting to get antsy to race...which is precisely the point! I think I'm just about ready for Ruhpolding...

Ampumahiidon Maailmancup

View of our hotel in Joensuu, Finland. (photo: Susan Dunklee)

Hello outside world! After a week of basically non-existent internet, I'm back online! I did, however, use my internet-free time in Finland to pick up some Finnish. For example, the above, which means "Biathlon World Cup." They really like to use a lot of letters.

There's a lot to catch up on in just one week, which is a good thing! After some changes to the schedule due to extremely cold temperatures in Kontiolahti, the Mixed Relay was moved to Friday. We had some sickness on our team, but the final roster was strong, and we were looking forward to racing...if it was going to happen. The temperature hovered right around -20C for the whole morning, and at race time the officials had to call for a 30 minute delay before they finally decided it was just legal for us to race (-20C/-4F is the minimum temperature at which races can legally be held). The cold and race delay wreaked havoc on my warm up, so my first loop was a little rough. Luckily, I shot pretty well and my skiing improved enough that I had the 4th fastest last loop of the lead-off leg. I tagged off in 6th position. After some solid shooting and skiing by my teammates Annelies Cook and Jay Hakkinen, Tim Burke had a stellar last loop and moved us back into 6th place by the finish. It was the best finish for a US Mixed Relay team ever! I was just excited to be a part of it...and getting to go up on the podium made the chilly race more than worth the effort.

Annelies and I getting ready for the relay. (photo: Annelies Cook)

Team USA 6th place! (photo: Armin Auchentaller)

The weekend continued in excellent fashion for me. I had my first clean race (hit all my targets) of the season and skied well enough to land in 15th place. It was my best result of the season, and my second best World Cup finish ever. Needless to say, I was pretty excited. It seems that my luck in Oslo was not just luck, but the true turning point in my season.

What do you wear when it's this cold? A lot.

In Sunday's Pursuit I would start only 1:20 back from the leaders, and only about 20 seconds out of the top-10. Unfortunately, I think I had only 2 good races in me for the week, and I had used them up with the Relay and the Sprint. With 6 penalties I moved back considerably, but still managed 36th place and a few World Cup points to boost my standing to 55th overall. Despite this result, I am super psyched about the weekend. I feel like I'm in the perfect place heading into the end of the season and looking towards World Championships in a couple weeks.

Finland was beautiful, but I'm happy to be back with the sun and warmth! (photo: Annelies Cook)

Right now, I'm back in Antholz, Italy for a few days of rest and training before the whole team meets up in Ridnaun, Italy for the pre-World Champs camp. After crazy cold temperatures last week, today was +1C...we hardly knew how to dress! These next two weeks will be fun but focused, as everyone is trying to get some quality training in as we peak for Ruhpolding. Only 4.5 weeks left in the season...how quickly it always goes!

Rejuvenation

Antholz stadium, pre-World Cup craziness.

Sometimes all you need is a little time off to get things back on track. For me, it took some time with my family, a few days in Venice, and a week of solid training back in Antholz before I headed to Oslo and found my stride. While one race is far from proof I'm back on track, it's a great start, and there's plenty more chances to keep improving.

Tomorrow is the Pursuit here in Oslo, and hopefully things will go well enough to earn me a spot in the Mass Start on Sunday. For now, here's some pictures of my rejuvenation! :)

My aunt, uncle and parents joined came to watch me in Antholz and then spent a few days traveling around Italy. (photo: Thom Folan)

Our drive down to Venice through the Dolomites was incredibly beautiful...

Then we got to Venice, which was beautiful too!

Picturesque Venice (photo Thom Folan)

...or delicious. :)

Antholz was the perfect place to finish the week with some solid training. Great snow and inspiring landscape...perfect!

Sara Studebakerova

Hello from Czech! We’re currently in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, site of the 2013 World Championships, for World Cup 5. The post-Christmas World Cups can so far be summed up in one word: windy. Oberhof, Germany (site of World Cup 4) is known for it’s wind, and while the women’s sprint was relatively calm, our stay there saw all kinds of weather. So far, Nove Mesto is proving to be the same. Everyday we’ve come to the range to find the same wind from the left side, often with big gusts. Yesterday, during the women’s sprint, the weather added lots of snow to the mix in the middle of the race. It seems anything can happen here…but that’s biathlon, right?

We've all been getting used to our Czech names (which consist of the announcer adding -ova to the end of all the women's names) and it will be strange to be Sara Studebaker again next week when we head to Antholz. I'm looking forward to it...we're hoping for some sun!

And now, some pictures of 2012 so far:

It was a little bit windy in Oberhof...and Nove Mesto for that matter!

Various long car ride activities...

Stretching is important post-race.

We found this beautiful church in the town we're staying in here in Czech. The walls form a star pattern and inside is a cemetery. It was a little wind-swept on top, but the views were great!

Jet Lag and God Jul and Jet Lag

Beautiful, snowy Hochfilzen!

How crazy the past few weeks have been! And when I say crazy, I mean that in the best possible way. From Hochfilzen home to Idaho for Christmas, then back to Germany 13 days later. While there was no snow in Boise, I was able to get some good training in up in Ketchum/Sun Valley area. It was great skiing with my brother and Zach, and spending quality time with my family. We had our usual Christmas Eve party with lots of good friends, food and cheer; it was nice not to think about biathlon for a couple weeks and just enjoy being home.

Coach Armin on the range during the mixed relay. I had a great leg, tagging off just 14 seconds back from the leader. It was a great race to end December on!

While home I went to practice with the Bogus Basin Junior Nordic Team. It was great to connect with my old club and show them some new exercises...but boy did it make me sore!

Our Christmas Eve Smörgåsbord beginning to take shape...don't worry, there's much more than this!

I arrived today in Oberhof, Germany where it has, unfortunately, been raining for two days. All the snow they had is nearly gone, and the organizers are scrambling to make things ready in time for the races. Our women's group is down to three since this week is also the second round of World Cup trials in Forni Avoltri, Italy. This means we won't have a relay team on Wednesday, but hopefully we can qualify one or two for the first mass start of the year on Sunday! We'll see what the conditions bring, but whatever happens, I'm excited to be back on the circuit and looking forward to racing on Friday!

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for 2012! ~Sara

Ok...

Christmas comes to Östersund - but we found winter in Austria!

The first week of World Cup competition is completed, and we're already getting things underway here in Hochfilzen for World Cup #2. It's amazing how quickly the season starts to go by once the racing begins! Fortunately, Hochfilzen has had a nice snow storm to make the skiing good and the view wintry. Unfortunately, France cannot say the same. Instead of heading to Annecy-Le Grand Bornand next weekend, we'll be staying put for another week in Hochfilzen. We were all looking forward to skiing a new venue and seeing some new places along the way, but mother nature just didn't want to cooperate this year. Annecy hopes to host in December of 2013 instead.

My racing so far has not been exactly what I hoped for. While I was able to shoot well and move up into the points in the pursuit in Östersund, my skiing just hasn't been there. I tend to do better as the season goes on, and indeed last year my best races were in February. However, it's still hard feeling like you're not skiing where you feel you can. My coaches are confident the times will come, and already they see improvement from Östersund to Hochfilzen. I'm trying to be patient and confident too...though that's sometimes a tall order for an athlete!

Shooting has been solid; now we just wait for the skiing to follow. (photo: Jonne Kähkönen)

With 2 penalties, I just made it into the pursuit here tomorrow so I'm looking forward to shooting a little better and hopefully moving up. Every rung on the ladder must be touched before I can get where I want to be, so tomorrow I'm hoping to take another step up!

And it Begins...

The stadium in Östersund, pre-snow storm.

The men have kicked off another World Cup Biathlon season with the Östersund Individual today, and the US men have set the bar for themselves and the team nicely! Lowell Bailey had a great race with only 2 penalties, putting him in 9th. Jay Hakkinen also put together a great race, finishing 18th with the same shooting. Two men in the top-20 is a great start for us, and the rest of the men looked strong and I'm sure are psyched to get the season going.

Some of our teammates raced on Sunday in the IBU Cup...in the middle of the first snow storm of the year!

The first race is always tough because you have no idea what your shape really is against all the other teams. It can be nerve-wracking and exciting all at once. Often times, you'll see athletes struggle in the first races, but when you can overcome that exhilarating feeling of kicking things off, then great races can happen. Tomorrow, I'll be aiming to put nerves behind me and kick off the season on the right foot. I already feel worlds ahead of last year, when parasites in the water knocked me down for the first weekend of World Cup racing. So no matter what, this is a much more positive start for me!

Skiing out on the extra 3km loop...before...

And during the storm! Much better...

The weather has been decidedly eastern here lately: with snow, rain, thunder and wind often all in one day. The snow has set up nicely, though, and the conditions should be fair and good for the race tomorrow. Wind may be a factor, but I plan on just going with what's dealt.

Racing starts at 5:15pm CET (+6hrs to EST) tomorrow. You can watch live feed and live results at www.biathlonworld.com. I'll be bib #29...and ready to get things going!

Östersund sunset...about 3:00pm!