March Madness-Halftime

The month of March had been filled with long travel days and intense racing. I am currently in Truckee, California training with my MWSC teammates for the US Supertour XC Finals. These  races will be my last of the 2012-2013 season. My endeavor began in Fort Kent, Maine with the US National Biathlon Championships. As usual the organizing committee and community of Fort Kent came together to pull off a stellar event. I skied and shot well enough to win all 3 competitions. The highlight of the series was Mass Start race, where I sprinted for the victory against my good friend Casey Smith.

Immediately following the racing in Fort Kent I began my journey west. My first stop was Whistler, British Columbia, host to the 2013 North American Biathlon Championships. I met up with a number of my fellow US Biathletes in Seattle, and under the guidance of Methow Valley Biathlon coach (and Casey’s mom) Betsy Smith we made our way north. I experienced every condition during my time in Whistler, including by not limited to: rain, snow, sun, sleet and clouds. The senior men’s field was very competitive due to the presence of a number of Canadian national team athletes. I had a decent race in the Sprint, placing 7^th overall with 2 misses. In the following pursuit race I posted a lifetime best shooting score with 19/20, good enough for 3^rd place. After a day of easy training and sightseeing in Whistler Village I was well prepared for the Mass Start and Relay races to come. I held strong with the leaders for the first few laps of the mass start, before untimely standing misses moved me back. During the second to last loop I followed a strong move by fellow American Bill Bowler and regained contact with the podium group. I took full risk in the final standing and tried to shooting fast and clean. I misses two and left the range in 5^th. On the final loop the travel and racing of the previous weeks caught up to me and I found myself struggling in for another 7^th place. I did my best for my team in the scramble (1^st) leg of the relay, but fatigue was still dragging me down and I failed to tag in a good position. My time in Whistler was incredibly valuable and I was lucky to spend it with a great group of up and coming American biathletes.   

After the relay my friends Casey, Mark and Corrine loaded into Casey’s Subaru for the long drive to Mammoth Lakes for the Mammoth Winter Biathlon Festival. I have attended the event in Mammoth for the last two years, and I had another great experience this season. Warm sunny weather dominated our time there. It was great to reconnect with the enthusiastic Nordic and biathlon community in Mammoth, and do some fast fun racing; well, as fast as racing can be at 9,300ft!

The altitude and racing in Mammoth Lakes has put me in a great position to perform in the upcoming XC races here in Truckee. I am excited to get down to racing next week.