Utah Wrap and The Methow Valley

The final two international team selection races culminated my time in Utah. I struggled mightily in these two tests. My ski speed and shooting scores were well below my performance potential. I attribute this to a lack of recovery and an over-zealous training regimen during the early phase of this high altitude block. I took some valuable lessons away from this experience and I am looking forward to getting on some SNOW in Canmore, Alberta, Canada beginning on November 12^th.

Directly after I finished up racing in Utah, my teammate Casey Smith and I traveled to his hometown of Winthrop, Washington to put on a master’s biathlon camp. Masters athletes are citizen racers over the age of 30. These athletes juggle family, a career and other “real life” commitments while still pursuing their athletic goals. The purpose of the camp was to share our knowledge of biathlon with a segment of participants who have very little access to shooting instruction, technique coaching and other resources elite athletes take for granted. The camp was a smashing success! I learned a great deal about coaching and earned funds that will make my season considerably more affordable.  I would like to publically thank Methow Valley Biathlon and the Smith Family for making the camp possible as well as all of the participants for attending. Special thanks also go out to Bryn Black who drove me to Seattle, put me up for the night and got me to the airport the next morning. Thanks Bryn!

The racing season is right around the corner and I am undoubtedly looking for redemption following my poor performances in the last three significant events. I will be finishing off my preparation for the season with a final dryland training block in Fort Kent, before putting my off-season training to the test with on-snow training and racing in Canmore, Alberta.

Utah Update

I have been training in Park City and Heber City, Utah for the past 9 days. I have trained in Utah for the past 3 seasons. My time at altitude this season has been the most productive of any of my previous trips. Our team has completed a number of challenging and productive training sessions including a long bike ride on the beautiful trails surrounding Park City, test races at the 2002 Olympic Venue Soldier Hollow and long rollerskis workouts on the mountain passes in the area. 

The main objective of our camp in Utah is the selection races next week. These races are a continuation of the selection process that began in Vermont this August. Following this camp I will be running a masters biathlon training camp with my teammate Casey Smith in Washington’s Methow Valley. I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge of biathlon with a new group of people.  After my time in the western US I will be returning it Maine for my final dryland training block of the year. Big thanks to my teammate Katrina Howe for the pictures of the stellar scenery here in Utah.

Harvest Camp

To kick off October I headed to Sugarloaf, Maine for a training camp with the Maine Winter Sports Center Junior and Post Graduate teams. I was very impressed by the work ethic and focus on these young athletes during our training sessions. It is always refreshing to spend time with younger athletes. Their unbridled enthusiasm for the sport is contagious and motivational.

 Our group enjoyed perfect training conditions throughout the camp. The MWSC team was welcomed to the  Sugarloaf area by staff and students of the Carrabassett Valley Academy. They graciously allowed us to take advantage of their stellar dining services, gym and classrooms. I was very pleased with the quality and quantity of training I put in during this time. Highlights of the camp included a long uphill only threshold double pole workout, extremely hard bounding intervals and many long runs and rollerskis through the peak foliage of the Carrabassett Valley.

 Besides training, I was able to share some of my experiences and expertise with my younger teammates through a presentation on training execution and daily dryfire practice for the biathletes.

The mountainous atmosphere and sunny days of the last week has certainly raised my level of anticipation for my departure to MWSC’s annual training camp in Park City, Utah.    

*All Photos Courtesy of the Maine Winter Sports Center and Amber Dodge