Canada to California-Season Wrap Up 2011-2012

After a disappointing, frustrating, and quite honestly disheartening World Junior Championships I took some time off and spent a few very relaxing days at my parent’s house, before returning to Fort Kent to prepare for Canadian Biathlon Nationals, in Valcartier Quebec. Valcatier is only 3 hours from Fort Kent, so skipping US Nationals in Montana was a no brainer. This race series was also my first racing “with the big boys” in the Senior Category. I was optimistic about my prospects for good results, however during my last hard workout before traveling to Valcartier I experienced very painful cramps and spasms in my quadriceps, accompanied by lingering pain above and beyond normal soreness. Leading up to the first race I was very diligent about stretching, and other recovery activities. I was able to post a 5^th place in the Mass Start, despite not being able to ski my best due to some leg pain. The Saturday sprint race was no as successful, despite good shooting I was not able to ski anywhere near my potential and posted a disappointing 10^th place. The Sunday pursuit race started off well, I had great skis and felt good, unfortunately I only had 2.5k of racing in me, and due to leg pain, a lingering cold, and poor mental preparation I posted my first ever “did not finish” I was ashamed, but glad the race was over. It was a tough way to end what has been a disappointing season.

With the competitive season in the books I headed back to Mammoth Lakes, California to race in the Mammoth Biathlon Invitational. I was joined by Mark Johnson, Corrine Malcolm, Nick Proell, Jake “Big D” Dalberg, Conrad Roberts, and Mr. JR from Stanford. I really enjoyed my time in Mammoth, great people, scenery, and fun racing. The two day event was split by experience, so the beginner adults, juniors, and adaptive categories raced on Saturday, and the Elite, National Guard, Masters and Intermediate Adult races where held on Sunday. It was a full weekend of racing, coaching, officiating and socializing. As an added bonus I was able to hold fast skiing Mark Johnson for the win.

I am now talking a break from training for and thinking about biathlon, while I solidify my plans for next year. Thanks to everyone that supported my though this difficult season. Photos of both events can be found above.

Back At It

A little training video pre-Canadian Nationals.

March

I have made it back to Maine after a 30 hour travel day, 7 of which was spend hanging out in the Helsinki airport. It was a brutal end to a very disappointing and frustrating World Juniors. I failed to meet my expectations, and didn’t manage to crack the top 60 once. My shooting was quite bad, and so was my skiing. While I have been plagued by poor shooting all season, I have no explanation for my total loss of ski form. This has been a huge learning experience for me, and it has given me a lot of perspective and food for thought. Going forward, I will be racing at Canadian Nationals in Quebec starting on the 14^th of March. After the racing season is over I am really looking forward to the great spring skiing in the county that will hopefully last until early May.

Individual Junior World Championships

“That’s Biathlon” Is a phrase that summarizes the unpredictable nature of my sport. One day you can be fighting for the podium, and then the next day you are struggling to stay out of last place. I was on the losing end of “That’s biathlon” in the individual. I shot quite terribly with 11 misses, and skied rather pathetically. I am looking forward to the next 3 races (Relay, Sprint, Pursuit) and the opportunities they bring. I am confident in my preparation and ability. I am starting the relay tomorrow and I am stoked to go fight as hard as I can with my teammates. At a championship race prime directive #1 is give your best, and despite my poor performance in the Individual I left it all on the course.

Kontiolahti

I am currently in Kontiolahti, Finaland preparing for the Individual competition coming up this Tuesday. I covered nearly every form of transportation on my trip here. I drove down to Portland from Fort Kent, flew from Portland to Helsinki, and finally took the train to Joensuu, Finland. I am staying in Joensuu, but the competitions are in Kontiolahti. The trip here was long, and not without a few snags. Due to some miscommunication between different travel groups, we arrived in Helsinki expecting to meet the rest of our team, however they where nobody to be found. We waited until the last possible minute to leave the airport, but our teammates never showed. We assumed the worst (flight cancellation, missed connection, customs trouble) and made it to the train station without too much trouble. Once we figured out which train to take, we began what would prove to be the very complicated process of buying tickets. We could not but tickets from the machine with our credit cards, because they didn’t have a chip identifying them as European, and the line at the ticket counter was 60 people deep. In a last ditch effort to catch the train we recruited a Finnish woman from the ticket line to use her credit card to purchase tickets, in exchange for cash. She was in a hurry, but she politely obliged and in the process saved us from a long wait in the train station. Since my arrival I have been doing my best to adjust to the time change, learn how the course skis and how the range works. Ski conditions are absolutely ideal, while the range has been a bit tricky with some strong, but consistent wind. Today the Junior Men did a short time trial to prep for our upcoming races. All of us skied well, but I struggled on the range a bit, especially in standing. Luckily I have two more days of training to get everything dialed.

Thanks for the Support!

A big thanks to everyone at the 10th Mountain Ski Club and The Maine Winter Sports Center for their ongoing support of my training and racing. Special thanks to Nancy Thibodeau for all her help with sending out my rifle customs declaration.

Valcartier Pictures