Czech

My Baggage and I made it to Nova Mesto Czech and I’m almost all settled in. There isn’t much natural snow here, due to a spell of very warm and wet weather. Today the organizers only had a 1.5k loop, but they have a huge pile of reserve snow that they are spreading out with dump trucks and front end loaders. The town itself has a cool old country feel and a really cool looking church. More pictures to come soon.

Nationals and Euro Trip 2011

I am now into the heart of the racing season, and racing will be coming hard and fast for the next months. Immediately after the last race at US Junior Trials I drove over to Rumford Maine for US XC Ski Nationals. I contested the 15k classic race and the 10k skate race. The classic race was tough because I don’t have the specific strength I have had in the past because biathlon training is almost exclusively skating. I was happy with my race and one of the US Ski Team coaches was impressed with my classic technique. I wound up 101st of 202 overall and was around the 20th Junior racer. The next day was the skate 10k, on paper I should be better at this because of my biathlon training, however the cumulative fatigue from Biathlon Trials and the 15k caught up to me in a big way and I ended up the 33rd junior. Nationals and provided some great physical training and racing experience.
Now I am back in Fort Kent for a week before embarking on the longest overseas trip I have ever taken. I will leave Maine on the 16th of January and fly to Munich Germany. From there I will:
1) Go to the Nova Mesto, Czech Republic for World Junior Biathlon Championships.
2) Drive to Ruhpoling Germany for a training and to compete in German Cup Races
3) Either Ridnan Italy for Under 26 World Championships or Czech for races.
4) Drive back to Munich, and fly back to Maine.
5) Fly back to Minnesota for Junior Nationals XC Championships in Minneapolis
6) Drive from Minneapolis to Grand Rapids for Biathlon Nationals.
7) Drive homeand watch the NCAA Basketball tourney, sleep lots etc.
That will take me to the end of my season in late March. I will do my best to keep updating my blog, but internet is sometimes tough to find in old Europe. The next weeks should be exciting and fun, and I can’t wait to get going.

From the Classic Sprint (I didn't race)

Open Rounds, Check out the dirt! Despite the less than stellar skiing it was a sweet event to watch and it goes to show that no matter what its like outside you better show up ready to race. I'm showing up on Wed and Thurs this week for some distance racing action. Should be good.

Youth/Junior World Championship Team 2011

JR Trials and Nationals Prep

After a good holiday break I headed out to Jericho Vermont on December 26th for Junior World Championship Trials. I was originally supposed to fly into Portland and meet some of my teammates and drive to Vermont, but a huge snowstorm in the Eastern half of the country was causing considerable travel chaos, so at the last minute I switched my flight to avoid all of the eastern seaboard airports and fly directly into Burlington Vermont. I wasn’t satisfied with my performances at Trials. My shooting was downright awful and skiing wasn’t what it was earlier in the month, however I am very happy to have made the World Team, and I look forward to training and performing at my best level at World Juniors. My training partner and good friend Ben Greenwald also qualified for the Junior Team. It will be great to have him along. Right now I am in Andover Maine preparing for US XC Ski Nationals in nearby Rumford. Being a XC skier for a week will be a good change, and will allow me to get in some great physical training. I am racing the classic and skate distance races this week, unfortunately the ski conditions here are very poor due to rain and unseasonably warm weather. After this week I will return to Fort Kent for about a week long training block, and then depart for Europe on January 19th. I apologize for the lack of pictures lately. I’m working on it. The picture is of some less than stellar skiing in Rumford.

Holiday Break

After a good set of races at Mt. Itasca I am home for the holidays. I was happy, but not satisfied with my racing this past weekend. I skied very well, and had some very good shooting bouts, however I had two very poor shooting stages, which kept me from racing the way I really felt I wanted to. The races where featured classic Mt. Itasca conditions, it was cold and cold and… you know what I mean. Now I have about a week to prepare for Junior Trials in Jericho Vermont. I have never skied in Jericho; however I have rollerskied there quite a lot, which should provide some good ski/rollerski comparison. I am looking forward to these races and the heart of the season that follows. Results from the races can be found here: http://minnesotabiathlon.com/2010/10/senior-world-team-trials-information-dec-16-19/. I’ll update again after the Holidays and some races in Jtown.

Back in the 218

I’ve been home for a few days now and it’s good to be back. Thanks to some great early season snowfall the trails here are in great shape. It’s been fun to ski on the trails I’m most familiar with, and apply my improved fitness and technique. Next week I have a races series in Coleraine, Minnesota at Mt. Itasca. I am very familiar with this venue and it is shaping up to be classic Northern Minnesota conditions (really really cold!) I’m fit and ready to do some racing.