World Junior Championships Prep

Throughout the racing season different periods of time are designated as “training blocks” Training blocks are a period of time where the total amount (volume) of training is increased. Training blocks are timed with less important races, or an off weekend. I am just finishing off a 2 week training block, in which I focused on shooting skills, volume training (long easy workouts), technique, and I even threw in some racing for good measure. My training block started after the Fort Kent NorAm, with volume and shooting training. Feeling recovered from the previous weeks racing, I headed to Valcartier, Quebec for the next stop or the North American Cup. This race series was also Canadian junior world championships trials. It was great to see friends from Canada, and take advantage of the tough competition. Conditions where soft and slow all weekend, making the races much more arduous than the races on fast tracks last week in Fort Kent. I raced well in the sprint shooting 80% and skiing well. I learned a lot about pacing on a tough course, and those lessons with be valuable on the challenging courses in Finland. In the pursuit I shot very well in prone (100 %!), but fell apart in standing ending the day with 70% shooting. I also received my first ever disqualification in the pursuit for skiing the wrong course. It is the athletes responsibility to ski the correct course, however it would have been nice to have a few more signs. I was glad to have the opportunity to race at Valcartier, as it will be the venue for Canadian Nationals, which I will be attending in the spring, since it’s only a few hours drive from Fort Kent. I was quite spent after two hard days of racing so when I returned home I focused once again on easy distance training. I ended my training block yesterday with a time trial. I took a lot of positives out of the workout, in addition to a few things I need to nail down before World Juniors. T-minus 8 days to Finland!

Fort Kent NorAm Pictures by Don Eno

Fort Kent NorAM

This weekend was the 3^rd stop of the North American Cup. It took place in my own backyard at the 10^th Mountain Ski Center. Despite the frigid temperatures the volunteers put together an extremely professional and well run race weekend. Due to some illness I pick up earlier in the week I did not race the sprint on Saturday. Even though I wasn’t starting I still did some easy distance training on the competition trials before the start. Over the course of my ski I was able to take a step back and take in the scene as a spectator and not as a racer. Before a race your focus on completely consumed by zeroing your rifle, testing skis, warming up etc. Seldom do you get more than a moment to appreciate your surroundings, the volunteers, and the atmosphere of the community. All the afore mentioned where top notch, and really triggered my itch to race in the Mass Start the next day. The mass start race was quite enjoyable. The pace was manageable, and I finally put together a decent shooting performance, with 60% in prone (still plenty of improvement to be made here) and 90% in standing. Results can be found HERE. Next week I travel to LaPatrie Quebec for another NorAm race, which will also be Canadian World Junior Championships Trials, so there should be excellent competition.

Racing, Training, and Resting

I arrived back in The County recovered and refreshed after a tough time in Alaska, and ready to begin training for Junior World Championships. I set out an ambitious training schedule for the week, all building up to the North American Championships in Jericho, Vermont. Training went well leading up to the racing and I was ready for some redemption after some subpar performances at Junior Trials. Unfortunately Jericho was suffering from the same low snow situation as the rest of the country, and the races where downgraded from North American Championships, to a North American Cup, to…. Well they finally settled on the “North American Invitational” nevertheless the fields where competitive and I was ready to race. The first day of competition was warm temps and crazy wind. Shooting success was completely contingent on the conditions you encountered when you arrived in the range. I was lucky in prone, and very unlucky in standing. Despite very poor shooting I was able to salvage a 2^nd place with some strong skiing. With a pursuit and mass start still to come I was hopeful that my shooting woes would subside when I encountered better conditions. The setting was much different for the next two contests thanks to a six plus inch snowstorm and accompanying cold front. With solid snow on the tracks and little wind I was excited to hit some targets. Unfortunately the strong skiing poor shooting theme persisted through the weekend, and I collected another 2^nd place and a 3^rd place. I have met with my coaches, reviewed some fundamentals, and made some small rifle adjustments that I hope will add up to better shooting this weekend at the North American Cup right here in Fort Kent, and next week in La Patrie Quebec. Due to some illness I picked up mid week I will on be racing the Mass Start here in Fort Kent, but I am excited none the less.

Winter Interlude

For the past week I have been enjoying some time in Southern Maine with my family. It has been good to withdraw from the biathlon scene for a bit, and recover before the second half of the season. The only problem with Southern Maine right now is the total lack of snow. we received a bit of snow this morning, but not nearly enough to ski on. In the abscence of snow I have had to revert back to running, lifting, and accuracy shooting for the past few days. A special thanks to Sue at the Pineland Farms YMCA for letting me lift pro bono yesterday. I return to Fort Kent on Sunday for a few days, then racing begins again with the North American Championships in Jericho Vermont.

Junior Trials Anchorage, Alaska

The racing here in Alaska has come to a close, along with the most frustrating and stressful race series of my career. The racing got off to a terrible start in the sprint, when I missed 4 or my 5 targets, and then missed 2 of my 5 in standing, giving me a mere 40% hit percentage. My poor prone shooting continued into the pursuit race, luckily I shot 90% in standing and skied well enough to take 2nd place. I started the final race of the series, a sprint, determined to hit some prone targets, which I did, cleaning the prone stage with a respectable range time. Skiing continued to be good and I was riding a 45sec cushion into standing, when I totally broke down and dirtied (missed all 5!) the stage. This mental breakdown has prompted me to seriously assess my mental preparation for competition, and the state of mind I need to hit targets. After the dust settled, and all of the results had been calculated, my poor shooting prevented me from making the percent back cutoff to qualify for the Junior World Championship Team. I still had a chance to be selected to the team at the discretion of the coaching staff, but I had to wait for the official team naming, a full 4 hours after my race. Fortunatly I was nominated to the team based on my ski speed and past results. My nomination won't be final until the International Competition Committee finalizes the nominations, but I was included in the press release so I should be good to go. I am entering the new year with renewed determination to improve my shooting both technically and mentally. On a positive note the picture of me all frosted over was the cover of the Anchorage Daily News!

Minnesota Wrap-Up and on to Alaska

I am currently with my family for the holidays after the conclusion on an up and down race series in Minnesota. It was great to be back on my home course and to see some familiar faces helping to run yet another outstanding set of races at Mt. Itasca. Some of the highlights of the weekend included leading out the mass start race and much of the second lap due to fast clean shooting in the first stage, and discovering that my new Rossignol X-ium skis are quite fast, even compared to my best skis from last year. Overall I was satisfied with my prone shooting, and ski speed, however I really struggled shooting standing. I am glad I had the opportunity to get some quality racing in before Junior Trials in Anchorage, AK.

I leave on Christmas morning for Anchorage, where I will compete in 3 races which will decide the US team for the Junior World Championships in Finland. It will be great to see my friends from across the country, and I am really looking forward to racing again.