Mountain Top Video

Here is a video put together by one of the MWSC Junior athletes. I can be seen in the 9k classic segment beginning around the 3 min mark. I am wearing a white ski suit. It was a slushy slog, but a fun event.

Mid Winter 2012/2013, Training and Racing

 After a restful Holiday a home with my family I jumped back into a training block, in order to be in top form for the second half of the season. Despite missing the IBU Cup team my season is far from over, with North American Biathlon Cups, Eastern Cup XC racing, and the possibility to European biathlon racing on the horizon.  I took advantage of the racing break to put in some quality hours on snow at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine. Right now I am in Fort Kent completing specific biathlon training in preparation for the upcoming North American Cup biathlon races in Eastern Canada.

10th Mtn in Fort Kent during night shooting 

Last weekend I took the opportunity to join the Maine Winter Sports Center Cross Country team for an Eastern Cup race in southern Vermont. I competed in a 1.3km skate sprint on Saturday and a 9km classic race on Sunday. It was fun to hang out with the enthusiastic MWSC junior athletes, and compete in fresh formats and techniques. Despite my lack of specific preparation for sprinting and especially classic skiing I was pleasantly surprised with my results. I took 1^st place in the skate sprint thanks to an uphill finish and speedy skis. I was 16^th in a competitive and tightly packed field in the classic. These results are an indication of good race fitness and I am very glad I made the trip.

Southern Vermont 

Vermont Eastern Cup Stadium 

I am looking forward to the upcoming NorAm Biathlon races in Canada. I feel that my training has gone well, and my race fitness is near optimal. If I can impress the International Competition Committee at US Biathlon with my racing in the next 3 NorAm Biathlon races, there is a possibility I will be selected to compete at the European Championships in February. I am moving into the New Year with confidence in my preparation and a desire to prove myself.       

December in Minnesota

I have just returned from IBU Cup Selection Trials in Coleraine, Minnesota. Ever since I started competing in biathlon I have raced in Coleraine during the second week of December. Some of my earliest biathlon experiences involve racing in wind, snow and cold of northern Minnesota. In these early races I was near the front of the field skiing, but struggled on the range. This season was a continuation of those trends.  

My time in Minnesota was defined by tough conditions including rain (?!?!?!!) wind, snow and cold. I was very happy with my physical preparation and skied well in all 3 races; however, despite making great strides during training, my competition shooting percentages where far from acceptable.  

Due to my poor shooting I did not qualify for the January IBU Cup events, but my teammate Katrina Howe did! Check out her blog for updates on her upcoming European adventures.

Katrina Howe 

Mass Start First Loop 

3rd Place in a Snowy Pursuit Race 

In the next few weeks I will be racing regional cross country races with the Maine Winter Sports Center cross country team, and contesting North American Cup Biathlon races in Quebec. It is my hope that with good results at these competitions I will be named to the U26/European Championship team.  Until then I will be training in Maine, focusing on preparing myself physically and mentally to perform at my best for the duration of the winter. In response to the havoc that self applied pressure wreaked on my shooting at IBU Cup Trials, I have made staying relaxed and having fun my number one racing goals for the rest of the season. 

Making Ready in Montana

For the past two weeks I have been in Montana preparing for the new season. I began my western swing in West Yellowstone, Montana the traditional starting place for the US Nordic sport season. West Yellowstone has a network of cross country trails near town, and a backup training location on a plateau south of the city. This season there was not enough snow in town to ski, so training was moved to the plateau. Skiing on the plateau is challenging due to its elevation- 8,000ft above sea level. It was great to be skiing again after a long summer and fall of dryland training. During my time in West Yellowstone I contested a US Supertour Series cross country ski race. The race was an excellent opportunity to tune up for the more important competitions to come, and put in a hard workout on snow.

The skiing on the plateau was excellent by week’s end, however the plateau rests on US Forest Service land and the access road closes on December 1^st. With our days on the plateau numbered and a grim forecast ahead, the team and I moved to Bozeman, MT to take advantage of the snow at Bohart Ranch. The local biathlon club, Biathlon Elite a collegiate program based in Bozeman has been very accommodating.

Next week I will be moving to Minnesota for a shooting and intensity camp designed to put me in top form for the upcoming IBU Cup Trails.     

Lobster Roll

This Photo shamelessly stolen from Katrina Howe  

This past Sunday I travel to North Haven Island off the coast of Rockland, Maine to take part in the Lobster Roll, a rollerski race contested by the Nordic ski teams of Maine's colleges and universities. I am not a member of a Maine collegiate ski team, however the CEO of the Maine Winter Sports Center-Andy Shepard, organized the event, so my teammate Katrina Howe and I where able to take part. The race was 15 kilometers long with one racer going out every 15 seconds in the  skating style. The roads on North Haven are ideal for rollersking, they are perfectly paved with nice rolling terrain and almost zero traffic. Best of all the event took place under sunny skies, with a light wind making the 65 degree day feel just a bit brisk. I am in the all black in the video below.

October 2012:Setbacks, Sunshine and Snow

This October has been eventful and challenging. Following my camp in Fort Kent I took a week to recover from the heavy training load of the preceding 10 days. I also participated in a fun 5k cross country running race a few miles from my home in Yarmouth, Maine. The plan for the workout was to get dropped off at the race site, run the race, then run the 4 miles back home. This race would be my first cross country 5k since high school. I wasn’t an outstanding runner in high school, and my running abilities have not improved with 3 years of full time ski training. I was able to hang with the front group of racers for the first half of the race, until I fell back into a chase group. At the penultimate moment in the race (a sharp downhill corner followed by a steep uphill) I slipped and turned my ankle badly. I was able to literally hobble to the finish, edging out the top women. Though I didn’t want to admit it to myself at the time, I knew I had seriously hurt my ankle.

The timing for this injury couldn’t have been worse. I was due to travel to Soldier Hollow, Utah for a 2 week training camp with the US Junior National Team. I was optimistic about my recovery; however, I was forced to alter my training for the majority of the camp. Because of the condition of my ankle I could not run, classic, or skate ski. This left me with double poling, biking, and strength as my only training methods. Initially, I was pretty bummed about these circumstances. Thanks to the support of my friends at camp, and the great training environment in Utah I was able to find the motivation to turn my misfortune into opportunity. I doubled poled a great deal during the camp, and by the end I saw great improvement in my technique and specific strength. Double poling for so many sessions back to back also gave me a new perspective on the upper body’s role in skating. In addition I was able to go on two really nice mountain bike rides, thanks to a loaded bike and kit from the Ellingson siblings. My ride took me into some beautiful areas of the surrounding Wasatch Mountains. Fortunately, at the end of the camp I was able to begin skating again, just in time to participate in a rollerski time trial with the US World Cup team. I was happy about my performance, despite having to take the skiing a bit easy, and struggling with strong wind on the range. I was eager to end the camp on a high note by performing well in a second time trial, scheduled 2 days from the first. As fate would have it, 4 inches of snow and tight travel plans kept me from starting the second time trial. As consolation my ankle improved enough for me to join my friends on a great hike/snowball fight/romp up to the ridge behind our condo.

Right now I am in an intense phase of my training, with hard workouts coming nearly every-other day. I plan on returning to Fort Kent for a final dryland training camp, before traveling to West Yellowstone, Montana with nearly every other serious American skier for a training camp, before heading to Minnesota for the first important races of the season.    

Le Fin de Camp d'entrainement

For the last 4 days of my camp in Fort Kent I was joined by the friends David Gregoire and Vincent Blais for Quebec Biathlon. David, Vincent and I are all very close in age and ability and it was beneficial to train with other athletes at my level. I have competed with David and Vincent on the NorAm Circuit and at World Juniors. In many of the closest races I have contested, I have been battling with one or both of them.

Sprinting with Vincent at Canadian Nationals last March

Battling with David at Canadian Nationals 

 David and Vincent are both very fast and accurate shooters (See video) and I definitely had to raise my game on the range over the course of the weekend.  Besides having great training partners, I was really cool to talk about the differences between our training methods, share our goals, and get to know each other a bit better.

I am now back in Yarmouth, recovering from my biggest training block ever (79 hours, 2,220 shots) before I fly out to Utah for a training camp at the 2002 Olympic Venue in Soldier Hollow. At the end of the camp I will be contesting two rollerski races that will serve as the last set of qualifiers for the first period of World Cup racing. I am looking forward to seeing how my fall training has positioned me, and getting in a few more races before the snow flies.