Getting ready for Trials

Junior World Team trials are less than a week away now and i am starting to get very excited. I am back in Minneapolis for Christmas after some races in Northern Minnesota this past weekend. The trials races are the 28th-30th in Anchorage Alaska with the team being named after the final race. Wish me Luck!

Skiing

I have finally attained skiing. It might be a little late this year but skiing is skiing.

Right around Thanksgiving Big Rock (a downhill area south of Presque Isle) blew snow and we were able to ski on the 1 k loop. A lot of the local juniors were there and a few kids from southern Maine. After a lot of time getting in some distance and doing an interval session we all got together and played a big game (or couple of games).

After two days decent skiing at Big Rock I started my travel toward West Yellowstone. This is my 5th time at West Yellowstone but my first time here not during the ski festival. The festival is great because there is always something to do with so many people here and all of the activities to do not on the ski trail. The only down side of the festival is that all the trails are often very crowded and it is hard to get in interval sessions.

So this year it might be a little lonely compared to the other times i have been here but at least i can get my quality sessions in without worry of running someone over.

The famous archway to the Rendezvous Trails right in the town of West Yellowstone.

November Training at its Finest

November is not normally the most exciting time except for the part when we get on snow for the first time. I have not yet gotten on snow this year, which is a little late, so i have nothing of really excitement to post. I have just continued to work hard on the dry land and am really excited about the improvements off the snow that i have been making. I improved both my Mars Hill time by 55 seconds from our September run and my VO2 Max test resulted in many aerobic improvements. I have put in some good work and know i know that i am ready to get on snow and rip it up.

videos

Austin was kind enough to put together two vidoes from the Utah camp that i though I would share with you.

Utah Camp

Here is a brief summary of our October dry land Utah Camp. I wanted to do a few shorter posts throughout the camp (as it was three and a half weeks long) but I had no internet so that one was my bad.

This year there were Sr Trials races at the end of our stay for those that were looking to make the Sweden trip and finally the World Cup but my focus is on Jr World Champs this year and they aren’t until late February so instead of wasting my time there prepping for races that mean little to me I decided that it would be better to get some high quality training in. The area where we were staying is truly beautiful and I am glad I put in those high hour weeks so that I could maximize my time outside enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Mt Timpinogous

When we started climbing early in the morning around 6,000 ft it was not crazy cold and I thought that I had over packed but by the time we got over 10,000 ft and it was snowing hard with a strong wind I knew I was happy that I brought all the clothing that I did.

Here is some snow that has been around since last year (or longer, last year when we were here there was snow in this exact same spot and it never fully melts) and I was the first one on the team to touch snow this year (not too bad for only being October 5^th).

The races were fun but I was a little worn down from all the training that I had done so I was not focusing on going fast but using them as training races and trying to shoot more accurately faster. I did end up shooting decently accurately at 70% both days, which is good for domestic juniors but not very good for international competition so I was semi pleased but still know that there is still more work to be done.

Fall

As the fall is among us i will be starting to get back into the swing of posting cool updates with pictures about training, traveling and racing! Tune in soon to read about the awesome Utah camp that we just completed.

June just flew by and now July seems to be doing just the same. While I am following a similar plan as last year there is still so much that has changed and I am still getting used to the business of it all. There are so many new faces, a new house we live in and new training plans being implemented. This year there just seems like so much more to do. Last year all we seemed to do was train and recover but this year there is so much more to do outside of the realm of training. I understand that responsibilities grow as we grow so I am ready to face those challenges but sometimes I can’t help but look back at how simple and easy life was last summer.

Most of the time though, I don’t have time to look back because I am too busy looking forward. I am doing so much right now and making such great improvements that it only makes sense to look toward the future. One of the easiest improvements to calculate that I have made is the 1:40 improvement that I have made in the 10^th Mtn 11K Skate TT that all the Biathletes and Nordic skiers do. I am happy to see some hard work paying off and hope to continue that trend.

Back In Maine

So I got back to Maine on the 17th and have been settling into the flow of things. I just finished up a good testing camp this past week which I will get more information on and some pictures as i get the results and figure out exactly were i am right now in my training.

Returning to the County

So I am finishing up my productive spring hiatus. I am excited to getting back to Fort Kent (and posting more on my blog now that there will be stuff to talk about). I break was very productive as I was able to rest my body and mind and then make a plan for the upcoming year. Last year I learned what it was like to be a full time athlete and this year is when I put everything together in terms of international results. Last winter I found out what it takes to be competitive on the international level and since then I have been putting together a plan, with my coaches that will get me to that level. I have already started training a lot smarter than last year: fixing any weaknesses I had, focusing on periodization more and just doing the little things that are necessary to get those results. My training has been good while I was in the 612 but I am excited to bring up my level as get back to the great coaches and great training partners at Maine Winter.

Ride Aroostook

Hey guys,

I am doing a really great fundraiser that i want you to know about. Its called Ride Aroostook and its a 150 mile two day bike ride that helps kids with type 1 diabetes. All the money raised goes to Camp Adventure which is a summer camp that not only allows these kids that would not normally have a chance to go to summer camp because of the health risks involved but also teaches them how to better coupe with life long disease.

If you are interested in donating to this cause you can do so here: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/bengreenwald/Ride

Back at it

After a few weeks of both physical and mental rest I am back at it. I must say that I am happy to be back training. I never felt right this off season so I am happy to training again, which is probably a good thing. At least it is better than not wanting to get back to training at all.

Season Wrap Up

The season is over and I am kind of excited about a little R and R but before it ended it was quite an exciting finish. I came to Minneapolis (my home town) to race Nordic Junior Nationals. I have never raced JN before and this was my last year of eligibility and it was in my home town so I had to do it. I was not in the greatest shape but that was not going to stop me from enjoying the experience. Everything was a mix of my life from 10 months ago with my life from this past 10 months which was a real cool way to finish out my first year of full time training. I still prepped for all my races like I have for the past year but I was able to live with my parents instead of at the hotel. We still had an opening ceremonies just like at Junior World Champs but instead of international guys talking in languages that I don’t understand, Alan Page, somewhat of a childhood hero of mine, was speaking.

As a biathlete JN or JO’s (Junior Olympics) is never a huge deal to me but it is the premier event for Nordic skiers 19 years old and younger. I am so happy that I went this JO’s just so I was able to experience the event that so many talented athletes strive to be successful at. It was definitely a bonus that it was in my home town as I knew a lot of the organizers and volunteers. You could definitely say that it was a once in a life time experience, especially considering that this was the first time that Minneapolis hosted such an event.

After JO’s I returned to familiar setting at Biathlon Nationals held in Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids was the site of the first Nationals that I have ever done and I have done more national level races there than anywhere else. I will admit that I felt a little out of place at JO’s and it was really nice to return to the biathlon circuit.

The end of the season is always a little sad but I can definitely say that I have a lot of really fun memories that I can take with me as I prepare for next year and beyond.

Pictures from JO's

Here are some pictures from the JO's skate sprint and skate distance race. (while i wear the same ski suit it is easy to tell the difference between the two because of the intensity in the sprint race and the lack of in the distance race. )

The Sprint went as well as can be expected. I have not done a lot of sprinting so i focused more on just being powerful and hoping that would generate the speed necessary to do well instead of changing my technique at all. I started 10th to last of all the OJ's and J1'S because of no USSA points but i qualified for the heats in 13th position. I knew i would need to work hard to move on to the semis as the top 12 move on and i was 13th. I ended up going against some pretty fast skiers, fought all the way but ended up in 3rd, while the top two moved on. That was tough because I was just starting to feel like i was figuring it out but Jr National Champs is not the place to learn on the job so i ended the day as i started it, in 13th overall. Not a bad result but i felt like i had more in me.

On the distance day i had no such luck. I knew i could crack the top ten or better but it just was not in the cards for me. The long season has really taken a toll on me. I started off really easy, as easy as i could go in a race for the first half of the race thinking that i would really make up some time on the second half. I went though the half way point feeling good in 18th position (right were i wanted to be) but even though i was going easy i was starting to lose the snappiness in my legs. I just did not have the ability to go more than 5 or 6 k at any race pace anymore. So the second loop was even slower than the first and i lost places instead of making them up. That was very discouraging but it happens.

Traveling

Travel has really picked up in the last couple of weeks. The first 3 weeks of my European adventure was all in Nove Mesto for Jr World Champs, so there was no long car rides or any “travel” which was nice because I was able to settle into a routine but the last three weeks we were traveling every couple of days. We raced a German Cup on weekend in Ruhpolding then went to Harrachov (if you don’t know Harrachov in on the Polish-Czech border North East of Praque) for a Central European Cup then back to Todtnau (In the Black Forest north of Zurich) for German Jr Champs. That was really tough on me physically but it was an awesome experience. I saw different things that I would never had an opportunity otherwise. I really enjoyed seeing Northern Czech. It definitely had an eastern block vibe, which I found really interesting. Traveling around was awesome but my skiing dipped as the weeks went on. But I fought it out and had some solid results. I was particularly happy with the individual at German Champs. There I shot 90%, which is the best 4 stage shooting I have ever done.

After German Champs we were back on the plane headed back for USA. I spent a few days in the County at the new Jalbert house (which is awesome by the way) but then was back on the road. I am now back in my home town for Junior Olympics (the Jr national championships in Nordic skiing). This is my first JO’s so I don’t know what to expect but I am really excited to show those nordies that us biathletes are no slouches.

Back to Civilization

Hi all,

Been in Harrakov, Czech for the past few days and there was no internet where i was staying. I am now back in Germany. Todnau to be exact. Its in the Black Forrest just north of Zurich for those that are interested. Just getting ready for German Champs that start this Friday and enjoying the great trails that they have here.

Relay recap and what i learned

Junior World Championships are over. It was a great experience and I have learned a lot. It was a little sad that I was sick because I really felt ready to rip it up there (or I felt I was ready to be strong and have some reasonable results). But now I know what is really necessary to actually rip it up there next year.

After not making the pursuit, the relay was good to see how strong the Europeans were head to head and where they were making all the time on me. In the three loops of the race I was always around a different team so I could see how the Europeans skied.

I am happy to say that I did not give up any time to anyone around me skiing though the whole loop. But other skiers were stronger than I was on different sections and I was stronger on others. It was beneficial to learn that everyone was putting time into me on the slight up hills but I was able to make it all back on the steeper up hills. So now I know that I need to work on my uphill V2 technique for next year.

I ended up having a solid relay with only 2 extra rounds in standing and none in prone. All in all it was a strong ending to a Jr World Champs that has not been overly successful in the results department.

Ruhpolding

Just wanted to update just saying that i made it here in to Ruhpolding. Everything here is good and i will update on the Relay race tomorrow.

Relay Tomorrow

Relay is tomorrow and the US has a good team ready to roll. In this order we will go: Ethan, Raleigh, myself and Ray Wonders will anchor. With strong performances we should be strong. This is my last chance to throw down a big one here in Nove Mesto, and i am ready to do so. After that we will be leaving for Germany to get ready for some German Cup races but i will update about that at a later point.

Onward to the Relay!

I just want to say thanks to my sister for coming all the way from Berlin to come watch me race this weekend.

Start of JWC

We are in the thick of Jr World Champs here in Nove Mesto so I thought that now would be a good time to update on what has been going on through the first few days.

We had opening ceremonies on Thursday night which included a pre opening, snowball fight with all the teams that showed up early. The Dutch started it but I am glad to say that I had one confirmed hit. I hit a Polish girl right in the torso and you can ask teammate Raleigh Goessling and he will confirm it. It was not a head shot, but that’s probably ok as one of the Norwegian’s got hit three times in the neck/face region and was not too pleased about it. For the official ceremony we walked into town square and there were actually people that came to watch, which was cool. Then we heard some inspirational words from some pretty important people, including IBU President. It was also nice that the speakers either spoke in Czech and it was translated into English or they just spoke in English so we actually knew what was going on. Then the night concluded with some awesome fireworks. I have seen some pretty good fireworks done by the pro’s on the fourth of July but these Czechs definitely know how to put on fireworks too. Also certain restrictions which one might run into in the US were not a problem here. They had the fireworks not 40 meters from the athletes so you were right under the action and you really felt the explosions. I great sound track that I was sound system right behind us did not hurt the experience either.

After such a unique experience as the Opening Ceremony was I was really excited to down to the races. The first race was the sprint competition on Saturday. I started off really strong and felt really good. I skied maybe 5 seconds behind a French guy who was starting his second lap as I was starting my first. I could not make up the gap but I was not losing much time if any at all. I skied with him for 2 plus K of the 3.3 K loop. I skied with him through all the uphill sections without losing more than a few seconds but when it came to the downhill I really started losing time. It was an ice sheet out there and I was really worried about it as I saw a guy break his rifle and a guy bleeding from the head on the same downhill section in last weekend’s Central European Cup races and I knew that having either of those problems would not only put a damper on my race it would also be detrimental to my health. So I played it safe and lost a crazy amount of time. At the time I thought I made the right move but in hindsight I realize that I really need to go for it if I want to race at this level. It was my first mistake that I would contribute to my inexperience on the international level and unfortunately would not be my last of the day.

I came into the range for prone very confident in my shooting ability but not extremely focused. I was a little distracted by my skiing and did not switch to shooting mode fast enough. I then got confused on taking clicks off my zero and missed two prone. It could have been worse it could have been better but the worst part of it was that while I was second guessing myself on whether I took the clicks the right way or not the clock was ticking and I left the range with the 3^rd slowest range time in prone. It was a real learning experience for me so I don’t mind having those now instead of later in my career, even if this is Jr World Champs because this is my first and the one to learn as much as I can so when JWC come around next year when I am the oldest in my age class I will be ready to really do some work.

In the 2^nd loop I skied with a guy that had already made up a minute on me. He got away a little on the flats but I made the time back up on the longest uphill which felt great.

After shooting standing, where I only missed one, which again could have been better but could have been worse I was back on course for my last lap. I felt like I was tiring but it might have been that I had more confidence in the downhill or others around me were tiring worse like the same guy that I skied with on the 2^nd loop but it was my best ranked loop.

As I result it ended up being too many mistakes to make it on to the Pursuit but I only see the pluses of everything. I know what I did right and what I did wrong, I will continue with the good, fix the bad and use the extra day to recover from my sickness to really kill it in the Individual on Wednesday.

One race down. Didn't go exactly how i would have hoped but as they say "that is biathlon". I ended up in 71st which isn't exactly what i wanted but i know what to work on and learned a lot from the experience. I know i am ready for a great race so I am getting pumped up for the Individual with is coming up on Wednesday.

Here are some photos:

Starting my first World Jr race

All photos are thanks to Judy Geer and you have to hand it to her, her pictures really cut through the surface and get to the deeper side of me.

To my credit i am talking over taking clicks which can be complicated with the wind in Nove Mesto (you can see that i am pointing)

Update on watching the race

FYI for everyone that is planning on watching the Race today, if the other link does not work you can get to the Eurosport coverage by going to http://www.fromsport.com/ and clicking on the link that says IBU Youth/Junior World Championships 2011.

Sprint Race at JWC

For all those interested i will start at 13:52 Czech time or 7:52/6:52 EST/CST tomorrow (Saturday) for the first race of Jr World Championships. Anyone interested in watching can do so by going to http://www4.biathlonworld.com/en/ and clicking on the right hand side where it says Biathlonworld TV. If you are interested in watching to whole Jr Mens race it starts at 13:15 but there will also be competitions going on all day and the live feed should be on.

Hope you can tune in, should be a fun watch

UPDATED start times

Here are some corrections to start times of Jr World Champs. If you are interested in watching me these changes should be better for most of you as it wont be ridiculously early in the morning for most of them.

IBU Youth/Junior World Championships Biathlon

27.01 - 05.02.2011 / Nove Mesto

Preliminary start times

Date

Start time

Distance

Discipline

Kategorie

29.01.

08:50

6 km

Sprint

Youth Women

Start List / Results

29.01.

11:00

7.5 km

Sprint

Junior Women

Start List / Results

29.01.

13:15

10 km

Sprint

Junior Men

Start List / Results

29.01.

15:30

10 km

Sprint

Youth Men

Start List / Results

30.01.

10:30

7.5 km

Pursuit

Youth Women

Start List / Results

30.01.

11:30

10 km

Pursuit

Junior Women

Start List / Results

30.01.

14:00

12.5 km

Pursuit

Junior Men

Start List / Results

30.01.

15:00

10 km

Pursuit

Youth Men

Start List / Results

01.02.

10:00

12.5 km

Individual

Youth Men

Start List / Results

01.02.

13:30

10 km

Individual

Youth Women

Start List / Results

02.02.

10:00

15 km

Individual

Junior Men

Start List / Results

02.02.

13:30

12.5 km

Individual

Junior Women

Start List / Results

04.02.

10:00

3 x 7.5 km

Relay

Youth Men

Start List / Results

04.02.

13:30

3 x 6 km

Relay

Youth Women

Start List / Results

05.02.

10:00

4 x 7.5 km

Relay

Junior Men

Start List / Results

05.02.

13:30

3 x 6 km

Relay

Junior Women

Start List / Results

The rest of the team made it today so we are at full capacity. Also i just realized that the almost 3 weeks I will spend here in Nove Mesto will be the longest i will stay in one place all winter. I guess i am really living out of a bag now.

On a different note, the course is getting better and better and should be ready for the Central European Cup that is going on this weekend. They are trucking a lot of snow in. I will be racing in the Sprint and the Individual Relay as prep races.

Most of the snow is coming from here:

This picture really does not do the snow pile justice. It used to go all the way to the left of the screen and that is less than half of it.

Also i thought that i would put this up. It is from my Maine Winter blog. Its about my trials experience. Enjoy

Hello, Everyone,

It’s been a very busy few weeks since I posted last. Last time I was in Burlington, Vt getting ready to start Jr World Trials, so I will pick up where I left off.

We were racing three days in a row (which is not an easy thing for anyone that has not done it, both mentally and physically) and the best two races would count. There was a strong field so I knew that I needed to be on my game but I also raced really well at Mt Itasca, MN for IBU Cup trials so I knew I was ready. I had the best biathlon races of my life at IBU Cup trials so I was really excited to rip it up at Jr trials.

For the first, which was a sprint, race we, the men, started after all the women so we had an extra almost hour to warm up after zero. I was happy that we had that opportunity because I had just got off a plan from MN two days before and thought that the more warm up the better, but by the time my start came around I just felt more tired instead of warmed up. I skied smooth, if not fast, but missed two in my prone stage which was disappointing because I had been shooting over 90% prone in MN. There was nothing to do but shake it off and focus on the skiing. Coming into standing I had heard that the shooting was not great by the other jr men so I really focused on hitting the targets. I missed one and ended shooting 70% on the day. I was my worst shooting on snow this year but it was not that bad. Coming into the finish I did not feel spectacular but I felt I put a solid effort in.

What I did not know was that my solid, but not spectacular, effort was enough to put me as top Jr American, with the second fastest ski time and tied for best shooting. Fun fact: I have had or tied for best shooting in the first race of every Jr World trials race I have done dating back to 2008.

I felt good about where I was after the first day but the second day was a different story. Everything that could go wrong did, short of breaking my rifle in half. It was frustrating because I felt a lot better than the day before but I just could not translate that into results.

On the third and last day, I needed one more good race to make the team. In the back of my head I knew that I did not need anything special to make the team because I was really fit and felt really good but the adrenaline took over. I felt like I was skiing conservative on the first loop but I ended being 15 seconds ahead of everyone that started in front of me in the first 1.5 k. The shooting did not come together for me but I never let that get me down and I ended the day with the fastest ski time, just out of the podium but plenty to get me on to the team.

Now I am heading to Europe and will be there from the 16^th all the way through to February 28^th. Should be a fun time and I will keep posting on what I’ve been up to.

Just thought that i would add a few photos for the first two days.

Brandon, Raleigh and I drove out yesterday from Munich to Nove Mesto which took a majority of the day but had some really nice scenery. I one thing that i overlooked for a little while was that there was a little problem with all those nice green fields.

Me enjoying my new suspenders on my pants

Raleigh though it would be a good idea to take a picture of me as i kicked back so i though i might as well put it up on my blog. (it is my blog after all i guess i can put up whatever seems interesting to me)

In Europe

I just made it to Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic. I started my travels yesterday (Sunday) with a flight from Portland, Me to Washington Dulles then took the red eye over to Munich. I got in a Munich around 7 am then after a short stint of sitting in the airport I meet up with some of the other athletes and coaches and drove to Nove Mesto. We got in after dark but i was just happy to be settled after traveling for a day and a half. I am excited to announce that i DO have internet here, which i was not sure was going to be the case, so i will be able to update more often.

I am going to try to run my blog a little like a twitter/blog hybrid with shorter posts more often about anything interesting going on and have a more detailed post when needed.

A brief overview of my schedule for the next 6 weeks looks like this:

will stay in nove mesto till the 6th of Feb where I will race two Central European Cup races this coming weekend as prep races for Junior World Champs. Then i will race JWC and the schedule is listed below.

On the 6th we (we being a smaller crew which will be outlined later) will travel to Ruhpolding, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhpolding) Germany. We will be there till the 20th or so training and racing German Cups.

In Late Feb i will travel back to Czech or head to Italy Depending on how i do at JWC, so i will talk about that part of the trip later when that is determined.

Then i will head home of Feb 28 for Munich and that will conclude my European campaign for this season.

Watch Jr World Champs Live

Anyone that is interested in watching me live at Junior World Championships can do so at http://www2.biathlonworld.com/en/ Just click on biathlonworld tv on the right of the screen. Be warned that some of the times are early in the morning so do not worry if you cant watch.

here is the schedule

All of these times are local so it is six hours earlier on the east coast and even earlier for those farther west.

I am in the junior man catagory so if you are looking for me you only need to tune in during those races but if you are looking to watch good biathlon you could tune for any of those races.

IBU Youth/Junior World Championships Biathlon

27.01 - 05.02.2011 / Nove Mesto

Preliminary start times

Date

Start time

Distance

Discipline

Kategorie

29.01.

08:50

10 km

Sprint

Youth Men

Start List / Results

29.01.

11:05

10 km

Sprint

Junior Men

Start List / Results

29.01.

13:30

7.5 km

Sprint

Junior Women

Start List / Results

29.01.

15:25

6 km

Sprint

Youth Women

Start List / Results

30.01.

10:00

10 km

Pursuit

Youth Men

Start List / Results

30.01.

11:00

12.5 km

Pursuit

Junior Men

Start List / Results

30.01.

13:30

10 km

Pursuit

Junior Women

Start List / Results

30.01.

14:30

7.5 km

Pursuit

Youth Women

Start List / Results

01.02.

10:00

12.5 km

Individual

Youth Men

Start List / Results

01.02.

13:30

10 km

Individual

Youth Women

Start List / Results

02.02.

10:00

15 km

Individual

Junior Men

Start List / Results

02.02.

13:30

12.5 km

Individual

Junior Women

Start List / Results

04.02.

10:00

3 x 7.5 km

Relay

Youth Men

Start List / Results

04.02.

13:30

3 x 6 km

Relay

Youth Women

Start List / Results

05.02.

10:00

4 x 7.5 km

Relay

Junior Men

Start List / Results

05.02.

13:30

3 x 6 km

Relay

Junior Women

Start List / Results

Check back for more information on my trip and updates from Europe.