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.