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.