For those who aren’t familiar with biathlon, this is what a (video game version of a) biathlon range looks like. After skiing a short loop of about 2k, biathletes ski into the range and shoot either prone (lying down) or standing. In the close-up image of the five targets in the upper left, you can see the prone target, which is the small inner circle, and the standing target, which is the wider circle. For each missed target, you have to ski a 150m penalty loop. Rookie mistake: shooting standing when the target is set for prone. Source: www.biathlon3000.narod.ru

So when he tells me, “Do not try to hit the targets!”, I go along with it. This counter-intuitive advice is Lesson #1 in biathlon. The logic is that the more you rely on your arm muscles to point the rifle, hand muscles to hold it in place, and finger muscles to pull the trigger at the “right moment”, the more opportunity there is for unsteady, imperfect movement, and the more likely you are to miss the target. And, if you think you are going to get a bull’s eye (or even come close to hitting that tiny black spot) by pulling the trigger when your site is lined up on it, think again. By the time you react to what you see, pull the trigger, and the bullet flies 50m down range, the image in the site and the result on the target will be, well, black and white. So Lesson #2 is “Don’t pull the trigger when you think you’re on target.” What you have to do then, is put your body in such a position that if you were to fall asleep and then pull the trigger by accident, you would have a perfect hit.

I am NOT QUITE THERE yet, but I am so intrigued with the process that my interest in training hard for another year has been revitalized! It also helps that I had two good races up in Fort Kent, Maine, last weekend at the Biathlon National Championships. I hit 50% of the targets and skied fast, which was enough to earn me a gold medal in the 12.5k mass start. I am looking forward to spending more time on the range with Algis, and to following in the footsteps of my star teammates, Hannah and Susan.

Flower ceremony for the 12.5k mass start.

And they’re off!

Last weekend, I made the difficult decision to sit out of the 2013 Craftsbury Marathon, in hopes of preserving myself for the second half of our long racing season (something I failed to do last year). The silver lining of this choice was that I had the opportunity to try out the coaching side of race day: waxing skis, feeding thirsty racers, and running around to watch, cheer and take pictures.

In the race between John & Kyle in the 50k, John got off to an early lead, putting around 8 minutes on Kyle, but Kyle made an amazing move in the 4th lap, closing the gap to less than 1 minute! The two finished 46th and 47th out of 188 finishers.

One highlight of my day was helping our elite GRP rowers get ready for their first classic ski race. There are so many details to consider in preparing for a race, from what to eat the night before to how to warm up the morning of. Luckily, last Saturday was an extra-blue kind of day, so when I found all 13 rowers crowded in our wax trailer totally unsupervised 45 minutes before the start, with corks flying and wax being applied in unspeakable ways, it was not an un-salvageable disaster. Everyone finished the race in good time and more importantly, good spirits.

These boys did a great job giving out warm Heed to thirsty racers.

Another highlight was handing out (aka “feeding”) energy drinks and gels to the GRP skiers who raced. I am still working on my feeding technique, but I only missed one. “Missing the feed” is when you hold out the cup or bottle of drink to the oncoming skier and you botch the hand-off, usually resulting in someone getting wet. In this case, Alex got Pepa’s Pepsi Max + sugar mixture all over his bib instead of in his mouth. Sorry!

After 50k, Nils makes a come back to edge Bryan at the line

I loved watching all the finishers come in, especially those for whom this was a first. John Flis and Scott Inglis, who work in the kitchen here at the Outdoor Center, both finished the 25k, and Jon even made it into the top half. Jamie Chapman, one of our elite rowers, did the whole 50k and finished 10th overall for women. There are too many great accomplishments for me to list, but hopefully these pictures will give you an idea of the Marathon’s awesome atmosphere.

Jon Flis and Ben Dann have a rivalry which originated in the Tuesday night community races. Ben took this one, finishing 37th out of 112 men in the 25k.

After running around all morning in the very cold, sunny weather, I went home and fell right to sleep. Moral of the story: I’m not sure if my decision to sit out of the race actually resulted in enhanced rest, but I’m happy I made the choice I did!

(click photos to see larger image:)

Nils led our men’s team results today in 5th place, followed closely by Bryan in 8th and Dylan in 10th. Alex was 14th, giving us 4 in the top 15. Gordon and Patrick were not far behind in 21st and 24th, respectively. On the women’s side, I was 5th and Maria was 11th. Our adopted teammate of the week, Erika Flowers, was 2nd! Tomorrow we have a mass start distance classic race, followed by a classic sprint Monday (although the “high” for Monday is reportedly -5, so there may be a schedule adjustment). Then we have 5 days off before finishing up the tour next Saturday & Sunday. Here are some pictures from today!

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We’ve adopted ST2 (Stratton Mtn School elite team) standout Erika Flowers for the week. With Hannah, Susan, Ida, Caitlin and Pepa all in Europe, we needed some more ladies around here!!! …We might not send her back. For the record, her 2nd place finish today was fueled my oatmeal topped with fruit, and breakfast is her favorite meal of the day.

 Here is Bryan at about 4k, on his way to 8th place.

Gordon’s fan section on his hometown course.

And here are the rest of the pics- click for a larger image. Enjoy!

 It was a sunny Saturday morning and our first stop was Soldier Hollow, the national championships venue, where we would get in one final ski in the winter wonderland before embarking eastward. After requisite showers were taken at the “SoHo” lodge, we assumed our places. I was fortunate enough to claim the entire 2nd bench.

Our first 10-hour stretch of driving took us from Midway, Utah, through Park City and Salt Lake, and then across the border into Wyoming. See here for a map of our route. We followed I-80 all the way across Wyoming, stopping at such notable destinations as “The Cash Store.”

“Cash Store” in Wyoming.

Around dinner time, we passed through Cheyenne and into Nebraska, and stopped for dinner at Subway. While Subway arguably provides the greatest number of calories for the fewest amount of dollars, it has a tendency to incite “Subway Belly” and as a result we have decided never to eat there again. Somewhere in western Nebraska around 10:30pm we decided to call it quits for the day and found respite at a Best Western.

Bright and early the next morning, after a substantial continental breakfast, we set out again, driving into the sun. It was somewhat disheartening that we were still in Nebraska, but we entertained ourselves with books and magazines (Nils and Bryan), gameboy (Pat), spanish conversation (Gordon, Nils and I), talking to girlfriends (everyone except for me), and listening to Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me. I also baked nine dozen cookies pre-departure, so we ate a lot of cookies. By far the best en route entertainment was found at the Cabela’s clearance sale outside of Lincoln, Nebraska.

Pit stop!! “No more than 45min” – Pat. (The translation of this statement is apparently, “No more than 90min.”)

We FINALLY made it out of Nebraska and into Iowa on Sunday afternoon. The final stretch of our drive had us turn north onto I-35 in Des Moines and we reached our destinations in Minneapolis in time for dinner on Sunday. Some of us are staying with Maria’s parents in Lakeville, which is just south of Minneapolis, and the rest are at Gordon’s family’s house which is in the city proper. Unfortunately we planned our drive so we missed all the good football games this weekend, but other than that, it was a successful trip. We’ve been skiing on two different man-made snow loops so far, both of which were very well-maintained, if not super exciting! The Tour de Twin Cities commences this Saturday and continues through Sunday the 27th. Then the boys will drive all the way back to Craftsbury… As much fun as this drive was, I helped myself to a plane ticket home!!!

Enjoy the photos. You can click on them to open a larger image.

Here are some photos from our training day between the third and fourth races at Nationals. We’ve already had the classic sprint, Skate 10/15k, and Classic 20/30k, and tomorrow we have the skate sprint. I am definitely a little tired from all the racing, but I’m really excited for the skate sprint tomorrow. It is on the same course as the classic sprint, so I feel like I know how to ski it now, and it is challenging but fun. I have one more chance to get my goal of making the sprint semifinals (top-12)!!

The weather has been very cold (-9F to 26F) with sunny blue skies. Since it is so dry here, it doesn’t feel that bad. I have been soaking up the sunshine and wearing lots of sunscreen! My parents and their friends have been out here shaking cowbells and cheering along with Caitlin’s parents and Gordon’s parents. Hearing my name from our GRP family fans as well as from other spectators who recognize our green suits makes a big difference when I’m suffering through altitude racing! After our race tomorrow, most of us will stay here in Utah for a few more days before driving to Minneapolis. Thank goodness we have the big sprinter and we will all fit and can even stand up and move around when the Nebraska plains are taking their toll.

Thanks for all the support as we compete in our national championships!

Ski you soon,

Clare

Pat and Al testing their skis for tomorrow’s skate sprint

Tim and Bryan getting some A-List advice from Bryan’s Olympian brother Chris Cook, who is a member of our wax crew this week.

Jeremy!

Nils is good at making beds out of found objects, such as ski bags or cardboard boxes.

Thumbs up for this fast ski!!

Gordo scoping out the trail.

We have a prime parking spot for our trailer. Jeremy, Nick, Chris and Pepa have been working really hard all week to make sure we have fast skis.

Alex passes through his quarter final easily, on his way to 4th place overall.

Caitlin in the A-Final on her way to 4th place overall

Our Craftsbury training buddy, Alex Schultz (in the green Dartmouth college suit), had a super sprint finish in this quarterfinal to qualify for the semi’s. Patrick finished third in this heat (see strong finishing lunge!) and passed through to the semi’s as a lucky loser.

The aftermath of Alex’s sprint finish

The aftermath of Patrick’s sprint finish

Pepa really going for it, using her favorite technique, V1 on the left (that’s her in the red pants).

Pepa is really getting into shape doing all these testing intervals! But sometimes she needs a break.

Here are a bunch more photos from pre-race day and today:

We arrived in “West” on Thursday, November 15th. Our first race was not until the following Friday, the 23rd, which gave us plenty of time to adjust to our new house and  to the additional 2,000-2,500ft of elevation. Canmore is around 4,500ft, and West Yellowstone is the devil’s altitude: 6666. Because of a lack of snow in town, all training and racing had to be moved to the 7000ft+ South Plateau, which is about 6mi from town up a steep, winding, one-lane dirt road. The Forest Service was kind enough to let the race organizers plow the road, but even with plowing, a shuttle service, and strict scheduling of up-only and down-only traffic, it was a certifiable cluster. Anyone without a racer’s or coach’s  bib was prohibited from going up to the plateau on race days in an effort to keep the congestion down. Luckily we were able to give Maria’s parents a coach’s parking pass so that they could watch the race which they came all the way from MN to see!

I think we had a mix of results in the two races, ranging from Caitlin’s back-to-back podiums and a bunch of team top-tens, to those of us who were hoping to do a bit better. Gordon has posted an excellent and comprehensive race review here. I was hoping to be in the top 10, but finished just out, in 13th and 16th in the 9km and sprint, respectively. I hope (intend!) to improve upon that in the upcoming races. The elevation was a challenge, as was the fact that it was our very first race of the season! Because the West Yellowstone and Bozeman SuperTour races are qualifiers for Canadian World Cup events in December, I think we felt more pressure to excel out here than we typically might have in the season opener. But overall the team was successful and is looking forward to sprint races tomorrow and Saturday, and a mass start on Sunday.

AND, we are looking forward to flying home to Craftsbury next Monday.

I am resurfacing from blog absence in order to give you some Canmore highlights. Canmore is about an hour north of Calgary, just east of the Rockies. It is a gorgeous town reminiscent of other Rocky Mtn ski towns, minus a destination alpine resort. Here, the Nordic center, home of the 1988 Calgary Olympic nordic events, is the major attraction. Chandra Crawford’s gold medal hangs in the lodge.

The town of Canmore hosts a remarkable number of activities and events for a community its size. While I was in town, I went to two concerts (one Czech string quarter and one Canadian/American jazz bassist), visited about 5 art galleries, and spent way too much money on high quality teas. OH YEAH and the skiing was excellent, giving us a major advantage going into our high-stake early season racing next week.

The beauty and scale of the Canadian Rockies is hard to capture on camera, but I hope this photo gallery gives you an idea. Bonus features: Patrick, Hannah, the new trailer, a big elk, and a bear-safe dumpster. Enjoy!

Holding down the fort at 739 Town Highway 19. That's 9 empty bedrooms, if anyone is counting.

So, am I losing it? (REDRUM). Well, not exactly. Though in the absence of no-dust Dylan and everything-in-its-place Pat, I have seized the opportunity to overtake the entire living room and have subsequently started to lose track of my own stuff. The only saving grace is that other, less well-organized teammates are also missing and so there is no one else’s crap with which to confuse my own. Clutter aside, as the single resident of the house, my newfound sense of propriety has inspired me to higher levels of responsibility: I regularly keep the stove alit. I bring in the mail every day. I have even felt the tinglings of an urge to clean the whole place, though they are as of yet unfruitful.

office/living room/music room/breakfast nook/napping couch/game room/fire place

Luckily, most of my time ‘alone’ here has not been spent in true solitude. For the first week, Nils Koons, our training partner and friend from the Rossignol team, kept me company in the house. Together, we forgot to get groceries every single day until we were eating questionably bygone raisin bran with unquestionably bygone yogurt for breakfast. (Raisin bran with yogurt is not good, even when both are decidedly un-rancid.) My friends Maura and Kenny drove up from Boston for a well-timed visit during the sunny and snowy weekend of January 21-22, during which we skied, shot biathlon rifles, and enlisted Lucas Schultz  to jump their completely dead car. (“Not to worry, I know someone who will be over here in 3 minutes to rescue us.”) Another well-timed visitor was my friend Dan from Burlington, who came to Craftsbury last Saturday night to celebrate my marathon win (and winnings). You may not believe this, but Parker Pie (local favorite pizza/bar establishment) was HOPPIN’… it was like a club scene in there! Not wanting to disturb Lucas a second time, I enlisted Brian Gluck when we needed to pull Dan’s car out of the ditch. (“Not to worry, I know someone who will be over here in 3 minutes to rescue us.”) Last but not least, our surrogate pet grouse, Mo (separate blog entry to follow), has been unwavering in his quest for human social interaction, in what seems to be an adamant rejection of the behaviors one would typically expect from his species.

During the week I have been at least somewhat diligent about getting work done around here, ranging from helping out in the Hosmer Point camp office (who knew that a person could get sore from doing a bulk mailing?) to visiting Greensboro Elementary to give a presentation about skiing and getting outdoors. I have also entertained the possibility of doing the compost for Brian, which delights him almost as much as when I actually do it.

Getting in some office hours. Rhetorical question: Is it possible to get any work done if Pepa is sitting across from you?

Training has been going really well, now that I can show up 10 minutes late and have only Pepa yell at me instead of the whole team. And, we have SNOW! I’ve done some good quality interval workouts with our junior extraordinaires, Hannah and Lauren, as well our visiting South American contingent, Federico (Argentina) and Leandro (Brazil). Communcation between the Brazilian and the Bulgarian is something to behold and is one of my favorite parts of our daily workouts. And, no surprise here– hitting the gym: even less sweet when you’re alone.

Lonliness is an empty gym.

I have succomb to accute, late-onset, residual hunger from the 50km. For some reason, this did not set in until Tuesday, after racing on Saturday. But it has continued full-force even into the wee hours of this morning (Friday), when I was forced out of bed at 4:30am by hunger pangs for a snack of fruit leather. The kitchen staff have been invariabely understanding of my issue, and generous in their provision of leftovers. Success: being greeted at the back door of the kitchen by a staff member who preempted by maple sausage prowl and had set some aside for me.

The staff shelf, God be praised.

The best part about staying home in Craftsbury? Getting to spend a lot of quality time with this person: