Zach Hall - Biathlete

Happy New Year!

2011-01-19T18:29:00.011-05:00

Racing in the New Year is off to a great start. After spending the Holidays training in Ridnaun, Italy I traveled with the team to Munich and then on to Nove Mesto, Czech Republic for more IBU Cup racing. That area of Czech reminds me of the rolling terrain of northern Minnesota. There are far fewer lakes and of course a higher population density clustered in towns full of uniquely Eastern Bloc architecture, but even so it can be surprising where Déjà vu strikes. Most of the country heats with coal still so the heavy hanging, distinct odor of combusted coal adds to the sensory experience.

Training in Ridnaun, Italy

Central Europe has had a fantastic snow year so far and the tracks in Nove Mesto were better than the two previous seasons. Additionally, since the organizing committee is hosting the World Junior Championships this week, they made copious amounts of snow in preparation for all of the forthcoming events; just in case warm temps and/or rain struck. When we arrived there was a pile of snow ready for transport onto the trails that filled an entire parking lot. The crews ran dump trucks full of snow onto 1.5 kilometers of the race trails for an entire day and hardly made a dent in the stockpile. The result was a base of snow nearly a meter deep and 5-8 meters wide. That's a lot of snow any way you break it down or pile it up. Needless to say, training was fantastic in the days leading up to the races and superb through the weekend.

Nove Mesto, Czech Republic

The 20k was a really good ski race for me. I started on the conservative side in the first couple of laps and was able to ski fairly even laps. I unfortunately had some trouble on the range and had a few too many penalties on the day, but it was great to see my ski times being competitive with the field. There's always work to be done, but I'm gaining ground on the red group. The following day we raced a 10K sprint and I had a much better day overall. I again skied strongly and added a good day on the range to post my best result of the season.

Last week the competitions moved to Altenberg, Germany, site of last year's final round of U.S. Olympic trials. The town and race complex both sit only a couple kilometers from the Czech border and are in the middle of one of the most uniform forests I've ever seen. If you've ever been in Oregon or someplace similar where clear cutting is a common logging method, you'll perhaps have an idea of what thousands of new growth trees look like all clustered together and stretching off to the horizon. Like in Czech, Altenberg had nearly a meter of snow pack when we arrived and they hadn't needed to blow any snow. Little did they know what was in store though.

Altenberg is a fun course to race even if the range sits in the middle of Nowheresville. I think the planning committee completely forgot to look at the weather patterns in the area because they located the range in a geographic depression that is extremely susceptible to fog. Now, fog isn't necessarily a problem in sports like Nordic skiing, but it severely complicates Biathlon training and competition because one has to be able to see the targets in order to hit them (on purpose). Last year, one of the women's races there was canceled due to fog and this year we couldn't shoot during a training session and were unsure about our first race for the same reason. Luckily, the first race was run and we ended up dealing with a torrential downpour rather than fog. So much rain fell that portions of the trail were at risk of washing out. The wax techs did a great job with our skis and soaked as we were, I posted the best result of my season. Still not perfect on the range, but my ski times continue to get faster relative to the field and I qualified for the pursuit (top-60 of 130) the following day. The rain continued throughout the night and by morning nearly 2ft of snow pack had melted away. The race was sloppy wet again thanks to continued rain and several inches of slush. I had another good race, moving up several spots on the result sheet.

I'm back in the states now getting ready for the NorAm Cups next weekend in Lake Placid. New England and other parts of the country have been in a deep freeze for several days. Temperatures are supposed to climb a little in the coming days so here's hoping...

IBU Racing: Martell, Italy & Obertilliach, Austria

2010-12-14T07:58:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Munich one week ago for a tour of Central Europe. Last week was a blur as we traveled to Martell, Italy and got a few days of training in before the Individual and Sprint races.

Martell Biathlon Range

The venue is nestled at the top of a very deep and narrow canyon in the northern Dolomites. As with most areas of the province of South Tyrol, Martell and its neighboring hamlets are quaint mixtures of new and old architecture, all with a distinctly Tyrolean flair. The food too has a unique flavor given the French, German, and Italian influences. Nearly everybody speaks both Italian and German because the region sits at the confluence of Italy, Austria, and Germany and was traded around during the second World War. However, ask any of the locals to tell you about their region and it quickly becomes apparent that they claim direct roots to neither Germany nor Italy, but instead identify as Tyroleans. The Tyrolean hospitality is impeccable so the Martell valley was truly a superb place to train and race for a week.

The Martell Biathlon Stadium. Above the Stadium is a hydroelectric dam.

The 20k Individual race started off very well. The wind conditions on the range were some of the trickiest I've ever encountered so I was really pleased to make it through the first three stages with just two penalties and solid skiing. The wind cooperated even less in my final standing stage and I added several more penalties to the tally despite my best efforts. As I've said at other points, biathlon is the consummate love/hate relationship and my first Individual event of the season showed why that is. Save for one unfortunate shooting stage and some leg cramping in the final two kilometers, the race was on a great trajectory. Even so, I salvaged the effort and was pleased with how much did go well. The second race, a 10k sprint, went similarly with a good ski effort and unfortunate misses on the range. It's easy to get frustrated when all the pieces don't come together, but I'm inclined rather to be excited about how many bright moments there were.

I traveled yesterday over the border to Obertilliach, Austria. It's nice to move on to a new venue and refocus for the racing this weekend. On Friday we contest a 10k Sprint and Saturday brings a 12.5k Pursuit. The weather is 20-30 degrees colder so we're in for a taste of the frigid. But given the Alpen scenery and fantastic snow, nobody is complaining.

Obertilliach, Austria

Europe Bound!

2010-11-27T19:30:00.007-05:00

The past few weeks have been busy. Much as we skiers love when the leaves fall, the nights are cool, and it seems as though the woods are holding their breath in anticipation of the first snowflakes, there is always lots to get done in a hurry in preparation for the first on-snow camp and races. This year seemed especially harried as we worked to get all the loose ends tied up before making the trip to Canmore, Alberta to get ready for the World Cup and IBU Cup trials races.

Whiteface Mountain, Adirondack Region, NY

The highly variable weather in early November graced us with a grab-bag of 60 degree days and then a few when the temps dipped below freezing and we had a skiff of snow and ice on the ground. My training progressed smoothly despite having to be extremely flexible with working our sessions around the whims of the weather. The East is always temperamental, but Global Warming/El Niño/La Niña or whatever other phenomenon happens to be running things at the moment seems to have been amplifying the mood swings.

The funky weather carried over to the Canadian Rockies. The Canmore Nordic Centre went out of their way to store snow over the summer in a huge pit that was insulated with wood chips and tarps. This method has been used with great success in several European countries. The organizers had grand plans of extending skiable days by 2-3 weeks, which could be highly advantageous to American and Canadian skiers. They did get about a week out of their stockpile before the 50+ degree weather helped them water the trails. Unfortunately that meant that we arrived just in time to help sweep the remaining sawdust base off the shooting range so we could get back to rollerskiing. Nature can be a cruel partner and she definitely won that one. The Canadians called the early snow effort 'Frozen Thunder' anywhere it was advertised. Somebody offered that it was more like a 'Melting Blunder', which seemed far more fitting considering the suntanning weather.

Trail running in the Canadian Rockies.

Joking aside, we were able to do great dry-land training until the weather cooled and the venue was able to make snow. It was iffy for a few days while snow was being blown and then pushed onto the trails, but the temps kept dropping and the piles grew. By the morning of the first race there was a one kilometer loop and athletes were scrambling to put on more clothes. The thermometer read -3 at the start of the final race. Go figure.

The Women's 12.5K Mass Start.

We contested two sprint races and a mass start. All the races went well in my estimation. I've worked extremely hard on shooting this year and was excited to come out of the races with an 85% average. I felt somewhat unstable on the skis, but each race my ski speed increased and by the end of the week I was feeling ready to race. Overall it was a great start to the season. I qualified for the IBU Cup tour so I'll be heading to Europe for several weeks. Prior to Christmas I'll be racing in Martell, Italy and Obertilliach, Austria. It's been a long and productive year of training and I'm excited to start competing!

I'm back in Lake Placid until the team departs on December 5th. One week ago it was a balmy 45 degrees here. Today it snowed several inches and dipped into the single digits with windchill. Bet you can't guess what the forecast is for next week. Who said 50 degrees?

Fuel for Competition (and Life).

2010-11-05T12:42:00.013-04:00

There's a huge industry in the U.S. dedicated to producing products that are designed to make you perform better - or so the manufacturers would like you to think. Run a search on Google for 'sport supplements' and you'll get over a quarter million hits. Generalize the term to 'supplement' and the return is nearly 70 million. So, what do supplements do for you and are they actually worth the money and hype? Here are some of my thoughts on the matter.

I was recently talking to a friend that wanted to know what kinds of supplements I take. He knows I've been training full-time for several years and have been an athlete for most of my life. His perception was that I must be taking lots of special pills. When I told him I don't take any supplements except for utilizing a PowerBar product here and there during and after training and racing, he wouldn't believe me at first. So I'll give you the explanation I gave to him. Every athlete in the U.S. (and most abroad) that are pursuing professional athletics in a sport that appears in the Olympic Games is required to submit to random drug testing. In the U.S. we have USADA, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, and most other countries have a similar program, all with the goal of ensuring drug-free sport. In the U.S., we compete clean because we want to win on the merit of our hard work and not on that of a drug concocted in somebody's laboratory. There is also WADA, which is the World Anti-Doping Agency and they oversea the international anti-drug effort. I'm required to update USADA with my general daily whereabouts so they can find me if my name is drawn for a random urine or blood test.

What does all this 'ADA' stuff have to do with supplements then? The short of it is that I'm responsible for any 'banned substance' (there's a list a mile long) that shows up in my samples. Testing positive for a banned substance gets you kicked out of your sport for two years and perhaps indefinitely. Don't forget that doping scandals also jeopardize the integrity of your teammates and country and in the case of cycling, the entire sport. Not the way most of us envision our careers ending. One would expect that going down to the local health food store and buying something off the shelf is a safe experience. It's true that most of the items on the shelves are fine to ingest, but only a small percentage of the manufacturers will guarantee to consumers that their product is clean. In a world where commodities flow freely around the globe it's possible to get a product that contains ingredients from several different countries. That free-flow of commodities guarantees that most manufacturers don't know where their ingredients are coming from. The whey powder in your protein shake might come from Sri Lanka today and Mexico tomorrow. You can't be certain!

Now, I'm not suggesting you become paranoid if you're taking a supplement, but it's worth thinking about where it may have come from and the potential for other ingredients to have found their way into your bottle. Taking supplements is too much of a gamble for me. It's likely that I could ingest most products in a health food store or GNC shop and not get a banned substance, but why chance it? Rather than risk it, I choose to eat a well-balanced diet. I know that may sound corny since all of our engineered and fortified foods are marketed as though they are well-balanced and surely must be superior to lowly 'peasant food', but seriously? What do people think our ancestors ate for thousands of years? Sure there were illnesses in the 'old days' that were caused by dietary deficiencies, but that's exactly the point. Cultures eating a well-rounded Mediterranean diet, for example, tended to live healthy, long lives - and still do.

We have year-round access to a plethora of fresh, healthy foods so there's no need to choose vitamin-fortified and uber-processed products when you can readily get superior calories (more vitamins, minerals, phitochemicals, etc.). As often as I'm able I go for fresh fruit, both raw and cooked vegetables, fats from unprocessed nuts, olive oil, and fish, some red meat and poultry, some dairy, some vegetable protein, and plenty of whole grain rice and other grains. Eating broadly and well insures your body has the building blocks necessary to maintain health and vitality, whether you're an athlete or not. Don't get me wrong, I love sweets and treats as much as the next guy so I'm not suggesting you always forgo cookies or pie or chase a fad vegan or protein diet. You have to be smart about your choices and that requires, among other things, a commitment to continued education on the subject. As I mentioned above, I routinely use PowerBar gels or bars (notably processed products) during long and/or intense sessions for the quick sugars they offer, but I will just as readily down a piece of fruit or some raisins and nuts.

Something to ponder. The average car has around 3 thousand moving pieces and breaking only a few of them through poor maintenance or putting the wrong fuel in the tank will render the entire machine useless. In contrast, the human brain has over 100 billion neurons alone and comprises only a few percent of the body's weight. The take-home message: Spend time to re-consider the items you're using to fuel your system because there's always room for improvement.

Golden Leaves & The First Snow

2010-10-24T14:20:00.009-04:00

I just returned a few days ago from the West following a very successful camp in Heber City, UT. Spending time in UT during the fall is nice. The weather is predictable - usually sunny with cool nights and warm afternoons - and the fall colors, although not as prominent as in the Northeast, can be just as breathtaking. There's something reassuring about knowing that the weather will rarely impact the training plan and, of course, soaking up lots of vitamin D in a beautiful locale is always welcome.
While in UT, the team's focus was on quality volume training with the inclusion of a number of head-to-head intensity sessions that were designed to challenge ski pace and shooting focus. We did many hours of running and hiking in the Wasatch range above the Heber Valley and Park City. Our timing was impeccable, so we hit the foliage peak in the aspen and oak groves. Spending several years in the Northeast has only added to my eagerness each year to watch the forests put on a color show and this year was one of the best for colors in the West that I can remember.

With on-snow competitions quickly approaching, it's most important to refine the technique adjustments already made without implementing too many additional alterations. The bulk of the training has been done so it's simply a matter of maintaining fitness and doing the final prep in anticipation of toeing the start line. I'll be in Lake Placid for the next two weeks, during which time my goal is to take advantage of the low altitude training environment and then the team travels to Canmore, Alberta, Canada for the first on-snow training camp, which will include several races. We've already had snow here in Lake Placid three different mornings, so we're in a delicate duel with the weather. Eastern fall weather is especially frustrating at times, but with access to some indoor training facilities and a little bit of creativity built into the training plan, we'll roll through the next few weeks unscathed and come out on the other end ready to race.

The (early) Fall Edition

2010-09-26T10:30:00.007-04:00

Following the European camp, I took a handful of much-needed days off. It's been a while since I've had to work so hard to recover from a training block. Of course, 'off' days are filled with catching up on mundane tasks like laundry, but even so, that's typically far less taxing than even the lowest training days, so it's possible to chomp through a list of chores and still manage to recoup. We did have lobster one evening - a huge perk of being so close to the ME coast and a great way to spice up the recovery schedule!

My most recent block of training spanned the past three and a half weeks. September brought cool nights, a tinge of pastel color in the maple groves, and baskets of fresh apples and sweet corn. With the beauty of fall in the eastern woods also comes the seemingly mandatory rainy periods. It's always a gamble concerning how long the rainy spells will last, but we lucked out and had several spans of fantastic weather. I was really happy with the quality of the training I was able to put in. The volume training was productive, I learned some new things on the range, and was able to put in high quality interval sets. There were also strength sessions to be done - some in the gym and a couple in alternative locations. My coach took a few of us bouldering in the 'world famous' Saranac Lake rock garden. That was a first for me and I'm sure won't be the last - I'll probably get a pair of shoes before the next outing though.

Rock climbing is just one of the many activities readily available in the Adirondacks. The Lake Placid athletic community is dynamic, with numerous sports and all age groups represented throughout the year. While our training schedule makes it tough to be consistently involved with junior programs, it's a blast to lend a hand when possible. I got a chance to help lead the IronKids training session one evening, which didn't disappoint. However, kids in the 8-12 year age bracket haven't yet learned how to pace themselves and most have compressed springs in every limb, so going for a run is more like a mile-long series of wind sprints interspersed with more questions and comments than is possible to address. Not to worry though, we let them burn off most of the week's pent-up energy and then sent them home with PowerBars. I'm sure their parents were stoked with the ensuing sugar highs!

One week ago I traveled west to Boise to spend a few days training there with Sara before heading to Heber City, UT for the annual fall altitude camp. The high desert weather never disappoints in the fall and with the BSU football team chasing the history books, Boise was anything but its usual sleepy self. Walking the streets of downtown or partaking in any of the media outlets was enough to infuse anybody, even non-footballers, with a tangible sense of electric expectation. That was a fitting atmosphere for the week, I thought, because Sara was inducted Friday evening into the Boise High hall of fame - on the blue turf. Speaking of which, I'm sure last night's win against OSU had something to do with Sara and the other inductees being on the field the night before. Call it an 'Olympic Infusion', if you will. A whole crew of supporters showed up to pre-game and enjoy the festivities. My job? Designated photographer. :)

I arrived last night in the Heber Valley. Training starts again in earnest tomorrow, so I'm enjoying an off-day and making sure all the equipment is set to go. The scrub oak and aspens are ablaze on the hillsides and the weather looks as though it will cooperate for the foreseeable future, so training should be great. Enjoy the fall!

One From the Not-So-Old Archives

2010-09-03T21:54:00.003-04:00

Not much to report on the training front this week, but here's a video I shot with ConocoPhillips, one of my Alaskan based sponsors from this past season. As title sponsors of the Olympic coverage throughout Alaska, ConocoPhillips had this spot produced as a feature piece that played during the Games. Check it out. I think they did a fantastic job of showing their support of winter sports in Alaska and, in particular, highlighting the sport I've come to love.

Euro Camp Wrap-up

2010-08-29T10:35:00.010-04:00

I arrived back in the states a couple days ago following the conclusion of a five-week training camp in Europe. We spent the fist ten days in the Antholz Valley in northern Italy and then moved about 60km northeast to Obertilliach, Austria where we continued our altitude training for another week.

Obertilliach is located in a beautiful, lush Alpen valley that is interspersed with pine forests and open country that is used for haying, agriculture, and free-range livestock. We spent a fair amount of time training at the biathlon stadium that has over 4km of paved ski trails and the remainder of the workouts saw us roaming the numerous trails that crisscross the region. I did a couple of remarkable runs that covered miles of river valleys and high, craggy peaks and ridge lines. On one hike that took me into the border region between Austria and Italy, the trail climbed quickly to the high country and wound past picturesque cabins and huts, through rolling acres of grassland with a smattering of bell laden livestock, and finally reached a ridge trail that traces the border. The views along the entirety of the ridge were exceptional in both directions, south to the Dolomites and north into the Alps. One of the big surprises of the day was having opportunity to explore WWI bunkers built into the granite peaks, many still flanked with piles of barbed wire and crumbling fox holes. The unexpected find spawned images of the young Italian men that would have spent bitterly cold weeks patrolling the heights in defense of their homeland from the Austro-Hungarian advances. It's amazing how a little comparison has the tendency to bring perspective. For me, being out for five and a half hours was simultaneously a really long, 4,000+ calorie session and a leisurely stroll in the park. Go figure!

At the conclusion of our training in Obertilliach, the team took a couple of much needed recovery days. A few of the guys headed off on their own, but five of us chose to venture to Croatia in hopes of finding respite from the rain clouds that seemed to stalk our every move. Sunshine we found in abundance! Two days spent in medieval Adriatic port towns was a perfect recipe for renewed spirits and set us up well for the tests to come. Our first day back to training we had the toughest test of the camp - the Rossweld time trial. Rossweld is a mountain pass not far from Salzburg, Austria that climbs at an impressive pitch for what proved to be just over an hour of rollerskiing. The day was cool and wet, which was actually nice, save for making the pavement a bit slower. I felt good about the effort, especially since it was one of the first time trials of the season. The top of the climb usually grants nearly 360 degree views, but the fog kept us hemmed in for most of our summit time. Through one hole in the clouds, however, we did get a quick glimpse of Hitler's famed Eagle's Nest on a distant ridge!

The final week of the camp was spent in Oberhof, Germany where we split our training sessions between technique and ski testing sessions in the ski tunnel and more conventional summer sessions on the rollerski loops. This was the first time I've been able to get on snow in the middle of the summer and I felt great about the technique work I was able to do. It doesn't take long to start getting the feel back for long boards and I was able to take advantage of every minute on snow. Combo training on the World Cup loop was also great given the perfectly manicured pavement and the ambiance of one of the top stadiums in the world. Hopefully the next time I'm there it will be to compete for 30,000+ biathlon fans!

I'm back in Lake Placid now for a few weeks before heading west to Idaho and Utah for some more altitude training with the team before we head to snow in early November.

Reflections of Old & New

2010-08-01T10:04:00.006-04:00

Home for a week.

The Dolomites.

Don't try this at home - wild Yaks!

The Antholz training venue...

It has been far too long since I last updated. To the handful of you that actually read my blog, I'm terribly sorry and, as is usually the case after an extended absence, will commit to trying to be more consistent. This time will be different. :) Whoever you are and wherever you may be, welcome back!

Since it is now August 1st, that means I'm already well in to the summer training schedule. Coming off a very successful season, yet realizing that I didn't make a couple of the teams I was pursuing (missed both the early season World Cup and Olympic team by one spot) has been a unique experience. It's always interesting when a situation can at the same time be both the Yin and the Yang. That certainly seemed to be a central theme of the last season. Of course, referring to the Yin and Yang would suggest equal parts euphoria and defeat and there was actually much more of the former, though that's almost always easier to see in hindsight. However, somewhat ironically at times, that can be a catalyst for growth. And did I ever grow. Some call it the 'calm after the storm' and others 'purification by fire', but regardless of cliche description, last season's experiences gave me new perspective on my life as an athlete and, more broadly, on sport's contribution to the whole that is me. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say I'm back training and have a renewed drive to excel in biathlon while continuing to search for a healthy balance between that and the other facets of life.

Coming off of last season's successes of qualifying for the European Championships, being the Olympic Team alternate, and winning the overall North American Championships, I was excited to be renamed to the National Team. The team has been reduced to only eight men this season so it was great to have made the cut. The improvements to the team structure are already evident to me since I finally have access to full-time coaching and a much better support network. I'm into my fourth year of residency at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid (can you believe it?). Hard to imagine how quickly the past three seasons have passed and how much my training has progressed. It's great to see that the positive trajectory continues for me and the Team.

Training has been very focused and effective thus far in the season. We started off the year with a camp in May in Lake Placid. Three weeks of solid training and getting reacquainted with the coaches. Following that camp I was excited to spend two weeks in Alaska with my family. Not getting to be home very often makes it that much greater to return. The weather cooperated perfectly and produced typical Alaska training; read: fantastic. There was plenty of wildlife to see, including moose, fox, eagles, and even a black bear boar that said hello on the Coastal Trail near Anchorage. The weeks following being in Alaska included a shooting specific camp in Lake Placid, a trip to Rhode Island for Sara's grandfather's 90th birthday party, a quick trip to the San Francisco area for a wedding, and then on to Europe for a month-long training camp that has just gotten underway.

I arrived in northern Italy a handful of days ago and have been using the time to get adjusted to the altitude difference. We're currently in the Dolomite Mountains near the Austrian border in the Antholz/Anterselva valley. I've been lucky to see many beautiful places in the world, each one seemingly grander than the last. This area surpasses most of its predecessors on my list with its rugged, steep peaks, turquoise bejeweled lakes, quaint valley villages, and charming culture. I certainly can't do Antholz justice with mere written descriptions so I've included a few pictures above that will whet your appetite should you be in need of a place to venture. I'm here in Italy for another week before heading to Austria for ten days and then on to the ski tunnel in Germany for a final week of training before returning to the states. Hopefully the next locations will be just as photogenic as Italy has already been. If so I'll be able to pass on the views.

Until next time...Ciao.

Euro Champs Wrap-up

2010-03-08T02:34:00.009-05:00

Opening Ceremonies Line-Up

I'm sitting in the airport in Tallinn, Estonia waiting for the flight back stateside. The U26 European Championships in Otepaa this past week were very well organized, which made them a great event to take part in. My racing this week wasn't stellar - heavy legs made the skiing more painful than usual and slow skis didn't help much in the 20K individual. I did have a strong showing in the 10K sprint, finishing 38th with 90% shooting. That finish set me up well for the pursuit race yesterday, but unfortunately I had one poor shooting stage that really knocked me out of things. While the field consisted of only athletes of U26 age, a number of the best ranked biathletes in the world made that cut so there was no room for major errors in skiing or on the range. All in all, a great learning experience and one that will certainly inform next season's training plan. I was able to get quite a few pictures so I've included a few as a video I shot of the stadium approach and range.

Time Check on Course

Nice Scenery on a Stroll 'Home' From the Stadium

The K90 Jump Visible Over the Race Course

I'm happy to be heading back to Lake Placid for about a week to give my legs a rest and get ready for the final three competitions of the season at the US National Championships in Fort Kent, ME. We race March 18, 20, and 21 and then it will be time for a couple weeks of down time before the 2010/1011 training season officially kicks off.

Estonia Bound!

2010-02-21T15:47:00.004-05:00

Another few weeks have whizzed by. As an athlete, the passage of time is always an interesting thing. The continuous cycle of training, racing, and recovery has it's unique way of marking each day's passage, especially during the winter when I spend much of my time on the road moving from race to race.

Since returning from Europe at the end of January, I've been busy. I was fried when I finally made it back to Lake Placid. After over two months on the road prepping for and racing trials competitions it was time for a few days off. I put my rifle away for a few days and focused on getting caught up on sleep, laundry, e-mails, etc.
The first two weeks of February I put in a volume block and on the weekends raced two North American cups in Jericho, VT and two at home in Lake Placid, NY. Despite the rainstorm in January that wiped out much of the snow pack in the east, the crews worked overtime to get the tracks ready for racing. We had excellent conditions in Jericho and I pulled out a third place finish in the sprint race and came back to win in the pursuit. The following week in Lake Placid I narrowly won the sprint and in the pursuit put together a solid shooting day to win. I was really happy with the racing, especially because those races were the first competitions all year that weren't trials races so I was able to use them more for training purposes than strictly racing. I enjoyed experimented with some technique ideas on course and faster range approaches.

Last week I took a (very) quick trip out to Vancouver to watch Sara and the rest of the team compete in two events. I arrived back home in Lake Placid this past weekend and jumped into a short relay format race on Saturday and then focused on volume and threshold training through yesterday. A I write this I'm sitting in the Albany, NY airport getting ready to catch a flight to Estonia for the European Championships. We have four races next week and I'm looking forward to getting back in the start chute.
Before I sign off I want to express my condolences to the family of Jim Bowles, President of ConocoPhillips Alaska. Jim was killed in a snowmachining accident recently and I know that he'll be missed.

IBU Cups, World Cups, and The European Champs

2010-01-29T07:42:00.008-05:00

The month of January flew by and we're now heading into the home stretch of the season. Post Olympic trials I had to do a quick turn-around to get ready for a second weekend of IBU Cup racing in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. Although very disappointed to be the Olympic Team alternate and not actually getting to compete in Vancouver, being successful as an athlete requires moving forward regardless of wins or losses. This was no different. The races in Nove Mesto were combined with the racing in Alternberg to determine which US skier would prequalify for the U26 European Championships to be held early March in Estonia. We had two races in the CR and I posted my best international results to date. In the 20km Individual race I finished in 36th place and in the 10km sprint broke into the top-30 with a 29th place finish. My results were good enough to move me into first place on the points list, which prequalified me for the trip to Estonia! I was very happy to nail the racing in Czech!

The Shooting Range in Nove Mesto

Based on my results from the racing in Nove Mesto and Alternberg, I was called up to race the World Cup races in Antholz, Italy, a beautiful town located in a long mountain valley in the Dolomites. On the way to Antholz I had opportunity to stop in Ruhpolding, Germany to watch the men's World Cup relay and get a feel for the World Cup. The race was exciting with our men posting a season best 6th place in front of over 25,000 spectators. The picture and video below will give you a little taste of the action.

Germany and the Czech Republic have a reputation of being pretty grey during the winter months and while we were there the reputation was lived up to. Italy, however, is on the other side of the Alps and because of this feature tends to get all the sun that Germans wish for. It was great going over the final passes into Italy and being greeted with increasing amounts of sun. The biathlon venue sits at the top of the 20-ish mile long valley like a cherry crowning the perfect sundae. I know, perhaps a cheesy comparison, but it's true. Antholz is the perfect combination of old world charm and modern flare.

The races in Antholz were my first World Cup appearances and I really enjoyed the opportunity. Over 15,000 spectators came out for each of the races so the atmosphere was electric. It's really cool going from the US where only a handful of people show up to an area of the world where biathlon is the most widely televised sport and spectators come out in droves for an all-day party.

The Range in Antholz

Biathlon Stadium - Antholz

I got back in the states just over one week ago and I'll be here for most of February. I have two weekends of North American Cup racing this month and then I'm taking a short trip to Vancouver to watch my girlfriend, Sara, in a couple of her races as well as a couple of the men's races. I leave on the 25th of this month for the European Championships in Estonia and will get to race at least four events there during a two-week period. I'll have some racing after Estonia as well but the final schedule is still up in the air. For now my focus is on nailing the training and racing week by week.

Nothing more to report for a few days, but do be sure to tune in to the Olympic coverage starting on the 14th. Biathlon isn't often televised in the states so I hope you'll take advantage of the opportunity to watch an event or two - I'm confident you'll love it! Speaking of biathlon coverage, in October I helped shoot video for a short feature on biathlon put out by Time.com. If you look closely you can also catch a glimpse or two of me. Check out the video short at http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,64069733001_1957690,00.html .

Olympic Trials Update

2010-01-10T11:37:00.003-05:00

It has been a whirlwind of a week. I hoped to have more time to update you on the races, but alas the racing and training ended up taking up consuming our time. The weather and skiing in Altenberg spanned the gamut from clear, hard conditions with no wind to stormy soft tracks complemented by snow-storms and some of the nastiest wind I've shot in all year.

The team time trial dawned clear and cool. We arrived at the venue to find perfect hard corduroy tracks and no wind to speak of. There were only the six of us U.S. athletes starting so zeroing, warming up, and getting the race started was a cinch. I felt really solid during the race and was ecstatic to shoot clean on the range. I finished just 9 seconds behind my teammate who has been viewed all year as a lock for the team. That was the second clean shooting race I've had this season, which is more than any other US athlete. My shooting all season has been drastically improved from last year and having two clean races shows that the work I’ve done this year is paying off. Of course, having a clean race in a high pressure situation makes it that much sweeter.

A few hours after the race on Thursday clouds rolled in, snow began falling, and by Friday the conditions were completely changed. On Saturday the tracks were really soft and the wind was randomly coming from every direction, which made zeroing our rifles frustrating and, depending on how you look at it, nearly pointless. In Oberhof, Germany the World Cup athletes encountered very similar conditions, which the U.S. athletes poignantly described as, "a Las Vegas-style lottery." Unfortunately my race Saturday wasn't as smooth as that of Thursday. My legs felt like mush, which didn't help with the skiing and I missed 5 on the range. The other guys also missed 5 or 6 targets as well, which unfortunately put us a ways down the results sheet and out of the running for Sunday’s pursuit (only the top 60 in the sprint race are allowed to start the pursuit).

After the race on Sunday I was in a very close third place on the points list. The first racer was automatically named to the Olympic team and since the 5^th spot was by coaches’ discretion, the decision came down to a couple of us men. I’ve been thinking about this day for a very long time and I can tell you the wait for the final decision was horrible. Nothing quite like waiting for a decision and knowing that there is absolutely nothing more you can do to affect the outcome. There’s no way to sugar coat this so I must unfortunately relay to you that the decision didn’t come out in my favor. I’m in the process of regrouping and doing my best to get focused on the remainder of the season, but it’s going to take a few days to get over the disappointment.

I traveled to Nove Mesto, Czech Republic today to get ready for two more IBU Cup races this weekend. I can tell you that it’s quite a process to have to immediately refocus after not achieving the goal I’ve been pursuing as a biathlete for two and a half years and as an athlete for over fourteen. However, I now have a chance to qualify to race at the U26 Championships in Estonia in early March so that’s the next marker for me.

While the season is far from over I do want to take a moment to say a huge thank you to all of you who have supported me in my athletic endeavors thus far and joined with me in this Olympic dream. I’m only the motor that makes the skis move and the bullets fly. Without the continued and generous support of friends, family, fans, and sponsors, my dream of pursuing the Olympics would have never taken flight. I do want to mention my three sponsors for this season as their financial support has made my pursuit possible. I would first like to thank ConocoPhillips, my title sponsor for the season. Dykon Blasting, my cousin’s company in Tulsa, OK, generously gave their support this season. And Larry & Allan, good friends and owners of Alaska’s very own A Wildflower Inn and The Arctic Fox B&B, have been supporting me since I started biathlon. Athletics at all levels is a community event and those communities take many forms. I am proud to represent my home town of Nikiski, the state of Alaska, and my extented community from numerous states and countries around the world. You're the best!

Just so I’m clear, I may not have made the team this year, but this season is only half gone and 2014 isn’t that far away. I’ll be back for more!

'Turkeys' in Germany

2010-01-06T11:50:00.008-05:00

Just a quick update to say that everything is going well here in Altenberg, Germany. I arrived Sunday night after a 9-hour drive from Ruhpolding through holiday traffic and a raging snow storm (apparently the drive is supposed to take about six). I was here at the IBU Cup last year so it's fun being back at the same hotel and venue. Snow has been a little thin but the organizers are doing a commendable job getting the courses ready for the racing this week.

Tomorrow is our first of three races. We'll be racing just amongst the American athletes in a 10 km team time trial and then this weekend we'll be mixed in with a very large field. As of now there are 166 entries for Saturday's race so the course and range will be busy. I'm excited to race after nearly a two week break since the races in Minnesota.

Unfortunately the battery charger for my camera decided to die on me so I'm up a creek until I can find some batteries. I did manage to get one picture from a friend taken on the border of Germany and the Czech Republic yesterday. Check out the sweet pants! Usually our team apparel is navy blue but for reasons yet unknown we are sporting turquoise this year - or 'turkeys' as our German staff usually says. The whole incident has made for some great ribbing. Not that we don't like the gear, but it's just funny to be running around looking like we're from some far-flung eastern European country. Much as the 'new' color is a refreshing addition to our navy gear we've already been told to soak it up this year because we'll be back to blue next season.

That's all for now, but please check back in the days to come. In the mean-time I'll be racing and looking for some batteries...

Minnesota, Alaska, & Germany

2010-01-01T16:15:00.007-05:00

The last month has been a blur. From our on-snow training camp in Canmore I traveled to Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Now, I'm sure MN is a great place to live, but I seem to have the worst luck when 'visiting' for races. Last year during the IBU Cup trials races we had extremely cold weather that canceled one of the five races and made the other four less than comfy.

This year, as luck would have it, we had a nearly identical repeat save for the fact that we were able to race all five scheduled events. We raced a 10 and 15km the first weekend and then a 10, 12.5, and another 10km the following weekend. The entire race series was a lot of fun, but that much racing is taxing, especially when the temps hover around or below zero degrees. Anticipating the cold weather I was amply prepared with all the cold weather gear I could get in my luggage and that saved me - for the most part.

This year's MN race series was the first round of the US Olympic Trials process. Of the five races, each athlete's best three of five races were scored and added and the top four male and female athletes at the end of the series earned a trip to Germany to race in the final round of trials to determine who will fill the remaining Olympic slots. In the first 10K sprint race I finished third. The 15K Mass Start was a tough and very cold race. I shot well and skied even better and came out with a narrow win. I mentioned earlier that I nearly made it through the races unscathed. That's because the 15km proved to be colder than the other four races. I came out with frostnip on two fingers and an ear. Not too bad all things considered.

In the second weekend of racing I was again able to post some solid results. In the 3rd race, another 10km sprint, I finished in second place. The 12.5km pursuit was another good day and I landed on the podium again with 3rd place. The final race of the series, yet another 10km sprint, I narrowly beat out another athlete for 3rd place making it five for five on the podium. I was the only athlete to podium in all five races and also had one of the best shooting percentages for the series with 80%. Having only been in biathlon for two and a half years I was very pleased to ski and shoot so well and am especially excited to have qualified to race in Germany.

Following the trials in MN I traveled home to Alaska to spend a few very quick days with my family. I don't get to be home very often and I haven't been with my family for Christmas in three years so it was very special to spend the holidays in AK. Early this week I flew from Anchorage to Munich, Germany to get back to training. I've been training in the Bavarian town of Ruhpolding, home to one of the most well known biathlon venues in the world. We arrived to spring-like conditions. There has been plenty of snow at the venue thanks to lots of early snow-making and stockpiling by the organizers, but the training was pretty slushy for a few days. After Minnesota's ridiculously cold weather, having a few days at 40 degrees was a welcome change. Seeing green grass in the fields, although a little weird at this time of year, was also pretty cool.

Ruhpolding's Chiemgau Biathlon Stadium

Training here has been a lot of fun. Several of the German and Norwegian national team athletes are here as well and busloads of people have been showing up just to watch training. It's somewhat comical that at times there are more spectators watching training here than come to our races in the states. Hopefully with the positive trajectory the US Team is on that will start changing this year.

My training this week has been more fine-tuning. I put in some good volume and made sure to get in speed and strength as well. A pretty typical week for the most part. As of today it's less than one week now to the first race. I haven't raced in about two weeks so I'm really looking forward to getting back in the start pen. There was rumor that a lack of snow in Alternberg, Germany might force a change of venue to Austria, but the rumors were never realized. Snow has been thin in most parts of Germany for a while now but a huge storm rolled in last night and we woke this morning to several inches of fresh snow and as of this evening had accumulated around 6 inches and counting. Spring to full-on winter in less than 24 hours!

Of course, one of the benefits to racing in Europe is the occasional opportunity to check out the beautiful architecture and fun cultural novelties. The cute little inn where we're staying this week opened its doors in 1414 and it appears that many of the other structures in the town may date from a similar time period. Coming from a state where there are very few structures older than 100 it's neat to see buildings over 500 years old that are still functional. New Year's Eve was pretty chill for us athletes. I had every intention of getting to sleep relatively early. However, the townspeople in the area had a very different idea. At midnight I woke to strobe like flashes on the ceiling and explosions everywhere. It's customary in the states for towns to have firework displays on New Year's Eve and for some citizens to even light off a few bottle rockets. This was truly unlike anything I've ever seen. I contemplated pulling a pillow over my head to drown out the noise and lights, but then decided that I had to go see what was going on. From a small balcony a couple of my friends and I watched the most amazing fireworks display I've ever seen. Just as a side note, I watched a New Year's fireworks display from the roof of the Dunes Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas that culminated with the implosion of the entire complex at midnight and I've seen several other similar displays since then. But, the displays here came from every hill and street in and around the town. I've never seen anything like it. People everywhere were shooting off rockets and the sky was filled with a huge simultaneous display that lasted nearly half an hour. To add to the beautiful colors was the fact that safety seemed to be only marginally important. Nobody got hurt that we heard about but one misdirected rocket ricocheted off our hotel and went off next to our team bus full of all the skis. Another rogue rocket bounced off a couple of buildings before exploding beautifully a few feet above the river across the street. I saw some huge rainbow trout in there a few days ago and have to wonder if any of them were stunned by the explosion. Regardless, the colors were amazing and I'd come for New Years in a heart beat. The fuzzy picture below will give you a taste of the craziness

Tomorrow we head to Altenberg via the Autobahn. Speaking of which - sure would like to have an Audi Quattro for a day to zip around on the Autobahn (I should probably focus on finding some basic wheels though before I dream too much about an Audi). A guy can dream though, right? :) Anyway, the trip is only a couple of hours so we'll be settled in by late afternoon. Early next week is a little more fine-tuning on the range and tracks and then racing gets underway on Thursday. We'll race a 10km on Thursday, another 10km on Saturday, and a 12.5km pursuit on Sunday. Monday the 11th the remaining spots on the team will be named. Stay tuned in the coming days for more pictures and updates. Thanks for reading!

Happy New Year!

The Canadian Rockies - Paradise on Earth?

2009-12-02T01:10:00.005-05:00

Two weeks ago I arrived in Canmore, Alberta, a beautiful little town nestled in the heart of the Canadian Rockies. We're an hour and half from Calgary, twenty minutes from Banff National Park, and not far from Lake Louise. If you're looking for a great laid back town, amazing scenery, friendly people, and some of the best skiing in all of North America, Canmore will blow your mind. I know definitions of 'paradise' vary, but for those that include mountains, snow and Nordic skiing and Biathlon, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a more scenic locale. It's hard to see the details in the pictures below, but click on them to get a larger version.

I came to Canmore with part of the team to get on snow in preparation for the Olympic trials, the start of which are now less than one week away. If you refer to the picture of skis in my last post you can see that it takes a lot of skis to compete at the elite level. That picture is a sampling of the athlete skis, but is probably only one half of the number actually used by the 20 or so athletes in the program. Anyway, that's relevant because part of my job while here in Canmore has been to get my skis ready for racing. Each pair of skis has a different flex pattern to it and then is stoneground. Stonegrinding cuts various patterns onto the base of skis to give them optimized gliding properties for various snow conditions that range from cold, dry, and sharp snow crystals to warm, wet, pellet-like snow. Getting a pair of skis ready to race after stonegrinding requires many layers of wax and numerous miles of skiing to 'work in' the bases. I calculate that I skied about 110 miles in the last week and a half to get my skis race ready. Lots of work, but well worth it when the racing gets underway.

The Canmore Nordic Centre - Biathlon Range

Last week I came down with a head cold so my training has hampered somewhat. I did feel well enough to race the sprint race last Saturday. It was a great opportunity to go hard and work on putting a whole race together on snow. My skiing was good and I had 1 prone and 1 standing penalty so I was pretty happy with the effort. My cold has cleared up this week so I was really looking forward to the sprint race that was held yesterday. While these races don't matter for anything they were a great opportunity to go hard and make a few final adjustments before the Trials kick off next weekend in MN. I felt good skiing and only had 1 standing penalty. I feel good going into the races in the coming two weeks.

Views of Canmore from the Nordic Centre

I travel to Grand Rapids, MN tomorrow where we'll spend just a few days more preparing for the official start of the season next Saturday. The racing kicks of with a 10k sprint Saturday and a 15K mass start on Sunday. The following week we race two more sprints and one pursuit race. The field is deep this year because of the Olympics so there will be great competition.

Fall Training & Olympic Trials Warm-up

2009-11-05T12:55:00.009-05:00

September and October passed quickly. As the real racing gets close the remaining fall weeks always seem to fly by faster and faster. After returning to Lake Placid from Alaska I spent a couple weeks training in the east. The weather was unseasonably good considering how nasty things can get in the east starting in September. I was more than happy to only have to deal with rain a time or two. At the end of September I headed west to get ready for the final dry-land National Team Camp in Utah at the 2002 Olympic venue, Soldier Hollow. Soldier Hollow is an hour from Utah in the Heber Valley. Since that area is high desert the the weather is typically fantastic - cool at night and sunny and mid 50's during the day. Perfect training weather as far as I'm concerned. Kind of reminds me of summers spent training in Alaska except for a lot less moisture. The four weeks I spent in UT were a great last opportunity to train with the A Team. We spent hours training on the paved roller-ski trails at Soldier Hollow and also did a fair amount of training in the surrounding Wasatch Mountains. See the pictures below.

The Wasatch Mts. in beautiful Utah

Soldier Hollow, Heber City, UT - site of the 2002 Winter Olympics

Training day.

Team skis ready for snow.

During the camp we had two competitions. The first was a 10K sprint race and the second a 20K individual. In the 10K I had a nearly perfect day, shooting clean for the first time in my career and finishing second behind Tim Burke, the top US Biathlete. That was a fantastic result and gives me confidence going into the Olympic season. In the 20K I again had great skiing and shot very well putting me in 5th place overall.

Clean shooting in the sprint race.

Rewards of a two-hour uphill ski!

After finishing the camp at the end of October I made a brief stop off in Boise, ID before heading back east for a few more weeks of training on my own. While eastern weather in September is always iffy, November weather is typically nasty. Usually we see rain and snow mixed on several days and daily precipitation is almost a given. I'm not sure what was going on, but of the three weeks I was in Placid training we saw temps in the mid 40's and 50's and only one day of rain. That's no fun for the locals because they want snow to come early, but dry, cool weather was a gift as far as we biathletes are concerned. We'd prefer to have great roller-skiing than have to deal with the in-between mess that happens when snow comes but doesn't stick. Needless to say, training was great and I was able to get in a solid block of volume training before heading to Canmore, Alberta to get on snow for the first time.

Training, Racing, and a Trip Home to Alaska

2009-09-10T07:23:00.012-04:00

The past several weeks have seen lots more training, a little racing, and a fair bit of travel. During the first week of August I had some downtime thanks to a muscle spasm in my back. I've been focusing most of the summer on a few technique changes that, for whatever reason, seemed to precipitate me being laid up for a few days. As unfortunate as forced breaks typically seem, there is usually a silver lining. This time was no exception. I was able to get a few projects finished up and at the same time I rested more than would have been possible otherwise. August 8th and 9th were the US Biathlon Summer National Championships so I was doing everything possible to be ready to race. While still not yet 100%, I was able to race and posted very good ski times. My shooting was less than stellar, but taking into account the events leading up to the races, I was very pleased with my races.

Shooting Prone in the Sprint Race.

Headed for the Finish.

The day after Summer Nationals concluded in Jericho, VT, I got on a plane bound for Alaska. The last time I was home was in September of 2008 so it had been almost a full year since the last time I saw my family. I am very appreciative of all that the US Biathlon Development program offers for athletes in Lake Placid, but I wish there was some way to spend more time training in Alaska. The state has so much to offer its distance athletes and we even have a brand new world class biathlon range sitting in the middle of Kincaid park (unfortunately no roller loop yet). For better or worse though, my coaches are in Lake Placid, the US Olympic Committee provides room and board at the Olympic Training Center, and we have one of the best combined rollerski loops and shooting ranges in the country so the current situation has been great. Anyway, I'll get back on topic. I spent a full three weeks at home. While in Anchorage I got to spend lots of time with my family and was able to do great training in the mountains and on the trails that are both in and surrounding Anchorage. Talk about a well set up trail system. It is possible to get from one side of Anchorage to the other without having to deal with traffic. No cars and no lights to contend with. Just great multi-use trails that support the thriving outdoors community. An added benefit too, if you're lucky, is the chance run-in with a moose or bear. No worries though. They are far more interested in what's to eat off the trail than, in the case of the bears, the spindly-legged runners with PowerBars sticking out of their pockets. Speaking of animals, check out the beautiful bull moose that I nearly ran over while doing intervals on the Coastal Trail in Kincaid Park.

Share the trails!

Downtown Anchorage from the Coastal Trail.

While in Alaska I had opportunity to do a few great hikes in the mountains. One of the hikes was a 15 mile epic that I did with my dad and brother. We thought we were headed to a high mountain lake to fish for grayling and trout. Unbeknownst to us though, we had directions to the wrong trail head. We had a beautiful hike instead that took us up a long valley towards a huge glacier. No fish, but the scenery was fantastic and the weather couldn't have been better. Check out the picture below of Eagle River and the Eagle River glacier in the background.

Exploring the AK Backcountry with my Dad.

To top off a great visit home, my family planned a weekend camping trip in the Matanuska Valley. We took canoes, bikes, dogs, and, if my recollection serves me, a kitchen sink or two as well. :) It's one thing to eat freeze-dried meals on a backpacking trip, but 'road' camping with my family is a happening - complete with eggs and bacon, gluten free muffins, and other tasty treats. Beautiful weather graced us until the last day of the trip so we had plenty of opportunity to wear ourselves out. Between training sessions in the mornings, chasing my niece and nephew around all day, and hanging out around the fire, my 'vacation' was nearly more than I could handle. It's a rare treat to spend so much quality time at home.

The Hall kids!

I've been back in Lake Placid now for a couple of weeks. Training is going well and I feel on track to have a great season. I set a personal record last week in a shooting test and another PR today in a time trial so I'm feeling good going into the fall training. Of course, the leaves have already begun to change and the air is crisp in the mornings, two key ingredients that hint at the snow and racing that will be coming in the not too distant future. I'll be leaving in a week to spend a little time training in Boise with Sara before heading to Heber City, Utah - host of the 2002 Nordic and Biathlon Olympic races - for the fall National Team camp. While there I'll have two races that will help decide the 5th man to be named to the December World Cup team. I'm looking forward to the coming weeks of training and the challenges that they will bring. I'll do my best to keep you updated with all of the nitty gritty. Until next time...get out there and enjoy the fall.

Summer Training

2009-07-03T13:36:00.001-04:00

The training season has been progressing really well so far. I'm always amazed at how quickly the weeks pass when the days are filled from top to bottom with training. I'm typically up with the sun and it seems as though it's time for bed way before it should be.

Shooting on our computer-operated SCATT machine

Spring training was effective and went smoothly. We lucked out with weather here in Lake Placid. Typically the spring can be wet and unpleasant, but we floated through relatively unscathed. I did a lot of focused technique work early in the season and was happy to see that both my technique and shooting scores were improved compared with the same period last year. While I spent the majority of my spring in Lake Placid, I did get away for a weekend to Boston for the Dartmouth Wearers of the Green, a banquet that honors current and former Dartmouth athletes for their achievements. It was great to reconnect with some of my Dartmouth teammates - all very accomplished athletes and one of whom has run a sub 4 minute mile. I think Mikey ran a sub 6:30 once. He had a tail wind though... ;)

(L2R)Glenn Randall, me, Ben True(the Gazelle), Mikey Sinnot, & Patty O'Brien

After a solid spring we transitioned right into the June National Team camp. Most of the team was in Lake Placid for three weeks and the coaches and staff all made the trek from their respective homes in Germany, Italy, Sweden, Maine, etc. Compared to the two prior June camps, the focus was more on distance training and less on high intensity sessions. We certainly did our fair share of intensity, but it was easier to manage. I was excited to have the opportunity to work with the 'A' Team coaches during that period. Getting their feedback is always extremely beneficial. During the camp we had a couple of time trials, one a 10K and the other a relay, that went well for me. I skied and shot well, which reinforced that I'm doing good training. Check out the video below from one of the TT's.

The month of July was similarly good for training. I was able to put in lots of hours and kept the quality high. My goal going into the season was to increase the number of hours trained from last year and continue to focus on making each session count. Thanks to the generosity of all of my sponsors (please check out their websites on the right side of this page) I've been able to train more effectively and recover better than ever before. My goal of making the World Cup Team and qualifying for the Olympic Team would not be possible without the generosity of all those who have and do currently support me.

This weekend I'll be traveling to Burlington, VT for the North American Rollerski Championships, two races that will factor into team naming for the December World Cup team. I'm excited to test my training against some of the best biathletes in the country. Check back next week for an update on the competitions.

In other news, I'm heading home to Alaska next week to spend three weeks with my family and training in the mountains around Anchorage. The last time I was home was nearly a year ago so I can hardly wait. Aside from missing my family and friends in AK I have a nearly brand new nephew that I haven't yet met. Not to brag or anything, but check out my niece and two nephews...

Stephanie, Matthew, & Aaron Jr.

In still other news, for those of you who speak German, I now have a German Wikipedia site set up by an unknown fan. If you have any interest on practicing your German feel free to click the following link - http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_Hall .

NorAm Cups, US Nationals, & Canadian Nationals

2009-03-18T20:40:00.000-04:00

The season was a success. It's been a while since I last updated my blog so I'll try to give a somewhat inclusive rundown of the latter half of the season. After returning from an educational and successful trip to Germany and the Czech Republic I had a few weeks with no scheduled races. I spent the time getting in a solid block of training to keep my fitness levels high for the second round of big races, mainly a few North American Cup races as well as the US and Canadian National Championships.

Snow in the east this year was better than average (read – there were only a few sessions that outside training was rained out completely and only one warm front came through that melted most of our snow and put us out of business for a few days until the next snow storm). Life as a skier based in the eastern states is characterized only by the need to be flexible. Negative 20 one day and 50 above the next seems to be the norm although, much to my dismay, we saw many more of those dreaded negative temp days this season. I don't know if El Nino or global warming had anything to do with it, but this was one of the oddest winters in which I've had opportunity to train and race. That's beside the point though. Following the mid-season break from racing I had a couple weeks of North American Cup competitions that went well despite a flue that I was fighting. I managed to stay marginally healthy through the two weeks of racing and was really happy to have had a couple of podium finishes. Unfortunately, the day after the last race I got really sick and took a not so lovely week-long vacation in bed. I wasn’t initially happy to have the unexpected down time, but it was probably for the best because it forced me to rest. The down time ended up being a great mental break that set me up well for the US and Canadian Championships.

We raced the US National Champs in northern Maine. I had some bad luck on the range in a couple of the races, but then turned around and had great shooting during the sprint competition and landed myself in third place, just one shot from a National Title. I was very happy with the result and am confident that my training is on the right track. The last weekend of racing in the season happened just outside of Quebec City. The weather was in the 40’s and 50’s every day so conditions were wet and challenging. Mental fatigue is always an issue for racers at the end of the season, but I was very pleased to perform well in the last races of the season.

I’m looking forward to the coming season. I’ve been renamed to the National B Team again this year and I feel like I have the tools at my disposal to continue seeing big improvements throughout the summer and fall training periods. I'd like to say a huge thank you to all of you who have continued to support my athletic endeavors. The Olympics are only 9 months away and the trials process starts even sooner so stay tuned for updates on my training and racing as the season progresses.

Germany & The Czech Republic

2009-01-12T15:27:00.000-05:00

Hello from Altenberg, Germany. The past week has been a whirlwind of travel, training, and racing. This being my first time ever across the big pond, there are definitely a number of things that I've never encountered before. However, I think the transition was as seamless as could be expected.

Leaving the Range

It's hard to explain what biathlon means to Germany other than to say that it is pervasive here as the NFL is in the US. Just this past weekend over 5 million Germans tuned in each of three days to watch the World Cup biathlon events. And that doesn't take into account those throughout the rest of Europe and Scandinavia that were also watching. Needless to say, it's quite an experience to finally get the opportunity to train and race in a place where everybody understands what it is that I do.

Fans in the Stadium

The races this past weekend went extremely well given that they were my first ever European competitions. The field consisted of over 125 men and included elite racers from several of the powerhouse biathlon nation's World Cup teams. To finally get to step onto the same snow with many of these men is what I've been training months and, indeed, years to do. In the 20K competition the windy conditions contributed to poor shooting conditions for most of the athletes. Each miss automatically adds one minute to your overall finish time, so hitting targets is paramount in the 20K competition. With an unfortunate 7 misses I finished in the middle of the field. The 10K sprint went substantially better on the range. I only had 2 penalties and felt like I had a solid day on the ski tracks as well.

Sprinting for the Finish

Tomorrow we'll be leaving for the drive to Nove Mesto, Czech Republic to begin preparing for the two races there this coming weekend. It appears that Russia ended its gas dispute with Ukraine so the heat will be back on in much of Europe. We're very happy for that because the Czeck Republic has been without heat for the past week. That would have made for an interesting race experience. There's not much more to report for now, but hopefully I'll be able to find an internet source at some point during the coming week to get some more pictures up along with another post.

Europe Bound!

2008-12-24T12:36:00.001-05:00

A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope your holidays were fantastic. I'm glad to finally be able to get a post up. I've tried several times during the last few days and for some reason blogger was having issues with posting from my account. But alas I think we're back up and running. I had a short break after the first early season competitions in Minnesota so I got to spend Christmas and New Years with my girlfriend and her family in Idaho. The last few weeks have been filled with travel, training, and racing and much has happened since my last entry. My last post left off before the rollerski races in Utah so I'll pick up there and provide a quick run-down of the more major events to date.

The roller ski races in Utah during our fall camp were a great opportunity for me to see how my training was stacking up against the National A Team and the rest of the top biathletes in the country. I had a couple of very solid races and was encouraged to see my progress compared to earlier races this year and, especially, against the same race series last year. My shooting was improved and my skiing was much better overall despite feeling a little tired due to the altitude.

Racing in Soldier Hollow, UT

At the conclusion of the camp in Utah I spent a few days doing lighter training in Idaho before heading back to Lake Placid to put in a two more focused weeks of training in preparation for the first on-snow camp and North American Cup races in West Yellowstone, Montana. Training proved to be a little tough in Lake Placid because we were dealing with fresh snow that was just deep enough to shut down rollerskiing and biking, but not quite deep enough to allow us to get out our skis. Suffice it to say, I spent lots of time running, riding a stationary bike, and doing intervals on the treadmill. While it's always a mental challenge to keep training focused during times of less than hospitable weather conditions, I think my years spent training and racing with the Dartmouth Ski Team served me well by conditioning me to get through the nasty transitions to snow that only the East seems to be able to consistently dish out.

We left Thanksgiving weekend for West Yellowstone to put in a week and a half of training on snow before the first races. Yellowstone 'always' has snow in late November, but this year was the exception. There was great skiing on forest service roads above 7500 feet, but we only got in a couple days of skiing before the forest service closed down the access roads from town. We were left with no other options except for running and shooting. The extended lack of snow forced an early change of venue to Grand Rapids, Minnesota where a second weekend of racing was already scheduled. Lots of man-made snow allowed for great skiing and better preparation for the first of two weekends of racing. While MN did have lots of snow, it also had lots of wind and cold.

The first race, a 10K sprint, took place in some of the nastiest weather conditions I've ever raced in. Fortunately for me, I hapen to like racing in tough conditions. During the race the wind was blowing and up to two inches of snow was falling each half hour so skiing and shooting were complicated. Eighty percent shooting and solid skiing netted me a first place finish, a fantastic way to start the season! The next two races, another 10K sprint and a 12.5K pursuit, were solid on the ski tracks, but I didn't shoot as well as I needed to get top points towards qualifying for the European Cup races in January. The last race, a 15K mass start, was run in temperatures that reached -30 degrees with windchill and saw wind gusts of 10-20 mph. I went into the race knowing that I had to win in order to guarantee that I would qualify to go to Europe. Everything went according to plan. I skied well but knew that only excellent shooting could keep me at the front of the race. I ended up hitting 18 of 20 targets and winning by nearly 40 seconds over the next competitor. The race netted enough points to put me in first place overall on the points lists.

Mass Start: Stage 3 shooting

Today, after a long day of travel and jumping several time zones, I arrived inFrankfurt, Germany. We're here in Europe to race in European Cup competitions in Germany and the Czech Republic. The two weeks of racing will be amazing international experience on their own, but I'll also be competing against two other American biathletes for one spot on the World Cup 6 Italy roster as well as the World Championships Team, which will travel to Korea in February. I'm very happy with how my training is progressing and I can't wait to get back on snow.

Training in Sun Valley, ID

NY, AK, & UT

2008-10-13T21:58:00.000-04:00

The past few weeks were fantastic. The latter two weeks in August were spent putting in a block of intensity training as well as getting things ready to be away from the Training Center during September and October. I also completed a complete overhaul of my rifle stock so it now fits me much better and has a shiny new paint job. Check out the finished product...

My reworked rifle stock.

While in Lake Placid I had the opportunity to put in a few quality sessions on the brand new roller ski loop and rifle range at the Olympic Complex in Lake Placid. What a blast! The loop has a couple of screaming down hills and a tough steep uphill into the range. We now have the ability to do shooting with close to max heart rates, which is a huge asset for training. In my short tenure as a biathlete I’ve lacked consistent shooting with heart rates similar to those seen in races. That is now remedied.

Training on the new Lake Placid range.

At the beginning of September Sara and I flew to Alaska to spend a month with my family. It was a perfect time for a change of training venue and what better place than the mountains and trails of AK? The month we spent there was filled with numerous adventures starting with a short hunting trip a few hours north of Anchorage. Fall in Alaska is typically altogether too short, but this year was different. The aspen and birch were ablaze in hues of orange, yellow, and gold and were the perfect contrast to the red of blueberry bushes that carpet the North country and higher elevations.

Unfortunately the hunting trip only netted us pictures and no meat for the freezer, but it was a great time. Other notable AK moments were calling in a giant bull moose to within 15 feet while on a training run in the mountains and having a grey wolf eye check us out for several minutes from a ridge on the edge of the city.

The trip home to AK was a well needed break before the season starts getting really busy. It was fantastic to spend time with my family.

A walk with my niece & nephew

I'm in Heber City, Utah now for an altitude training camp and a series of rollerski races. Adjusting to the altitude has been tough, but I'm starting to feel better after a week of training. The races are this week so check back soon for an update.

538 days until Vancouver 2010

2008-08-23T13:15:00.000-04:00

This morning I had the opportunity to watch the closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics and what a spectacular show it was. With the extinguishing of the Flame came the realization that I have less than 538 days left to prepare for the upcoming Games and, as such, I must be focused on training to my fullest potential each day. As an athlete I've been inspired by the incredible performances of the past sixteen days and I hope that one day I'll also be in a position to inspire those who will come after me. Just as these Olympics have provided new energy to fire my goals, I find it remarkable that they have also given rise to new discussions regarding the future of our planet. I am amazed at the ability of the Olympic movement to transcend conflicts by displaying an image of global unity to which we as individuals and nations can aspire.

Much has happened in the past three weeks. At the conclusion of my last post I mentioned that we were headed to Jericho, VT to train on the roller loop there and to get in some racing. The weather, typically extreme, was actually fairly mild and allowed us to train in relative comfort. My training sessions were focused and I was able to get in valuable technique training with my two coaches. The two biathlon races, a sprint and pursuit, went well given the time of year. I was third the first day, missing only two shots. My shooting wasn't great during the pursuit, but I was very happy with my ski times. At the conclusion of the week and a half camp in Jericho I got to be part of a New England Nordic Ski Assoc. x-c race. I was tired from the prior two weeks of training, but managed to finish in 2nd place. Check out the video and picture below from the races.

From Jericho the team traveled to Jackson, N.H. to do a distance training camp in the White Mountains. Jackson is a special place for me because it is where I first competed in the Junior Olympics and where my dream of one day competing in the Olympics actually began to take shape. Jackson was also the site of the 2007 NCAA National Championships that Dartmouth won so the quaint little mountain village will always rank high on my list of great sites for training and racing.

Welcome to Jackson!

A friend of my coach set us up with a great place to stay and we spent the week biking and running. There were several epic adventures that week including a 105 mile bike ride that took us into Maine and over the shoulder of Mt. Washington. We also hiked Mt. Washington one morning and got to see the famed Tuckerman's Ravine where an unofficial skiing competition happens each year featuring the Dartmouth and Harvard alpine skiers and anyone else brave enough to hike the head wall and then point their tips straight down.

A huge upgrade from military barracks.

Bear Notch after a long ski.

At the conclusion of our distance camp in Jackson, I was more than ready for a little recovery time. Sara and I made the short trip to her aunt and uncle's home in Maine to spend a few days with them and had a very relaxing few days. The weather, which has been unpredictable at best this summer, continued to surprise us with huge thunder storms and one cloudburst that dropped quarter-sized hail for nearly half an hour. We did luck out with one beautiful day that coincided with a sea kayaking day trip. Sara's aunt and uncle took us out off the coast where we spent the afternoon paddling between granite islands and searching for shells on the beaches.

We made it back to Lake Placid in the middle of this past week in time to get back into the swing of things with training and some work on the golf course. The US Olympic Committee and the Olympic Regional Development Assoc. recently completed a new roller ski loop and four-point range here in Lake Placid at the Olympic Complex so we will be spending lots of time in the near future training at the new venue. We've lacked the ability in the past to do high intensity skiing and shooting and that has now been remedied.

The coming weeks are will be full of training. I have two weeks remaining here in Lake Placid and then I'll make a long overdue trip home to Alaska. I'll spend the month of September in Alaska training and spending time with my family and then will go directly to Utah to meet up with the teem for our last camp before the season gets underway. There is still much training to be done between now and then.

Quick update

2008-08-03T14:31:00.000-04:00

Hello everybody. I haven't had time to download my pictures from the last week and a half so unfortunately I don't have any visual updates for you. Training and shooting has been going very well the last two weeks. I had an easier week of training last week and spent much of my down time in the shop at the Training Center making some much needed modifications to my rifle stock. It's still getting its final coats of paint so I don't have finished pictures of that yet, but I'll get some before and after shots up as soon as the last coat of paint sets up.

This past week was pretty tough. I had five days of intensity training, including two time trials and a couple of very hard interval workouts. I felt great throughout the week, but was most definitely ready for an off day today. I traveled to Jericho, VT on Wednesday after training for a week and a half long training camp. Nearly 40 athletes are here from all over the country to train on the rollerskiing trails built on the Ethan Allen Military Base. It's a great opportunity for coaches and athletes alike to work together and share ideas. We also have two biathlon races planned for the coming week and a rollerski race so there will be ample opportunity to see how our training is progressing and figure out what needs further tweaking in preparation for the coming race season. Jericho is always a grab bag for hot and wet weather and so far we've seen lots of both. We're hoping for somewhat normal days for racing, but it's not good to count on that happening here. I guess we'll see...

July Fun & Training

2008-07-19T12:16:00.000-04:00

Greetings from a very hot and humid Lake Placid. The last couple of weeks have been very busy so I'll try to provide the highlight real. Over the 4th of July weekend Sara and I drove down to the Massachusetts coast to spend a couple of days with her family and relatives. We had car trouble on the way down so the 5ish hour drive turned into 10+. Not the quickest trip, but everything worked out in the end. That week of training was pretty big so we were getting out the door quite a bit to train. We were in an area very similar to Cape Cod, but it lacked the traffic and crowds. We had a blast exploring the area on bike and foot during training sessions. Below is a picture of me with my new bike. My family, and specifically my brother Jamin, helped me get the bike this spring and it has been a fantastic training tool so far this season. It allows me to do 4-5 hour distance workouts without stressing my joints the way a run of that magnitude does.Last week was my biggest week of training ever. I logged 27 hours of biking, running, skiing, and strength plus several hours more of shooting. During such weeks there is hardly time to do anything except training, eating, and sleeping. Sometimes huge training blocks can start to feel a little monotonous, but the coaches have done a great job of keeping lots of variety in the training. I was EXHAUSTED at the end of the week. All I could think about towards the end of the week was making it to Saturday afternoon and the start of my rest day. Even though I was dragging at the end of the week, I was really pleased at how well I handled the huge volume. Despite the physical load, I couldn't be happier because I know that when the training is toughest, I'm expanding my mental and physical capacity. Check out the video below. It was shot during an uphill interval set.

At the end of last week a group of kids from the New York Ski Education Foundation (NYSEF) were here at the Training Center for a junior camp and I had the opportunity to give a presentation to them on nutrition. I really enjoyed having the chance to pass on some of the information that I've amassed during my racing career. It's great to talk with young athletes who are genuinely interested in not only improving in their sport, but also in making healthy lifestyle choices. At a time when one in four Americans is obese and much of the population is suffering from maladies preventable with proper exercise and nutrition I think that it's critical to educate the younger generations so we can turn some of the negative trends around.

This week was a solid chunk of training, but it felt like a cake walk compared to last week. I scored some personal bests in shooting workouts so I was stoked to see improvement in that aspect of my training. I've got to do some major work on my rifle stock this coming week to make it fit better and I'm hoping that will be a key to making more improvement in the coming weeks. I've also been working very hard on some new ski technique ideas with my coaches, which are starting to pay off. We've done a lot of video analysis in recent weeks and the work I've been putting in is paying dividends.

I have an easy week coming up and I'm going to kick it off by watching the Lake Placid Iron Man Triathlon. Over 2,000 entrants have converged on the town for the annual suffer fest. I'll get some pictures up next week.

An Easy Week

2008-06-27T20:14:00.000-04:00

This week has been a recovery week following the conclusion of our most recent training camp with the National A Team. During last year's training camp in June it was all I could do to survive the high training hours and intensity. This year has been completely different so far. Last year's huge increase in training hours is paying off. Rather than struggling to just make it through the camp this year I was able to focus on getting the most out of strength, technique, and shooting sessions.

At the conclusion of last week Sara and I drove over to Dartmouth's Mt. Moosilauke Ravine Lodge for the wedding of two good friends from college. The rustic lodge sits about halfway up Moosilauke Mountain and serves as the end point for Dartmouth's first-year wilderness trips each fall and the start of the famed Moosilauke Ski Team time trial (a brutal 3.6 mile run to the summit) among other things. We attended the outdoor ceremony and then hiked with the bride and groom and a large group to the summit before returning to the lodge for dinner and dancing. Getting away from the Training Center for a couple of days was a fantastic way to start the easy week.

Sara and me at the summit of Moosilauke

Sara and I returned to Lake Placid Sunday evening. A friend had asked us to take care of his parent's home while they were out of town for a couple of days so Sara and I got to look after two great dogs and utilize their yard and kitchen. Both Sara and I share one room doubles at the OTC so it was a blast cheffing it up and kicking back on a porch with a great view for a couple of afternoons. Monday evening we were treated to a fantastic lightning storm that played itself out over the distant mountains. The following evening another storm rolled through and left a beautiful rainbow, which we enjoyed while cooking up gluten free crepes with fresh mint and strawberry yogurt fillings and a spinach salad with fresh strawberries from a small farm in VT. It's not often that we are able to slow down enough from training to take the time to cook so we really enjoyed the opportunity.

Storm remnants

Gluten free gourmet

I got back into the training routine for the second half of this week. There isn't much more to report other than that I'll begin a big block of training starting Monday morning. I'll be in Jericho, VT for the early part of next week training at the Ethan Allen Biathlon Range. A rollerskiing loop with a small firing range is being built here in Lake Placid, but until it's completion we'll probably make the trip to VT every week or two in order to do rollerski combos.

Camp - Week II

2008-06-20T22:12:00.000-04:00

Today wrapped up the second week of a pretty intense camp with the National A Team and all of the coaching staff. We've been going non-stop now for nearly two weeks and it's time for a few days of rest. This week was a little lower in hours than last week, but the workload was still very high. Perhaps the most interesting and definitely the most painful workout was a max VO2 test on the treadmill.

During the test.

A VO2 max test, for those of you who aren't familiar with this terminology, is fairly simple. A lab technician hooks you up to a head apparatus that has a mouthpiece not unlike that of a snorkel and your nose is plugged so you can only breathe out of your mouth. With this setup the physiologist is able to analyze the air that is exhaled during exercise for oxygen content. This information along with other data collected at the same time can then be used to provide important information about how training is progressing and what, if anything, needs to be changed in order to maximize the potential for performing well later in the season. For the athlete, the max test is pretty simple - go until you can't go anymore. The speed on the treadmill is increased at regular intervals and at some point your muscles give out and you either get spit off the back of the treadmill or you grab the bar that's at the front of the treadmill. Check out the pictures for a little better idea of what the setup looks like.

Trying to breath right after the test.

Last week featured one of the toughest interval workouts I've ever done. I didn't have pictures or video for my last post, but you can check out a video by clicking on the link below. In this particular video I'm the skier at the front of the line.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ru8hWIOl53E

This weekend Sara and I are driving over to the Dartmouth Outing Club's Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, a rustic lodge and cabins situated on the side of Mt. Moosilauke in the mountains of New Hampshire. Friends of ours from college are getting married so we're looking forward to getting away from the Training Center for a couple of days and helping our friends celebrate a special day. Next week is a much needed easy week so I'll spend a fair amount of time resting and will also get some hours in working on the traps at the golf course. Should be a blast.

National Team Camp

2008-06-13T18:39:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow concludes the first week of our two-week National Team Camp. All of the coaches are here in Lake Placid to work with the National A and B Teams as well as the Junior National and Development groups. It is a great opportunity to train as a group and lets those of us here see how well our training is progressing this season. This past week has been challenging for sure, but I'm very happy with my training and preparation so far and feel like I'm on track to have another stellar season.

This past week has included a plethora of tough workouts, several of which were made even tougher by less than favorable weather conditions. Monday and Tuesday were exceptionally hot and it was all any of us could do to just stay marginally hydrated. In Monday's afternoon workout the combination of high temperatures and humidity was especially hard to handle because we were rollerskiing on a section of road that was in the direct sunlight and there was not a hint of wind. I had downed nearly a gallon of liquids in the first 45 minutes and was still overheating. Another of the guys on the team who suffered heat stroke last year in a similar situation spent a fair percentage of the workout running down to a nearby creek to dunk his head and wet his clothes in an effort to get through the drills. By the end of the session most of the team was making laps to the creek. Wednesday's workout, as I mentioned in my last post, was a 7+ hour combined run and bike ride and Thursday featured one of the toughest interval workouts of my career.

Strength Training in the OTC Weight Room

Despite the exhausting days that usually accompany training camps, I love being surrounded by a group of like minded athletes because we are able to push each other to achieve levels of performance that are often unattainable when training alone. It is our ability to train together that will allow us to continue building towards our goal of winning an Olympic medal in 2010. I was reminded today by the team Psychologist that the Olympic Games are only 20 months away. That seems like a long time, but it will go oh so quickly. There is much work to be done between now and then. Tomorrow promises to be another long day starting with dry-fire drills before 7 am with the coaches. That's less than 8 hours away so I've got to wrap this post up for now.

07/08 Season Wrap Up & 08/09 Preview

2008-04-26T22:29:00.000-04:00

After a few week hiatus I'm back at the keyboard. My blogging was a bit more sporadic this past season than I would have liked so I'm going to make a concerted effort to post at least once a week throughout the coming season. Look for new pictures, videos, and updates to hit the web each Saturday morning. To those of you who checked in throughout the past season, thank you. I sincerely appreciate your interest and support!

This past season was awesome. I made big strides in my skiing and shooting and it showed in the racing. All told I was on the podium seven times in North American Cup races, one of which was a second place in the US National Championships pursuit race.

Out of the start in Vancouver

My race season concluded in Vancouver, B.C., site of the 2010 Winter Olympics so I had opportunity to compete on the recently completed Olympic trails while squeezing in more valuable race experience. All told this past season I put in about 40% more training and wrapped up the season in 2nd place overall on the North American Cup points list, just a few points out of 1st. Apparently I succeeded in turning some heads with my progress because I've been named to the National B Team for the coming season.

The new season got off to a great start at the end of April. That is the earliest I've ever started back to focused training, but I was well rested after a short vacation on the Oregon coast and in Boise, ID. I'm working with two new coaches this year and am already excited by the progress I'm seeing with both my skiing and shooting technique. I laid the foundation last year with hours of training and shooting and I'm expecting to build on that this year.

Shipwreck on the coast

The Oregon Coast

Although training is always the focus of my day to day planning, I do occasionally have easier blocks of training that allow me to catch up on chores and get in a few hours of work on the side either as a trap keeper on the Lake Placid Club golf course or doing other odd jobs that I'm able to scrounge. On one of my recent easier weeks my girlfriend and I spent the week painting her grandfather's home in Providence, RI. Suffice it to say, the 'easy' week didn't end up being especially easy, but it was a great experience and a nice change of pace and scenery. We even managed to slip out one evening after work to see Strauss's Die Fledermaus at the Providence Opera. We always jump at the chance to wear something other than training clothes.

Off to the Opera

This past Monday was the beginning of a two week training camp with all of the teams in attendance. This week's focus is on high volume and has thus far been high-lighted by a 7+ hour run/bike workout. I made it through in one piece, but that's one of the longest days at the office that I can remember. The rest of the camp will include several shooting competitions, a mini-triathlon, and VO2 max test on the treadmill. Be sure to check back this weekend for an update and more pictures.

US Nationals & North American Cup Recap

2008-03-25T09:51:00.000-04:00

My first year as a full-time biathlete is quickly winding down. The races in Minnesota last week that served as both the US National Championships and North American Championships wrapped up on Saturday with a 15K mass start competition. We had three races in as many days to finish the weekend with 37.5K (about 24 miles) total of racing. I ended the race series with a 4th place in the sprint, 2nd place in the pursuit, & 6th place in the mass start. Equally as exciting, I secured 2nd place on the overall NorAm Cup points list.

Heading out of the range

Catching my breath after the mass start

Sunday I traveled to the Squamish Valley, a short drive from Vancouver, B.C. I'm here with the rest of the Development Team, the National Team, and many junior athletes for the Canadian National Championships on the recently completed 2010 Olympic trails near Whistler. Because we're so close to the coast there is an abundance of snow making for excellent skiing conditions.

The newly completed range

The competitions open tomorrow with a 20K individual race. Friday is a day off and then we race a 10k sprint Saturday and conclude the weekend with a relay race Sunday. These races will be my last of the season before taking a few days to put down the rifle and skis for a little vacation time. More on that though after the races. Check back soon for updates and pictures.

US Nat'l Championships - Grand Rapids, MN

2008-03-22T08:08:00.000-04:00

Hello from Minnesota. This will be just a quick update since I'm heading out the door in a few minutes for the third and final race of the North American and US National Championships Biathlon series. The week has gone very well so far. The courses here at Mt. Itasca are very challenging - just the type of venue that is excellent for a year-end race series. Race organizers stockpiled snow early in the season and have done an excellent job of grooming and keeping everything in top shape. On Thursday we raced a 10k Sprint. I didn't shoot exceptionally well, missing four of ten shots, but I still skied into fifth place. Yesterday we skied a 12.5K pursuit. There was a fair amount of gusting wind so shooting conditions were challenging throughout the day. I finally found a groove with my shooting and missed 1,0,1, & 1 in each of the four stages to tie with one other man for the best shooting of the day. Great shooting and solid skiing moved me into second place in the US National Championships race. I couldn't be happier with my progress so far this year! I've posted a picture below from Monday's race. I'm heading out for a 15k mass start so check back soon and I'll have more pictures posted and more details up. Happy Easter weekend!

Val Cartier, Quebec - NorAm Cup 7

2008-03-04T16:46:00.000-05:00

Hello again. I'm busy taking advantage of a day off from training to get caught up on some chores after another hard weekend of racing. We traveled to Quebec City on Friday for the races on Saturday and Sunday. There was well over three feet of snow on the ground when we arrived Friday and by race time on Saturday another several inches had fallen. The tracks were consequently soft and made for some very tough skiing.

The Stadium in Val Cartier

After a disappointing weekend in La Patrie a week ago I knew that I needed to have good races this weekend in order to qualify to race in the Canadian National Championships at the end of March in Vancouver, British Colombia. I skied well in the sprint race on Saturday and recorded no penalties in my prone shooting. In standing I had hit three for three when a piece of snow got stuck in my rear sight. I was forced to break position to get the snow out and then missed my last two shots. I left everything on the trails in the final lap, narrowly capturing second place overall (first US racer).

A view of the range

Sunday morning dawned clear and sunny. We arrived at 9 am in plenty of time for the 11am start only to find that the race start was moved to 10am. Race officials had failed to notify a couple of coaches, ours being among the unlucky few. Needless to say, we had a very stressful hour run-up to race time but still managed to get our rifles adequately zeroed and the skies waxed. Sunday's race was a 12.5K pursuit with starters leaving every five seconds in the order of finish from the prior day. I skied hard throughout the race, recording 7 penalties for the day. Despite less than perfect shooting I shot better than most of the other competitors in the field and narrowly secured another second place finish.

A lot of snow - volunteers in a timing shack

My results from the weekend were good enough to comfortably qualify me to race in Vancouver later this month. I have about two weeks of training now before heading to Minnesota for the US National Championships and then on to Vancouver for the last races of the season.

Last week my teammates and I took the opportunity to visit the jumping complex near the Training Center. The pictures below were taken from the top and bottom of the K120 jump. I always knew that Nordic Combined skiers and Ski Jumpers were crazy, but after visiting the top of the jump I can confidently now say that they are certifiably loco.

La Patrie, Quebec

2008-02-27T21:31:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was spent in the small hamlet of La Patrie, Quebec, Canada. Just north of the New Hampshire and Maine borders is, quite literally, another world. It always surprises me how markedly different certain aspects of life are in the province of Quebec. When I think of Canada I generally think of my Canadian friends whose only differences are their affinity for calling hats 'tuques' and ending every sentence with 'eh.' Visiting Quebec, however, is a reminder that Canada is as diverse in its peoples and cultures as is the US. French is the language to know and although many people speak English fluently, there are just as many who speak little or no English. That really lent itself to a feeling of being much further away from home than the few short kilometers that actually separated us from the border.
We raced in the hills just outside of La Patrie at a venue that used a farming tractor as a groomer. Despite the odd choice of grooming equipment, the groomers know what they are doing and the trails were great. The weather couldn't have been better - sunny and around 20 degrees - so we had a perfect weekend for racing. The race organizers made sure to utilize every bit of uphill they could find so the courses were some of toughest I've seen all season. While my skiing was solid for both the sprint and pursuit races, I had a rough weekend on the range. I finished a disappointing 5th in both the sprint and pursuit races. I've been a little tired for the past week so I'm taking advantage of a light training week to rest and get geared up for the coming weekend of racing in Val Cartier, Quebec, a town just west of Quebec City.

Lake Placid NorAms

2008-02-20T16:07:00.000-05:00

Another successful weekend of racing. This past weekend the NorAm circuit made its way to Lake Placid for two days of great racing. Two weeks ago there was barely enough snow to train and it looked like the races would have to be shortened or even moved. Then, as often happens in the east, the weather changed and we got dumped on. By the middle of last week we were digging the van out of the snow bank every morning.

Saturday's race was a 10 kilometer sprint. When I woke a little after 6 am, the temperature was hovering somewhere between 10 and 15 degrees below zero. Races are canceled if the temperature dips below -4 degrees so we wondered if the race would even happen. Officials decided to run the races as planned so we zeroed our rifles at 8 and prepared to start at 9. I think the temperature probably was reading somewhere between -3.9 and -4 when I started because it took a while to work into the race. The body is similar to a car when it comes to really cold weather in that you have to warm both up for longer than usual. Despite the cold, I felt strong throughout the race and finished in 2nd place, a mere 6 seconds out of 1st. I missed one shot in the prone stage and two standing to finish the day with a 70% average. I was really excited to have put such a solid race together. The picture below was taken during the awards ceremony. On Sunday we raced a 15 kilometer mass start, which equates to five laps of 3 kilometers each and four shooting stages - two prone and two standing. This was the first mass start in my short career as a biathlete so I was excited to be mixing it up off the line with the whole pack. The temperature was much more cooperative than it had been on Saturday, but the wind kicked up early and by race time it was gusting somewhere between 30 and 60 miles per hour. That renders most outdoor endeavors challenging, but at times it made shooting seem nearly futile. I ended the day with 12 missed shots of 20, but still managed to finish on the podium. There were a few racers who shot better than 50%, but the majority counted themselves lucky to be in that ballpark. That was definitely one of the most challenging raced that I've competed in this year and it will go down as one of the most memorable of the season and perhaps of my career as a skier.

I'm spending the week training here in Lake Placid in preparation for more races this weekend in La Patrie, Quebec. We'll drive north on Friday and spend the weekend racing. Check back in a few days for a recap of the racing and in the meantime, get outside and have an adventure!

Vermont North American Cup races

2008-02-11T17:42:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was my third set of biathlon races this winter. I hadn't raced biathlon since the first two weekends of racing in late November so it was exciting to get in the start gate again with a rifle on. We were originally scheduled to race a 10k sprint and a 15k mass start, but the second race was changed to a 12.5k pursuit with 15 second interval starts. In Friday's sprint race I missed one shot prone and one standing to end the day with an 80% average, my best to date! Solid ski times and good shooting put me in 3rd place overall, just 17 seconds out of 1st place.
Saturday's race was exciting as well. In the first lap I made up time on both of the racers who started in front of me and I shot clean in the first prone stage. I gained more time in the second lap but went to the penalty loop with two missed targets. Fortunately for me, most of the other racers were also missing targets so I was able to stay in the mix. I missed two targes in each of the standing stages as well to end the day with a 70% average (14/20). The last lap was tightly contested with the top 6 positions fighting for every second. I finished 5th overall just one second behind 4th and only a handful from 3rd. So, the weekend netted one podium and a 5th place. This weekend we'll race here in Lake Placid on Saturday and Sunday. Nearly a foot of new snow has fallen in the past week so the races should come off without a hitch. I'm looking to keep hitting targets and skiing fast. Check back in a few days for a recap of the races. Until then, don't forget to get outside to enjoy the white fluffy stuff!

It's Race Time!

2008-02-04T19:14:00.000-05:00

I've spent the past month training in Lake Placid in preparation for lots of racing in February and March. The weather has been variable to say the least, ranging from -20 to 55 degrees farenheit and throwing everything at us from torrential rainstorms to blizzard conditions. Becaue there were no biathlon races in January I was able to put in lots of hours training and shooting. I supplemented my training with three Nordic races over the past two weeks, which was a great opportunity to mix it up with other athletes while continuing to work on technique and speed. I got to ski in the St. Lawrence University Carnival 10K skate race as a guest racer and finished tenth. It was exciting to be back on the trails with the Dartmouth team as they commandingly won their second carnival of the year. Two days later I entered a NY state 7.5K race and ended up in first place. Last weekend I traveled to Rumford, ME for an Eastern Cup 15k skate race. The weather was beautiful for the race, we had awesome skis, and I ended up in third place after a solid effort. The video clip below was taken by my coach during that race and the picture is from the awards ceremony.

I took this weekend off from racing to rest in preparation for the coming weeks of biathlon racing. I can't tell you how excited I am to finally get to put a rifle on and race again. As you can see from the schedule on the right of this page I'll be racing in Vermont this week, Lake Placid next week, and then I'll spend two weeks in Quebec. During march I'll head to MN with the team for the US National Championships and I hope to ski well enough there to qualify for the Canadian National Championships in Vancouver at the end of the month. Stay tuned in as I'll be posting updates and pictures now that I will have some races to tell you about.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-05T10:48:00.000-05:00

Much has happened since my last post. I was really excited to get to spend a couple of week in Alaska. Since I only make it home two or three times a year I savour every moment I get to spend with my family and friends.

Despite a thin snow cover in the Anchorage area, I was able to ski on the hillside trails just outside of Anchorage. In the picture below you can see downtown Anchorage with the hillsides as a backdrop.

This next picture was taken from the Flattop ski area looking out over the City of Anchorage and the Cook Inlet. Although temperatures dipped pretty low on several occasions, it's hard to complain about the cold when you get great views like this.

I took this picture on my way home after a ski as the sun was setting about 3:45 in the afternoon. I don't recall if that was the shortest day of the year, but it was sometime around the 21st. For Alaskans, December 21st is the hump day. There aren't many hours of sunlight in the middle of the winter, but by Christmas the days are already getting longer again. For those of us who love the snow that just means more time to play outdoors and, for those that don't, there's at least a feeling that spring isn't too far away.

I got to spend Christmas at home on the Kenai Peninsula. There wasn't much snow there either, but my brother and I did manage to ski our 'sectret' trail from the house out to the bluff overlooking the Cook Inlet and the mountains on the other side. If you look closely an ice flow is visible behind the tug in the foreground. The Inlet is home to numerous gas platforms and tugs like the one pictured are always plying the waters in case of an oil spill.
Well, that's it on pictures for now, but I'll post more soon. I'm back in Lake Placid until the first week in February when the bulk of my race season kicks off. I'll race almost every week during February and March. In February I race in Vermont, New York, and two different locations in Quebec. An in March I'll race in the National Championships in Minnesota followed by the Canadian National Championships in Vancouver, B.C. This month I have plans to race cross country races in the Lake Placid area, but we're experiencing extremely warm temperatures right now that might wipe out the snow. I'm crossing my fingers that doesn't happen, but in the East you never can tell.

From Montana to Alaska

2007-12-18T02:47:00.000-05:00

My week training in West Yellowstone, Montana was great. With two feet of snow on the ground and very few people on the trails, skiing was amazing. I was tired following the races in Canmore so I took the days leading up to the second set of NorAm's pretty easy. As a team we did some technique work and spent the rest of the training time testing skis and doing easy distance skiing. In the sprint race on the 1st of December I had four penalties and skied well considering having slept poorly the night prior to the race. The highlight of that race was finishing just one tenth of a second behind a 2006 Olympic team member. In the pursuit the following day I shot well, hitting 70% of my targets. I didn’t ski as fast as I had hoped going into the NorAm competitions, but it’s early in the season and those were my first two weekends of biathlon racing ever. I just missed qualifying for the European Cup Team so I’ll be racing domestically in January rather than overseas. I don’t yet have a competition schedule nailed down, but that information should be up within the next few days.

After the races in Montana, I hopped a plane to Alaska to visit my family and I’ve been working odd jobs and training in Anchorage since I arrived on the 10th. The snow conditions are pretty dismal everywhere except on the hillside at higher elevations. Unfortunately that will limit my ability to shoot and do combo training – probably until I get to the peninsula - and that also means my running shoes have gotten quite a bit of attention this past week. While not a perfect situation, things could definitely be worse. I’ll be here in Anchorage until this coming weekend when I’ll head south to spend Christmas at my parent’s home on the Kenai Peninsula.

This afternoon I biked out on the Coastal Trail and the photo below is one of the images I captured. In the foreground are small icebergs thrown up on the beach.

North American Cup Races

2007-12-06T10:30:00.000-05:00

Hello everybody (y hola a mi familia en Costa Rica - gracias por visitando mi pagina). I had my first races of the season this past weekend. Consequently, they were also my first biathlon races on snow ever. The temperatures stayed very cold throughout the week and on the morning of the first race were hovering around the cut-off temperature of -20 degrees C or -4 degrees F. The 10 K sprint start was delayed one hour in order to let the temperatures warm a degree or two, but other than that the day came off without a hitch. My race was yet another learning experience and definitely had some high and low points. I skied well but my range times were slower than many of the other racers and I missed 7 of 10 shots. Each penalty loop is roughly 150 meters so I spent a substantial amount of time going in circles. Regardless though, I finished 9th and learned some important lessons.

Sunday was a 12.5 K pursuit format race where we skied five 2.5K loops and shot twice prone and twice standing. I recorded seven penalties out of twenty, which was an improvement over Saturday's sprint. I stayed in 9th place in the pursuit. Overall I was happy with how the first weekend of racing played itself out.

Monday of this week I traveled with the team to Bozeman, Montana and then from there to West Yellowstone, MT. We arrived in a white-out snowstorm and were happy to find nearly two feet of snow on the ground and substantially warmer temperatures. We race tomorrow and Saturday so I'm excited to get in the start gate again.

Training in the Canadian Rockies

2007-11-26T22:13:00.000-05:00

It's been a week since my last post and I've got a few great pictures and a quick update for you. I just finished a 23-hour week of training that has left me pretty tired. We did take a day off for a Thanksgiving feast. Everyone on the team pitched in and cooked up their specialties. I hope each of you had a fantastic Turkey day as well. This week's training hours will be significantly reduced in preparation for the NorAm Cup races this weekend.

Last week we spent several hours skiing in Banff National Park near Moraine Lake and Lake Louise, the latter of which has a huge lodge on its shore. Such a beautiful location. Words don't do the scenery justice but perhaps the pictures below will.

This last shot is of the full moon coming over the mountains behind the team's condo. Not that it really has much to do with biathlon, but I think it's cool.

Snowy Canmore

2007-11-19T23:57:00.000-05:00

Training has been great over the last few days despite having only one kilometer of open trails at the Canmore Nordic Centre, site of the 1988 Olympic Nordic and Biathlon races. There has been very little natural snow to date and because of warm temperatures the race organizers have been unable to make much snow. Fortunately for us, the temperature plunged two days ago and at least fifteen snow guns are being used around the clock to blow artificial snow on the trails. I took the picture below from the deck of our house this morning. You can see the venue's location across the valley by the cloud of snow created by the snow-making machines. The process for making snow is pretty simple. In the picture below is a typical machine that is being used to make snow in the biathlon range. Water is forced at high pressure through nozzles that create a fine spray and a giant fan blows the atomized water up in the air where it freezes and becomes snow. In a typical day one of these machines can create a 50 square foot pile of snow that is several feet deep and can then be evened out on the trails. In the second and third photos are machines in use and piles of snow that were made in the last 24 to 36 hours.Shooting with skis on is taking a little getting used to, but it's awesome to finally be on snow. We've been skiing and shooting in the mornings in Canmore and have also taken two afternoon trips to Lake Louise in the Banff National Park to classic ski on a beautifully groomed road that climbs to an alpine lake. On our trip out there yesterday afternoon we chanced to see a black wolf in hot pursuit of a coyote. They were parallelling the highway and the wolf was only inches from dinner. The coyote led the chase onto the road immediately in front of us. I slammed on the breaks and missed both of the animals by just inches. Lucky for the coyote our van made the wolf turn back and, we hoped, gave the poor little guy enough of a lead that it lived to see another day. Talk about survival of the fittest!

It looks like we have a time trial on Friday or Saturday of this week so I'm looking forward to that first test run on snow. I view each time trial as a chance to master techniques on skis and in the range. With this being my first season racing with a rifle, I'm glad to have at least one time trial on snow before the NorAm Cup races on the 1st and 2nd of December.

I skied Today!

2007-11-16T20:15:00.000-05:00

Today was fantastic. I got to legitimately ski this morning! Talk about a great feeling. The first day on snow after a hard summer and fall of dry-land training is hard to describe. If you're a skier, you know what I'm talking about and if you're not, just think about anything seasonal you really look forward to for weeks or months and then think about how great you feel when that thing finally happens. I don't care if it's golf, hunting, berry picking or spying the first buds on trees in the spring, we all have one or several things we routinely look forward to. Getting on snow for the first time, for those of you who haven't already guessed, just so happens to be one of my favorites.

Last week was chock full of training and packing in preparation for traveling to Canada for the first on-snow camp of the season. I put in a solid 17-hour week of training and a couple of good shooting sessions and spent the remainder of the time getting all of my winter gear together and my summer equipment ready for storage. The Olympic Training Center was alive with activity as the staff prepared to host the first Luge World Cup of the season. Teams from all over the world were already in residence and more athletes kept trickling in. As always, the mingling of winter sport athletes is fun and interesting. We biathletes think lugers are crazy because they routinely hit speeds of over 80 miles per hour while riding down an ice chute on a little tiny sled. They, on the other hand, can't imagine ski racing for several miles with a rifle. In the end, what all of this amounts to is a whole lot of respect being shared between the various sports and some semblance of camaraderie that comes primarily from our love of snow and ice.

This past week has been a busy one. With a five-week trip looming I was doing my best to get everything packed while also trying desperately to stay under weight with my bags so I wouldn't have to pay overage fees. That turned out to be a bigger challenge than I originally thought, but I somehow managed to make it work. I finished packing late Wednesday night and woke up a short two hours later to drive to the Albany airport. We left the OTC at 2 am and didn't arrive in Calgary, Alberta until 1 pm. We left the airport after 3 and made it to Canmore, Alberta sometime after 5 pm. James, my coach, hadn't slept in over 35 hours and I was operating on only three hours of sleep in about a 40-hour block. Needless to say, travel days are by far one of the toughest obstacles to overcome as an athlete. They throw a monkey wrench in the training plan, screw up sleeping and eating schedules, and potentially expose you to lots of germs. Regardless though, the long hours of travel are very worth it when they end on a freshly groomed corduroy trail.
Canmore is a small ski town nestled in the Canadian Rockies about about 115 kilometers west of Calgary. It was the site of the 1988 Olympic Biathlon and Nordic races so the venue is fantastic. I'm here training with the Development Team for the next two weeks in preparation for our first two races. We'll race a 10 K Sprint on Dec. 1st and a 12.5 k Pursuit on the 2nd. We're staying in an awesome condo that's only a short drive from the venue and so long as the weather cooperates and more snow falls this will be a great camp. Right now the snow is pretty thin because temperatures have been unseasonably warm, but there is colder weather in the forecast, which will allow the race organizers to make lots of snow. I unfortunately only have one picture to post today, but I'll definitely be posting several more soon.

An easy week in Boise

2007-11-08T18:50:00.000-05:00

In the last post I mentioned doing intervals with Tim Burke. If you follow the link below you can watch video from a portion of one of those intervals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoTfqcWrjlo

The camp in Heber City ended on a high note with a few more quality workouts, the last of which was a hard interval set that left us all on nearly empty. That night we went out for Mexican food and fruity drinks. It was all most of us could do to keep from falling asleep in our tacos.
(So, a little aside - this picture probably should have been included with my last post, but I overlooked it. One of the last mornings in Heber I lucked out and captured the full moon dropping behind the mountains as the sun was just coming up and starting to illuminate the hillsides. I've never seen anything quite like it.)

On Sunday I drove with Sara and her parents to Boise. Game four of the World Series was unfolding for a good portion of the trip so we spent the evening trying to keep it tuned in as we drove across the desert. The highways were quiet save for all the guys who were on their way either to or from deer hunting. The truck stops were overrun with people sporting blaze orange and camo. Speaking of which, I've never quite figured out why deer hunters go to the trouble of wearing camo pants when they top it off with an orange shirt and hat. Any thoughts?

Anyway, I spent last week in Boise. Monday and Tuesday were off days and then Sara and I got back into training. The weather was cool and dry so we were able to get some great sessions in that included an awesome mountain bike ride in the foothills, a couple of high-end interval sessions, and a long ski up into the mountains where we climbed nearly 3000 ft in 3 hours.

Lest you think we spent the whole easy week training, I'll assure you that we did plenty of relaxing. We had the opportunity to help coach the Bogus Basin Nordic Ski team on a couple of different days and, of course, got dressed up for Halloween to hand out candy to the kiddies coming to the door.

I arrived back in Lake Placid yesterday morning at 1 am after flying all day from Boise and I'm back into another big block of training. We skied on the treadmill this morning and did a classic rollerski this afternoon. It snowed a couple of inches here yesterday so everything is white. We may try to ski on the golf course tomorrow if it stays cold through the night. Saturday and Sunday I get to train with the Dartmouth Team in Hanover and then I'll back to Lake Placid for a couple of days before leaving for Alberta to get on snow. Sweet!

Fall Camp Update

2007-10-25T23:52:00.000-04:00

I'm only two days away from finishing one of the toughest blocks of training I can remember and I couldn't be happier with how things have gone.

Last week we moved houses to a place closer to the training venue. It's not quite the palace from the first week, but it's really comfortable. We've got a really friendly barn cat that sits at the back door, several horses that are all too eager to take carrots or apple cores off our hands, and one group of about 15 deer that walks by the house every morning and evening. The two pictures below were taken from the house - and yes, that is snow you're seeing in the second picture. We woke two different mornings last week to a couple of inches on the ground. It melted pretty fast both times, but it was just enough to get us psyched about getting on snow next month in Canada.
Last week was a solid 18 hours of training that included lot of speed work and two time trials. I raced against a few juniors on Wednesday in a 12.5K pursuit and shot well enough to win. Saturday was a 15K mass start time trial with the National Team and National Guard athletes. We raced five laps of a really challenging course and had to deal with gusty wind conditions. I led for the whole of the first lap, but skied too hard and was subsequently sucking wind when I came in to shoot the first stage. From there, things went south. I ended up missing 11 of 20 targets (one more than National Team member Jeremy Teela), which unfortunately had me in the penalty loop for a long time. Despite missing lots of targets, the time trial was a great learning experience and goes down as a success in my book. I'm making positive progress as long as I can learn from every time trial and race and I'm confident things are going to come together during the race season.

The picture below was taken on the range at Soldier Hollow one morning last week before all the snow melted off. Winter isn't far away!

This week has been great so far. We're all getting tired and starting to feel the strain of nearly three weeks of training, but thoughts of racing next month are helping us stay focused. Today we did one of the toughest workouts I can remember that consisted of 12 uphill intervals that we skied as hard as possible. I got to ski with National Team member Tim Burke, which was a great opportunity to mimic some of his technique. I've been working with the coaches on some new skating techniques and trying to match one of the fastest biathletes in the world stride for stride is one of the best ways to learn. I got dropped a few times, but I was able to hang more often than not, so I'm stoked.

I took the picture below while on a run on the hillsides above Soldier Hollow, the Olympic complex, where we do most of our training. In the foreground is the stadium and barely visible on the hillside are the trails. What a fantastic place to train.

Tomorrow is an easy day and then Saturday is one last hard interval set that will wrap up the camp. I'm headed to Boise, ID on Sunday with Sara and her parents to spend a few days and then I'll fly back to Lake Placid where I'll spend about a week training and getting packed up in preparation for traveling to Calgary for our first on-snow camp and the first set of North American Cup races. The races aren't that far away and I'm getting antsy to get things rolling.

Fall is here and racing is just around the corner...

2007-10-18T20:21:00.001-04:00

Hello from Heber City, Utah. The last few weeks have been busy as ever as the start of the competition season looms. I’m excited to get the season underway so I can try my new wings as a biathlete. Below I’ll try to fill you in on some of the happenings from the last few weeks.

Just over three weeks ago, beginning on the 24th of September, I started a ten-day block of hard training that culminated on the 3rd of October. We got in three level-4 intervals sets during the first week and then a couple of solid level 3 efforts during the last few days. One of the first hard interval sessions was done on a giant treadmill at the Training Center. Rather than try to explain what roller skiing on a treadmill actually looks like, I’ve attached a video clip below that will hopefully make a little more sense for those of you not familiar with this form of training.

In case you weren't able to view the video and/or as a means of explanation, we do some intervals on the treadmill because it allows us to control the speed and incline of the surface. This is great because sometimes it’s hard to find a hill long enough on which to do six 4-minute uphill intervals and it also is a great tool for assuring that a constant velocity is maintained during hard workouts. In short, NO slacking. Another of the treadmill’s advantages is that a coach is always present throughout the workout to give technique tips and, if necessary, to check blood lactate levels to make sure we are working our bodies at the correct exertion level.

Following the end of that block of training I got packed up to leave the Training Center for a three-week camp with the National Team. Sara’s parents were visiting the east from Boise, ID so I got to travel with them down to New Haven, CT to visit her younger brother who is a freshman this year at Yale University. We spent two days in New Haven seeing the sites and reminding ourselves of why we don’t particularly like gigantic cities. Even though trapped in suburbia, it was fun to check out Yale’s campus and see where so much history has been made and so many great and not-so-great leaders of our country have made their starts. We attended a Dartmouth vs. Yale football game on the weekend and Sara and I unfortunately had to watch as our Alma Mater got punished. Regardless though, it was a fun (and HOT) day none-the-less. With temperatures hitting nearly 90 degrees on the weekend, walking on the beach was more reminiscent of being in Central America than October on the east coast. On Sunday we celebrated Sara’s birthday with a breakfast on the beach near the hotel and I got to wrap up the meal by helping a local fisherman release a sea gull that he somehow caught while casting from the beach. That afternoon we drove to Providence, RI and had dinner with some of Sara's relatives and then got packed up to leave the next morning.

Both Sara and I flew out Monday, Oct. 8, for Salt Lake City. I arrived nearly 24 hours later in Heber City, a smallish city located near Park City. Heber City is a great location for Biathlon training because it was the site of Soldier Hollow, the 2002 Olympic Nordic and Biathlon races. It offers world-class roller skiing loops and a fantastic biathlon range so we are able to do very specific training. Another of the great benefits of the venue and one of the primary reasons for training here is that Heber sits at an elevation of roughly 5,500 ft, which is perfect for altitude training. Distance athletes try to train at altitude several times throughout the year in order to naturally boost the oxygen-carrying capacity of their blood, which in turn allows them to go faster in competitions.

So, we arrived at the beginning of last week and got settled in a house the team rented for the week. Check out the fantastic views we had right from the back porch.We spent the whole week doing lower-intensity training to allow our bodies to acclimate to the change in elevation. Trying to do really hard training in the first few days at altitude is almost futile because it stresses the system too much, so we are very careful to monitor our heart rates and how we feel to make sure we don’t go too hard initially. If an athlete does go too hard in the first couple of days at altitude, it can sometimes result in sickness and/or fatigue that, if not properly monitored, can turn into an extended problem. That’s not to say that these same problems don’t happen at lower elevations, but rather that it’s easier to over stress the body initially when going up to elevation to train. One of the workouts we did was a long 3-hour hike/run up Mt Timpanogos, which towers over the small town of Sundance where the famous film festival happens annually. What an absolutely gorgeous day! The aspen were in full fall colors and above 7,000 ft we got into over a foot of snow. We also ran into two moose on the way up so I was feeling right at home.

We wrapped up the week with a 20K level 3/4 interval combo workout. It was a great opportunity to ski behind a couple of the National Team members and try to pick up a few more technique tips. Shooting wasn't great, but that's how it goes sometimes. That's all for now. Check back in the next day or two - I'll have more pictures up. Cheers

Fall has arrived...

2007-09-22T13:58:00.000-04:00

My last post may have been a little tedious, so I'll try to keep this shorter and on the lighter side. Since it's fall, two things are happening that I really love - the leaves are changing and the apple orchards are beginning to provide one of the most delicious foods ever created. On Monday of this week Sara and I took a trip over to Peru, NY to pick apples. Much to our surprise nobody else was at the orchard when we arrived and it stayed that way. We ended up meandering through several acres of trees tasting and picking at will until we had filled our two half-bushel baskets. We picked several varieties of apples including Macintosh, Cortland, Golden Delicious, Gala and Honeycrisp and I think I ate at least two of each kind while we picked. You're probably thinking that a bushel of apples is a whole lot and that's correct. However, you've probably never seen Sara or me put away apples. I must point out that fresh-picked apples go down so much easier than the often two-year old, wax-covered apples you'll find at the store. In my 'expert' opinion, eating three fresh apples is actually much easier than eating one apple from the store.

If you've looked at the picture below you're probably wondering why anybody in their right mind would be carrying a jar of peanut butter in an apple orchard. Let's just say that there are few things more delicious than slathering a big spoonful of all-natural peanut butter onto an apple that is still on the tree and then picking said apple and quickly devouring it. If you've never tried it, I suggest you do the next time you find yourself in an orchard. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Because our training schedule this week only called for around 9 hours, that left lots of time for taking pictures and enjoying the fall colors. On Tuesday Sara and I hiked about a mile in to a lake near Whiteface Mountain. We built a raging fire and then ate dinner while the sun went down, casting soft light on the hillsides. Sunset and sunrise really bring out the best in fall colors.

Thursday morning we did a run up Cobble Hill, a small mountain that overlooks Lake Placid. There are few places to get an unobstructed view of the town so it was fun to get a better idea of how everything fits together.
This last picture is something I snapped on the edge of one of the highways. Shrouded in haze as they were, the ski jumps reminded me of some sort of giant Star Wars era machines rather than something feather-weight kids use to pretend they are Superman. But what do I know?

An Overview of My Training

2007-09-13T12:58:00.000-04:00

Today I'm going attempt to provide you with an idea of what my training actually looks like on a given day, over the course of a week, and even over the course of a month. This will probably be most informative to those of you not familiar with the methods of training for any sort of distance sports. Regardless though, training for biathlon presents challenges unique to the sport so there should be something interesting for everyone.

One of the first things to know about training is that workouts are grouped by week, month, and even two to three month sections of the year. We usually refer to this as periodization. The year is set up in one-month blocks. The National Team trains three weeks hard in a row and one week easy because that mimics the World Cup circuit where athletes race 2-4 times per week for three weeks and then they get an off-week to recover and travel to the next race venues. Because the Development Team's purpose is to train athlete's who have the potential of being on the National Team at some point in the future, the coaches feel it is important that our training mimics that of the National Team as closely as possible.

Each of the three hard weeks in a typical one-month block consists of an average of 18-19 hours of dedicated training, which includes 2-3 strength workouts, 2-3 high-intensity (interval) workouts, 1-2 specific strength workouts (done on rollerskis or in another medium that mimics the motions of skiing), and several distance workouts for a total of 9-14 workouts. In a weekly block we train six days and take one day off to recover, similar in principle to how we train in our monthly blocks where we train hard for three weeks and then use the fourth as an easy/recovery week. This pattern can also be seen in our yearly schedule, but we won't focus on that aspect of the training in this post. In order to give you an idea of what training actually looks like on a typical week, below is a copy of my training plan from last week:

Monday

AM - Shooting drills (we don't count this as "training" time because this drill wasn't
mixed with any aerobic training like running or rollerskiing.

PM - (120 min) Skate rollerski technique drills + 8 Combos alternating no pole & double

pole techniques

Tuesday

AM - (120 min) 8 Skate Roller ski combo intervals @ lev 3* w/ 2 minutes of rest
between each.

PM - (120 min) 10 easy Classic rollerski combos

Wednesday

AM - (180 min) Distance Skate rollerski
PM - Off

Thursday

AM - (65 min) Running Time Trial w/ 4 shooting stages - this TT was in the same
format as a pursuit** biathlon race so we did 5 x ~5 min of running between

levels 4 & 5*. I missed 2 shots of 20 - a very encouraging shooting score
PM - (100 min) Strength workout - Power lifting & core exercises.

Friday

AM - (170 min) Distance run

PM - Off

Saturday

AM - (115 min) Skate rollerski intervals (3 x 20 min. w/ 4 min. rest between each) at
level 3*
PM - (125 min) 60 min Classic rollerski + 65 min strength (Power lifting and core
exercises)

Sunday - Off

So, I trained a total of 18.6 hours in 9 sessions, including 3 interval sessions, 2 strength sessions, 3 distance sessions, and 1 distance session that included ski-specific strength exercises.

*see my last post from Sept. 4 for an overview of how we categorize the intensity of our workouts into 5 levels - http://zhall-biathlete.blogspot.com/2007/09/training.html

**There are four different formats for a biathlon race. They will be outlined later in this post.

I hope you're not overly confused at this point. I'm including all this info for anyone that is super interested in the details of my new "job." Many people don't understand how I can be so busy just doing "some skiing and shooting." It's primarily for them that I've included an overview of what an average training day looks like. We wake before seven most mornings and start the day with dry-fire drills, which consists of going through the motions of shooting our rifles. The only difference is that we don't have bullets in the gun and we're 'shooting' at black dots on the wall. This helps us train all the muscles to know proper body positioning and breathing, both being requisite for shooting quickly and accurately. Between 7 and 7:30 we make it to breakfast where we choose foods to fuel the first workout of the day. If the workout is going to be long I eat quite a bit more than if the workout is either short or a hard interval session. The last thing I want to see in an interval session is my breakfast all over the side of the road. After the morning's workout we return to the OTC in time to shower and make it to lunch where the process starts all over again. At lunch we are focused on refueling our bodies quickly so we'll have as much time as possible to recover before the afternoon workout. After lunch we usually take a short nap that helps the muscles regenerate and also keeps the mind fresh so we can focus on the details of the coming workout. Following the afternoon workout we again shower and then head straight to dinner to refuel. By this time it is usually 6 or 7 in the evening and it's time to do a little more dry-firing, watch some biathlon videos to study technique, or simply read a book or focus on something other than biathlon for 2-3 hours before going to bed. The training does get monotonous at times. One key to keeping things exciting lies in good music, good books, and a vivid imagination. My iPod accompanies me on most long workouts so I'm able to do a little 'grooving' on the trails. When I'm in my room recovering I can often be found redesigning the energy-efficient house I'd love to build someday or going through one of the books that I've collected over the last several years. Enough on that though.

I promised earlier that I'd explain the different race formats, so I'll attempt to do that here. I've also included some photos that will hopefully help to illustrate some of the details.

Relay - 4 X 7.5 km; Each skier skies three laps of 2.5 km each and shoots once prone (8 shots for 5 targets) after the first lap and once standing (8 shots for 5 targets) after the second lap.

Sprint - 10 km; This is an individual race that consists of three 3.3 km loops. Skiers start in 30-second intervals and shoot once in prone position (5 shots for 5 targets) after the first lap and once standing (5 shots for five targets) after the second lap. For every missed target skiers are required to ski a 150 meter penalty loop. It pays to shoot well.

Pursuit - 12.5 km; The start order of this race is based on the final times from the sprint race. If, for example, skier X was 1st in the sprint and skier Y was 2nd just six seconds later, then skier X will start six seconds in front of skier Y. In order to win, skier Y must catch skier X and pass him. This makes for an exciting race because both racers and spectators know exactly what position every skier is in. The race consists of five 2.5 km laps with skiers shooting after every lap except for the last (the order of shootings is prone, prone, standing, & standing and racers get 5 shots for 5 targets in each shooting stage). Missing a target in this race gets skiers the same penalty as in sprint races.

Individual - 20 km; This is the original biathlon race. It consists of five loops of 4 km each and racers shoot after every loop except the last. The order of shootings in this format is prone, standing, prone, & then standing. Like the other two individual races, skiers get 5 bullets to hit 5 targets in each stage. Unlike the other two races however, every missed shot automatically adds one minute to the final time of an athlete. So, if you ski as fast as one guy but manage to miss 10 of 20 targets your final time will be 10 minutes slower than his. If this should happen, you definitely won't be taking in hardware home. On the World Cup, hitting 90% of targets is average for many biathletes. That is my goal.

The top picture is of me in prone shooting position. In the distance (50 meters away) you can see the 5 targets at which I'm shooting. The bottom picture is a close-up of the targets with the first, third, & fifth targets hit and the second and fourth missed.

The two pictures below show both prone and standing positions.

I've got a really hard workout in the morning so I'm going to try to wrap up this post. Last week, as you saw above, was a busy one for training. This week has been fairly easy comparatively with only about 9 hours of training. I had an encouraging shooting test on Wednesday, besting my last test substantially. There's still quite a ways to go until I'll have a chance against the likes of National Team members Tim Burke and Lowell Bailey, but it's exciting to see some of the pieces falling in to place. Below is a picture of one of my prone targets from the test. If you click on the picture you'll get a close-up in another window. There are six shots there, all that would score as prone hits. For size reference, since I haven't covered it before, the prone targets are roughly the diameter of the 8-ring and the standing targets are the diameter of the black area on this sheet of paper. When shooting prone, biathletes see the entire large circle, but they must shoot the center of the target for an electronic mechanism to score a hit.

I'm really going now. Don't worry, I'll be back. When I do I'll post some pictures from a recent apple-picking excursion, and several hikes in the Adirondacks that have netted some beautiful shots of foliage that is starting to near its prime. Until the next time, be safe and find some time to get out and breath the crisp fall air. Adios.

Travel, HOT weather, & lots of combos

2007-09-12T23:14:00.000-04:00

Greetings from Lake Placid. I’m back here for the remainder of the week after spending Monday and Tuesday in Jericho, VT where we put in three great combo workouts. Last week was fun although the 24+ hour trip back from Alaska on Monday was long. Even that though went as smoothly as can be expected and I wasn’t overly exhausted when I made it back to Lake Placid. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were spent training in Lake Placid and then Friday morning we left early and traveled the two hours over to Burlington, VT and the Ethan Allen Firing Range where we would spend both Friday and Saturday training.

Friday proved to be one of the hottest days of the summer at close to 90 degrees with nearly 100% humidity. We had three hard drills on Friday that were brutal given the oppressive heat. I made it through two and a half of the three combined hard skiing and shooting drills and unfortunately broke one of my roller-skis so I had to put running shoes on to finish the workout. Saturday was another hot day and we had a 12 Km cross country roller-ski time trial. The New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) put the race on as part of a series they sponsored this summer. V2 rollerskis provided a batch of matched-speed skis. The speed of rollerskis varies greatly from brand to brand and even from batch to batch of the same make and model of skis, so matched skis level the playing field. The time trial went very well given the hot conditions. I finished in fourth place, one minute and five seconds out of first place, a time posted by Andrew Johnson, a 2006 Olympian in cross-country. That was an encouraging result. Check out video from the race by clicking on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G_1CNP5c7I . Saturday afternoon we had another combo workout and then headed back to Lake Placid to spend Sunday, our rest day, at the Olympic Training Center (OTC).

Sunday was a much needed rest day. We are usually pretty tired at the end of a hard week so we spend our rest days doing very little activity in order to recover adequately in preparation for the next week of training. We do use our rest days for catching up on chores and other things that a regular training schedule often doesn’t allow, so even sitting around can be very productive.

The past three days have seen more great training. We drove back over to Jericho, VT Monday morning for more combo training Monday and Tuesday. The weather was much more cooperative. Monday we had a shooting workout in the morning and then some easy combos in the afternoon. Tuesday morning we had a level 3 interval workout that consisted of roughly 70 minutes of on-time (8 x 8.5 minutes). Shooting during these workouts is difficult because of the elevated heart rate, but this is especially necessary now that we are less than three months away from the start of the competitive season. It’s a steep learning curve, but I’m confident I’ll be ready when the first races in Canmore, B.C. roll around in early December. Tuesday afternoon we did an easy combo workout and then loaded up and headed back to Lake Placid. We drove most of the way back in pouring rain and lots of lightning. The rain was coming down so forcefully at some points in the trip that most vehicles pulled off the roadways to wait it out. I love storms and that was impressive.

This morning Sara and I did a three-hour bike ride. Fall is finally here! The weather was crisp and blustery and the leaves have finally started changing. Apple trees are starting to drop there delicious bounty all over the back roads and deer are becoming more prevalent on the roads and trails. As the foliage hits its prime I'll do my best to get a few good shots posted for those of you on the west coast who don't have quite as much color out your back door. Tomorrow is a hard running time trial with four shooting stages so I had better wrap this post up for now and head to bed.

Keep checking back. There's lots more to come...

A Wedding, the AK State Fair, & More Training in AK

2007-09-04T22:46:00.000-04:00

Last week, my second in Alaska, was busy. My girlfriend, Sara, who is also a member of the US Biathlon Development Team, flew in on Monday just in time for a salmon bake with my family. Picture a steaming tray of fresh Alaskan salmon hot out of the oven with all the fixings and complement that with my sister's yummy, gooey Gluten Free peanut butter cookies for dessert - now that's what I'm talking about. That party set the stage for a great week not soon to be forgotten.

Sara and I got to train Tuesday on the paved coastal trail that winds its way through the forest following the coastline from downtown Anchorage to Kincaid Park. It's not uncommon to see a moose or two on the trail and we lucked out and saw two large bull moose with 50+ inch antler spreads. While the picture included here isn't of those specific bulls, it is of a similarly-sized animal I photographed last fall near Flattop Mountain in Anchorage. The training in Anchorage and the Matsu Valley proved to be fantastic for the whole week. We trained 16+ hours during the week, which was pretty substantial given the fact that we were helping get ready for my brother's wedding. As always, training rarely stops.

So now for the wedding. My brother and his fiance chose to be married in a small outdoor ceremony on a grass landing strip that is situated at the base of the Chugach Mountain range. Beautiful sunny weather graced us on the big day and the ceremony came off beautifully. Check out the picture below of my brother, his new wife, and the rest of the crew. The reception was fantastic as well and, for many like myself, was highlighted by a great DJ that kept the party hopping for hours.

The week wrapped up with a trip to the Alaska State Fair. One of the biggest attractions is the tent housing all of the award-winning, home-grown vegetables from all over the state. There was an 89 lb cabbage, a 109 lb kale plant, and, on the record books from last year's harvest, a 1019 lb pumpkin from my hometown. The Alaska Grown brand lives on in style.

That's it for now, but keep checking back for some more biathlon-specific info. In the works for future posts are discussions and explanations of what biathlon is for those of you who are still curious, a look at the rifles we use in the sport, and a discussion of what it's like being a gluten-free athlete. Of course, if you have any questions you'd like answered about the sport or my training, feel free to send me an email and I'll address them in upcoming posts. Thanks for reading. Until next time, cheers!

Training in VT & an Easy Week in AK

2007-09-04T20:27:00.000-04:00

Training in Jericho, VT during the week of August 13th went very well. We spend time training there because it is the nearest facility that has a paved rollerski loop and firing range. That becomes especially important this time of the year as we start integrating more 'combo' workouts into our training that better mimick on-snow biathlon. A typical workout includes eight or ten combos, each of which consists of a 5-10 minute loop and then one shooting stage (five shots). This training can be done slow or fast depending on what our focus is for the workout. During this particular week our training included one easy combo workout in level 1/2 (on a scale of 5), one level 3 workout, and two time trials that were done in levels 4 & 5. Lest you get too confused by the numbering system, let me quickly explain. (This is important only if you care to know a little more about how we structure our daily training - if you don't care, skip down to the next section). Levels 1 and 2 are done at a sufficiently easy pace and low heart-rate so as to allow the athlete to comfortably talk to his/her training partner. If I can't talk because I'm breathing too hard, I know I'm at least in level 3. Level 3 workouts are done at a 'marathon' pace. That's to say, you're going hard, but you could theoretically do that pace for a couple hours if required. Level 4 workouts equate to a 10K race pace so they are done very hard, but not all out. Level 5 is done at an all-out effort and usually will only be seen in sprint situations - 100 meter sprints are good examples of an all-out, level 5 effort.

The training and time-trials were just what I needed. We were on the range twice a day for almost a week so we got lots of focused shooting instruction and I finally started feeling more comfortable with combining skiing with shooting. I didn't win either of the time trials, but I wasn't very far out on the skiing times, which was encouraging for my first and second ever biathlon races. I shot around 60% both days, which isn't too bad considering. It's by no means the 80-90% being shot by the best World Cup skiers, but I'm confident that my percentages will get better in the next three months of training before racing starts.

At the end of the last block of training I flew to Alaska to spend time with my family and celebrate one of my brother's weddings. The first week home was a much needed off-week. I took advantage of the down time to do some focused dry-fire work with my rife and also spent some time doing absolutely nothing. I didn't completely veg out, but that was high on the list of priorities for a few days. I was able to help my parents out by doing projects around the house in preparation for fall and the snow that will be on the way in a couple of months and I also got out in the mountains one morning for an early fall ptarmigan hunt with my dad and a neighbor. What a beautiful day that was!

Stay tuned for more exciting, perhaps random, but always interesting posts from yours truly.

The Last Few Months - Part III

2007-08-12T17:23:00.000-04:00

A couple of days after being part of a stellar Cords performance at Fenway I flew to Oklahoma to spend a few days with relatives at a family reunion. Mind you, this was no ordinary reunion. Indeed not. At last count, over two hundred relatives were in attendance. The craziest part? That's not even half of the family members. Try remembering that many names and then figuring out the branches of the family tree. Good luck.

Of course, during all of my hopping around, training goes on. City streets or Kansas corn fields, the daily workouts are top priority. This year I finally have the luxury of prioritizing training as number one and that is going to be the key to success this year.

I returned from the Midwest and got settled into my room at the Olympic Training Center. Almost immediately those of us on the Development Team got thrown into a two-week camp with the U.S. National Team. The National Team coaches were here from Sweden and the Team's High Performance Director flew in from Munich, Germany. We spent time learning new strength and balance exercises, did lots of shooting drills and, of course, got to do most of the interval and distance workouts right alongside the National Team. That was definitely one of the most intense two weeks of training I've ever been through. We continued with high-volume training for another two weeks after the National Team camp ended, racking up almost 75 hours of training in the four-week block. To put that number into perspective for you - last year I trained roughly 525 hours. Getting adequate rest and nutrition has been paramount for me being able to absorb the jump in training. I'm excited to see where I can go in the coming seasons.

At the end of our last block of training I got to fly out to Boise, ID to spend a week with Sara and her family. I should mention that Sara is also on the Development Team, so our schedules coincide pretty closely most of the time. Anyway, back to Boise... I spent three days backpacking in the beautiful Sawtooth mountains of Idaho and a wonderful few days at a cabin on a lake in McCall. It was a much needed rest before jumping back into another big block of training. With that, we're almost caught up. Yesterday I finished my biggest week of the year - 22.5 hours. I was exhausted, but with a full rest day under my belt I'm looking forward to jumping back into training tomorrow for the last week of this block. We're here in Lake Placid tomorrow and head to Jericho, VT Tuesday to take advantage of the roller skiing loop and firing range there. We have two time trials on Friday and Saturday so I'm excited to see how my shooting and skiing are coming together. There probably won't be internet available since we're staying on a military base, so I'll update you the next chance I get. Until then...cheers.

The Last Few Months - Part II

2007-08-12T15:37:00.001-04:00

I returned stateside after six weeks in Central America and headed to Alaska for three weeks to spend some time with my family and see Christopher, my younger brother, graduate. It was awesome to train in the mountains and eating momma's home cooking for a few weeks. One thing is for sure - it's hard to beat fresh Alaskan salmon and rhubarb crisp. Wow!

I returned to the East Coast at the end of May to take the first step towards becoming a biathlete. June was a busy month. I spent the first week and a half at a camp in Lake Placid learning the basics of shooting and getting in some solid training hours and then bussed to Hanover to see Sara, my girlfriend, graduate from Dartmouth. A day later I met up with the Dartmouth Cords (www.dartmouth.edu/~cords) in Boston to sing the National Anthem for a Boston Red Sox game. What a cool night.

We got to stand right behind home plate and sing for a crowd of 37,000. If you care to check out a video, head over to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lcjokn5rh8 . There is a chance that the Cords will sing at a Red Sox playoff game, so keep your eyes peeled if you happen to be watching the Sox.

The Last Few Months - Part I

2007-08-12T15:11:00.000-04:00

I want to take a moment to say hello and welcome to those of you visiting my blog for the first time. Thanks for stopping by and please, don't be a stranger in the future.

Since this will be my first real post I'm going to take a little time to catch you up on events from the past few months. It has been an exciting year. Since much has happened in recent months, catching you up will probably take a couple of posts. Hopefully I can hit all the major things without putting anybody to sleep.

I'll pick things up with my return to Dartmouth in late December for a final quarter of studying and my last season of collegiate competition on the Nordic ski team. I had a fantastic fall of training and was excited to get the season started. Despite thin snow cover for training in Hanover, the team was extremely focused thanks to great leadership from the older guys. Poor training conditions can easily become a psychological stumbling block for athletes, but that was never an issue this year. We hit the trails in high speed and never slowed down, winning all six of the regular season carnivals and qualifying five Nordic men and four Nordic women for the NCAA National Championships. I qualified for the first time, but unfortunately didn't get to compete since only a team's top three qualifiers can race. No matter though, the NCAA team went on to perform brilliantly, bringing home our first NCAA National Team Title in over thirty years. Perhaps most amazing was the fact that we achieved so much without European imports. Being part of making Big Green skiing history will always be a highlight of my career at Dartmouth. I wrapped the ski season up with the Rangeley Lakes Loppet 50k Marathon. Lots of fresh snow made for challenging conditions, but I was able to capitalize on an early lead and turn it into a win by nearly two minutes.

I finished my coursework at Dartmouth in early March and received a B.A. in Psychology & Brain Sciences. About the same time I decided to apply for the U.S. Biathlon Development Team program and left on a six week backpacking adventure in Central America. Jamin, my older brother, met me on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and together we traveled south through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. What an adventure and a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time with Jamin while also seeing another part of the world and practicing my Spanish.

Towards the end of the trip in Central America I found out I was named to the U.S. Biathlon Development Team and would be moving to Lake Placid, NY to live at the Olympic Training Center. (For those of you not familiar with Biathlon, it is a sport that combines competitive Nordic ski racing with precision target shooting with .22 calibre rifles). That was an exciting notification! I think Jamin and I ate an extra pineapple and bag of mangoes that night in celebration.

Welcome to The Perfect Shot!

2007-08-02T09:01:00.000-04:00

Thanks for visiting. Please check back regularly as I get my first blog up and running in the days to come.