After racing in IBU Cup Trials and the Eastern Cup Opener in December, I have enjoyed (?) a long "training block." This means I did not have any races on the calendar, so I increased my training volume and intensity for about three weeks. While nothing beats actual racing in terms of getting "up to speed," there are benefits to a training block. Without races on the schedule, you can do much longer workouts, heavier lifting, and harder interval sessions. So that's what I've been doing in January...
Until now! This weekend, Mike, Ethan and I (GRP Team Biathlon!) made the trip up to Quebec City. It is about a 3.5 hour drive, not including requisite stops at the border, the gas station/dépanneur, and Subway, of course. We competed in two "NorAm Cup" biathlon races at the Valcartier military base just north of the city. This was great practice for the NorAm Championships which will be held next weekend in Jericho, VT.
On Saturday we had our first race, which was a 7.5km sprint for me (sprint means one prone and one standing stage). Despite shooting prone on a very bumpy in steeply inclined point, I was pleased to miss only two, and then I miraculously missed only two in standing as well, bringing my total to four misses. Unfortunately I was the only woman in the 21+ category so I was basically doing a time-trial against myself, but it still beats the training block!!!
Today (Sunday) we did a pursuit start based on Saturday's results, so I started first-- and last-- for women. It was a 12.5k race with four shooting stages. I was on a roll, missing only one target on each of my prone stages, and then disaster struck and I missed four on the first standing! Standing is much harder for me; when I have an elevated heart rate and I'm shaky and out of breath, my barrel does not like to settle on the target but rather bounce all around. I have just recently gotten to the point where I can at least hit the targets at low/moderate exertion in practice, so when I came in for my second standing, I thought to myself, "I can do this if I just let the rifle settle." So I took some more time on the range and managed to hit four, which was a relief.
The not-so-fun part about this weekend was being the only person in my races. After a long month of training alone, I was really looking forward to having someone else to compete with. I can only push myself so hard. And I do this sport because I like to race. Believe it or not I do not enjoy suffering on my own accord.
So this brings me to the good news! Last week, the Director of USBA, Max Cobb, announced that there is going to be a biathlon development trip to Europe in February! Ethan, Mike and I are all going, along with three athletes from the Maine Winter Sports Center biathlon team. We will race in Slovenia and Austria over the course of two weeks. We already bought the tickets so there is no looking back! I can't wait to go get my butt kicked by some people who actually know what they are doing... even if I get last at least I won't be the only one in the race.
Here is a video of me going up the last hill in one of the races at IBU Cup Trials. You will hear my coach Algis cheering me on.
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