“You cannot kindle a fire in any other heart until it is burning within your own.” – Eleanor Doan

In May I thought…280 days… wow.

The significance? The 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games!

Yes that is all. I suppose there will always seem like there is not enough time. That is why everyday is important. Everyday an opportunity! If each training session is accomplished with this attitude, then I will be ready!

I had an excellent break from biathlon in the tropical islands of Maui and Kauai during April. Soaked in the sunrays, surfed (or tried!), swam, snorkeled, and fully embraced beach life!

By the end of April I was back on snow in Whistler at the Olympic venue in Callahan Valley. We had absolutely beautiful sunny days with amazing ski conditions. It was a great start to the training season. Then before I flew home, I spent 3 days in Vancouver at the Olympic Excellence Series, a conference run by the Canadian Olympic Committee for Olympic and potential Olympic athletes from each sport, and the coaches/support staff. It was an excellent weekend filled with inspiriting stories from Ray Zhab, Johann Koss, Sylvie Frechett, Adam van Koeverden and great workshops. I left feeling refreshed, inspired, motivated, and determined. I dream that one day, I too have an amazing story to tell that will capture the next generation of young people to believe!

Later in June I learnt…

Inspiration can come in so many packages. In June during a rest week, I drove to my hometown, Red Deer, and spoke to grades 1-5 at my old elementary school (Ecole Mountview Elementary School). The kids loved my biathlon simulation exercise, (we “raced” a 7.5km sprint race), and my Olympic story. And I loved their sound effects, their excitement, and numerous questions. I was inspiring them, but they were motivating me and driving my passion! The 4 hrs I spent at the school literally flew by! I left feeling as though I had consumed 20 cups of coffee!

In July, Canmore had some wonderfully hot summer days. I made sure to tick off the list of usual fav summer activities: licking ice cream, fruit smoothies, barbeques, dinning al fresco, swimming, sunbathing, and even some rock climbing at the local crags. The annual Canmore Folk Fest in August was another great relaxing summer highlight.

Training has been awesome this year. Besides the usual intervals, strength and roller ski workouts at the Nordic Center, we have also been up to Highwood Pass a lot for long roller ski sessions. Highwood Pass is a long gradual climb in Kananaskis where we often spot grizzly bears during the month of June… an exciting experience when you are moving so slowly uphill on skis! (yes we do all ski with bear spray and pray that that bear is more interested in the berry bushes than a skinny skier…) We had a fun bike and roller skiing camp in British Columbia in June. Definitely had a chance to work on excellent short tan lines. Highlight included Scott wearing his bike shorts up to his butt in order to fix his tan lines… this only made him look like he was wearing a diaper while riding! In July we headed to Whistler for 2 weeks and did solid training up in Callaghan. Highlight was a team building session involving drums and lots of them! We made some amazing rhythms as a team. Well that may be arguable! August was spent training in Canmore, with an emphasis on field tests and preparation to our World Cup trials in September. I got away from small town life and biathlon for a few days to Vancouver in early August. Definitely needed and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it! Stopped in Summerland for a swim and it felt like I’d flown way south as it was 35 degrees. So glorious!

As the summer has officially come to an end, the temperature dropping, and the leaves changing, I am reminded of the immediacy of the World Cup season, and more importantly the Olympic Games.

Therefore…

“The only thing that relieves pressure is preparation.” – Tom Kite

(crowds in Khanty-Mansiysk and along the river in Trondheim)

Whistler World Cup, the test competition for Olympic Winter Games, was the next set of races after World Champs. It was a pretty nice experience for us Canmorons, taking a 1 hr flight, instead of a 9hr to the competition venue! Our team stayed right in the Whistler Village, as did the French and Norwegians. Conditions were good, the venue ready, but definitely it was missing the atmosphere of large crowds in the stadium and along the tracks that many European World Cups encompass. I should hope that at the Olympic games there is a full house!

In terms of results, not a good week for me… I ended up 49^th in the individual (15km) and 48^th in the sprint (7.5km). Our team finished 9^th in the relay. Despite the substandard results, it was a good experience for getting used to the course and area prior to Olympics, and was awesome to have some great friends on the sidelines for support.

That Sunday we flew to Norway. The Trondheim World Cup was next. I had never been to Trondheim before, very exciting, as often the circuit is predictable and repetitive! (Which of course is great for the fans, and also we as competitors get to know the track very well.) Trondheim is a beautiful city located in central Norway where the river Nid flows into the Trondheim fjord. It was lovely to walk or run alongside the river. I had a good sprint shooting 9/10 and placing 20^th but a rough day in the pursuit finishing 47^th.

Monday we were on the move again, this time to Russia, with all teams taking the 5hr charter flights from Trondheim to Khanty-Mansiysk. A usual on the World Cup circuit, always ending with a great finishing party! I placed 24^th in the sprint and 33^rd in the pursuit. Saturday being my last competition, I watched the mass start competitions on Sunday and then intently focused my energy on dancing all night. The World Cup season was over! Maybe not the results I was aspiring for, but it was an improvement from my mono year!

A night of dancing, laughing and good times came to an end, a couple hrs of sleep, and 6am we were back on a charter to return to Munich. Then back to Canada for holiday time!!

Do not despair, I have not been swallowed by snow demons. I did attend World Championships, and then Whistler, Trondheim and Khanty-Manyisk World Cups. Life seemed to have consumed me and blogs forgotten about. Much apologies!

2009 Pyeongchang World Championships, (South Korea), were a good experience. Pyeongchang is a county in Gangwon province, in the Taebaek Mountains region and about 180km east of Seoul. Everyone, as in athletes, coaches, support staff of all the Nations stayed at a huge apartment building called Green Pia, located right at the base of the YongPyong Ski Resort. This is very different from other World Championships and World Cups because teams are usually scattered in different hotels with maybe 1 or 2 other teams. So it created an athlete atmosphere similar (yet on a much smaller scale!) to that of Olympic Games.

Our competition venue was a short 10 min drive away. Pyeongchang lost bids for 2010 and 2014 Olympics but they are bidding again for 2018. Because of this, they have a World Class biathlon facility, and a Cross Country facility and ski jumping (still in building phase) all in the same area.

Right before the competitions began a number of misfortunes arose. One being a terrible rainstorm destroying the fairly thick layer of manmade snow. The day before the sprint, no one was allowed to ski on the icy remains besides 400m around the stadium. Most athletes chose to go for a run in the rain and dry-fire in the athlete room (as we were also unable to shoot). In Korea, all of our rifles stayed in a locked room at the venue when not in use; therefore, there was a specific room on site for athletes to practice dry shooting. I don't think I have ever been in such a busy dry-fire room with the chaotic noise of click, click, click!

I did not have the results I was hoping for finishing 30th in the Sprint, 24th in the Pursuit and 35th in the Individual. However, we had a good relay placing 9th. The stadium is plagued by a lot of wind gusts and therefore, many athletes (unfortunately including myself) had difficulties in shooting... but really, one cannot have excuses in biathlon. Biathletes have to be able to master difficult conditions in order to succeed!

Leaving Seoul, our team took the opportunity to do a half day tour in Seoul. We visited a beautiful Buddhist temple and museum, a market street, enjoyed a traditional Korea meal... kimchi anyone?, saw a sea of identical high rise apartment buildings, highways with 10 lanes across, crazy candy makers and many other aspects of daily Korean life. The food was definitely an experience, but being adventurous I tried it all. (and yep... still not a fan of kimchi!)

Then we took a long flight back home to Calgary....

After a little over a week in Canmore it was off to Whistler for World Cup #7...

January

“In sport, the bad news for the present champion is that tomorrow is a new day, when the competition starts again from scratch. But that’s the good news for everyone else.” – Bob Rotella

Today we travelled through the mountains from Bavaria to the SudTirol. This week we are racing in Antholz, Italy. Last week we left our homes in Canmore for World Cup action in Ruhpolding, Germany. Despite feeling jetlagged, the week was fairly successful. Megan came very close to making the pursuit, only 5 seconds out. I missed 2 in standing but ended up 35th in the sprint. And then moved up to 24th in the pursuit. JP, Robin and Scott all hit 18/20 in the pursuit and moved up to 23rd, 29th and 44th respectively.

We started the tour by staying in apartments (switch it up from hotel/full pension living). Us girls found it a treat to be able to cook for ourselves and eat exactly what we feel like. And the guys…. Well.. 1) they were hoping that we would cook 2) consequently found the frozen food section of the supermarket and ate pizza and beer all week. (Ok maybe I am exaggerating…)
Now off to Italy… and the food will be awesome.

We had a good time watching Eurosport every evening (and morning replays) this weekend to watch the Cross Country Skiing and Nordic Combined World Cup in Whistler. Yesterday was especially exciting as Alex Harvey had an awesome sprint to the finish for a third place for the skate team sprint with teammate George Grey. The pair had a great day but it was definitely a fight to that last centimeter.

I was asked by a young biathlete recently to answer a few sport psychology questions for his assignment. Sport psychology has definitely become more prominent and important over the years. The combination of physical exertion and mental focus and clarity for shooting makes biathlon a sport where mental strength is crucial to being successful. Having a goal, being positive, determination… are all important aspects in the road to success. But what does it take in a mass start world cup competition to clean your last standing shooting when you are in lane 2 and the leader beside you just finished shooting with 1 miss? If you shoot clean, you are in first position. To listen to that voice would probably cause you to miss at least 1. Focusing on the now, the present, and your process, is key in such a situation. Like many other sports, quality practice is vital to making your movements automatic in competition. Great preparation is critical to gain confidence and having inner faith that you will shoot clean is crucial to a successful performance.

On that note, I am off to go train and aim for perfection to gain that confidence…..

December/Christmas

The last week of Hochfilzen I made it into points... finally! Placing 25th in the sprint with 2 misses. My 15km was still not good. I had 5 misses too many. 

Slowly I am crawling my way closer to the top again.... 

We were unable to compete in the relay this week though because Sandra was not able to race due to illness. Very unfortunate because our next chance to race a relay is World Championships in Pyeong Chang, Korea. 

Now it's time to head home... Christmas in Canmore. Time to kick back, relax.... and of course prepare for the next set of races and World Championships. 

My time at home was awesome. The best part was of course, was spending time with my boyfriend (hopefully I am getting some brownie points for adding this one ;)...). Also was my friend's stagette party... good times ;) ... basically just being able to do things outside of biathlon like sledding, skating, walks with the dog and spending time with friends and family. It wouldn't be a Canadian Christmas without skating, sledding and ... playing hockey! 

TTYL....

December World Cups

(Megan and I on our way to the Christmas market in Ostersund on my birthday.)

There is one more week of competitions left. The first World Cup tour has literally flown by. I feel like I am just starting to get into the groove of racing.

The first two weeks were spent in Ostersund, Sweden. We left Canmore with only a skiff of snow and arrived in a winter wonderland in Ostersund. There was definitely enough snow for the World Cup and…cold enough!

My first competition did not go as planned. I came 77th in the individual with 8 misses. The sprint was better, I missed 2 and came 44th. Unfortunately, a cold flew around the team and I got it right after the Individual competition. So I skipped the pursuit due to still having a sinus cold.

After two weeks of the sun rising at 9 and setting at 3pm, we were all craving sunshine, and good coffee. Austria here we come….
Last week was the Hochfilzen World Cup. Still I struggled in the shooting range and came 52nd in the sprint with 3 misses and 43rd in the pursuit with 6 misses. Sunday was the relay competition. I started and our team ended up 12. Not bad for the first relay of the year but I think we can definitely improve and use less spare rounds!

Despite the disappointment among the women’s team, spirits are still high because the men’s team is rocking house. JP has had a kickass start to his season with a 13th (sprint), 17th (individual) in Ostersund. Another 16th in the sprint last week, he finished it off by pulling into 8th in the pursuit. Finally our team had another award ceremony to celebrate! And it didn’t stop there. Sunday the team came 7th, 3 seconds away from finishing 6th and being part of the team award ceremony. Time for us women to pull it together!

Despite not having the results that I want, I am happy that my health is back and that I am fully recovered from my bout of mononucleosis last year. My ski speed is there, I only need fine tuning in the shooting and the results will take care of themselves.

Due to construction in Pokjluka, Slovenia the World Cup remains in Hochfilzen for another week. Which we are all fine with (we do love Bled but…) it means no packing and unpacking!

Tomorrow is the individual competition, Saturday the sprint and Sunday the relay. My parents have come for the 2 weeks of Hochfilzen World Cup to cheer on our Canadian team. This is their first World Cup experience (besides the ‘06 Olympics) and they are thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere.

Right now I am still very full from lunch hrs ago because we were served kaisershmarren and of course we all ate triple helpings gorging on the Austrian scrambled pancakes. Ahh such trials and tribulations of being on the road….

November

A wandering Moose at Mt. Shark have a lick of salt. 

Currently our mantra is “let it snow, let it snow…” Or at the very least the temperature should drop below zero degrees. Is this the effect of global warming? Very unfortunate. Racing on rollerskis in winter would not be a fun alternative in my opinion. I love the white fluffy cold stuff! I can’t imagine not being able to ski, toboggan, skate, have snowball fights, make snow forts, snowmen and snow angels! So let it snow, I say!

After an excellent camp in France/Austria we have been dry land training waiting for the snow. We also spent a lot of time at the University on the rollerski treadmill. This was excellent intensity training with the advantage of having immediate feedback on technique.

Very recently it snowed in Lake Louise (boo yah!). So we have been doing our ski training there. Obviously word has gotten out how great the conditions are at Moraine Lake road because this weekend was packed with cross country skiers, biathletes, Nordic combined and weekend warriors!

In one week we are off to begin our World Cup tour, beginning in Sweden and finishing in Austria. The first week we are training in Sveg, near Anna Carin’s home turf. The following week is our first World Cup competition in Ostersund, Sweden. Definitely getting excited to race and the gitters are building! After last season, the fire inside of me is burning strong. After Ostersund we travel to Hochfilzen, Austria for 2 weeks of World Cups. Then home for Christmas and preparation for World Cups #5,6 and World Championships.

Other exciting news is the release of our women’s team calendar, Bold Beautiful Biathlon. We have had a busy summer and fall putting this all together and finally now it is on the market! The 5 of us – Sandra Keith, Megan Imrie, Megan Tandy, Rosanna Crawford and myself – put together a black and white tastefully nude 14-month calendar, focusing on promoting the image of a strong athletic body aiming to help fund our Olympic dreams to 2010. If you haven’t checked out our website, please do at www.boldbeautifulbiathlon.com