We’re down to one race to go in the IBU Cup Trials at Mt. Itasca. Since I last posted after the first race more than a week ago, I’ll give you a brief update on the last three races. Last Sunday’s race and this Sunday’s race were similar in that they both had four shooting bouts. For me this is a challenge because these races are more the “shooter’s” race and not as much the “skier’s” unless there are drastic differences in skiing ability. Last Sunday was a 12.5km mass start race and this Sunday was a 10km pursuit format (i.e. we shot four times, prone-prone-standing-standing, but started at 30-second intervals and the start order was random draw) race. But what these four races have shown me is that I’ve finally learned to treat the shooting as I do the skiing. To a point, a fast skier can ski off more penalty loops and blaze through the course to beat a slower skier-better shooter. But at the World Cup level this is not an option. Until this year, I felt I had very little control over the shooting component of a race. I can control everything about my physical training and, consequently, exactly how my ski race will go. But in shooting it is the split-second decisions during the race that affect you. How hard you ski into the range; how many breathing cycles you do before your first shot: these are all factors that can make or break one of five precious shots. And I think I’m finally starting to figure it out, because I’m entering the range calmer and less nervous than before.