So we left Canadian Champs before they were even completed, Saturday we were racing for WC selection and National Titles and the next morning 9 Am we are leaving Canmore bound for Finland.  It was a problem free commute but like any travel from Canada to Scandinavia it can be tiring, I think it was only 3 flight segments and a 9 hour time change but tough on the body none the less.  I was starting the 3rd leg of the mixed relay which was taking place 3 days from touching down in Finland.  I was feeling the jet lag and despite a good start from the team and some good opportunity to make a top 6 finish it was too much, I struggled on the range using 5 spare rounds and having one penalty.  You have penalty loops  in a relay and you don’t usually get selected for the next one.  I also took a good spill on one of the fast descents, fortunately I was fine and so was my equipment.  I was disappointed with letting my team down and had trouble rebuilding my confidence through the night for the next race

In the sprint I had a decent start, I suffered through prone slowly taking one penalty.  I pushed on the course and felt ok, not great but good enough to be selected for the pursuit with some better shooting in standing.  Well it was not my day,  I took two more penalties in standing and that was too much, when I am skiing near my best I can be selected for pursuits shooting 3 miss but I have not skied anywhere near my best this season,  what a season to have a 4 month long slump,  I am not a writer and can not even put in to words my disgust with my season this year.  That being said I thought once I recovered from jet lag I could be in good form, after all I showed some potential at Nationals.  So off to Oslo we go.

Oh but not so easy,  I wake up the morning of departure for Oslo with a sore throat,  shit what now.  We I go through the travel day and am trying to put down my fluids and keep everything maintained.  Two flights later we arrive and it is beautiful and sunny, awe just what I love about Norway in the Spring, but I have to get back to a 100% health,  I wake up the next day and I feel as though I am getting sick, I ask my coaches to get my room mate a another room so we can both relax a bit, he doesn’t have to worry about getting sick and I dont have to worry about making him sick.  I spend the day in bed reading and watching movies, while drinking hot tea and even hotter tea.  The next day it is looking promising, I have no cold symptoms just the sore throat,  so I go to official training, it doesn’t feel too bad, I dont go into any intensity just keep to some easy training with short sprints.

So today I wake up, hmm the throat is still bothering me.  More so what is it and why is it there. 4 days now?  A little much I think.  But Holmenkollen is one of my favorite places to race and sometimes you can surprise yourself even if you are feeling punished.  I would take more caution in the early season or if it was colder out but I didn’t feel like I was going to hurt my body and it is the end of the season so no need to really save myself.

So I start the race and its going ok I don’t feel too bad, although there seemed to be a lot of lactate build up in the lower legs, I mean alot.  My shins and calves were burning so much I didn’t have good control of my feet.  But I pushed on.  I came into the range and was very hesitant in the range,  I took one miss but my shooting was just plain awkward.  I continued on through my middle 3.3km loop,  I was feeling ok ski despite the damn lactate in my lower leg.  I came into the range and shot quickly and decisively I basically did a 180 from how I felt in prone.  I shot clean and whizzed right past the penalty loop,  I left the range in something in the mid 40’s but was soon hit with a debilitating amount of lactate acid in my legs and stomach.  I felt as though i was going to puke on every downhill, fall over every corner and I was not moving fast so that was not the issue.  I ended up crashing on the final straight stretch into the finish, it is a small compression, nothing extreme but I think with the combination of the compression and the slow snow was what through me off.  I put my head down into the compression and completely face planted right in front of the fans.  I crossed the finish in a dismal 74th, I had lost over 25 places in what was probably the worst finishing lap of my career.  I was disorientated and more then normal uncomfortable after the finish, even now my stomach aches a bit, I chalk up the poor form to whatever I have been battling since leaving Finpand.    Soon after a little Norwegian boy came up to me asking for my start bib, I definitely didn’t want any memory of this race and quickly pulled it off and handed it to the now very happy boy.  I only hope he doesn’t look at the results!

So now I hang out in Oslo for a few days and then off to Russia or home, not sure at this point.

Maybe this post should have been called if its not one thing its another.

Pictures can be found at the following sites

Training and sprint races

http://homepage.mac.com/deestokoe/2010%20Canadian%20Biathlon%20Championships/index.html

Individual races

http://homepage.mac.com/deestokoe/2010%20Biathlon%20nationals%20individual%20Thursday/

Pursuit morning classes

http://homepage.mac.com/deestokoe/Saturday%20Morning%20Pursuit%202010%20biathlon%20champs/

Pursuit afternoon classes

http://homepage.mac.com/deestokoe/2010%20Sat%20afternoon%20classes%20pursuit/

Relays

http://homepage.mac.com/deestokoe/2010%20biathlon%20relays%20Sunday/index4.html

Medals and flower presentations

http://homepage.mac.com/deestokoe/2010%20medals%20and%20flowers/

If interested in ordering photographs Please send me an email and I will give you ordering instructions

Cheers

That being said I am back on the WC where I want to be and this is where performing really counts so I will be happy if I can pull out my seasons best performances this late in the year, something that will be new for me. I will be racing in Kontiolahti, Fin Oslo, Nor and Khanty Mansyik, Rus these are all places I have raced before and am excited to return to.

I will do my best to keep you posted. The team for this tour is, Jean Phillipe Leguellec, Nathan Smith, Brendan Green, Scott Perras, Zina Kocher, Megan Tandy, Megan Imrie and Rosanna Crawford.

Cheers

You can see the results from all competitions this week at

http://www.biathloncanada.ca/main.php?p=3972&lan=1

Sprint Podium

Individual Podium

The conditions are hard packed as always in Canmore despite the above zero temps we have experienced for the past week, gotta love artificial snow.

I dont have all the results but I tell the top 4 of the Men’s Sprint.

1st Robin Clegg 10/10
2nd Scott Perras 8/10
3rd Brendan Green 8/10
4th Scott Gow (jr) 10/10

I will try to find some results to post. Tomorrow is the 20km with many of the Men not racing because only the Sprint and Pursuit are being used to select the WC team for the final 3 WC’s of the season.

On Friday we completed a 7.5 Relay format T.T., to keep it interesting and fast we never had partners, instead we all started together and just did a relay format.  This race was tough for me but fun, the team was using it to prepare the Olympic Relay team for their race on Feb 26th.  I really suffered on the ski course but managed good shooting and finished 2nd.  I was happy with my performance and was sure my poor skiing was simply do to the lack of intensity lately.  After wards my lungs were on fire a sure sign I had some carbon to blow out.

Today was a totally new experience for me, well for this year anyways.  I raced a 10km Mass Start XC race,  to be honest I was nervous I think because it was new to me and I was not familiar with who I was racing.  I did not know each others strengths and weakness’s and I haven’t skied in a pack for years.  I have raced some very tight pursuits on the Biathlon WC but you are still not as tight as the first lap of a XC mass start.  The race started at a comfortable pace, I was just trying to find a place in the pack and settle in, I was uncomfortable skiing that tight, not from a fear of falling I just find my skiing gets choppy.  Half way through the middle loop I decided to increase the pace a bit to see what everyone had. I got a small gap of 10 seconds or less but was reeled in throughout the next kilometer.  I didn’t really know what to do at that point, like I said new to me.  I expected to just be  blown by but we stuck together not really pushing the pace anymore.  Some of the pack from behind caught up and I was again unsure what the next step was.  So I just did what I see on TV just kept the pace normal, was looking around and waited for someone to break.  But no one made a move,  I tried a small move on the last true climb but didn’t go for it, I was confused if I was reeled in am I not the weaker one now?  Anyways we left it to the final rollers to go into a sprint,  I made a big tactical error taking the lead breaking wind into the stadium, but that was not my biggest problem I didn’t know where to go I accidentally went into the lap lane which when I realized this I shut it down,  I felt embarrased enough I didn’t want to be a donkey and sprint after going the wrong way.  All in all I had fun, thankfully the OC didn’t DQ me, instead they just moved me to 4th, I didn’t really care though I was out there to get the workout and have some fun, both of which I did.  It was fun to push with some guys I don’t know.  I was impressed with the OC, the quality of the field was good and the race setup was simple and not over done as it can be at times.

So I feel it is all coming together, this weekend I certainly was not at my best but I got in some intensity and had fun, how can it get better then that.  Over the next couple weeks I will continue to pump out intensity to get into some form for Canadian Champs and hopefully the World Cups to follow.

Oh yeah and it doesn’t get much better then coming home to chill out and watch the Canadian boys kick some xc ass!  And on Sunday there is both Men and Womens Mass Starts where for the first time in history we will have 3 NorAm boys.

Let me take you through my first day here,

Day 1, Ski at Boulton Creek, Beautiful 2.5 hour classic ski with excellent view from fire lookout. short drive to Mt. Engadine Lodge where we are pleasantly greeted and quickly settle into our room. 3pm rolls around and we are back in the main lodge to check out the tea and biscuits. Well it was certainly more then then that, with a full variety of teas, coffee, cookies, cake, home made salsa and chips. I can’t really do the spread justice, but lets just say I headed out on my afternoon training knowing there would be no bonk.

Then out to do a skate ski workout on Mt.Sharks XC and Biathlon trails, which despite the lack of snow are in great shape.

Come back, stretch change and shower. Still some time until supper hmm into the hot tub . Which overlooks the beautiful scenery here in Kananaskis Country.

Then on to supper, after some very healthy and tasty platters we sum it up we some great desert and tea, now its time to head back to our room for some r & r, after all I am here to train but it sure doesn’t feel like it.

But I am tired now and will have to finish this blog up when I am back in Canmore,  yeah thats right I have internet too.  But in the mean time you should check it out,  www.mountengadine.com with 10+ cms of snow last night the xc trails are getting groomed tonight and the snowshoe tomorrow.

Happy Trails

I thought many athletes looked pretty tired, of course this can be expected with a high load of training before the super compensation comes in time for the Olympics.  I read/listened to as many race reports as I could from all athletes no matter the country to learn how they were preparing for the Olympics, it sounded like many were in the tail end of a hard training phase or had just finished one and were left with out that extra punch needed to climb the results ladder.  And I wondered “Is how well you want to perform directly related to how tired you need to be” in the weeks or months leading up and into a major competition?  I for one am always on edge if I feel too much energy or to strong in the summer, fall or anytime before the snow falls and will often try to snuff that out by increasing volume.  I don’t really know why I do this, I mean why not feel great more often then not?  It seems I have mixed results anyhow.  It seems some athletes are successful because they can handle more training then anyone else and then it seems there are those that modify their training on a daily basis, if they feel tired they will cut workouts short all summer long and will stay healthy and have snap all year long.

Since returning home a few weeks ago I have designed my own training plan with the goal of performing well at Canadian Champs and then hopefully at the World Cups that follow,  I have designed the plan using the experiences I have notched up through my years of training with different coaches.  I then forwarded it to my coach to get some feedback and approval.  Normally your coach hands you a plan and you execute it and may either feel good or poor depending on whether everything lined up for you, but when you are designing it on your own you have to decide,  when do I want to feel tired?  how tired?  tired from what?  and when do I want to start to get my snap back?  how will I get it back?  all very interesting to me and it is why I listen to every athlete no matter the level about how they train/rest and what they would change.  With 3 weeks left until Canadian Champs I am happy with the training I have achieved building up my volume, I am pretty tired and have lots of training to accomplish between now and then but how do I want to feel between now and then?  I have always wondered though how others feel at different times, how does shooting feel to them? what do they see through there sights when aiming?  ect, ect.

So what are your thoughts?

I don’t much care for the hustle and bustle of the World Cup, even when I am competing in them in Europe I prefer to keep to myself, until race day then I like to embrace the energy of the crowd.  If you are like this and want to watch the races and cheer loud but enjoy and nice quiet ski with out tons of traffic I recommend heading out to Pocaterra, Mt. Shark or Boulton Creek all are situated in Kananaskis Country and all within a hour drive of Canmore.  Skating and Classic at Mt. Shark with only Classic everywhere else.  So get out there and connect with nature, that’s what I have been doing and I really enjoy skiing in peace and quiet really allows you to hear your thoughts.

I have posted a couple of pictures of Boulton Creek,  the snow as you can see is much more plentiful in Kananaskis Country.

Skiing from Boulton Creek trail head, Elk Pass trails

Classic Tracks Only Elk Pass, Pocaterra