Recap on US Biathlon Nationals
The elite men’s podium awards for US Biathlon National Championships
Happy Saturday Team!
In summation of the most personally difficult season I have ever raced, the last weekend of March brought about the US Biathlon National Championships. In short, the final races of the season were some of my best, both in results and shooting percentages/shooting times, though the skiing was quite hard for me. It felt great to end the season on a high note including winning the pursuit race and claiming a national title! Something I did not expect or even thought possible a few months ago when thinking the season was over by New Years due to poorly managed mental health.
Just before nationals I had the opportunity for some physiology lab testing and lots of technique analysis. It was very cool to get hooked up to machines monitoring oxygen intake, carbon dioxide output, heart rate, weight distribution, and power output in my legs, all measured against speed and incline. Over three sessions in the lab, I learned a ton about efficiency, how to ski with less oxygen consumption while maintaining speed and seeing exactly what different technique ques do to my overall speed. It is hard to explain it all, it took 2 PhD’s to even design and run all of the tests, but it is hugely helpful in understanding my body and how to optimize my skiing. Huge thank you to the MSU lap with Professors Jim and Hilary. I believe the lab work played a role in skiing my best at altitude, post being sick and with my end-of-season tired body in Casper at National Championships.
Since nationals I have been enjoying time back home, unstructured activities, working some, getting sunburnt and finally kicking the lingering sickness plaguing me since mid March. The off month of April has been busier than I expected with all of the things I can do while training minimally and preparing for the upcoming training season. One project I am thrilled to have made headway on is the Aspen Daily News has written an article on my ski career journey after 4 years of the local papers focusing on other sports, but not Biathlon. It got printed today, check it out!
In other news, I am no longer skiing for the Crosscut Mountain Sports Center and am grateful for the last three years with them. Below is a detailed write up of National Championships a month ago. That’s it, that’s all, for now…
Roller skiing in the lab, all hooked up for physio testing
Team Crosscut at US Biathlon Nationals, my last races with them
Report from US Biathlon National Championships!
Casper, WY hosted the annual Biathlon National Championships over the last weekend of March with the last races of the season. For those of you who haven't been to Casper, all the skiing takes place up on a plateau overlooking the city. It is one of the coolest ranges in the country with the range itself carved into a rock wall, the trails winding through old growth lodge pole and ponderosa pine forest and points of the trail overlooking the plains below from 2000’ above. The gain in elevation along with some other meteorological patterns, make the plateau VERY snowy, and often a bit windy. It has great, reliable skiing every year! In fact, the amount of snow the west got this year left Casper Mountain Biathlon Club so buried it took a cooperative effort from multiple groomers to whip the trails and range into the truly perfect conditions we had for the weekend. The day we arrived was truly some of the best skiing I had all winter.
The races kicked off fast and furious with nearly 200 registered competitors on a bluebird day and little wind (rare for Wyoming!) The first race was a sprint race, which means 2 shooting stages, one prone and one standing, and skiing a total of 3 laps. For the elite women it is a 2.5 km lap totalling 7.5 km and for elite men a 3.3 km lap totalling 10 km. Casper has a very steep course with lots of climbing and thin air from the 8000’ of elevation. Needless to say, it got the legs screaming and lungs burning resulting in some difficult racing with tired end-of-season bodies. It was an exciting race where I shot some of my best shooting of the season, 90%, and ultimately placed 2nd!
The second day was the pursuit, traditionally following a sprint. It got colder, windier and is a longer race. Pursuits are 4 shooting stages, two prone followed by two standing, and a total of 5 laps. For elite women, it is five laps of a 2 km totalling 10 km and for elite men it is 5 laps of a 2.5 km totalling 12.5 km. Skiers start in a pursuit order based on the results of the sprint and are in pursuit of the racer in front of them. As with all biathlon races, the order can and often changes throughout the race as various athletes hit or miss targets. The race is never decided until everyone has crossed the finish line. But of course the famous Wyoming wind proved strong during the race and many shots were missed due to gusting and swirling on the range. Steady winds can often be accounted for, but not random and unpredictable bursts. I skied as hard as I could, shot with as much control as the lack of oxygen in my body allowed and ultimately had the best last lap of my season with 1 miss and the fastest ski time of the field, resulting in my first ever National Title! I crossed the finish line after never looking back knowing I had to make every single moment count and feeling very proud of the result after a tumultuous season this year. (And then immediately got pulled into doping control to spend a long time not eating, rehydrating or changing clothes… Only the best recovery I could ask for, but still as happy as can be)
The weekend wrapped up with some fun mixed age class and gender relays on Sunday with even more wind. It was a great way to meet other athletes from around the US and race with biathletes you wouldn’t normally ever race with. I personally loved watching the masters races where you can see people racing with old friends, wives and husbands, new friends and even a coach or two jumping in. Most of all, everyone out there racing because they love the sport of biathlon and love the community it brings together. What a great way to end the season and kick off a break from competition. Thank you to Casper Mountain Biathlon Club for being an incredible venue, thank you to everyone in the sport of biathlon for being such a great community and thank you to all my coaches, teammates, sponsors and family. Time to go put some aloe on some sunburn now.
I had a blast making a collaborative video short with Mountain Flow Eco Wax over the Easter Holiday as a hunt for all their best ski waxes! A very cool, local Roaring Fork Valley company I am excited to be a small part of! Check the video out above.