North American Cup 3 Yo!

So this post was meant to go up Monday after our race, but after an impressive snow storm we got stuck in Canmore for an extra night until it was safe to hit the highway. Needless to say we were very disappointed to train an extra day in Canmore before heading back. Classes have started and there has been a substantial amount of laughter from my professors as we discuss the amount of school I am missing for racing. Never underestimate the value of a small school with amazing professors!

Here is a quick race update from North American Cup 3!

Thanks Joel for some great race pictures!

After a great Christmas at home it was back to work with North American Cup #3 in Canmore. Nor Am #2 was in Jericho, Vermont and I opted out, partially to make it home but mostly Turkey is my focus this year and so a trip out East wasn't in the books.


Nor Am #3 went decent and I was relatively happy with my 3rd place finish in the sprint and my move into 2nd in the pursuit for an overall 2nd place finish in the weekend. It was a cold weekend and my hands are still healing from some bad frostbite. I was also very tired going into this weekend as we just came off a large training week in effort to get our last bit of volume in before we taper off for World Unis.

Settling in for some solid standing shooting in the sprint

Saturday, I took a risk with some a newer pair of skis and ended up working overtime to match the glide of some of my competitors. While this may have cost me some speed, I know, racing is the only way to really know and trust your race skis. Regardless I had a strong skiing race and was only limited by some quality penalty loop time after some unfavourable shooting results. I am extremely happy with my skiing as I managed to match some powerful women in their ski speed which is a new asset in my skill set.

Battling with Cindy Clark, Congrats on the win!

Sunday, I was determined to take control of my race. I cleaned both sets of my prone and was leading for the first half of the race with my team mate Kathryn Stone. I stumbled in my standing and was beat out by Cindy Clark, a very talented biathlete who shot 19/20 and skied in control the entire race. While I was disappointed that my range performance cost me the chance to take on Cindy for the win, I ended up in a last lap Battle with 3rd and 4th and managed to keep the gap into the finish. The result of such a hard ski effort? I was a puddle and was a little fuzzy for a couple days.

I've been talking a lot with my coaches and training partners about what goes through my head when I race. After missing some crucial shots so close to my biggest event I have been reflecting on what went through my head during my races. So here are my most productive, distracting and illogical thoughts, also known as:

15 Thoughts During Nor Am #3

1. Holy man I'm cold, I'm 4km in how can I still be freezing?!

2. If they are going to beat you, make them earn it, don't give it to them


3. You've done this 1000 times, your just doing another interval with Alex, just push that hill like you do every time with Alex

4. @#$%@@$$* (in regards to messing up my standing in the pursuit)


5. Awww Joel don't take that picture of me I've got more drool and snot then any person ever should


6. Be the change you want to see


7. Why are you letting them set the pace?! It's the first lap, lets run our own race.


8. Okay second prone, the other girls are going to get a correction and shoot well so just do what you did the lap before and everything will be alright.


9. YES!!!!! (10/10 prone)


10. They're coming for you, get moving they're coming for you


11. Black and Yellow, Black and Yellow, Black and Yellow


12. Man I hate when I ski over fallen off leg numbers, wait those were my numbers... when did I loose those?


13. Don't think about missing, don't think about missing.... damn


14. Okay so you can hear skis behind you, but if I look back and its Kat or Karen I'm not sure I can handle that, but what if its not them will I be able to keep the motivation for this pace.... but what if it is and I need to dig deeper ... don't look back just don't let the skis pass you!


15. Just breath.

Its been a cold cold week in Camrose hanging out around the -30 mark. I've been testing out a newly recovered knee with some running work outs. Thankfully things have been holding strong and I am feeling better than ever heading into Turkey. It's only six days away.... wow.