Thought I should take the time to update my blog since I haven’t in a while!
To get you up to speed ( at least with this season so far haha), I spent most of my summer at home training in Canmore which was a great opportunity to get an uninterrupted block of training in and by the end of the summer I ended up in Whistler, where I have been training since.
As usual, the two months of fall seemed to go by very fast heading into the last phase of preparation before the start of the race season. This year it kicked off in November at the Canadian National Team Trials on Frozen Thunder ( which is held in Canmore) where there were three races held. The trial races ended up going alright for me, qualifying for the Junior IBU Cup tour but not being super satisfied with my performances in Canmore.
There was a couple weeks before our departure to Europe so after the races in Canmore I headed to Silver Star for a short volume block in preparation for my trip overseas.
The Trails in Silver Star
Jess + I At Our Volume Camp
Our team arrived in Europe on December 1st and our first weekend of racing was in Austria in a small town called Obertilliac. We arrived a couple of days before to get adjusted to the time and to be able to spend some time on the course and on the range to familiarize ourselves with the venue. The course in Obertilliac was very demanding, with lots of technical sections and a short steep hill into the range making the shooting a little more interesting than usual.
Leaving the range from the course in Obertilliach
The first day of racing was not the best, feeling a little sluggish on the skis and missing 4 shots ( 2 prone, 2 standing) out of a 10 shot race which was a little disappointing since I was unable to accomplish the goals that I had set out for myself that race – considering that I know that I can ski faster than I did and hit more targets!!!
Picture from first day of racing in Obertilliach pc: Lavina Gilliland
The second day was much colder (-17ish) but still tolerable thanks to typical Canadian winters that I have become accustom to with being a skier! I was really excited for this second race because I essentially had the opportunity to have a do-over of the previous day, since we would be skiing the exact same course- but this time it would be better since I was going to ski it faster and hit way more targets!!!!! Unfortunately it didn’t go exactly as planned, as I did not hit anymore targets than the day before (missing 1 prone and 3 standing ) or ski any faster!
Skiing towards the penalty loop 🙁 pc: Lavina Gilliland
Right before I ended up in the penalty loop pc: Lavina Gilliland
We left Austria on Monday on and traveled to Italy where we will be competing at our second event. Yesterday we had the chance to ski the course and all I have to say is this will for sure be a fun one, having lots of very steep hills and some pretty wicked downhills…It may be the hardest course I’ve ever skied! On the upside, there is no crazy hills directly into the range so since that is the case we should be okay!!
Photo from the range in Ridnaun…it’s quite a nice view
Leading into these next two races my main focus is putting an emphasis on the process not the outcome. It is often easy to become distracted and focus on the wrong things when you’re put in a pressured situation. Breaking different stages down of the race into smaller chunks and working on doing those each individual things effectively help to stay in the moment and focused on the task at hand, rather than on other stuff.
I am very much so looking forward to these next two races as they will be difficult, but I am excited to be taking on the challenge so bring it!!!
