All I Really Wanted for Christmas

       

       This must be what it feels like for college grads to finally obtain that degree and still fail to find a job with it. Maybe I've mentioned this earlier but I recall doing slowfire drills in the rain and snow in Fort Kent. It was May first and the coaches really wanted me to increase the volume of shooting this year. We don't have a covered range and it wasn't the best conditions that day, but hey goals are goals... and so is hypothermia. The point is, thus far that effort has been in vain. I also recall snapping the lenses out of my race glasses in frustration while I clenched the the sides of my head in the changing cabin. That was last week, post WC sprint race in Slovenia. What can I say I really like great results and don't bode well when things don't pan out the way I want them to. In a lot of cases this in understandable, but in this case the work was done and I was expecting better performance from my myself.

  

There are lot of grand pictures to be had from Bled Slovenia.

       Let's just keep the negative train going for little longer. After two racing series we all thought I had the cobwebs out and was primed for a better day. We had a plan that was simple enough to follow even during race. The conditions were not perfect, but with one of the hills salted it made a nice  chance for the late starters. By the way; not unlike the other two places we've been to this trimester Pokljuka, SLO was also struggling for snow. It doesn't feel like winter anywhere in central Europe at the moment. After patiently waiting for my bib (101) to leave it was finally my last chance of the year to justify being on the circuit. In case you haven't already guessed, prone was my downfall. Four misses and the race was virtually over. I told myself not to over hold on the aiming. Time and time again this year that was the problem. The timing and a small part in the set up have been the cause all the problems in prone it seems. Why did I do this? It's hard to take a shot any earlier than you want to. It's temping to take that extra 2/10ths of a second to double check the aiming. This works fine if you're shooting off a bench at a resting heartrate. I was around 180 bmp. The window of opportunity to have an eight ring or better is a narrow one. Ironically, it seems the more I want it the more I miss. See why I consider biathlon to be a cruel and viscous sport?

       Standing was also the worst of the month with another two misses. Normally the last lap is fight with your fitness level. On this day it was a struggle to keep it together mentally. I felt bad for the coaches and techs on side of the course that had to wait for me. Though I do appreciate the unconditional support. The other three guys had a solid day. We're on good pace in the nations cup points. Needless to say I wasn't in the best of moods. I was going to have to watch the pursuit on EuroSport for the third time this year.

If you want to see more you should hit up the google machine or the archives of this blog for more Bled, SLO  pics.

      And finally, I might as well mention that ski speed was also demoralizing. It has been the whole trimester. The energy level has been up and down, but more so down. That springy feeling in the legs is always a good indicator that you're recovered and ready to race. I can't say I've felt that way for most of the race starts. Not completely sure why. I've seen it happen to wide variety of athletes so there are countless reasons.

        Okay so where does this put Russell's 2015 racing season? First of all, staying calm under pressure may not be not my specialty, but neither is giving up. The contrast between a good day and bad day is staggering for me. Just ask the other guys. Seeing the leaders cross the finish line on TV reminds me how grand a successful day can be. I've invested too much into this to think that I can't be closer to the top. Let me put it another way. If (hypothetically) cutting off one of fingers meant having the results I want to have, then I would go through the rest of my life with nine fingers if it lead to successful racing career. Obviously it wouldn't be my trigger finger. Maybe my ring finger... That one isn't going to be useful anytime soon.

Just breakfast things.

        Lets get down to the point. If the third time is not a charm then maybe the fourth is. I have two key ideas to work with in shooting. Next week will have a brief amount of volume before Christmas. Followed by a full recovery. Resting is the most fail safe way to bring the energy levels back up and it's pretty easy to do this time of year. The week after Christmas will have some quality shooting sessions. All with a race pace effort. The goal is to flesh out the racing zone. It can take some time to get into top form. A few controlled high intensity sessions can do a lot to build on that. The more I can recreate a race like effort with shooting the more I can bring the progress from easy sessions to the higher pressures situations. In other words: I want to train in the “fail zone” so to be rid of it before the next important race.

Oh yeah. Now I remember why I sought out a "better than a cell phone camera" camera. 

      And yes there is more racing to be had. It's not even 2015 yet. I'll have more details on that one in another update. Think Poland for now. I mentioned in an interview back home a while back that I had made good progress in training all year; that shooting had good promise to it. This has been undeniable... during training. The days before the past world cups are usually around 90% shooting wise.

           It only takes one good race to start the catalyst of a great season. No promises. This isn't a sport to make promises. It's a sport of good probability. The plan to increase the probability is set out and as always I'll carry through with the plan the best that I can. Sorry for the less than positive updates lately, but hey “you can't argue with results”. 

Thanks for reading.

See also: Merry Christmas n'stuff.

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P.S. To add to the bad news: I'm pretty certain I need a root canal done. My insurance will not cover it and I don't have the time right now. It hurts like hell and often wakes me up in the middle of the night.

And a Series of Unfortunate Events, again.

          Racing on a narrow ribbon of forced snow is becoming all too common these days. Unfortunately for my season thus far the lack luster results are on the same all too common pace. But hey if you want to win the race you have to pace yourself.  Leading into the finish is the important part. Everything before that isn't relevant. Hochfilzen has been good to us in some ways and believe me when I say I'm still happy to be here and have the chance to bang heads on the WC.  But the raw honey comb and sunshine doesn't compensate for the sprint result and unlucky relay. This is the run down of what happened during our week in Hochfilzen, Austria

          The flight from Ostersund was one the smoothest travel days in recent memory. Nothing went wrong. It was a charter flight so they didn't even bother giving us seat assignments. Everyone was offered a full meal and the flight attendant just so happened to look like a supermodel. The bus ride to the hotel wasn't even the usual four hour sauna trek. Our hotel is great. There is always a large wired box of raw honey comb for breakfast. This gold could be considered candy if candy was locally produced and surprisingly good for you. I've considered buying some from the hotel. The only motivation not to is due to the fact that the excess "stuff level" is overwhelming and with only 23kgs allowed for flying it's best not to add to the pile.

Last night's desert. 

           So anyways aside from that there is the racing portion this update. I had high hopes for the sprint race. What else can I have? Naturally I was in the last seed. The difference this time was that the conditions held up better than they did in Ostersund and the last starting seed wasn't being ignored by some top level biathletes.  Bjordalen and Fourcade were both around my start time. This is what eventually  made the race even more painful. I had my focus ingrained into my head. Stressed or relaxed it didn't matter. I refined the process down to a few key words and held on to those the best I could.  It helped, but wasn't enough to stop two rounds from missing the eight ring. With two penalties a clean standing would have to be in order. Of the 20 shots standing I've done this season I've only had three misses. The second stage of the sprint race had one of them. With three total on the day I knew it was going to be close if I wanted to make the pursuit. It was... The first split had me at seven seconds out of the top 60. The next one was two seconds out. Then two seconds in. With not much course left I should have been safe right? When I crossed I was listed as 59th. The clutch was that Ole and Simone Fourcade had not finished. Ole had shot the same as me but skied faster. I was ahead of Simone ski speed wise that day, but with his clean shooting he was going to be in the pursuit and I was not. The two knocked me down from 59th to 61st.

            It happened to me in an Oberhof race, at the Olympics, and last Friday for the third time. I wasn't feeling to well. The goal was a top 40 and there I was knowing that I would be left out of the pursuit. It wasn't a very happy post race cool down.

             The relay was a second chance. A good relay could do a lot. Well folks that was not the case. We have a very talented wax team. We're one of the most organised teams out there. We can expect to have skies as good as any other team despite not have the limitless resources that the bigger teams have. Only on the rarest occasions do we miss the mark. Saturday was one of them. There wasn't enough time to switch out the skies before Lowell's and Tim's leg. They both had solid races but when your skies are clinging to the snow you don't have a chance. Trust me I've tested this out by accident and it's close to hopeless. Leif and I were able to get on the corrected grind for the day. We both had fast skies, just like anyone else. Leif has been shooting well this year, but Saturday was an off day. No one is safe. It happens. There's no better way to describe it. With a few penalties it wasn't shaping up to be the day I envisioned. I was the last leg and was tagged off with the Belarus team. It made for a good draft the first loop. I thought we were going a little too hard, but I figured one of us would lose it on the last loop if that's what it came to. Prone went clean with two extras. The group around me had to have used at least this to get out, because I was ahead leaving the range. I came into standing pretty hot. With the range approach in Hochfilzen it's hard not to do this. Standing went well. One miss from the clip and only one extra to clean. I raced around the corner onto what I thought was my last loop. Instead I was met by IBU officials who were waiting for me and anyone else still racing with there arms waving in the air. The lead team had crossed the finish line before I left the range. Via IBU rules we were not allowed to finish. I was denied my last loop.

       
           This may have been the worst relay team USA has ever had. No one is really thinking about it. It was a lot of bad things crammed into one race. Even more there was no race to be had the following day. If only I had been two seconds faster. Place 60 didn't even race the pursuit, nor did Bjordalen. It was rough having to watch the men's pursuit on Eurovision yet again.

           As always, if there is ever a chance for success then it's reason enough for a full effort. The next chance lies in Pokljuka, Slovenia. The season is just getting started and the parts of slowly coming together. It only takes one good day to start a catalyst. If that's a possibility for me then I'm going to go for it. The hiking was good today. Tomorrow will be a semi rest day. Tuesday similar with some easy combos. The sprint race is on Friday.

         Some things never change. Some things need to change. Wish me luck in trying to break those thresholds next week by having a better day. Then I can relax and come home for Christmas. I hope you've enjoyed reading this as it's not the most exciting way to spend an afternoon. I like to keep anyone back home who's interested up to date. Maybe it would be enjoyable to write if I had better news.

Okay probably not.

Hochfilzen in June? No no. This is earlier today. 

             

Next...

         There wasn't much for success last week in Ostersund, Sweden. The only thing that kept me positive after the individual was the thought of proving otherwise in the sprint race two days after. The best way to cope with a bad race is to look forward to the next one. When the next race is only two days away it's easy to keep the spirits up. When the next race is in a flight and five days away it's not as easy. That was the case for me after a dismal sprint race last Saturday. A good result to have under the belt before the races in Austria would have made a convenient difference. Instead I'm left to keep the confidence up on my own without any undeniable results to back it up.

         The misses were low. There are endless amounts of reasons why those four misses in prone were low. Zeroing was a little strange that day. Perhaps my position was off. Was it the last tenth of a second aiming? That's been a crucial focus point this year. My standing stage was solid, but I did miss that last shot. Ski speed wasn't much to write home about either. The conditions were all over the place. Not unlike the individual they broke down as the race progressed. The deep and sugary snow covering a base of ice is far from my specialty. By the time the race was over I was unsure about myself and it was only the second race of the season.
   
          After some thought I came back to the conclusion that I always do. If there was ever a chance for success then there is no reason not to give 100% of your effort. So the coaches and I thought it through and next thing I know I'm outside a hotel in Hochfilzen, Austria doing double pole intervals on the C2 machine. For the past month shooting has been great when it doesn't matter. It's only been the race days that cause the percentage to drop. There were four clean prone stages in row during easy combos today. The ability to relax just isn't my strong point. There are a few things you can do about this. It's much easier said than done though. Since that's the case I'm going to wait for Friday to be over before I divulge any more details. For a sport that is monumentally physically demanding it also has a significant sport psychology side to it.
   
           
         Training was good yesterday and for a change the energy level carried through today. Shooting is back under control. The next race is this Friday. We're skiing on a mix of man made snow, snow from the closest glacier, and even trace amounts from the sky. Still, there isn't much that separates Hochfilzen's December from it's late April right now. The work is done and the pieces are there. All I have to do is put them in place for ten shots and ten kilometers.

Moron Everyone!

        Only in Sweden can you call everyone a moron have them think you're just commenting on the time of day. It does give some strange looks in the afternoon though. To summarize the individual on Wednesday I'll put the details in to three categories.

What Couldn't be Controlled :
-- The conditions post bib 94. It was warm and the course was not holding up well. Some parts were manageable but most of it was a disadvantage for the last start seed. Also it was a tricky day on the range. As indicated by the unusual amount of misses from a WC field.

What I should have Controlled
-- Prone. Or the shot timing, for closer detail. It's hard to trust the sight picture when you want the hit badly. This lead to some over holding and ended with 40% prone shooting.

What I did control.
-- Standing was solid. 90%. The pre pressure on the trigger and sight reaction were spot on aside from the one miss.

          Unfortunately with seven misses at a minute each there isn't much you can do on the result list.  It's rough to think about the missed opportunity knowing how much better training and shooting has been this year. Conversely it's relieving to know there is another chance tomorrow. Not to mention several after that. I've not one to sugar coat the bad days, but I don't believe in basing an entire season off of one race either. I know some old coaches that would do just this, but lets just leave it at that.

        Shooting was good in training today. I don't think the conditions will hold well tomorrow, but with some better focus in prone there is still a good chance for a better day.

Here We Go Again

             Guess what time of year it is? It's time for the 2014/2015 racing to be underway. First race is today.  The mens individual here in Ostersund, Sweden starts at 17:15. That's 11:15 in the AM for everyone back in New Stockholm. Since I'm in the last start seed 17:15 is bit earlier than my start time. It's two minutes past six for me. That's all the details for now. Maybe some more tomorrow when the race is done and over. For now here some pictures from the last week at the office.

If you look closely you can spot the skier on the perfectly groomed trail. 

Sunlight huh? Hope you brought some vitamin D and a headlamp.

Pandemonium  2014

Beards 2014