Casey Smith Biathlete: On the move

It has been a while since my last blog post, luckily for you blog readers out there it was not because I had nothing to blog about but the fact that I was doing so much I had no time to blog. I am now back in Fort Kent and have some time to catch up. My last post I was finishing up a big training block in Utah that went very well and I think will help me a lot this winter.

After Utah I traveled home to Washington for four days where I did some training and did as much normal person living as I could before Winter sets in and I just live the athlete life. Now that I mentioned it I am not exactly sure what most peoples normal people living is, but for me it usually involves lots of work around the house and with the sheep. Every time I go home I am enjoying working with the sheep more and more so all of that "work" is a good thing. Some of the sheep work we did was trim the rams feet, kind of like trimming your toe nails, so that they are in good shape for breading season which is coming up soon. This task became a lot easier a couple years ago when we purchased a sheep hoof trimming table. The hoof trimming table is basically a big cage that the sheep walks into and then pivots so that they are mostly upside down. This way the feet are accessible and when the sheep is on its back it becomes more docile. Before we had the table we would basically just wrestle the sheep onto their back and then have to bend over and hold their feet up, I don't think words can really explain how much easier the trimming table makes this job. Another sheep related job I helped with was shipping the wool that we had shorn off the sheep in the Spring. We stuff the wool into these bigs burlap sacks then bundle two sacks together which weigh about about 50 pounds then take it to the post office where we ship it to the a woolen mill. In a few months the mill will send us back blankets that we will sell.

While at home I also helped get, split, and stack more firewood as well as I got a load of hay and stacked it in the barn. Another fun thing that I did at home was go hunting with my friend Remington, we didn't get anything but it was pretty fun hiking around in the woods.

Maddie striking a pose over the Heber valley on the last day in Utah

Trimming the rams feet, if you look close you can see the sheeps feet through the blue grate, its head is over by my dad and near the ground

A pickup load of wood with trailer of hay behind

The river near our house, I thought it looked nice so I had to take a picture

Clare Egan and I finishing ski walking intervals in the pouring rain

Taking wool to the post office

The post master labeling the wool for shipping

Remington and I hunting

More hunting

The view from the top of the hill that we got to while hunting

After my time at home I traveled to Winter Park, Colorado where I coached a masters biathlon clinic with my friend and teammate Raleigh Goessling. I flew from Seattle to Denver, and was pretty proud of how I got from my Grandpa's house in Seattle to the airport. Keep in mind I had my backpack, ski bag, and rifle case for all of this. So I started at the house walked to the end of the block where I got on the city bus. I rode the city bus downtown where I got off and walked about a block to the light rail station, I then took the light rail to the airport. I then had to walk about a quarter mile from the airport light rail station to the airline checkin desk, I was envious of all the other travelers with their small roller bags wheeling along while I was struggling but I considered hauling my stuff around my strength workout for the day.

The camp in Colorado went really well. There were a lot of beginners and new rifles but we got everyone started on the right foot and excited to learn more about biathlon. It seemed like everyone went home with more shooting skills as well as Raleigh and I made some money which is why we hosted the camp in the first place. After the camp I put together a blog page for the campers that has a lot of information about biathlon and training for biathlon. Even though I made it so that people at our camp could have all the info we talked about I want anyone interested in learning more about biathlon to be able to use it as a resource. The blog address is biathlonresourceusa.blogspot.com

Driving over the Cascade mountains to Seattle

Riding the bus with all my stuff going to the airport

The biathlon range in Colorado

Most of the campers in Colorado, a few had to go home early

After Colorado I traveled back east for the second set of rollerski trials races in Jericho, Vermont. These were the final two races to determine who will go to the first three World Cup races for the US. Because of the way the selection process works the only people that still had a chance to qualify after the August races were Russell Currier, Sean Doughty, and Annelise Cook. There was one spot for the guys and two for the girls, Russell struggled with his shooting over the weekend so it looks like Sean will be the fourth guy for the US and they will not fill both spots on the womens side and only take Annelise. I struggled with my shooting a bit in these races, I think that I need to do some more practice shooting during intensity sessions. My skiing was pretty solid both days, not great but not terrible either.