Utah Week 1

The first week of training in Utah is finished and was very successful. I did lots of volume training as well as some intensity toward the end of the week. The majority of the training was roller skiing and running with one strength workout and one long hike.

On Friday we did a head to head speed workout with the Canadian National Team, this is basically a mass start race but with short ski loops, only about 1km rather then the standard 3km that you would do in a real mass start race. I thought this was the most fun workout we did all week, I really like head to head workouts because you can push yourself to keep up with people better then you and there is an additional mental challenge of actually racing the person right next to you and knowing that if you are ahead of them you are beating them. I shot really well in this race with only one miss in my first prone stage. I finished 4th overall and was the first American, I was pretty excited about this because it was the first time I have beat the guys on the A team in any race of time trial.

Full results from head to head workout with Canadians

An afternoon run with Maddie above our house in Midway, Utah

A view of the venue at Solider Hollow

The range at Solider Hollow

Another highlight workout of the week was climbing Mt. Timpanogos, the second tallest peak in Utah. I always enjoy getting to the top of any mountain but this one was extra cool because anytime I come to Solider Hollow I see Mt. Timp towering above the venue and think about how it would be fun to get to the top. Now I have! The hike took me 4 hours and 45 minutes, there is a pretty good trail that went all the way to the top of the 11,752 ft summit, there was a snow in a few places and we had to use a little extra caution but overall it was a super fun hike.

View of Mt. Timp from the driveway of our house 

Hiking up the trail to Mt. Timp

Hiking toward the top of Mt. Timp

The top of Mt. Timp with an observation deck/shelter

This guy came up to say hi at the top

Coming up October 18-19 Raleigh Goessling and I will be hosting a masters biathlon camp in Granby, Colorado. This will be similar to the camp that we hosted last year in the Methow Valley and is open to any masters biathlete interested in improving their biathlon skills before the season starts. We are hosting the camp to earn money for our upcoming race season and as a way help improve the level of biathlon knowledge in the US. The event registration can be found here. 

Raleigh and I at last years masters camp in the Methow Valley