New York and Zac Brown

Last week I had an easy week of training so I made the most of the opportunity and visited my girlfriend, Maddie's house in Old Forge, New York. It was a great few days of relaxing, we hiked to the top of Bald Mountain where there was a fire tower, we went paddle boating which I was very excited about because I had not gone since I was in 3rd grade, it turned out to be much less exciting then I remember. We also went to the Enchanted Forest Water Safari which is a huge water/amusement park in Old Forge, it was super fun and the perfect thing since it was pretty hot out. On the last full day that I was in Old Forge I helped the Phaneuf family get fire wood, I thought it was really interesting because it was different then I am used to, all of the wood we collected was still green rather then already dead and since there is so much undergrowth you could not drive right to where the wood was cut we had to carry it to the truck. I enjoyed getting wood because it has been a while since I had done any kind of real work and I probably wont get to do any more for a while. After we finished getting wood we went and jumped off the green bridge into the Moose river.

On the way back to Fort Kent Maddie and I stopped in Hartford, Connecticut for a Zac Brown Band concert. Zac was really good live he played all of his hit songs as well as some I hadn't heard before.

Now I am back in Fort Kent training. It is very humid here.

Next week I will be heading to southern Maine to help out with a MWSC junior camp.

Enchanted Forest Water Safari 

Maddie loading wood

Jumping off "green bridge"

Maddie and I at Zac Brown

Zac Brown Band

New York Vermont and more...

 This past week I completed my first of training with the National team in Lake Placid, New York. It included several rollerski combos workouts, a running combo workout, strength, and some rollerskiing and running without shooting. Overall it was a very effective week of training. After most training sessions I like to ask myself, "did this workout make me a better biathlete?" If I can answer yes then I feel like I am training well and doing the right thing, I was able to answer yes after almost every workout I did. 

Some highlights from the camp were, being able to train around athletes that are much better then I am and seeing what I have to do to get to their level and getting one on one coaching with the national team coach Jonas. With Jonas I did some SCATT shooting which is where my rifle gets hooked up to a computer system and all of the barrel movements are tracked while dry firing. I also did some ski technique work on a rollerski treadmill. A rollerski treadmill is similar to a running treadmill but the tread is much wider and longer, this was my first time on a rollerski treadmill and a little scary at first but I quickly got the hang of it. Some advantages of the rollerski treadmill are your coach can stand and watch you and give you feedback all the time because your not actually going anywhere. There is also a giant mirror in front of you and a video camera filming from the side with a live feed to a TV in front of you so that you can watch yourself ski. I thought that this instant visual feedback was incredibly beneficial. I feel like I came away with several things to improve on over the summer while in Maine before going to my next National Team camp in August. 

After Lake Placid I traveled to Craftsbury, Vermont where I trained and lived with the Craftsbury Green Racing Project for a few days. This was fun because I got to catch up with a few friends that I have not seen in a while and it gave me a bit of a mental break from focused training while still able to do some training. 

Next I am going to Old Forge, New York to visit my girlfriends house for a few days, then I am going to a Zac Brown Band concert in Connecticut before going back up to Maine for the summer.

Driving into Lake Placid 

Lake Placid Olympic Training Center

BBQ Chicken Pizza, the last meal I cooked in Maine

I brought my basil and spinach plants with me so they wouldn't die while I was away 

On a hike in Lake Placid Maddie found a Toad

A Fire tower on top of Hurricane mountain near Lake Placid

Some of the nicest roller skiing I have ever had, fresh blacktop, blue sky, and green grass

On an off day I visited the Adirondack museum, there were some really cool exhibits including these old canoes 

An old speed boat at the Adirondack museum

A giant Adirondack chair at the Adirondack museum

Crossing Lake Champlain on my way to Craftsbury

A cool view of the ferry

Working on a hydraulic ram pump in Craftsbury trying to get water pumped up to the pigs and cows 

The pump uses water pressure to pump the water up the hill and we were struggling to get water to the top

Finally we got a better stream of water flowing

A cool road I drove on in central VT

An AWESOME snowcat I drove by in the VT mountains

A fire tower on top of Bald Mountain near Old Forge New York

Maddie and I on top of Bald Mountain with the Fulton Chain of Lakes in the background 

Maine... Training Training Training

I have now been in Maine for one full week and it has been full of lots of training, morning and afternoon sessions almost everyday. One of the things that makes Fort Kent such a great place to train is the roller ski loop and shooting range. For those of you that don't know, here in Fort Kent, Maine the ski trails are paved so you can roller ski on them as well as roller ski right up to the shooting range. This set up is ideal for biathlon training.
Since there is the great roller skiing facilities here I have been doing lots of combo training (roller skiing with shooting) this week as well as some running and biking.

It has been a few months since I had been in my room here in Fort Kent and when I arrived I felt like it was exceptionally dirty so I spent the first few days I was here doing lots of sweeping, moping, scrubbing, and washing of my room, the entire downstairs area, and the kitchen. My dad told me it was "practice to make someone a good wife", not exactly what I wanted to hear.

In other non biathlon related news I bought my first jalapeno pepper, I read somewhere that hot peppers are supposed to have something in them that is good for you, wether or not that is true I don't know but wanted to try on regardless even though I am not that into spicy foods. I figured the 3 cent investment would be worth a try. So far I have used about 1/6 of it in a potato stir fry dish and it was not to bad.

Flying out of Boston on my way to Presque Isle. 

Shooting Training at the 10th mountain center in Fort Kent.

Before and after what started out as a pouring rain bike ride, the rain stopped after about 5 minutes

The newest biggest truck at the Fort Kent Chevy dealer

Skiing to Canoeing

The skiing in Bend continued to be amazing, it would freeze overnight and be a bit icy and fast first thing and soften up into perfect corn snow by late morning. I was able to ski almost every morning that I was there and then I would go either running or mountain biking in the afternoon. I want to give a big thank you to the Shannon family for letting me stay with them in Bend. Not only did they have a bed but they fed me everyday as well!

On Friday of Memorial day weekend I drove home to the Methow and then went on a Canoe trip Saturday, Sunday, Monday with my mom and the Rorher family. This trip was the perfect recovery activity after two weeks of hard training. A highlight of the trip was that my friend Jacqueline flew into our campsite with her family on Sunday and brought us some delicious strawberry peach cobbler.

On this coming Saturday I am heading back out to Fort Kent, Maine to begin my summer training with the Maine Winter Sports center.

Also there was a nice article written on fasterskier about me... http://fasterskier.com/article/biathlete-on-the-rise-smith-earns-national-team-nomination-as-u-s-builds-for-future/ 

Perfect ski tracks in Bend

Canoeing on Ross Lake 

A Bridge over one of the creeks flowing into the lake

There were lots of waterfalls cascading down ( We must have been in the cascade mountains)

Jacqueline getting back in her plane with boomer

The crew both canoers and flyers

Bend

Last Tuesday I drove down to Bend, Oregon for an on snow skiing
camp. While most places in the US finally got rid of all there snow and are ready for summer in Bend you can have the best of both worlds. Just a short drive up to the base of Mount Bachelor and there is great skiing, its usually best in the morning when it is a little colder so what I have been skiing for a few hours in the morning and then running in 80+ degree wether in the afternoon. Another plus is that the rest of national team is here so I have been able to train with them for the first time. I have been getting technique pointers from the coaches and learning lots just from skiing behind Tim and Lowell two of the best biathletes in the world.  

Driving up to Mt. Bachelor

Not lots to say but lots of pictures

Even though I have been very busy lately I don't have very much to blog about. This time of year there are so many fun activities it can be hard to be a good athlete, balancing training, resting, working, and playing., but I have been trying the best that I can. 

My girlfriend Maddie came to visit and we got to so some skiing

This spring I have been fortunate enough to work with Madshus testing Backcountry skis. Unfortunately the weather has been so nice that I have been getting sunburned.

Mountain goats I came across while on an adventure 

Sick and bad mothers mean that we have to bottle feed baby lambs

Entering the Lake Chelan Sawtooth Wilderness area on a long run

I decided to turn around when the trail became more snow then not

A high ridge on a snowmobiling adventure

Some Cascade mountains 

I did some motorcycle riding with a friend and once again our turn around point came when we hit to much snow. 

Home, National Team, and other happenings

It's been a while since my last post so for those of you who have been anxiously waiting for an update I am truly sorry. After helping and cheering at the Junior World Championships in February I returned to Fort Kent where I trained before heading to Jericho, Vermont for US Biathlon Nationals. Even though my placing at nationals was not that bad, 2nd Individual, 2nd Sprint, 3rd Mass start, I felt like I was racing at a sub par level, not focused, and not skiing fast.

After Nationals I visited my girlfriends house in Old Forge, New York. This was my first time in upstate New York and it was pretty cool to see the Adirondack mountains.

Overlooking the Adirondack Mountains 

Skiing at Mount Mccauley With Maddie

After Old Forge I traveled to Mammoth Mountain, California for the Mammoth Biathlon Festival where I helped put on beginner biathlon clinics for two days and then raced in the Uber Elite race at the end of the weekend. This was my second time helping with the Mammoth Biathlon Festival and I really enjoyed it. There was lots of enthusiasm and sunshine! The surprise on this trip was my two best friends from home showed up to see me without any warning. They were on spring break and doing a rock climbing/Las Vegas trip. Before I flew home I was able to go rock climbing with them which I had not done for over a year and it was very fun.

Flying into LAX (palm trees not the typical sight when going to a ski race)

Mammoth Biathlon Venue 

Rock climbing with Marc and Matty

My next stop after Mammoth was home (Washington State) I was last here in October and it was nice to be back for a while. One of the best things was it was the first time I was in the same spot for longer then two weeks since November, I no longer had to live out of my suit case. While at home I have been able to have some fun days in the mountains backcountry skiing and snowmobiling. My family also has a small sheep farm and I was back just in time for shearing and lambing.  

I recently found out that I was named to the United States Biathlon National B-team am pretty excited about this because I am one of only five men in the country to be on the National team. Unfortunately I do not get to train with the rest of the National team full time in Lake Placid, but I have been invited to train with them at several camps throughout the summer and fall. 

On the 13th of May I will be driving to Bend, Oregon for an early season on snow training camp before heading back to Fort Kent, Maine to continue training. 

Our new sheep guard dog puppy

New baby lambs trying to find milk from their mom

Snowmobiling in the North Cascades 

Backcountry skiing with my mom