Austria bound

Two weeks ago were the Jericho rollerski races more formally known as the North American Rollerski Championships. These races were the first two of four which help determine who will fill the last World Cup start spot come November. As well as they basically mark the end of summer training. Like last year the races were very fun and the most competitive biathlon races that will take place in North America this year other then the two World Cup races that will be taking place in Canmore, Canada and Presque Isle, Maine this winter. At the beginning of the summer I was questioning if I would even be able to rollerski by August, that was not a problem and the races went quite well. The first day was a 10km sprint race. I shot clean (hit all my targets) and was 4th place behind athletes who have been consistently racing on the World Cup for the last few seasons. I was also first out the athletes in the selection trials. The second day was a 15km mass start race, this race was really run, I like mass start races because there is way more of a competitive feel, you are head to head with people and it is more of a tactical and mental race then an individual start race. This race I placed 7th with 4 misses, 1 prone and 3 standing. My skiing felt tired compared to the first day but it was still a solid race.

After the races I returned to Craftsbury to continue training. We had an easy week followed by a big volume week. It was nice to put in some good volume/distance training after having a few weeks of lots of intensity to prepare for the races. During the easy week I did my first ever V02 max test, this test measures how much oxygen your body can process and use. To do this you put on a mask connected to a computer that measures your breathing and then go as hard as you can in some physical manner. We did the test on the skierg double pole machine as a 5km time trial. The test took me just under 20 minutes and data was being collected the entire time.

Today I arrived with the rest of the Craftsbury team in Ramsau, Austria. We will be here for two and a half weeks training, the big bonus about coming here is that we will be able to ski on the Dachtein glacier. I have never had the opportunity to have real skiing during the training season or ski on a glacier. So far it is beautiful and I am super excited to be here. Our first day skiing wont be until Sunday so check back soon for pictures of skiing and snow!

Starting the mass start, I am the first person on the far left side #4

Lap 3 of the mass start race, skiing in a good pack

Doing the max V02 test on the skierg

Some technique video

Fishing with Mike and Ethan during some rest week off time

The team cooling off after a long distance workout

The view from out hotel room in Austria

VT Living

I've been in Craftsbury and training full swing for a little over a month now. It took me the first two or three weeks to get in the groove and figure out how things at the outdoor center work, the training, work hours, and eating. Since then things have been going smoothly. The whole set up of the Green Team and Craftsbury Outdoor center is pretty ideal for high level athletes. The Outdoor Center is basically a destination resort, in the summer they host 3-5 day long rowing and running camps where people from all over the country, mostly the east coast, come to eat, sleep, get technique coaching, and relax. At any given time there is usually 40-50 "campers" at the center. We (athletes) are basically employees of the center and we must work an average of 10 hours per week in exchange for our room and board, training, coaching, and travel costs. We get to eat lunch and dinner in the dining hall at the center so we don't have to cook or do dishes which is really awesome!

Some of the projects I have been working on for my work hours around the center are helping build mountain bike trails, making difficulty markers for the mountain bike trails, building a new woodshed, and most recently building an information kiosk. There is a pretty broad range of projects that are available to do, pretty much anything that is improving the Outdoor Center can be counted as work hours. 

Training has been in full summer mode, I have been trying to get in lots of hours and build up a good base for the winter. I don't think I have trained quite as many hours through the mid-summer weeks as I did last year but I am trying to make all of the training I am doing as high of quality as possible. It is really nice to have a team to train with especially during intensity workouts, it makes it easier to push yourself more. I like working with my new coach Pepa, she knows what she is doing and has a good overall handle on training. She has been working with me on my ski technique and I think I have made some good improvements. 

Coming up this weekend is the first two of four rollerski trials races. In March everyone including myself assumed that I would not be racing this weekend because of my crash but I have been doing hard intensity rollerskiing for the last three weeks and have not had any issues so I will be racing. 

The trials are technically selection for the fourth and final World Cup start spot but that spot is also a discretionary pick spot so I guess that by doing the races USBA will be able to survey athletes that aren't on the national team and see if there are any shinning stars. 

Coming up on September 3rd the Green Team, myself included, will be traveling to Ramsau, Austria for a training camp where we will be skiing on the glacier. I am really excited for this trip because I have never been to Europe in the Summer and never skied on a glacier before. 

Shooting drills with the National Guard team in Jericho

Finishing up a hike run at the top of Jay Peak

Rollerskiing near Craftsbury with an fake imitation gun to get used to skiing with the extra weight

The completed woodshed at our house in Craftsbury

Green circle (easy) marker on the Woodward's Wheelie bike trail

The finished information kiosk still in the shop

Bridges on some new bike trail that I helped build

The final phase of recovery

After returning home from moving all of my belongs to Vermont I began the final phase of the recovery process. I have been cleared by the doctors to do anything as long as there is not a risk of taking a high speed fall like I did a couple of months ago, they said that I need rebuild and even out the strength on my left side. I figured the best way to do this was to do exactly the type of things that I did to get as strong as I was in the first place, working outside and training. For the month of June that is exactly what I did. Most days I would get up first thing and get 5-6 hours of work done while it was still nice and cool out take a long lunch break and then train for 2-3 hours in the afternoon. I did lots of fun work projects and had some really fun training days as well. I have pictures of some of the more notable work and training projects/adventures below. 

I collected most of the firewood to get my patents through the winter but first had to build a trailer to haul the logs out of the woods with.

 

A cool old gate I found along a hike run to the top of Milton Mountain. Milton Mountain sits next to Gardner Mountain in Winthrop and I stare up at it wanting to climb it every day... I finally made it!

One of three weight lifting platforms that I made with my dad for Pete at Winthrop PT and Fitness.

Putting the final screws in the roof of the barn that my dad and I build while I was home

I added some wood glue and screws to my broken stock and it is almost as good as new.

My mom and I were working on clearing a trail that had lots of fallen down trees, the first few times I carried the saw up on my back but after clearing enough of the trail that we had to hike UP the steep trail four miles we decided to borrow a horse to carry our stuff for us.

My mom and I went on a backpack trip to Fox lakes, the first day we hiked into the lakes did some fishing and spent the night. The second day we took the "scenic" way home traversing a ridge all day over 7,500 feet and climbing 5 mountains. 

Fox Lakes in the Pasayten Wilderness

The Amazing view we had all day

The last weekend I was home I helped my mom host a biathlon camp for out local Methow Valley Biathlon junior team, one day we drove to Harts pass and all the kids and my mom went one direction on a hike, I went the other direction on a 25 mile run to buckskin lake. It turned out the trail to get there was a little bit harder then I had anticipated and therefor it took me a couple hours longer then I thought but I had packed an extra power bar in my bag and it was a beautiful day making it pretty hard to complain. 

The trail to Buckskin lake... just another day at the office.

Looking down on Buckskin Lake.

I was greeted with watermelon by the campers, it tasted pretty good after my 7 hour adventure.

I am now off to Craftsbury, Vermont to start the real summer training.

More recovery and moving to Vermont

Over the past few weeks I have done quite a bit of traveling and its not ending now. I started out traveling from home in Winthrop back east to Fort Kent where I packed all of my belongings into my car and headed south eventually bound for Vermont. On the way I stopped at Acadia National park in Bar Harbor, Maine and spent the afternoon running and hiking around the mountains in that area. It was pretty cool to see and much different then the northern part of Maine where I have been living. From Bar Harbor I drove to Bangor, Maine where I spent the next four days working for Maddie's dad, Joe, at the Northeastern Loggers Expo. The expo is a huge trade show that Joe organizes every year, there are exhibitors there from all aspects on the logging industry and over 4000 attendees. The first two days I was helping to set up the fair grounds, setting up signs, hanging banners, and doing whatever else needed to be done. For the two days that the expo was going I was a cashier collecting peoples $7 that they would pay to enter the expo. Seeing all of the logging equipment was really cool!

After working at the expo I headed to Craftsbury, Vermont where I will be based out of for at least the next year as I train with and race for the Craftsbury Green Racing Team. On the way to Craftsbury I stopped in New Hampshire and climbed to the top of Mt. Madison one the the peaks in the White Mountain range. I spent 3 days in Craftsbury getting moved and settled in before returning home to Winthrop. 

Yesterday I went to Wenatchee for some doctors appointments, they all went exceptionally well. First I had another EMG test which again was not very fun. The EMG test measures the function of your nerves and in order to do this they stab you with a needle then shock your muscle with the needle and measure your nerves response. Luckily this time I only had about 6 stabs rather then the 30 stabs I had last time. The results of this test came back really good and the doctor was very surprised to see my progress from the last test. The EMG showed that my nerve is functionally fully and normally. The neurologist said the amount of regained function I gained usually takes 4-6 months, it has been 6 weeks since I had the first EMG test. Such a quick recovery of my nerve and shoulder function I think is largely due to the tremendous help I received from Pete Dickinson at Winthrop PT he was keeping my on track and helping me almost daily to recover and regain my mobility, it clearly paid off. Thank you Pete!

After the EMG test I saw doctor Clarke who is an internal medicine specialist, I have been working with him as my general doctor through my entire recovery. Dr. Clarke reviewed a recent CT scan of my lung and looked at my overall well being. The CT of my lung showed that the large bruise that I previously had is almost entirely healed. He was very happy to see this as well as a little surprised that it healed so quickly. Looking forward I need to work on regaining the strength back in my shoulder and rotator cuff and recreate a balance of my upper body. 

Right now I am on my way to Boulder, Colorado where in conjunction to Colorado Biathlon Club I am hosting a spring shooting clinic. I will be coaching two days of intense biathlon shooting training at the Boulder Rifle Club's indoor range. I am pretty excited about this and think it will be a fun weekend. After the clinic I will return home to Winthrop to finish my recovery before heading to Craftsbury, Vermont to begin training. 

The car packed up and ready to move to Vermont

HIking in Acadia National Park

The view from the top of Mt. Cadillac in Acadia National Park

You know it was a successful run when...

Just a small sample of the equipment at the logging expo

A stump grinder/rototiller at the expo

Sitting inside a tree feller

Inside a log skidder

The top of Mt. Madison, New Hampshire

Arriving in Craftsbury, Vermont

The Future: recovery and new training opportunities

The last few weeks I have been busy working on my recovery and trying to figure out what I am going to for training for the next year. I have made really good progress on both. For next year I have been accepted in the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (GRP) in Craftsbury, Vermont and will be leaving the Maine Winter Sports Center. The Craftsbury GRP has had an elite level cross county program for several years and more currently added an elite level biathlon program. With lots of program changes happening at the Maine Winter Sports Center I felt that making the switch to the Craftsbury team would be the most beneficial for myself and for my training. The Maine Winter Sports Center has given me lots of opportunity and support and really helped me progress as an athlete. You can read more about MWSC happenings here and here. I am really excited about the opportunity to join the GRP! More info about the GRP can be found on their website: www.craftsbury.com

My recovery has been progressing very well! Three weeks ago I saw Pete at Winthrop PT for the first time and could not lift my left arm more then one inch, yesterday I was doing overhead presses with 15lb weights in each hand. I have been seeing Pete 2-3 times per week, he has been helping me break up the scar tissue and stretch my shoulder and back in order to regain mobility. The quick progress I have made has been really cool to watch, almost everyday I have noticed an improvement in my mobility and/or strength. In addition to PT I have been exercising everyday. I started out on the sit down stationary bike but since have progressed through the upright stationary bike and treadmill to being able to run outside continuously for an hour. This is a long ways from where I was 8 weeks with 20 broken bones, a punctured lung, and hardly able to walk in the hospital. 

At my last doctors visit I was almost given a clean bill of health, almost being the key word. After 8 weeks all of my bone fractures have healed pretty solidly and I can ease back into normal life paying attention to any pain that I have, especially in my shoulder. I cannot do anything hard intensity wise because of my lung and have to avoid anything that could leave me with a hard crash on my shoulder like mountain biking or roller skiing. 

At the end of May I will be getting another EMG nerve test to make sure that the function is fully returning like it seems to be. If the results of this test come back good I will be moving to Vermont in the early part of June to begin real training. 

Enjoying the sun flowers and snow covered mountains on a hike with my mom.

Helping pour concrete for a center pivot irrigation system, I was the head supervisor and photographer

The first baby lamb born of my family's sheep

National team nominations and more recovery

Yesterday came the much awaited phone call from the US Biathlon national team where I learned if I will be named to any teams, receive any support, or get the attend any camps where I could train with the national team athletes and coaches. I found out that I will not be receiving anything, no coaching, no training group, no support, nothing, they have totally dropped me. This was very frustrating to hear, especially because there are several athletes who I beat in every race all season, except for one, who got named to the national team and are getting full support, full national team coaching, and full opportunity to have the top level training group. I was told that these athletes were named to the national team because they did well at the national championship and showed promise for improvement. This makes me wonder if USBA remembers that won the IBU cup trials in December and had one of the best single results of any American on the IBU cup this season. Additionally I can say with confidence that if I did not crash and was able to complete the season I would have been one of the top US athletes in Canmore at the IBU cups and at nationals.

I could go on and on with reasons and statistics of how I have proved myself and have better results then the athletes USBA is naming to the national team and supporting but that will not help the situation. From here I look forward to making a full recovery and becoming a better faster biathlete.

In much more positive news my recovery is continuing to go very well, I had another doctors visit and have started physical therapy. My lung, ribs, and back are continuing to heal well and I have been cleared to increase my activity level, 1 hour continuous up to two times per day of walking or stationary biking. My shoulder is what the doctors are still concerned with most but it seems to be getting better and they are unsure if I will need surgery, like they had previously thought. For now I will begin to rehab it and we will re-access in June if I need surgery or not. My first "official" physical therapy appointment went really well I was able to lift my arm all the way over my head!! A week ago I unable to lift my arm at all. Pete Dickinson and Winthrop Physical Therapy has been very helpful and supportive of me and I look forward to continue working with them through my recovery process.

In my spare time I used our BBQ as a smoker to make smoked lamb shanks for dinner one night

I have also been making Dr. Betsy's Lamburgeenie dog treats, for sale at Winthrop Vet Services

Doctors, Adventuring, and Shearing

Last week I had another doctors visit which I considered to be overall successful. I saw Dr. Tornabene a neurologist,  Dr. Clarke my primary care doctor, and in the parking lot happened to run into Dr. Thorson my orthopedic doctor. Dr. Tornabene gave me and EMG test which I wont lie was not fun at all! You lay on your side while he repeatedly stabs you with a needle for about 20 minutes, the needles with some electric currents measures your nerve functions. The results of this test came back saying that my super scapular nerve is pinched which limits my arm (rotator cuff) function. The good news is that the nerve is probably not completely severed and we know that there is a problem so we can begin to find a solution. The way that my nerve is pinched is a very uncommon problem and so there is not a specific fix. The team of doctors has been researching the problem trying to find the best possible solution, I will see Dr. Thorson again on Monday to make a plan of action.

My visit with Dr. Clarke was much more promising. He had another CT scan done on my lung and did a general examination. The lung, ribs, and back are continuing to heal well. He said that it is okay to do easy physical activity (keep my heart rate under 150) as long as I am pain free. As far as what activities I can do, I cannot rollerski for a few months because of the high risk of falling which could re-injure my shoulder. Depending on how my shoulder heals I could maybe bike in two months if I am able to safely control the bike with two hands, again I can't crash and re-injure my shoulder. Within the next four weeks I can begin to run on the treadmill as long as I am not pailful anywhere.

Before I crashed my girlfriend Maddie and I had made the plan that after nationals in Truckee, California we were going to take my parents truck camper and go for a road trip along the coast of California and Oregon for a few days before coming home to the Methow where we ski, snowmobile, and adventure the mountains. Obviously this didn't happen, but Maddie still came to visit anyway. We had to scale back our adventures but were still able to have some fun. She chauffeured me around and we explored some places of the Methow she had not yet seen. With the help of my friend Matty (bro Matty not girlfriend Maddie) the three of us took our four wheeler to the top of Washington pass before it was open for highway traffic. I put on a big jacket and enjoyed the smooth ride up the paved road into the mountains. Even though I couldn't really play in them it was nice to at least see the mountains.

Yesterday we sheared my family's sheep, this is a pretty big event and it is planned so that I am home after ski season to help. I couldn't help much this year but was still out in the barn for entertainment if nothing else.

I figured out how to do some air rifle shooting with only one arm

Maddie and I out exploring the Methow 

One the the giant Kodiak Northwest snowblowers at the top of Washington Pass

Some more exploring with Maddie 

Martin the sheep shearer with one of our sheep 

The woolless sheep after being shorn