Time has been flying by as per usual. Finally a major rest week has encouraged me, no provided me with a magnitude of time that I am rarely privileged with, to catch up on blog updates and well lets face it, life in general!

So… to start with I made some changes this year. I yearned for change and feelings of assurance, satisfaction, contentment and happiness was necessary for me to continue. I suppose those feelings were on the up and up before the training year even started while on my vacation in Greece. What I did not mention in my last blog was that a wonderful man got down on one knee and proposed to me…. and I zealously replied yes

Following the elation of vacation and the whole bit, I promptly needed to make a decision about biathlon and training. Therefore, after 10 years of being on the National Team as a junior and senior athlete, I left the program and joined a new team/program/club called the Biathlon Alberta Development Training Center with coach Richard Boruta. I strongly felt a change in environment would be a positive step, in addition to having the confidence in the direction with Richard Boruta; a former coach of mine that I worked with until 2006 and had tremendous success with. Thus far, training has been going extremely well and I’m looking forward to regaining my spot on the National Team for the winter and competing for medals this season at the World Cup. Furthermore, we have been incredibly fortunate to have an amazing new assistant coach working with us. From being my competitor just last season, Swedish Olympic Champion, Anna Carin Zidek, has now transitioned from biathlete to assisting Richard coaching our team this summer!

During the month of May we began our training in Silverstar, BC, skiing, and biking. There was still a ton of snow on the Sovereign Lakes trails so was fantastic skiing in the morning. Great way to start out the training year.

June was spent in Canmore, focusing on volume training and a ton of shooting. We spent 3 days on a mini bike and kayak camp in Invermere, BC, which was a great escape from the “June” showers we were experiencing in Canmore.  (It’s more like June showers bring July flowers here in the Canmore Rockies… )

July started with a “Testival” with the National Team. We did a running time trial up Sulphur Mountain, double pole test up Mt. Norquay, and a skate time trial up Mt. Norquay. In between time trial days, we had 2 shooting tests – a 600 score Precision test, and a speed/accuracy test the next day. There was a point system in order to calculate the overall final winner of the week. And the final champs for men and women were Brendan Green and myself!

The following two weeks included 2 mini camps up to the Haig glacier in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, technically referred to as the Beckie Scott Training Facility. I often am asked what it is like up there or how we get in as it is in the heart of Kananaskis Country. To start with, we athletes, and staff have to run roughly 2 ½ hours into the base camp, about 20km from the nearest parking lot at Upper Kananaskis Lake. The helicopter flies in/out on Mondays, airlifting ski gear to the glacier and luggage to base camp. So thankfully we are only running in with sport drink and a bar! Though it must be a disconcerting to the avid backpacker on a 3-day trek, when suddenly 10 athletes come scuttling through with only a drink belt and bear spray! Notice I mentioned bear spray… yes there is a good population of grizzly and black bears in the area and it’s rare to not see one while in the park, that’s why it is so important to be yelling AYO, or your dog’s name, even if he’s not with you and has been dead for 3 years. Along the way we pass two backpacking campgrounds, Forks and Turbine. About 30 minutes pass Turbine we reach our rock field moonscape camp, consisting of sleeping, training and cooking huts. To reach the skiing on the glacier, we hike another 45 minutes up the ridge along Mount Jelicoe to reach the Glacier at just over 2700 meters. A propane powered snow cat grooms a 5-6km ski track allowing the athletes to train in both classic and free techniques.

Basically our days consist of hiking, skiing loop after loop, eating a ton, dead to the world naps, card games, monopoly, Frisbee golf, and maybe an evening movie. At times I dread the camp because of amount of training and the feeling of altitude… but once I’m there, I love it. It always feels great to be away from it all up on a mountaintop, especially when the weather is spectacular. And of course, there are always amusing events. For instance, this year a marmot (which is a very large rodent that lives in the high alpine) snuck into the kitchen and was hiding under the fridge. I swore I saw something scamper under the fridge when I grabbed some milk for my tea. It ended up taking an astonishing long time for us to convince the marmot to get out from under the fridge and exit out the door only a foot away. Probably having an entire team of athletes watching the escapade unfold did not entice the marmot to leave his little hideout. And poking him with broomsticks under the fridge only caused him to make sad whimpers. It made you want to grab the little guy and give him a hug. But trust me, when you see them sneaking into the outhouses and eating poo, that attraction rapidly dissipates.

On a side informational note, due to the area being within a park there are strict guidelines for environmental safety which include solar power used for powering buildings, propane for heating building and water, propane outhouses to burn human waste, 5 step grey water filtration, all reusable materials recycled and all garbage flown out.

Well, now it’s already August and we are on a wonderful little rest week. I have decided to be a homebody this time and have just been living the life on my deck, swimming at the Canmore waterhole called the Quarry, and commuting around town on my townie. This weekend is calling for some rock climbing. Can’t wait!

My spring was a wonderful whirlwind of events!

After a not so great World Cup racing season, I flew to Charlo, New Brunswick for National Championships to finish the year off. I had an excellent end to the year, winning all 4 events (Individual, Sprint, Pursuit and Mixed Relay). The last time we had Nationals in Charlo, I recall very warm weather and freezing rain…. This year it was proving all over the country that April was going to be a cold month, and Charlo was no exception. It was between -10*C to – 15*C all week, but it really wasn’t all that bad because it meant hard packed great ski conditions! Highlights of Nationals included: a bunch of us senior women and local volunteers hosting a Biathlon Fast & Female event for the local young female skiers, a sugar shack evening (lots of fresh maple syrup gorging), and a final banquet with a very special guest – Romeo Dallaire. Of course, in his best form he truly presented an excellent motivational and inspiring speech.

With that finished, I thought I was headed straight to vacation…. Alas I was not! Myself and a teammate, Scott Perras, had an invitation to attend a fun Biathlon competition in Russia. I was home for just under 2 weeks, then flew to Munich to hop on a charter flight with other athletes/support staff for Kamchatka, Russia… well let me tell you that was a exhausting never ending over 35 hour travel day(s). (Trust me, if I’d had the choice, I would have flown through Alaska or China!!!)

I had heard Kamchatka was beautiful… well we arrived to heavy rainstorms causing rivers in the city streets. It was a muddy mess. Thankfully near the end of the  week the weather cleared and we were able to see the beautiful snow capped volcanoes that surround the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. I had a decent sprint finishing 10th (out of 35) but a bad pursuit finishing 17th. However, REALLY, it only matters if you win the Pursuit… because this meant winning a Mercedes. Sweet deal! The last 2 days were definitely the highlight as were spoiled with a huge banquet with live music… first up London Beat. Before the banquet I had to have my Romanian roommate, Eva, sing to me because I was like who are there??? Right so I was 6 when their single, “I’ve been thinking about you,” came out. There was also a famous Russian rock star named Dimitri… he definitely looked like he just stepped in from the ’80s… no joke. And even Boney M was there! Of course he performed Daddy Cool and Rasputin! On the last day before leaving, we had an “excursion day.” We left the city and drove on terrible roads for over 2 hrs to arrive farther into the wilderness. We had the privilege of going to a family’s house in the forest and meeting their 40 different dog sledding, and ski-jouring dogs, including a famous world champion ski-jouring dog! We then went for a dog sled ride and learnt how to ride/steer the sled ourselves. We ate fresh smoked salmon, learnt about how the natives live traditionally, snuggled with a Kamchatka bear hide, and just thoroughly enjoyed the peacefulness of the forest. After a few hours there we hopped on the bus again, and drove “forever” over rough roads again, to randomly arrive at some natural hot springs in the middle of nowhere. We finished off the day soaking in various small ponds watching the sunset against the volcanoes… Truly a great finish to the week!

Following my exotic week in Kamchatka, it was time for vacation and rest. I flew to Athens, meeting my boyfriend at a hostel under the Acropolis. A few amazing days in Athens exploring the ruins, then off to a romantic few days in Santorini (as beautiful and incredible as people say, and pictures emulate), then 6 days rock climbing on the island of Kalymnos (wicked). 2 weeks of absolute bliss!

And then it was time for reality once again…