God Jul!
God Jul is essentially the Norwegian translation for Merry Christmas! I feel Christmas came early when I had the opportunity to go to Norway for early season training and racing ON SNOW. A bit hard to come by snow in November these days.
I will begin by saying this trip would absolutely not have been possible without Lexie and Alex, American biathletes who live in Norway. I am very very grateful for them, their kindness, their hospitality, and their competition that pushes me to be better.
So why Norway?
A big factor I struggle with is confidence and experience. I feel like a fish out of water when I race and experience a really high level of stress that is not healthy or productive. I chose to run head first into this problem to try and solve it. More races should equal more confidence and experience, right? This coupled with conversations with a Sport Psychologist to approach racing a different, and hopefully better, way.
So where did you go?
Lillehammer, Sjusjoen, Geilo, Beitostølen, Oslo
So how long were you there?
November 10 - December 2 so give or take 3 weeks with the travel days that kind of count kind of don’t. I started my journey at 7:30pm November 9th with a redeye across the Atlantic. Finally made it to Lillehammer just before midnight the 10th so it was close to touching 3 days of travel.
We trained at Sjusjoen, host venue for the IBU Cup and Open European Championships this season, then hopped in the car for Geilo to race the biathlon Sesongstart. These are the races that pick the biathlon World Cup team. Truthfully, I felt jet lagged and unprepared having only skied on snow two times before the race, but that is all a part of the adventure! There is definitely a lesson in here on what it takes to make our sport work when we don’t live on the continent where most of the racing happens. I shot well enough to be happy, cleaning prone, and excited for more racing to come. It was a really inspiring to be racing some of the best in the world as well, toeing the line with Olympic Medalist Dorothea Wierer (Italy), World Championships Medalist Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold (Norway), and many more, it would be unreasonable to write all their names down.
We then went to Beitostølen for the season opener for cross-country skiing; the races that pick the World Cup team for cross-country. Lexie raced the classic sprint and I cheered! I considered racing the 10km skate but really didn’t want to bother trying to get a USSA and FIS license renewed at the last minute and all those associated costs. It is a very nice venue, has a biathlon range, and extremely beautiful mountains, so I hope to return in the future.
Then we went back to Lillehammer where we got to watch the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup opener (all the winter sports are starting!) and cheered on the TEAM USA athletes. This was my first time seeing ski jumping up close and it is as crazy as it looks on TV. The atmosphere of fans was loud and lively.
And then back to Geilo again for the ASKO Cup which I think we could compare to the Super Tour here in the US as the biathlon race circuit in Norway. Athletes can move up to the IBU Cup from these races so it was very competitive. I had a rough race to be completely honest, I tried shooting a little faster and ended up missing two out of five targets in prone, then I fell flat on my face and broke my pole. I skied my penalty laps with one pole before a very kind man handed me a spare and I managed to keep it together for the rest of the race. I hit all five of my standing targets and skied decently enough with a bruised ego and borrowed equipment. Ultimately, I decided that is plenty and did not race the second day, the smart choice.
Leaving the races a day early gave me the opportunity to spend quality time with Alex and newly introduced friend Lora in Oslo, getting to ski loops at Holmenkollen, host venue of IBU World Cup finals this season, and be a tourist at the Christmas Market. My bags will definitely be overweight with all the chocolate I am bringing back.
So what is next?
I am very glad I came, raced, and gained experience. I don’t feel like I ever found that “next gear” to shift into while racing, so I look forward to finding more speed and cleaning more races. In mid-December, I will race US Team Trials, to include Phase 3 of the Olympic Team Selection, happening in Craftsbury, Vermont. The weather has been favorable and we have been getting lots of snow so I have been enjoying many days on the fat skis touring the Green Mountains!
As always, thank you for taking the time to read and be a part of the journey :)
