Wednesday, April 1, 2009

2009 Canadian National Championships


Another season has come to a close and another step has been made forward in achieving my long term goals. The season was concluded with Canadian National Championships in Valcartier, Quebec. With an average shooting performance (and been a little tired at the end of the season), I depended heavily on my skiing speed to carry through my performances. I finished the week with three gold medals in the Junior Individual (15 km), Sprint (10km), and Relay (3X 6km) competitions. This came directly after, two podium finishes at the North American Cup #7 in Fort Kent, Maine. I was the top Canadian Junior, and second overall in both the Pursuit (12.5km) and Mass Start(15km) competitions.
The results were encouraging for next season, and left me motivated to train hard leading into the summer. I look forward to the summer training in Squamish, BC, and am eager to make another step forward for next year. I have alot to work on, but am focused entirely on bringing my shooting to a higher level. I am still hungry for a top 20 result at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Torsby, Sweden which is realistic based on my current ability. April is very low key, with almost 4 weeks of active recovery. This is not a complete break, but mainly a mental rest from the day to day schedule of the rest of the year. I look forward to the “vacation” and coming back in May, clear minded, and physically rested.