Haywood NorAm Mini Tour Results

The end of 2010 finished for me with the Haywood NorAm Mini Tour in Rossland, BC. I am U23 and the results from Friday and Sunday were also Canada Winter Games trials for me. I knew my ability coming into this season and I knew I wasn't in contention for the podium. I was capable of a top 30 overall result but in the back of my mind I was really hoping to test my limits this weekend and have at least one all-out race. The tour opened with a 1.6km Sprint Qualification (Skate) on Friday with the top 30 finishers qualifying for heats and time bonuses. 1st place received a 60 second bonus in the overall tour with 30th earining 2. I had 49th qualifying time which was a disappointment but also gave me the afternoon to re-focus for the next two days. Saturday was my best chance for a good result and maybe make up some time in the overall tour with one of my favorite: a 10km skate. The snow was hard packed and the skiing was really quick for everyone. I finished in 22:55.7 (27th) which, combined with the sprint time, put me in 28th overall. Sunday's 15km classic was a pursuit start and I was starting 2:04 behind the leader. It hurt during the race and it hurts to write it almost a week later but the race wound out where I was on the final lap skiing with 30th and 31st. The feeling of getting dropped, gradually on a long rolling climb is the worst feeling in racing. Ive felt it in cycling, Ive felt it in running, and Ive felt it in skiing! It makes your heart hurt and leaves you so hungry for a re-match... I ended up after the weekend in 32nd. I qualified for Canada Games for Team BC but the last lap on Sunday will stay with me for the rest of the season.

Ill be back in Canmore on the 27th preparing for NorAm #3 (Biathlon) and the second IBU Cup Trials in Lake Placid all in January. I'm taking a brief break before Christmas to clear my mind and come back for the new year fresh and motivated!

Results after Day 2: http://www.zone4.ca/results.asp?id=3266&cmd=viewcat&catid=2

Overall Tour results: http://www.zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=3279&cat=556

Thanks for following!

Photo credit to Jesse Winter (http://www.jessewinterphotography.com)

Powder, powder, powder

100% real snow! I love Silver Star and this time was no exception. This weekend was my first time skiing on REAL snow this year. Soft snow meant an instant change to a delicate, technique-focused type of skiing which favored patience (and small skiers). I didn't mind at all, but it was an extreme contrast to Canmore's rock hard, always fast, perfectly groomed Olympic trails which I started the season on. 

Saturday was  the Haywood NorAm Teck Sprints (Classic technique). It was my first classic sprint ever and easily the fastest Ive ever went on classic skis. I had a qualifying time of 3:57.342 which put me 10 seconds behind qualifying for the heats (top 30) and 25 seconds behind the leader Drew Goldsack. Sooo lots of room for improvement. I was 53rd out of 76 open men starters. I had no expectations coming in and now I have a level to work from. 

Sunday was the Haywood Noram Interval Start (15km skate). It snowed at least 15cm on Sunday morning so the course was as soft as possible. I had an early start position which was a physical advantage because I had a fresh course. By the second lap that advantage was completely gone. The obvious disadvantage to starting first is skiing on your own with no information on the other 85 starters. I improved to 27th (3:08.57 behind the leader- Lars Flora).

It was a super fun week of racing and been in the mountains, and I have three more chances this weekend to hurt myself a little harder. I am in Rossland for the second Haywood Noram starting friday...my only goal to push my limit a little bit farther. Cheers and check out the results below!

photo credit to Jesse Winter (http://www.jessewinterphotography.com/)

Saturday qualifiers: http://www.zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=3235&cat=1572

Skate distance: http://www.zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=3237&cat=1492

Alberta Cup Kickstart

The 2010/2011 season has officially begun! The weekend included a skate sprint (1km) on Saturday and a 9km classic race this morning. The skate sprints were short and sweet and I was eliminated first heat/quarterfinals. I had 22nd qualifying time and ended up 19th overall. It wasn't an ideal course for me,  but it was fun and fast. Saturday's total racing time: 4 minutes.

Sunday treated me a little better. I think I surprised everyone, including myself, considering it was my first classic race since a 5km BC Cup race in 2006. It was an easy course to ski, but a hard course to race. With perfect -12 (approx) temperatures and hard-as-rock snow everyone was going fast so for me it came down to bringing my speed with me in transitions and been really precise and focused for all three laps. The results were all really tight which meant every stride mattered. It was a great day and I gave it all I could have expected. I finished 13th in the open men, 1:27 behind the winner.

Here are the results:
Saturday: http://www.zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=3203&cat=497
Sunday: http://www.zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=3205&cat=2920

I'm starting to get excited about the next two weekends where Ill be racing in Vernon followed by Rossland. I have a shot at qualifying for the BC Canada Winter Games Team in Rossland and Silverstar is one of my favorite places in the world! Lots of excitement in the next bit and I look forward to keeping you updated!

Winter has begun!

Wow three months went by fast! Ninety days ago I had just moved to Canmore and was skiing with my head down thinking that working hard was enough, thinking that if I pushed hard enough I could make my goals this year. It took about a week with my new coach to realize that working hard helps, but skiing is a much more complicated puzzle. When I’m skiing with faster skiers, everyone is working their hardest, so I have to learn new tricks and be more focused if I want an edge. I’ve made some small technique changes that have made huge differences and I carry a new mentality about being fast. I am finally realizing that skiing smarter is so much more rewarding than just working hard. Ive been doing Biathlon for 11 years and it’s amazing I can learn so much more every day I train.

In late October, I started skiing on a 1km man-made loop with snow that had been saved over the summer. It was a boring loop and the snow conditions were very poor. I graduated to a man-made snow loop of the same distance which I did several hundred laps and my fair share of hours. It was great to get these hours on snow even if it meant doing 3 hour skis on a three minute loop. With really cold recent temperatures the Canmore Nordic Centre is a 24 hour snow storm with snow guns blowing around the clock to get all the trails open for the season. It feels really good to start the winter and I’m even more excited for the first races!

My pre season looks something like this:

December 4-5 Alberta Cup Canmore Nordic Kickstart (Canmore, AB)

December 11-12 Haywood NorAm & Teck Sprints (Soveirgn Lakes, BC)

December 17-19 Haywood NorAm Teck Sprint Series Multi-stage Tour (Rossland, BC)

Thanks for following!

Big Thanks to Rudy Project!

2010 Rudy Project Magster Yellow Fluo Frame With Multilaser Blue Lenses

Check out their helmets too! 

http://www.e-rudy.com/index_inner_all.php?group_id=3

Big Leagues

A week of high pressure racing is over and I have the day off to update all my supporters before training starts again tomorrow. Over the last 4 days the World Cup Trials for the Canadian Biathlon Team took place in Canmore Alberta. The races took place on a paved track at the Canmore Nordic Centre on roller skis to name the top Canadians who would be representing Canada at the first World Cup in Ostersund, Sweden. The top man (behind two pre-qualified athletes based on their results last year) would be named to the World Cup Tour and the next 5 men would be attending the IBU (International Biathlon Union) Cup Circuit.

This is my first year competing in the Senior Men Category and it is an entirely different class to Junior. The competition was at a whole new level and these races were the best way to show me how well I have to perform for me to reach my goals this season. I finished the week ranked 8th overall, one position off qualifying for the first tour. The immediate emotion was disappointment. I have trained the last 11 years to be at this level and I trained the entire year with this goal in mind. Ive spent thousands of dollars and trained thousands of hours to get to where I am right now. Who wouldn't feel unrewarded?

But rewards come to those who earn it. This morning I had two options. I could accept that I tried my best, or I could realize that everyone tries their best, and my best needs to be better. Ive trained hard all year, but so has everyone else. Ive spent thousands of dollars, so has everyone else. Ive made sacrifice, been disciplined and dreamed big.
So has everyone else. Of course everyone goes hard, its a standard for any professional in any sport. My next step in my athletic career is stepping out of my comfort zone. For me this means been meticulous with my training. Its too easy to skip the small details, but together they can make the difference between where I am and where I want to go. I have come to a point where I need to make every little detail work to my advantage. Despite the recent heart break, I feel awake and ready to improve. I have the skills, I have the training base, I have the coach, I have the motivation and I am in the best shape of my life. This week really showed me that I could either 1. simply wonder why I didn't perform well enough to make it, which would probably result in a bitter mood and loss of motivation or 2. I could figure out exactly what details I need to change in my training and racing and start improving them.These are the big leagues and its time to go big or go home!

Thanks for following,

Final Results World Cup/IBU Cup Trials

Here are the final results from the last week of racing! Brenden Green and JP Leguellec have been pre qualified off of their results from last year. These races determined the one remaining World Cup Spot and the 5 IBU Cup Spots.

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Best 2
24	1	Nathan Smith		93.22	100.45	102.20	101.33
25	2	Brendan Green		103.39	99.00	96.95	101.19
26	3	Scott Perrras		97.78	100.57	98.51	99.54
27	4	Tyson Smith		99.01	87.46	97.96	98.48
28	5	Patrick Coté		96.81	98.06	98.56	98.31
29	6	Scott Gow		96.81	96.34	98.90	97.86
30	7	Marc Andre Bedard		94.03	94.68	98.97	96.83
31	8	Mat Neuman		92.63	94.04	93.47	93.76
32	9	Beau Thomson		92.38	89.21	94.68	93.53
33	10	Aaron G.		89.07	91.53	93.62	92.58
34	11	Joel Pacas		92.38	87.09	88.43	90.40
35	12	Kurtis Wenzel		75.62	84.94	82.74	83.84
36	13	Aaron Neuman		79.44	81.98	81.90	81.94
37	14	Johnny Forward			80.94	79.18	80.06
38	15	Mark Arendz			80.74	71.55	76.15

Overall Results (Day 1 and Day 2)

Day 1 Day 2 Ave. Of 2

1 Brendan Green 103.39 99 101.19

2 Scott Perrras 97.78 100.57 99.17

3 Patrick Coté 96.81 98.06 97.44

4 Nathan Smith 93.22 100.45 96.83

5 Scott Gow 96.81 96.34 96.58

6 Marc Andre Bedard 94.03 94.68 94.36

7 Matt Neumann 92.63 94.04 93.34

8 Tyson Smith 99.01 87.46 93.23

9 Beau Thomson 92.38 89.21 90.79

10 Aaron G. 89.07 91.53 90.3

11 Joel Pacas 92.38 87.09 89.73

12 Johnny Forward 80.94 80.94

13 Mark Arendz 80.74 80.74

14 Aaron Neumann 79.44 81.98 80.71

15 Kurtis Wenzel 75.62 84.94 80.28

Day 2: 10km Sprint

Mens 1okm Sprint Results at Canadian WC and IBU Cup Trials

https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=9cd8959486&view=att&th=12b2bf72998ed569&attid=0.1&disp=va

# Name Start Finish Final 0:27:30
Men P S Total Time Time Percentage
1 Scott Perrras 02:00.0 1 1 2 0:29:21 0:27:21 100.57%
2 Nathan Smith 06:00.0 0 1 1 0:33:23 0:27:23 100.45%
3 Brendan Green 05:30.0 2 0 2 0:33:17 0:27:47 99.00%
4 Patrick Coté 00:30.0 0 1 1 0:28:33 0:28:03 98.06%
5 Scott Gow 00:00.0 0 1 1 0:28:33 0:28:33 96.34%
6 Marc Andre Bedard 02:30.0 1 2 3 0:31:33 0:29:03 94.68%
7 Mat Neuman 04:00.0 1 1 2 0:33:15 0:29:15 94.04%
8 Aaron G. 03:30.0 1 1 2 0:33:33 0:30:03 91.53%
9 Beau Thomson 01:00.0 1 2 3 0:31:50 0:30:50 89.21%
10 Tyson Smith 01:30.0 2 4 6 0:32:57 0:31:27 87.46%
11 Joel Pacas 03:00.0 0 1 3 0:34:35 0:31:35 87.09%
12 Kurtis Wenzel 04:30.0 1 2 3 0:36:53 0:32:23 84.94%
13 Aaron Neuman 05:00.0 1 2 3 0:38:33 0:33:33 81.98%
14 Johnny Forward 07:00.0 0 2 2 0:40:59 0:33:59 80.94%
15 Mark Arendz 06:30.0 0 0 0 0:40:34 0:34:04 80

First Day of World Cup/IBU Cup Trials

Results: 15km Mass Start

https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=9cd8959486&view=att&th=12b22831f46015e9&attid=0.1&disp=vah&zw

Sept. 17 2010
2		Mass Start	2xLong - 3xShort
3	#	Name	Start	Finish	Final Time	P	P	S	S	Total	39:19.0
4		Men								Miss	%
5	1	Brendan Green	02:20.0	40:22.0	38:02.0	1	1	0	0	2	103.39
6	2	Tyson Smith	00:30.0	40:13.0	39:43.0	0	0	1	1	2	99.01
7	3	Scott Perras	01:00.0	41:13.0	40:13.0	2	1	1	3	7	97.78
8	4	Patrick Cote	01:40.0	42:17.0	40:37.0	1	0	2	1	4	96.81
9	4	Scott Gow	00:40.0	41:17.0	40:37.0	0	0	0	0	0	96.81
10	6	Bill Bowler	00:00.0	40:50.0	40:50.0	2	0	1	1	4	96.30
11	7	Robin Clegg	02:00.0	43:22.0	41:22.0	1	0	2	3	6	95.06
12	8	Marc Andre Bedard	01:20.0	43:09.0	41:49.0	1	3	1	1	6	94.03
13	9	Nathan Smith	00:20.0	42:31.0	42:11.0	4	0	1	3	8	93.22
14	10	Matthew Neumann	02:10.0	44:37.0	42:27.0	2	1	0	2	5	92.63
15	11	Joel Pacas	00:10.0	42:44.0	42:34.0	2	1	0	1	4	92.38
16	11	Beau Thompson	01:50.0	44:24.0	42:34.0	1	2	1	1	5	92.38
17	13	Aaron Gilmor	00:50.0	44:59.0	44:09.0	1	1	2	1	5	89.07
18	14	Aaron Neuman	01:30.0	51:00.0	49:30.0	1	1	3	4	9	79.44
19	15	Kurtis Wenzel	02:30.0	54:30.0	52:00.0	2	0	3	3	8	75.62

2010 North American Summer Championships

Results for Saturday September 11's 10km Sprint Competition

http://www.biathloncanada.ca/dbfiles/1307.pdf

Sunday September 12th's 12.5km Pursuit

http://www.biathloncanada.ca/dbfiles/1306.pdf

First week in Canmore

My first week in Canmore consisted of unpacking, getting settled in my temporary place and racing with the National Biathlon Team in a 15km mass start time trial on Friday. I have been training with my new coach (John Jacques) for four days and started the race with the same guys ill be competing against for spots on the IBU Cup and maybe even the World Cup this season. I shot to my best ability hitting 19 out of 20 targets. I missed the last standing shot on my third of four bouts. With solid skiing this was enough for me to finish in 3rd place.just
behind National Team member Nathan Smith. Olympian, Brendan Green had
a demanding lead. This was a near perfect start to my training here
and proved I was on the level to achieve my goals this year and could
even be a threat for the final world cup spot. I am competing at the
North American Cup next weekend and World Cup Trials are the following
weekend here in Canmore. I am feeling confident with my move and
looking forward to the upcoming races! Unfortunately the team fee for
the first IBU cup will be $4100 and I will be forced to send alot of
letters out asking for support, if I make the team. Thanks for following!

(Picture credit to Daniel Giroux, www.flex-art-studio.com)

Just another Squamish Sunday

Yesterday afternoon I had a personal best running time completing the Chief's second peak in 18:50. I started the season in June with my best time been 20:05, thinking one second faster was impossible. Ive ran it about 8 times this year, every time a little faster. It feels so good to be collapsed against a rock at the top, breathing as hard as you can, and look down at my watch and see a record time. My heart rate reached 180 beats per minute instantly and it didn't go up or down until the final minute where it reached 191 bpm. I don't think I could have squeezed another beat in. About 600m elevation in 19 minutes. The session included running to the base and back from my house which added about 22 km to the day. Entire session: 2 hours 52 minutes. Just another reason Squamish is the outdoor recreation capital of Canada!

Hometown Heroes Award

This past weekend I made my way to Prince George, BC to accept Pacific Western Brewery's Hometown Heroes Award! The press conference happened Friday (June 11) and they announced that I would be awarded a commission on Canterbury Beer and Organic Energy Max energy drink over the next 6 months. The award was very welcomed and it felt great to be recognized for all the work Ive put in over the years. A huge thank you to PWB and Pacific Sport. Their help will go a long way this season!