Day 4: race day2

Alright well the results are in and can be found at www.biathlon.sasktelwebhosting.com . So yesterdays races went pretty well for everyone. The morning started even earlier, with a team warmup at 7:00 and breakfast at 7:20. We left for the venue one last time at 8:00. The range opened up at ten, so we didn't have a ton of time. Sight in ended at 10:45, the first race started at 11:00 (my race) all races were mass start.. Each race was 30minutes apart from the next, the junior boys started after me at 11:30. The conditions were quite challenging in the range and on course. The morning started at about -5 and went down to around -12 which wasn't too bad...except for the wind, there were somewhere around 30km winds in the range and on course which made it pretty difficult to make a good shot. Going up and down hils was no picnic either. I'm sorry to say I don't have many pictures for this entry the camera isn't co-operating; but Lin-P'ing has set up a dropbox with many of the picture from this weekend, you should have recieved the link in an email but if you didn't get it here it is www.dropbox.com/sh/pp18r1j24lpjef4/ZS8pTQ1kQQ . The drive home was pretty interesting. We had some trouble with the visibility and ice on the road there were lots of vehicles on the side of the road as well as in the ditch, lucky for us we had good drivers, we stopped in Regina for about a half hour and waited to see what the weather was doing; but we decided to press on. By the time we arrived in Winnipeg we were well into the morning. I think we were all just happy that we got home safely!Well I guess this marks the end of the Westerns . Hopefully I'll have the chance to write another blog for a different event. Thank you for reading! Also a HUGE thank you to the Best Canadian Motor Inns for all of their efforts and hospitality,they catered to our every need so a huge thank you to them!!!

Day 3: the real deal



 Well it was another eventful day here at westerns. The day started like it did yesterday well for the athletes at least, for the coaches they were up at seven waxing skis.

Our awesome coaches waxing skis



                                                                                                                                                                 Our morning started at eight o'clock once again with a jog and dynamic warm-up, followed by dry firing , then breakfast .

morning warmup

foggy morning

 We left the motel at ten this morning, there was quite the fog!We arrived at the venue for ten thirty, races at one. Once again we were one of the first groups there. The range opened up for sight in at noon so we had about an hour and a half to ski, eat and go through rifle check.

Lucas going through rifle check

probably one of the best photos of our terrain

 Once sight in started each athlete had about 7 minutes to shoot and confirm ( shoot with a heart rate ). After the range closed at twelve thirty Cam, Lucas, Ben and myself had about half an hour to warmup and get in the zone. The first race started at one o'clock. My race started nine and a half minutes after start. I think I speak on behalf of most of the athletes when i say that todays course was challenging,tiring but a lot of fun.

                                  





start









We're having some trouble with the results as they are not posted on zone4 so we can't retrieve them but i'll  see if i can find them tomorrow. Well I think it's off to bed for me, we've got an early morning tomorrow, watch for another post sometime on monday (i don't get internet while driving). Thank to all of the parents,coaches and volunteers for all of their support. honourable mentions go to Lin P'ing for supplying the only camera that would work with computer and for taking many of the pictures.



Day 2: training



 2013 Team Manitoba

Good morning North Battleford! Our day begins at eight o'clock this morning with a warm-up. First a light jog and a dynamic wam-up, followed by some dry firing (practice shooting without actually firing), then breakfast. After breakfast it was time to ship out of the motel and to the venue.

this dog was super friendly

When we arrived at the venue we were suprised to see that there weren't many people there! The first thing we checked out was the biathlon range it looked pretty nice!  

The range



Cam and I shooting

  While some of the older athletes sighted in we ( Cam, Lucas, Ben and I ) went out to ski our course with our coaches Chris,Jim and Rachel. The first course we skied was the blue trail. At the beginning  it seems pretty easy going it starts with a very gradual downhill and up into a false flat "pretty easy right?" then as you progress up the false flat there's another gradual downhill and then it hits you! Possibly one of the biggest hills i've ever climbed, a two part monster that's about 2-3 times the size and length of "the wall" at Grand Beach; but once your'e up there's a spectacular downhill that leads to the range.



Trail system



After we had all done our courses we headed inside for lunch. Now in the second picture you will notice that we are holding some sort of strange looking stick. No, it's not a spirit stick like in cheerleading! It's actually a sugar cane! I know right weird, Lucas layed eyes on it in the grocery store and had to have it and that's not even the zaniest part of it, Cam and chris went back to the grocery store today and bought another one ( for a picture that will be posted tomorrow night )

Lunch



Oh boy!

After luch it was right back outside for some combo training!

Lucas

Jeremy

Jessica



We also found out today that Jim and Chris will be racing tomorrow; hey all the power to them! The way back was quite the adventure as well. We ended up having to pull someone out of the ditch; from our own team! Nicole, Rachel and Cristal slid off the road and into the ditch, don't worry everybody's okay and so is the car. The big red beast pulled it out pretty quickly;but we couldn't miss the oppurtunity for a picture.

and of course the sugar cane had to be in the picture too


(There's a video but it's taking forever to load so I might try again tomorrow night). Once we got back from this interesting drive we had a bit of down time and then went to dinner. An amazing taco dinner provided by all the adults. We athletes really have to give credit to the adults, without all of our amazing coaches, parents, volunteers and all of their support we wouldn't be here!


Dinner time

Later on tonight we've got an athletes meeting and then it's off to bed. I will post all of tomorrow's race results. Today ended the way it started with a beautiful sun peaking through the prairie horizon.

Day 1: the journey



Eleven hours is a long time to be in a car, but when your'e surrounded by great people the good times keep on rolling. Our day begins at 5:30am when we hit the road. While on the road Cam, Lucas and I were subjected to envigorating and entertaining ( to those who didn't participate) gas station workouts. These exercises included intervals, hills and lots of stairs! We started first by climbing the 400 ft, 1km long Saskatchewan Escarpment ( led by Chris) off of the Trans Canada Highway. This first " refreshing" work out included high knees,spinting,jogging on the spot and bounding. Afterwards we climbed in to the van and away we went! Our second on the road training session occurred in a Huskie parking lot in Regina. We started with some jogging to get our legs moving, next it was bounding and then onto sprints, jogging on the spot and a bit of positioning after. You sould have seen the looks we were getting! After another few hours of driving we stopped at yet again anothe Huskie, but this time there was no running outside " that would be too easy" instead Chris scoped out the area and found us a nice set of stairs to climb. So it was about 20 times up and down changing from easy to medium to hard. After our legs stopped burning, we climbed back into the van and off we went! Upon arrival we found that our Hotel was really a high class concrete bunker! Once we were all settled in we met in one of the conference rooms for dinner, a hearty helping of Lasagna and salad followed by a meeting. After everything digested ,a few of the other athletes and myself got together with Chris for a quick and effective yoga seesion including visualizing and a litte bit of strength. Well that's pretty much it for day one, tomorrow we've got a full day of combo training leading up to saturday's race. More to come tomorrow, I'll try to take some pictures of the course and  range!






The Crew

The Hill part 1

The Hill part 2

Huskie workout

Yay Stairs

more stairs