I was recently reminded that I do in fact have a blog, so I decided that maybe it was time to update it. You may have noticed my habit of updating consistently for a few weeks before forgetting again for a few months. I'll try to be better! (Do I say that every time?)

For the most part life has been normal. My summer was awesome regardless of the number of times I burned myself on the pizza oven. I worked in a restaurant for the summer, and the 600 degree oven and I had our disagreements. Other than that life was a normal mix of work, life, and training.

I'll admit, the training was a little iffy for the most part, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Unfortunately the foot pain I started experiencing last November wasn't getting any better. After ages of attempting to get an appointment with a local sports doc, I finally saw him in late August. In 30 minutes I was walking out with zero foot pain.

The problem? A cyst that had grown (allegedly) inside the nerve on the top of my foot. The solution? I don't really know... there were a lot of needles involved and I didn't look. I know that one of the needles was cortisone, and that is all that I can tell you.

Due to this the training was a little iffy, but I managed to get a moderate amount in. Now I'm back at SMC where studying and training are in full swing. Its back to Jericho and the lovely roads of St. Albans.

I'll try to keep you posted on how its going. Cheers for now.
Silke

Finally Updating...

Ok, finally giving you an update!
We've had an exhausting few days here in Czech. Saturday was the first race of the Youth world championships here in Nove Mesto. I had a mediocre race. I have very mixed feelings on the results of the race. I was happy with my skiing. I definitely am skiing faster than last year, and I even managed to pass some people. I was able to hold off a Polish skier trying to catch me for the whole race.
On the other hand my shooting was sub-par for me. I had 3 penalties on the day, with some minor troubles in the range. I ejected a live round on the standing stage, which definitely took up some valuable time.
I ended up in 62nd, just 23 seconds out of the pursuit. Definitely made my disappointing shooting, even more disappointing.
I spectated on pursuit day, and cheered for my teammates. Today I relaxed and trained, getting ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow will be the individual, a race that suits a better shot. Hopefully I can put my shooting together. I'll let you know how it goes. Cheers.

So tired...

Sorry that I haven't updated in a while. The last few days have been really busy, and I've had to focus on racing. Today was the sprint and I will tell you all about it...tomorrow. I am so exhausted right now there is a high probability of me falling asleep mid-sentence. I promise that tomorrow I will update you completely on the events of the last few days, but for now, goodnight.

Officially done being officially unofficial

Today was the last day of official unofficial training. Tomorrow is an official training day, and it is the last training day before we start competing. Opening ceremonies were tonight after a day of light training and lounging.
Opening ceremonies went well. Very short and sweet, followed by some pretty epic fireworks. It's not too cold, so we couldn't be too upset about having to stand outside. The international cheer is definitely going around, with the Netherlands team starting a snow ball fight between all the countries while we waited to start the parade of nations. Gotta say, the dutch athletes have quite the arm. Poor Sweden was running late, and got pummeled as they tried to cross the parking lot to find their place in the parade. It was an all around good time.
Ok, I don't want to write too much, I'd like to leave you with a bunch of pictures that I took today, as well as some ski factory pictures.

It's Germany, they don't label their coats. You're just supposed to know who they are.

I bet you really want to know what name is under the pack. It's Mongolia. That's right, there's a Mongolian biathlon team.

Country lists, so you know who's here.

Yeah, the sponsor is a brewer.What are you going to do about it?

Pretty...

Very pretty...

I want them all...and I don't even downhill ski...

Holy Holographic Skis Batman!

If I had to pick one word to describe the ski conditions on the trails this morning, I would choose soft. The trails felt more like they were covered in quick sand than snow. This morning's interval workout was a beast, and by the time we got back to the house all I wanted to do was sleep. I managed to drag myself down to lunch where we had yet another (delicious) traditional Czech meal. This time it was dumplings filled with fruit. They were so filling that we all immediately fell into a food coma.

The only thing that could get us back on our feet? The opportunity to go see a ski factory! We got to tour the Sporten ski factory. It was so cool, we got to see how skis go from a piece of wood to a ski, or in some cases a fiberglass mold to a ski. We also got to all the different designs they put on their skis over here. For only $5 you can personalize your skis! You can have your picture and name put on them! They look so unique. There were also holographic skis! I have decided that N. American nordic skis are really boring.

After our ski factory adventure Tara and I crashed for a while before jogging into town in search of coffee and pastries. We found amazing cappuccinos and Czech goodies, then headed back to the house where we have been just chilling ever since.

Tomorrow is the start of official unofficial training,which means time to get my rifle through media control. Everyone keep their fingers crossed that my rifle passes!


P.S. I'll put up photos of the ski factory later, since I still have to steal them from one of the boys cameras.

And nothing interesting happened that day...

...seriously. I mean, I guess the dessert was pretty darned exciting. Crepes with ice cream and whipped cream? That would be pretty freakin exciting if I weren't lactose intolerant. Other than that I skied, which was fun.
For those of you who are really really cold in North America....it's pretty toasty over here. I'm enjoying that. It's been snowing, which is a pretty big deal, you know, since we do a winter sport...
Oh yeah, legitimately exciting news, our masseuse/physical therapist/all around awesome person Camilla has arrived. Yay! Now we can go get massages! Wooo!
..and yeah. That's about it...

Calculus wins....

<-- A look at the coaches box behind the range here in Nove Mesto. Not nearly as full as it will be when all the teams arrive!

Sorry I haven't been posting for the last few days. When it comes down to calculus vs. blog post calc wins. I'm not THAT good of a biathlete, I need to get through college. Since I'm done calc for the moment here's an update!

Sunday: I raced for the first time on Sunday in the second Czech cup race of the weekend. It was a good warm up race, I noticed a few things that needed work, and now I can make sure I'm tuned up for the upcoming races. The rest of sunday was off, and we all had a nice rest.

Monday: Monday was a long rest day. We had no workouts, and in the morning we got to go into town and wander through some shops. By wander through some shops I mean go OMGSHOE-ing.
(OMGSHOE: Verb. To walk around shoe stores going "OMG SHOES!")
I think it was a well spent morning and I found a pair of sneakers for roughly $10 american. We also stopped by an amazing bakery for some pastries, before we headed back to the house. At the house we had a really tasty lunch. We had a traditional Czech meal, which was garlic soup, followed by pork with sauerkraut, bread dumplings, and potato dumplings. In the afternoon we sat around doing...nothing. Absolutely nothing (except calculus...and a short run). It was awesome, I love lazy days.

I'll try to update later about whats happening today, but so far its looking like a fairly uneventful day here. Just some typical training!