World Cups, Olympic Games, and Staying Sane on the Road
This first trimester of the season has been very chaotic for me, bouncing from our US Biathlon pre-season camp in Obertilliach, to being an alternate for the Östersund Biathlon World Cup, to cross country World Cups in Davos, then IBU cup in Lenzerheide, finally back over to xc for the start of the Tour de Ski. This past week we had Olympic trials, 3 races in 4 days and then straight into the World Cup weekend here in Oberhof. So that means I haven’t had an off week from racing in 7 weeks and we’re only a third of the way through the season, but I am having the time of my life.
Speedy Minnesotans at the Tour de Ski.
Photo: US Ski Team
Thanksgiving dinner with the Biathlon team
I race because I love it. I love the feeling of accomplishment in biathlon when you hit targets, the relief of crossing the finish line, the atmosphere of the World Cup with all the fans on the sides of the trails cheering their hearts out. I just love to ski and I love to race and I am so grateful to be able to do what I love every day.
In a season with so much stress about qualifying for the Olympic Games it has been very important to me to prioritize my happiness. While skiing is very physically demanding and it’s important to rest and recover your body, being able to mentally handle a season of racing is arguably the more important piece of the puzzle.
So here are some of the ways I like to connect myself back to reality and stay motivated and happy:
Christmas chill knit time with my mom and sister
Number one: Staying out of my hotel room! Not hanging out in my bed all day makes it easier to go to bed and also helps me feel a little more productive. As a professional athlete it feels kind of funny saying that I feel lazy a lot, but during the season most days when we are not racing the only thing you have to do all day is go for an hour and a half ski. Then the rest of the day is mandatory recovery time where it's hard to not feel like a lazy bum.
Number two: Lots and lots of crafts (mostly knitting). The first thing I do in every new city is look up if there is a yarn store nearby. I already have so much yarn that it takes up half of a suitcase, but there’s nothing stopping me from finding more colors and fun patterns. As I said in Number one; I spend a looooot of time sitting on my ass so I might as well use my hands to make something instead of scrolling on TikTok all day. Another bonus of knitting is I get to add another piece to my 5-month capsule wardrobe whenever I finish a project.
Number three: Calling friends and family. Being away from home from November until the end of March can get kind of lonely, so keeping up with my people is very important. You can get really caught up in the world of racing and it can feel like it’s the only thing that matters, which can be stressful and put a lot of pressure on you. Talking to people at home makes me realize that I have a lot to look forward to when I finally go home.
Number Four: Good snacks. Grocery stores in Europe have a lot of snacks that I wouldn’t get to try in the US, so I like to find fun things to eat while in different areas. Some of my staples are stroopwafels, dark chocolate Loacker wafers, chocolate hazelnut pudding, every variety of cookie you could imagine. The one thing that is lacking is the chip/cracker selection, I miss flavor blasted goldfish and Kettle brand krinkle cut potato chips.
Skiing with Canadian biathlon friends Pascale and Benita
Number Five: Meeting new people. My goal this year has been to become friends with more of the athletes. The biathlon community is already so welcoming so this has not been too much of a challenge. Coming from racing in college in the EISA I have high expectations for my ski racing community and biathlon has been a wonderful continuation of that environment. Everyone is extremely humble and friendly and we get to race against each other almost every weekend. While we all are extremely competitive, biathlon can sometimes be unpredictable and you can go from a podium one day to a 50th place the next, so it’s easy to be happy when you know that one of your friends had a good one even if your race didn’t go as planned.
In the unpredictable life of an elite level athlete where you may not know where you will get to race week by week, being in control of the things that I can be in control of has turned some of the stress off. I am able to focus more on being happy and enjoying what I do and just having fun in this journey and I believe that that has been essential to my improvement in both biathlon and cross country. Now leading into my first Olympic Games, I am taking these habits with me to just keep doing what I’m doing and I am improving every day.
Biathlon Women’s 6th place Relay Team
Photo: US Biathlon
