tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39539340442530393482024-03-05T14:11:09.865-07:00Brendan Green - Olympian & National Team BiathleteThe journey of an aspiring athlete...Brendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-19879066149723859272013-11-29T12:39:00.001-07:002013-11-29T12:40:28.444-07:00On the podium in today's 20km IBU Cup Individual race in Beitostolen, Norway - 2nd place!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cf92yvElK-U/UpjsuTzfwgI/AAAAAAAAAuc/4RGO-PnsMGY/s1600/BeitoPodium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cf92yvElK-U/UpjsuTzfwgI/AAAAAAAAAuc/4RGO-PnsMGY/s400/BeitoPodium.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Click the link <a href="http://fasterskier.com/article/brendan-green-gains-momentum-on-injury-comeback-hits-podium-in-beito-ibu-cup/" target="_blank">here</a> for an interview with Fasterskier.com about today's race!</div>
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Thanks for your support!</div>
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Brendan</div>
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Brendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-60189823497245908082013-11-27T12:21:00.000-07:002013-11-27T12:26:49.424-07:00Back to Europe - Let the racing begin!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm in Scandinavia at the moment to officially kick off my race season. Access to internet has been limited, so I'll have a more in depth update about how things are going when I'm more connected.<br />
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In the meantime attached is an article from Fasterskier.com about our races last weekend and Canada's start to the new season!<br />
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<a href="http://fasterskier.com/article/canadian-biathletes-rocket-on-to-ibu-cup-scene-with-five-top-10s-in-opening-sprint/" target="_blank">http://fasterskier.com/article/canadian-biathletes-rocket-on-to-ibu-cup-scene-with-five-top-10s-in-opening-sprint/</a><br />
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You can also follow result at www.biathlonworld.com<br />
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BrendanBrendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-27327594402931296852013-09-30T06:06:00.001-06:002013-09-30T06:20:03.796-06:00Euro Training Camp!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">For the last two weeks I’ve been training over in Europe with the men’s A Team. The goal of the camp is two fold - to begin the adaptation period from dry land training to training on snow and at the same time targeting altitude. We do a similar periodization block at around this time every year.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Our first 5 days were spent in the biathlon-crazed town of
Oberhof, Germany. Every time I’m
there it seems to be raining with miserable weather, but the training
facilities are pretty amazing.
Oberhof is home to an indoor ski hall, which creates possibly the best
training facility in the world for year round biathlon training. The 1.8km snow tunnel contains an
adjoining indoor biathlon range, and all is maintained at a constant
temperature of -4 degrees C. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Testing some new Salomon skis with my coach Matthias.</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The adjoining shooting range.</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>More ski testing with our super wax technicians Tom and Pavel!</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Doing intensity in the ski hall</i></td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Next stop - Ramsau, Austria, which is home to the Dachstein
Glacier and where I still currently am at the moment. Here we are able to engage in intensive and high altitude
training. This glacier also allows for year round ski training, and is a popular
destination for teams from all around the world. At peak times, the glacier resembles a bustling ant-hill.
The location permits our team to move to a lower elevation following our
training sessions, which provides us with a faster recovery period and more positive
response to the altitude training.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>View of the glacier from the gondola station</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Amazing skiing in fresh snow </i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>View from the ski track</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Scenery from a roller ski</i></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinzQPCKwE5yScuwI-2-qzMfOYs014e32idrhKrkHGJBC0VQ6MNxQhVKL6hEey2dYNVIYFqCWPa9bxSFuw29__Ky25OdQKsaq0LFSl1C2VY_siDMecJYn2FwmMxEvRrsHXZxRv5nukstmQ/s1600/IMG_2458.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Smv5s6dOBKM/UklgU1qMmnI/AAAAAAAAAso/AMo2cl45m8g/s1600/IMG_2483.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Smv5s6dOBKM/UklgU1qMmnI/AAAAAAAAAso/AMo2cl45m8g/s320/IMG_2483.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Shooting range in Ramsau</i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Rollerski track in Ramsau</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>During our first night in Ramsau the Hungarian Biathlon Fan Club was passing through and payed us a visit!</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Shooting analysis session at the University of Salzburg</i></td></tr>
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The final phase of our training camp will take place in
Rupholding, another German biathlon training centre. In Rupholding, we will focus
on intensity at lower elevation before making the trip back home to
Canada. The rest of October
will consist of hard intensity sessions and testing on the rollerski treadmill
before heading back to Europe to officially begin the race season in
Scandinavia!</div>
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So far the camp has been going fairly well. The snow conditions and weather for the
most part have been good and I feel as though I am getting solid training hours
in. I did pick up a cold early on
in our second week but with a bit of extra rest I was able to get back on my
feet and back to training without missing too many hours.</div>
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Although I have achieved most of my Olympic qualifying
criteria, I was unable to compete last season and I still need to fight for
a start on the World Cup Team. To achieve this, I am scheduled to compete at the first IBU Cup event to be held in Idre, Sweden. The top Canadian will then
move up to the World Cup Team. I am working hard to be that Canadian, and will
then need a top 30 World Cup finish to complete my Olympic qualification. Stay
tuned for more news as my season progresses!<br />
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<!--EndFragment-->Brendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-86245860747052759552013-09-07T21:06:00.000-06:002013-09-10T21:08:18.580-06:00Pursu.it - Check it out!Hey everyone,<br />
<br />
My girlfriend Rosanna Crawford and I recently decided to team up together for a joint fundraising effort before our winter of racing kicks off in just over two months. The Olympics are approaching fast and as usual, the Olympic year brings with it a lot of stress. If we can alleviate some of the financial burden that we are faced with each year sooner rather than later, it will help a great deal. This in turn will provide us with the opportunity to focus more of our efforts towards training and racing, which is extremely important.<br />
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Rosanna and I set a goal to raise $6,500 each which would cover our base fee to allow us to train as part of the National Team. Check out the link below and help out if you can. Even if you can't donate you can still play a role by sharing the link over email or any other social media outlet!<br />
<br />
Also if you have a minute, read the newspaper article below that was recently published in the Rocky Mountain Outlook. It does a great job to put in perspective the situation Rosanna and I are in. <a href="http://www.rmoutlook.com/article/20130905/RMO1101/309059984/-1/rmo/funding-push-reaches-fever-pitch-for-biathletes" target="_blank">http://www.rmoutlook.com/article/20130905/RMO1101/309059984/-1/rmo/funding-push-reaches-fever-pitch-for-biathletes</a><br />
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I look forward representing the North with pride and will keep you posted on my journey towards Sochi!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://pursu.it/campaign/rosanna-crawford-and-brendan-green/" style="font-size: medium; text-align: -webkit-auto;" target="_blank">https://pursu.it/campaign/rosanna-crawford-and-brendan-green/</a></td></tr>
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Thanks!<br />
<br />
BrendanBrendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-72407825407395842452012-12-12T21:46:00.000-07:002012-12-12T23:02:23.809-07:00Personal Best - Personal Agony<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8PqkU1qk4TYbFaOVwiFhc18i6S_DRNETRmITtSSgp-qvUp07UJg-obXHveHKZpYDetL2q2VKAWNgSVMRJGcJ7gumx7AE4evlPy-AKiKwLW3PpsCod9UUUghQ6c7Y4VOCcq-n2-8hL9I/s1600/Brendan-Green-020212al190.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8PqkU1qk4TYbFaOVwiFhc18i6S_DRNETRmITtSSgp-qvUp07UJg-obXHveHKZpYDetL2q2VKAWNgSVMRJGcJ7gumx7AE4evlPy-AKiKwLW3PpsCod9UUUghQ6c7Y4VOCcq-n2-8hL9I/s320/Brendan-Green-020212al190.2.jpg" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Racing in Oslo last season - my last weekend of racing for that winter.</td></tr>
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Finally as promised, the long awaited details about my back
injury. In July 2011, while
completing a max strength session in the gym I herniated a disk in my low back,
between the L5 and S1 vertebrate to be exact. The previous day we had done a hard interval session of
double poling which had my back feeling a little tight and fatigued the morning
of the incident, but at the time I didn’t think much of it. The weight lifting session had been
going well and I was midway through finishing my squats for the day. During one of my reps while squatting
up from the low point of the lift, my back shifted slightly and I suddenly felt
a sharp pain shoot through my low back.</div>
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<br /></div>
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It didn’t occur to me at the time that I might have just
seriously injured myself. Yeah it
hurt a lot but I thought it was just one of those injuries that would quickly
disappear. I took some anti-inflammatory
drugs when I got home, iced my low back, and thought I would wake up the next
day more or less ready to go again. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I woke up the next morning thinking that I would be OK, but
instead I woke up barely able to walk and in a ton of pain. I hobbled into physio later in the
afternoon and the long road to recovery officially began. I received a CT scan
a few days later and an MRI a few days after that which both confirmed what was
feared; a left sided herniation, slightly compressing the S1nerve root. I backed off the training and started
on an intense rehab plan. The
initial recovery actually went really well and I progressed faster then what
our support staff would typically see.
It wasn’t long before I was back to training on a modified plan and come
fall I had made up any lost training and intensity hours. Things weren’t perfect, there were a
lot of activities I had to refrain from doing, but I was able to accomplish the
training I needed to get done with some changes to the program.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I transitioned from roller skiing to skiing on snow in
October, things started to act up a bit with my back but it seemed I was always
able to keep it from getting too bad through physio. The race season went ahead as planned, but by the end of the
third race at the World Cup opener in Sweden I was running into problems again.
I was in a lot of pain and this time symptoms were progressing to my left leg. By the time we arrived in Austria for
World Cup #2 things were to the point where I was having trouble walking. I was planning to pack it in and fly
home, but after a few days of taking it easy things started to settle to the
point where I was able to ski again without too much problem. I survived the next two World Cups of
racing on a rollercoaster of ups and downs – some days I raced in pain, some races my
left leg felt fatigued, others I felt not too bad. With the combination of physio, the majority of my spare
time spent lying on ice, and daily massage treatments consisting of painfully
deep pressure point release, I somehow made it through. I was happy when it was finally time to
fly back to Canada for Christmas.
I was mentally and physically exhausted from dealing with this injury
and finally I was given a small window of opportunity to sort things out.</div>
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Over Christmas my time was spent on highly focused rehab
sessions, and when it was time to cross the pond again two weeks later I felt
as though I had things more under control. Or at least I thought so. The next two World Cups went more according to plan, I was
not racing in pain and although I felt some discomfort by the third race at
each World Cup, I was always able to recover fairly well in time for the next
World Cup. </div>
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<br /></div>
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World Cup #7 in Oslo is where things really fell apart. The week opened up with a 10km Sprint
race where I posted the best result of my career finishing 9<sup>th</sup>. The next day I followed up that result
placing 13<sup>th</sup> in the 12.5km Pursuit. This was awesome and things were going perfect. I should mention however that I had to
race the Pursuit without a toe plug in my left binding. It somehow fell out in the ski bag that
the wax techs had brought down to the start, and by the time I noticed I had
about 10 seconds until my start and it was too late to do anything about it. The toe plug helps stabilize the ski
and controls how much flex the binding has. Without the toe plug there was nothing from stopping
how much flex my foot would have in the binding, and in this case the amount of
flex was unlimited which left the ski dangling off my foot after each push. This resulted in the most frustrating
World Cup race I had done, but I still managed a solid result and I had figured
out a way to push without flexing the binding too much. A situation far from ideal but I dealt
with it. </div>
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The third and last race in Oslo was a 15km Mass Start. As a biathlete, Mass Starts are the
most exciting race we do on the World Cup circuit and there’s a certain honor that
comes with qualifying to race one, because in order to do so you have to
be ranked within the top 30 in the World.
Based off my results that week I had qualified for the race in 24<sup>th</sup>
and was about to check off one of my big goals for the season.</div>
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I woke up the next morning with my back feeling a little
off. I figured it was because I
had been racing a lot and thought it could be in part because of how my body
had to compensate while racing with the binding malfunction the previous
day. I received some treatment
from our therapist that morning and felt ready to go for that afternoon’s
race. Things were going smoothly
during my warm-up until I turned a corner leaving the range and felt a sharp
stabbing jolt of pain in my low back and glut. It paralyzed me on the spot and I nearly fell over. It was weird because I didn’t fall,
trip, or stumble when I was coming around the corner; something in my back just
went. When I came to my senses a
second later it happened again. I
made it back to the range and told my coach something was wrong. I pondered for a bit, finished zeroing
and then decided to try and ski a loop closer to race pace and see how things
felt. The pain was to the point
where I couldn’t bring myself to ski anywhere near race pace. When I arrived
back at the start pen I took off my skis and thought maybe I could walk things
out. I took a few steps and nope,
this definitely wasn’t helping. I
hobbled back to the start pen where our therapist tried some pressure point
release which didn’t help either.
</div>
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By this point there was about 5min until the start. I didn’t know what to do but with the
pressure of having to make a decision over the next minute, I decided to
start the race. Our wax techs were
on course about 200m from the start with spare equipment in case a ski or pole
broke during the commotion of the start, and I figured that I would get dropped
by the pack right off the back and if that was the case and the pain was too
much, I would just pull out where our techs were standing. The race started and I didn’t get
dropped like I thought I would. I
was in the mix and once the adrenaline kicked in I didn’t feel the shooting
pains in my back as much. The
first couple loops were painful but I was racing extremely well. I was shooting awesome, skiing fast (I have
no idea how) and moving up in the rankings with each loop. In a sprint to the
line I finished the race in 10<sup>th</sup>, the second best result of my
career to cap off a dream week of racing for me. A dream week of racing in terms of results that is, for what
I was about to experience next when the adrenaline of racing wore off was agonizing beyond words,
and that would last the better part of 10 months.</div>
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Since this post is getting long I'll continue where I left off with part two to follow shortly, but before that...</div>
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I commented to my girlfriend Rosanna while I was drafting this post about the emotions and memories that resurfaced while I was writing this, and to be honest I feel mostly shocked when I re read this post. I'm confused as to how I was able to ignore so many early warning signs, to keep pushing forward when I knew my body was far from 100%, and why this whole experience had to go the point where I couldn't even walk before I finally gave in. I guess it's clear I have a tough time when it comes to dealing with
pain and knowing when enough is enough.
I feel pain when training all the time. During every interval session, during every treadmill session,
during every race, my body hurts like hell. To some extent I think it’s fair to say I crave pain, the
hurt I feel during a race is satisfying, especially when my body is in top
form. I’ve taught myself early on in my career to accept
that pain and challenge it, to constantly test how hard I can push my body before
it physically gives out or until mentally I can’t handle it anymore. As ridiculous as this will sound to
non-athletes, it’s sometimes difficult to decipher what type of pain
is ok to push through, and distinguishing between the types of pain that might
be causing my body harm, although often fairly obvious, is at times difficult. Up until now I’ve been relatively injury free in my career, and I’ve had to take very
little time off, if ever from training. Being in top physical form is an amazing feeling, you feel like can you handle almost anything and to some extent you feel invisible. <br />
<br />
In addition, another very big factor that played into all of this was how well I was racing. I think if my results had clearly been poor and I wasn't racing well due to my injury, it would have been easy for me take a step back and look at the bigger picture. But that wasn't the case, and because of that it was difficult for me to stop. Last winter was my best season to date. I tied my previous personal best result on the World Cup in the second race of the season, and as winter progressed so did my results. I was consistently placing in the top 20 and 30, had to top 10 finishes, was ranked among the worlds best for shooting, and scored points in every single World Cup race I started with the exception of my season opener in Sweden. From a results perspective things were going perfect and I was getting stronger as World Championships approached which was exactly what I had wanted.<br />
<br />
I'll never know what would have happened if I hadn't started that last race in Oslo. Chances are that last race effort wouldn't have changed the outcome as something went really wrong with my back during my warmup. Or, maybe I would be back to racing already. Either way what's done is done and I've been forced to learn some valuable lessons and deal with the path that now lies ahead.</div>
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Stay tuned for the next instalment! </div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Brendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-58137853831830544872012-03-03T18:41:00.000-07:002012-03-03T18:41:08.819-07:00Post Christmas World Cup tour – Sweet highs and a season ending low…<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">I left off on my last post with returning back to Canada for Christmas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year things worked out so that I was able to make it all the way home to Hay River and spend Christmas with my family for the first time in a couple of years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last season I stayed over in Europe during Christmas to train, so it was extra special to make it home this year.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ulTHKqeKriQ/T1LAJ77HavI/AAAAAAAAAlw/NrX6umBPDLI/s1600/IMG_0139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ulTHKqeKriQ/T1LAJ77HavI/AAAAAAAAAlw/NrX6umBPDLI/s320/IMG_0139.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the Olympics, the Hay River Ski Club officially named one of the trails in my honor! I was able to ski the trail for the first time this Christmas - it was awesome!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MCatsR8fAuE/T1LBGRsD0lI/AAAAAAAAAl4/mEusAl6enNQ/s1600/IMG_0144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MCatsR8fAuE/T1LBGRsD0lI/AAAAAAAAAl4/mEusAl6enNQ/s320/IMG_0144.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A section of the 'Brendan Green Olympic Trail'</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Before flying home I spent a few highly focused days on rehab while doing lots of physio to try and get things to settle down with my back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I returned back to Canmore after Christmas, it was again a lot of rehab before heading back to Europe to continue the World Cup circuit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was able to get things to the point where my back felt more stable but it was still far from perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did feel though that as long as I was on top of my physio exercises my body would be able to handle the tour, hopefully without too much problem.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XT3hJDA7V30/T1LDelcMnDI/AAAAAAAAAmo/pjwGu3Ti5wI/s1600/IMG_0131.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XT3hJDA7V30/T1LDelcMnDI/AAAAAAAAAmo/pjwGu3Ti5wI/s320/IMG_0131.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My ski bag full of Madshus skis before being zipped up.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">First stop on the road in 2012 was Nove Mesto, Czech Republic for World Cup #5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The venue had just recently been upgraded with new trails and a refurbished stadium in preparation to host the 2013 World Championships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The upgrades to the trails are pretty sweet and the venue is definitely world class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only thing I dislike is the wind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The shooting range is notoriously windy and gusty which made the shooting very challenging, but fortunately I handled the conditions well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the 20km Individual race I finished in 19<sup>th</sup>, which I was pretty pumped about, especially with just having gotten off the plane a few days prior and still very much dealing with jet lag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also posted the 8<sup>th</sup> fastest ski time, which was my best ski of the season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the 10km Sprint race I struggled a bit with my shooting in the windy conditions and finished up in 32<sup>nd</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I followed up with a solid performance in the 12.5km Pursuit and moved up to finish in 20<sup>th</sup>.</div><div class="MsoNormal">From Czech it was straight to Antholz, Italy to race WC#6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always love racing in Antholz at the amazing venue situated in the Dolomites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The great skiing, incredible food, sunshine, and awesome fans definitely make it my favorite and most anticipated stop on tour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately my racing wasn’t stellar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My ski speed was awesome but my shooting was not up to par.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With perfect conditions I finished 34<sup>th</sup> in the Sprint with 3 misses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Normally 3 misses would make for not a great race, but thankfully my skiing was really on that day and kept me in the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The highlight of the week was the Relay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I woke up the morning of the race with a chest cold, but managed to get the race done and the team finished the day in 7<sup>th</sup> tying our best ever Relay result which was pretty sweet!</div><div class="MsoNormal">There was 10 day break before our next World Cup races in Oslo, Norway, which the team took advantage of by training at altitude in Italy for a few more days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then finished off the week by training and getting in some intensity at a bit lower altitude in Mittenwald, Germany.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent the first few days recovering from whatever chest bug or virus I was fighting, but was able to lay down some solid intensity and training over the remainder of the week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The snow and conditions in Mittenwald were amazing and I really enjoyed the training and network of trails that the area had to offer.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hnjh7hB2b3g/T1LBqZnQlBI/AAAAAAAAAmA/GeugeuzUzZU/s1600/IMG_0203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hnjh7hB2b3g/T1LBqZnQlBI/AAAAAAAAAmA/GeugeuzUzZU/s320/IMG_0203.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sweet sweet nightly appetizer buffet at our hotel in Italy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J5gUekBP4T0/T1LCLuIfCoI/AAAAAAAAAmI/jqqbp0yf_j8/s1600/IMG_0202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J5gUekBP4T0/T1LCLuIfCoI/AAAAAAAAAmI/jqqbp0yf_j8/s320/IMG_0202.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Since I was sick a spent a few days in quarantine. I had my own table for meals, complete with rose petals!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r29zArUWyBw/T1LCduIpaBI/AAAAAAAAAmQ/DkCSAuyOFNM/s1600/IMG_0205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="80" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r29zArUWyBw/T1LCduIpaBI/AAAAAAAAAmQ/DkCSAuyOFNM/s320/IMG_0205.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panoramic shot during one of our altitude skis in Italy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--8Hf1HysoyQ/T1LDBOXfAyI/AAAAAAAAAmg/UkIZpY-q0C8/s1600/Brendan-Green-020212al190.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--8Hf1HysoyQ/T1LDBOXfAyI/AAAAAAAAAmg/UkIZpY-q0C8/s320/Brendan-Green-020212al190.2.jpg" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Racing in Oslo, Norway.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Another one of my favorite places to race on the circuit is in Norway, and this year it definitely did not disappoint as far as results go. I think I enjoy Norway so much because skiing is so deeply embedded in Norwegian culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>World Cup #7 in Oslo was the coldest World Cup we had raced so far this season, but despite cold hands and toes the racing was awesome and I raced to the top 3 results of my career!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also qualified for the Mass Start race, which I was super pumped about and one of my goals for the season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was able to combine solid shooting throughout the week with consistently fast skiing to finish 9<sup>th</sup> in the Sprint, 13<sup>th</sup> in the Pursuit, and 10<sup>th</sup> in the Mass Start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had been hoping to crack the top ten all season and to do it twice in one week was a truly awesome feeling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately I didn’t get to relish in the excitement long as I ended the week in a lot of pain with re injuring my back, only this time a lot worse.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Since this post is also getting too long, I’ll finally get to the details about my back in my next blog.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Stay tuned!</div><div class="MsoNormal">Brendan</div>Brendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-33900894721642181782012-02-16T14:09:00.000-07:002012-02-16T14:09:46.821-07:00<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">I returned back to Canada from Norway this past Monday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The initial plan was to get in a solid block of training before World Champs, but there was an unfortunate turn of events with an ongoing back injury.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll get to that soon but first I want to get caught up by covering just a few of the many highlights from the Spring, Summer, Fall, and then of course winter.</div><div class="MsoNormal">After last season, training started up again at the usual time at the beginning of May after a few weeks of time off in April.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year instead of spending most of the spring training in Canmore, the National Team flew across the pond back to Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We spent a week based in Ruhpolding (venue of this years 2012 World Championships), Germany, working with a shooting coach from the French team as well as taking part in a shooting analysis at the University of Salzburg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The week was highly focused with two shooting sessions per day, typically with one session at the indoor range in Ruhpolding, and the other session outdoors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This combined with two physical workouts per day made for a pretty busy week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We focused mainly on position work and rifle shooting with French team coach Jean Pierre, who was the Olympic Gold medalist in precision shooting from the 1996 Atlanta games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had a lot of interesting ideas and theories about shooting to offer, which I think got the team off to the right start for the new season.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-If61_cf6AC0/TzgyNjEMrrI/AAAAAAAAAjI/tRLqGp30jH0/s1600/IMG_3472.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-If61_cf6AC0/TzgyNjEMrrI/AAAAAAAAAjI/tRLqGp30jH0/s320/IMG_3472.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I shot my first perfect 100 prone score during the camp in Ruhpolding.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSlYgtpTSO9am_3jxYcZ_qjPU8OBtbch07abjP25cmPgJOuzcAXrbtlKr_Z-4mWCgdX_QYYAvOlASojVIm0j5LbPZgUaU3FmZZSsp-Buwgj46SsV0wYckuOMKmqFVU-IjXGMc1TmA9NNg/s1600/P1000786.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSlYgtpTSO9am_3jxYcZ_qjPU8OBtbch07abjP25cmPgJOuzcAXrbtlKr_Z-4mWCgdX_QYYAvOlASojVIm0j5LbPZgUaU3FmZZSsp-Buwgj46SsV0wYckuOMKmqFVU-IjXGMc1TmA9NNg/s320/P1000786.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shooting analysis in Salzburg, Austria. Different measurements were taken using force plate analysis and pressure testing.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"> After the week in Ruhpolding it was off to Italy where the real fun began… 10 days of road cycling through the Italian dolomites following many of the Giro d’Italia routes and climbs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The riding was incredible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Italy is full of amazing roads to cycle and the passes to climb were endless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a week of riding we had climbed around 17,000 vertical meters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most days we rode over two passes, with the longest continuous climb one day being a 30km grind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Super fun and needless to say I have a new respect for professional cyclists! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back on one of the passes we climbed. The scenery was incredible.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rosanna at the top of one of the many passes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpdTQ6ErRiYSZwT63e6SNNq2gs2yY55MkawPmAO2Fo-sc2z3h7gvk8_gNuq5RRJECzZc7E6ZeT1stDnoSu-c9G2sOqWhyqINE2QMpSrF_JbLLHRKCQ1E54qj_BTTGR1g5l3A2DMk89Vqs/s1600/P1000906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpdTQ6ErRiYSZwT63e6SNNq2gs2yY55MkawPmAO2Fo-sc2z3h7gvk8_gNuq5RRJECzZc7E6ZeT1stDnoSu-c9G2sOqWhyqINE2QMpSrF_JbLLHRKCQ1E54qj_BTTGR1g5l3A2DMk89Vqs/s320/P1000906.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On one of the Giro d'Italia climbs.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div>The rest of the summer was spent training in the mountains around Canmore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things went smoothly apart from a back injury I sustained towards the end of July.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll need a separate post to go into all the details about it, but in short I herniated a disk in my low back which created a lot of problems for me and put a new spin on my training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And at times lot of pain.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-22ETihawFCc/Tz1QLXuavgI/AAAAAAAAAkI/61Tp0z_3Db0/s1600/rollerskirace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-22ETihawFCc/Tz1QLXuavgI/AAAAAAAAAkI/61Tp0z_3Db0/s320/rollerskirace.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Racing in the fall. I'm bib #2.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Once my back started to heal up I was off to Europe again for three weeks at the end of September, this time to Austria for a training camp on the Dachstein glacier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ski conditions were pretty marginal, basically skiing on dirty ice which wasn’t a ton of fun, but we had amazing weather with tons of sun, which meant for stellar dry land training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The highlights for sure were some of the amazing roller ski sessions up nearby passes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also lowered my PB on the Pichl time trial which I was pleased with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The time trial is an uphill roller ski race that climbs its way from the nearby valley bottom and up towards the town of Ramsau. The TT is used as a test every year by many of the different countries that come to train on the glacier.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkYcEPZRJ7vUMpfeFccsBL8Z4572VB3mU1ldZG9H1i6CcZZ6kMTgp_7IdJglu43oQbVrleTYz3KOT9XAoLIPxMFmO5dL-wYxr76gv0GVfNYkaUrzqyNnWxl_NXi20ikN79fjuTc2p1YM/s1600/IMG_5165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkYcEPZRJ7vUMpfeFccsBL8Z4572VB3mU1ldZG9H1i6CcZZ6kMTgp_7IdJglu43oQbVrleTYz3KOT9XAoLIPxMFmO5dL-wYxr76gv0GVfNYkaUrzqyNnWxl_NXi20ikN79fjuTc2p1YM/s320/IMG_5165.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z7cmhUrvy24/Tz1RSKu3K4I/AAAAAAAAAkY/Actex6fMsWc/s1600/IMG_4564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z7cmhUrvy24/Tz1RSKu3K4I/AAAAAAAAAkY/Actex6fMsWc/s320/IMG_4564.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glacier skiing - as you can see it could have used some more snow.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--fjBrMqhlOc/Tz1SALG9HNI/AAAAAAAAAko/iKxoUq9Un9g/s1600/IMG_5016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--fjBrMqhlOc/Tz1SALG9HNI/AAAAAAAAAko/iKxoUq9Un9g/s320/IMG_5016.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skiing on sheer ice.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PlPRzqLTQso/Tz1SPwXLbxI/AAAAAAAAAkw/DKzNsC-JeiM/s1600/IMG_5629.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PlPRzqLTQso/Tz1SPwXLbxI/AAAAAAAAAkw/DKzNsC-JeiM/s320/IMG_5629.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Training during one of the many sunny and warm days we had during our camp!</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">After Austria it was back to Canmore to continue training on snow, but this time instead glacier skiing we trained on a loop of stored man made snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had been stockpiled during last winter and then covered with sawdust and stored over the summer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In early October the sawdust was removed and the snow pushed out to form a short figure eight loop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The training definitely gets monotonous, but it was good for transitioning the training back on to snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Check out the link below for a video and more info on the loop - </div><div class="MsoNormal">http://player.vimeo.com/video/32300351?autoplay=1</div><div class="MsoNormal">Based on my performances from last season I was pre qualified for the first World Cup tour. The team left towards the end of November to kick off the World Cup season with the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>first stop in Ostersund, Sweden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt a little rough for the first race but things turned around and I found my form for the next few weeks of racing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second stop on tour was Hochfilzen, Austria, for World Cup #2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>World Cup #3 was planned for France but due to a late winter in Europe, the World Cup stayed in Austria and we spent an additional week racing in Hochfillzen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Results in order of races below.</div><div class="MsoNormal">WC#1 – Ostersund, Sweden</div><div class="MsoNormal">72<sup>nd</sup> – 20km Individual</div><div class="MsoNormal">14<sup>th</sup> – 10km Sprint</div><div class="MsoNormal">32<sup>nd</sup> – 12.5km Pursuit</div><div class="MsoNormal">WC#2 – Hochfilzen, Austria</div><div class="MsoNormal">34<sup>th</sup> – 10km Sprint</div><div class="MsoNormal">33<sup>rd</sup> – 12.5km Pursuit</div><div class="MsoNormal">15<sup>th</sup> – 4x7.5km Relay</div><div class="MsoNormal">WC#3 – Hochfilzen, Austria</div><div class="MsoNormal">24<sup>th</sup> – 10km Sprint</div><div class="MsoNormal">40<sup>th</sup> – 12.5km Pursuit</div><div class="MsoNormal">6<sup>th</sup> – Mixed Relay</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Highlights from the tour</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">My 14<sup>th</sup> place finish in my second World Cup race of the season tied for my best ever personal result on the circuit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had placed 14<sup>th</sup> on two previous occasions.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I shot clean (hit every target) in five seperate races. A pretty big accomplishment! </div><div class="MsoNormal">The Mixed Relay team finished a historic 6<sup>th</sup> place, which resulted in a place in the prize ceremony!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Disappointments from the tour </b></div><div class="MsoNormal">My back flared up after the last race in Ostersund to the point where I was ready to fly home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily things settled down somewhat thanks to a lot of extra work from our support staff and I was able to finish off the tour. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Some races were painful but I survived.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HCudyYbCXBk/Tz1d4zC7KYI/AAAAAAAAAk8/IfNAEXFWvto/s1600/mixedrelaypodium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HCudyYbCXBk/Tz1d4zC7KYI/AAAAAAAAAk8/IfNAEXFWvto/s320/mixedrelaypodium.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">6th place in the Mixed Relay and in the prize ceremony.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKT8oqRQJhvrYEe2gE5Kt2MDBLAo14KuwO4B97t4RAmMaHm0Ir8TlBjAsjvwKnZsfAbGX2cDn0Y2DQWWoDVgMwZShr5j2Sexfetc0o51y-Z57RI3oTE8fg6M9NiEdw_Y_jLHqlGHhdH7I/s320/CookBurkeGroup12182011cm057.2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zina tagging off to me in the Mixed Relay.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jTm_A0jvfkg/Tz1skxvR9rI/AAAAAAAAAlk/y0uIP2GyjMA/s1600/376430_336127943068934_219437098071353_1559848_1684813318_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jTm_A0jvfkg/Tz1skxvR9rI/AAAAAAAAAlk/y0uIP2GyjMA/s320/376430_336127943068934_219437098071353_1559848_1684813318_n.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chaos with JP and I during the WC#2 Men's Relay Event.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ARHvoL8hsV8/Tz1mcxv1ARI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/ZU40B-bSMNA/s1600/Green12022011cm270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ARHvoL8hsV8/Tz1mcxv1ARI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/ZU40B-bSMNA/s320/Green12022011cm270.jpg" width="313" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lunging for the line in Ostersund, SWE - 14th place finish in the Sprint competition.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"> After World Cup #3 it was back home for Christmas and some much needed rest and recovery!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since this post is starting to get a little long I’ll leave things here for now, and pick up where I left off soon!… </div><div class="MsoNormal">Until then! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Brendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-59762150939355240002012-02-09T22:19:00.002-07:002012-02-09T22:28:39.813-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CTPS9I3wk0E/TzSquioodeI/AAAAAAAAAic/nf1jmLXBSSU/s1600/powercorp2.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CTPS9I3wk0E/TzSquioodeI/AAAAAAAAAic/nf1jmLXBSSU/s400/powercorp2.tiff" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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I just arrived back in Canmore from our second World Cup tour of the season and the first of the new year. The tour had some awesome highlights, but ended on a bit of sad note. More to come on that soon though.<br />
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In the meantime, I wanted to take this opportunity to announce and say thank you to a major sponsor, the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, for coming on board as a sponsor for the second season in a row.<br />
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Without the generosity of the Power Corporation, it would be very difficult for me to compete at the level I do today.<br />
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Thank you!!!Brendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-48306549276760681742011-08-01T21:27:00.000-06:002011-08-01T21:27:09.504-06:00A belated season recap!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9alKURylRusgAU-kv52XMhcNM2_Tdf3LXl89T0C6DONV0Di1FqQXNB0w3fqT6ugkDepRclbb5sP-0Dxe7Sulf8SSo-tX6Uh1BVJisSM9-FRrY6AccgsIrRqDRtQ3fIBSRLEBiureez0s/s1600/IMG_3151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
I ended off my last post while in Russia at World Champs. I had a frustrating two weeks of racing and for whatever reason was not able to get into a good zone. I struggled to bring the more typical form I had been consistently showing throughout the season on the World Cup both in skiing and in shooting. Our team did have a strong relay however and we finished in 11th in what turned out to be a very tight 30km of racing.<br />
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This was my second time in Russia and I'm not a huge fan of spending long periods of time in Siberia! Despite being in one of the more oil rich cities, the food wasn’t great (nobody wants to eat fish soup for breakfast), and the vibe I got from the city was kind of bleak. It was obvious a lot of people in the city had money, and even more obvious that a lot of people didn’t. You would see someone driving a Lexus down the street, but if you ran a couple blocks from the city centre you would see people walking along the streets carrying buckets of water to their homes.<br />
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Our accommodation was decent however, as we got to stay in a new and extremely large hotel that apparently was built for the influx of people whom where in Khanty Mansyisk for the 2010 Chess Olympics. Chess in Russia is big!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirxNt87gTzY2GdaiENiiqNduTu-NVTC0TPQmubt0qHae3dLlm3_I3IRg0YiWEaPk5lRnqnrI7eoueIVHp9pvGwNka6G82LqDxYOoi6BBJhJ1j2ZvGWkI1jUDKJtfJ8YB-ybaYytCgJB00/s1600/IMG_3093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirxNt87gTzY2GdaiENiiqNduTu-NVTC0TPQmubt0qHae3dLlm3_I3IRg0YiWEaPk5lRnqnrI7eoueIVHp9pvGwNka6G82LqDxYOoi6BBJhJ1j2ZvGWkI1jUDKJtfJ8YB-ybaYytCgJB00/s320/IMG_3093.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A view of the stadium</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3SCV9R64JME/TjcyDF4HAHI/AAAAAAAAAfs/_1rVlofjnH8/s1600/IMG_3103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3SCV9R64JME/TjcyDF4HAHI/AAAAAAAAAfs/_1rVlofjnH8/s320/IMG_3103.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A pretty cool opening ceremonies was put on for the athletes</i></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qwr-yc-AUrk/Tjcy_bmnhaI/AAAAAAAAAgY/J2GoDUVJ1Q0/s1600/IMG_3067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qwr-yc-AUrk/Tjcy_bmnhaI/AAAAAAAAAgY/J2GoDUVJ1Q0/s320/IMG_3067.JPG" width="320" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i> Some of the food that was being cooked for the spectators outside the stadium entrance. Don't ask what it is!</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nvgPDLR1J7Y/TjdKW7nHqoI/AAAAAAAAAgg/EoexqQKp-ek/s1600/IMG_3060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nvgPDLR1J7Y/TjdKW7nHqoI/AAAAAAAAAgg/EoexqQKp-ek/s320/IMG_3060.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Apparently many giant prehistoric animals were excavated in tact from along this river bank. We checked out the park one afternoon and took a ride on one of giant buffalo's. </div><br />
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From Russia it was straight to Norway for the last World Cup of the year. I was beyond happy when I sat down for our first meal in our hotel where I was able to eat awesome food until I was completely full. I felt like a King! The conditions in Norway were great. It's often typical to be racing in slush while in Oslo at this time of year, but this time around the tracks held up throughout the week and we had perfect weather.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><i> View of stadium from top of ski jump.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_xrIFx6SPng/Tjdq_KMJ6JI/AAAAAAAAAhM/UtJPlzH7LxA/s1600/IMG_3140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_xrIFx6SPng/Tjdq_KMJ6JI/AAAAAAAAAhM/UtJPlzH7LxA/s320/IMG_3140.jpg" width="179" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VgAgK-GbuC4/TjdrLYprvDI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/y_9p-CmfIOQ/s1600/IMG_3138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VgAgK-GbuC4/TjdrLYprvDI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/y_9p-CmfIOQ/s320/IMG_3138.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>At the Holmenkollen venue is an amazing ski museum that everyone should check out while in Oslo. One of the skis in the picture is dated back to 600AD</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><i> At the viking museum!</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g4LDtqVKf1g/TjdPvfKrCVI/AAAAAAAAAhA/zlhXnYsFVI0/s1600/Green120111cm034.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g4LDtqVKf1g/TjdPvfKrCVI/AAAAAAAAAhA/zlhXnYsFVI0/s320/Green120111cm034.jpg" width="213" /> </a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Unfortunately the fun ended in Oslo and the trip back to Canada was long and full of delays. Scott and I were traveling straight to Canadian Championships together and were planning to arrive in New Brunswick on Monday, with our first race being on Wednesday. After an extremely frustrating and tiring two days of traveling we arrived in Charlo Tuesday evening. After a few hours of sleep we dragged ourselves out of bed and raced 20km the next morning. Needless to say I was bagged and the four races throughout the week turned into a blur. I couldn’t wait to finish off the last competitions of the season and return home for some much needed rest.<br />
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It was a long season on the road (with only 10 days being spent in Canmore from the middle of November to the end of April) but it was a pretty solid year of racing for me. I was able to consistently score points, qualified for my first ever Mass Start race on the World Cup, and had my best ever shooting average at 82% while on the World Cup.<br />
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</a></div>A few highlights from the season:<br />
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5 top 30 finished on the World Cup<br />
Season best finish - 14th place in 10km Sprint – WC#4 in Oberhof, GER<br />
Accumulated 112 WC points<br />
81.7% shooting average<br />
Qualified for first Mass Start race in at WC#4 in Oberhof, GERBrendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-16284053283449264382011-02-23T05:28:00.006-07:002011-03-05T05:28:39.943-07:00Vancouver to Russia... Back from the blogging abyss!<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Well, it's been over a year since my last post, and in the past year way too much has happened for me to write about now. I wish I was more on the ball with blogging because a lot of exciting things have happened over the last little while and if I tried to write everything, this post would go on forever! Therefore, I've decided to do a quick summary of the past year mainly in the form of pictures. Below are just a few of the bigger highlights to bring you all somewhat up to date on my life during the last little while. Enjoy!</span>
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<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >It's official, NWT's first Olympian in 26 years!...</span><span style="font-size:100%;">
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<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Shortly after my last post about my racing experience in Antholz, Italy, the Olympic team for biathlon was officially announced, and I had qualified for the team!!! I had known I had made the team shortly after Christmas, but I wanted to keep it on the down low until the news was officially released to the media. During the announcement I was at a training camp in a very small and sleepy village in Germany. I didn't have a telephone in my room and the nearest internet was a 5min walk from our hotel. Over the next week every time I logged on to my email my inbox was swamped with new messages. I tried my best to keep up with responses and requests, but in the end it was becoming too stressful and given my limited resources I decided my computer had to take a back seat so I could focus on what lay ahead! </span>
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<br /><a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hTmb-Su9Hq0/TWTyKmf4R8I/AAAAAAAAAdA/kpGCpKOrOEM/s1600/P2120065.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hTmb-Su9Hq0/TWTyKmf4R8I/AAAAAAAAAdA/kpGCpKOrOEM/s320/P2120065.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576848502538389442" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /><a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9fiBZaNe4Io/TWTyK7uGTZI/AAAAAAAAAdI/bfY3S7FB6Os/s1600/P2120067.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9fiBZaNe4Io/TWTyK7uGTZI/AAAAAAAAAdI/bfY3S7FB6Os/s320/P2120067.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576848508235173266" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >First IBU Cup win in Martell, Italy!...</span><span style="font-size:100%;">
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<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Instead of heading back to Canada after the World Cup in Atholz, I stayed on in Europe for an extra three weeks with a few other members of my team to prepare for the Olympics. This way I would be able to get in good training away from the hype of Vancouver, and also get the opportunity to race in some higher level competitions as pre Olympic preparation. I was able to keep my form from Antholz and had an amazing two weeks of racing where I picked up a win in my last race series before the Olympics at the IBU Cup #7 in Martell, Italy. I was very pleased with my results as this meant I was in good form heading into Vancouver!
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Olympics!!!...</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">After three weeks of training and racing in Europe, I had 5 days back in Canmore before flying to Vancouver and settling in at the athlete's village in Whistler. A few days later and I was racing in front of a home crowd in my Olympic debut (our relay team finished in 10th). The whole Olympic experience was totally unreal. Seeing so many Canadians united over sport was something special and the vibe in Whistler and Vancouver was incredible. For those of you who don't know, I am the youngest in a large family, and to make my Olympic experience extra memorable, my whole family was able to be in attendance for my race. It meant a lot to have them all in the stands cheering me on, and I am great-full for all of their support throughout my career. The weather was absolutely miserable with heavy wet snow falling from the sky, but they were troopers and hung around for at least an hour after my race, even though they were freezing and soaking wet, so that I could have a short visit with everyone before I had to head back to the village. Getting to compete at a home Olympics is a once in lifetime opportunity and was an experience that I will never forget. Thank you to everyone who helped me in turning this dream into a reality!
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<br /></span> <meta name="Title" content=""> <meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 2008"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 2008"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:drawinggridhorizontalspacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:drawinggridverticalspacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:dontautofitconstrainedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="276"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Pep Rally & Green Day!...
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<br /></span><o:p></o:p></span></b></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">One of the bonuses of being raised in a small community is that you are able to form a direct relationship with community members, many of whom then become directly tied with your achievements and dreams.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Whether it be teachers, neighbors, or old coaches, people want you to succeed and will go to great lengths to help you do so. </span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">This is one of the reasons I love Hay River so much.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">While making final preparations in Europe I was informed over email that the town would be having a pep rally to honor my achievement as well as the cultural delegates and youth ambassadors that would also be in attendance at the Olympics.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">All of the schools packed the arena full and an entertaining afternoon was had with musical performances, appearances from the ambassadors, and even a special video.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">A Smart car was also unveiled that was decorated with my picture and driven aroun</span>d town during the Olympics.<span style=""> </span>I was blown away by the support and camaraderie.<span style=""> </span>I wish I could have been there! </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:10pt;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">I thought the pep rally was an amazing and very kind gesture from the town, but to take things to another level, </span><span style="font-size:100%;">February 26<sup>th</sup> in Hay River was officially declared “Green Day”!!!<span style=""> </span>People took part by wearing green while watching my race!<span style=""> </span>Schools watched the race in gymnasiums and the local movie theatre broadcasted the race on large screen!<span style=""> </span>Even the Inukshuk, the town icon outside Town Hall was dressed in support wearing a green shirt with Olympic rings! <span style=""> </span>It’s tough to describe what it felt like to have such amazing support from my hometown and Territory, but I can say that it was an incredible feeling and I’m sure there were few Canadian athletes, if any, that had the same support I did.<span style=""> </span>I feel fortunate to be from the North and am proud that I could represent Hay River and the North on the World stage!<span style=""> </span>Thanks to all those who took part in these events and showed such amazing support!
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Time for some rest & recovery... Almost!</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">After the closing ceremonies at the Olympics in Vancouver, it was straight back to Canmore to race in the Canadian Championships two days later. I was feeling absolutely exhausted and was fighting a bit of cold but had to race anyway in order to qualify for the next World Cup tour. My season wasn't over yet. The last event of the season for most other sports was the Olympics, but for biathlon we still had three World Cups left before our season would come to an end. I raced well enough to qualify, I think I finished in second and third and less than a week after arriving back in Canmore from Vancouver, I was on a plane again to Europe to finish off the season with World Cups in Finland, Norway, and Russia. Needless to say when I finished the tour I was spent and needed some rest. My girlfriend Rosanna and I decided to take a well deserved vacation and spent a week relaxing in Maui in April after a long season on the road!
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<br /><a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CQU8EdJ8u3c/TWTsXKnXxEI/AAAAAAAAAbo/PZnbpvXVNfk/s1600/IMG_2609.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CQU8EdJ8u3c/TWTsXKnXxEI/AAAAAAAAAbo/PZnbpvXVNfk/s320/IMG_2609.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576842121322153026" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eMrbzyTLeg4/TWT67QtxRFI/AAAAAAAAAdU/o9DL5_aC4gI/s1600/P2260096.JPG">
<br /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >A busy Spring...</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">After returning from a week in Hawaii it was back to Canmore for one night, only to unpack and repack before jumping on a plane again, this time headed for Ottawa and Montreal. Canada's 2010 Olympians were brought together for a series of events to celebrate Canada's success at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Celebrations started with a "Government of Canada Tribute to the Athletes" which included a visit to the House of Commons and a reception on Parliament Hill where athletes had a chance to visit with MP's and meet the Prime Minister. From Ottawa VIA Rail provided transport to Montreal where Athletes took part in an Olympic Parade hosted by the city of Montreal and the Government of Canada in which an estimated 100,000 people took part. The parade was followed in the evening by a Hall of Fame Galla and Red Carpet event which honoured this years inductees into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame. The Olympians took part in the Galla and enjoyed many of Canada's top performing artists during what was an unforgettable evening. The events were a huge success and were a great opportunity to bring Canada's 2010 Olympians back to together to celebrate the achievements of the games.
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<br /><a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DhDFjJ-qcck/TWTvheytuAI/AAAAAAAAAcM/2WUwvtjodGA/s1600/IMG_2736.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 179px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DhDFjJ-qcck/TWTvheytuAI/AAAAAAAAAcM/2WUwvtjodGA/s320/IMG_2736.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576845597072013314" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B_XnURVxxa4/TWTvhAu84MI/AAAAAAAAAcE/RRdLgMSsnnI/s1600/IMG_2731.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B_XnURVxxa4/TWTvhAu84MI/AAAAAAAAAcE/RRdLgMSsnnI/s320/IMG_2731.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576845589003165890" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qO0EGtn3e6k/TWTvhQ1JSnI/AAAAAAAAAcU/stJcaKZITWs/s1600/IMG_2754.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qO0EGtn3e6k/TWTvhQ1JSnI/AAAAAAAAAcU/stJcaKZITWs/s320/IMG_2754.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576845593324112498" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Finally home!...</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">During the beginning of June I was able to make it home to Hay River for a quick visit. This was my first time home since the Olympics and it did not disappoint! My visit included taking part in the Territorial Track & Field Championships which are held in Hay River every spring with over 1000 athletes taking part from schools all over the North. I decided to race in the 5000m event and despite not being in the greatest running shape I managed to run the race in a decent time and only 1 second off of the Territorial record! I was guest speaker during the opening ceremonies and also had the honor of carrying the torch into the arena and lighting the cauldron. I knew there would be some hype around me attending the event, but I was absolutely blown away by the reception I got when I carried the torch into the arena. A short video was played with clips from my childhood progressing throughout my career as an athlete to hype the kids up, and then when I stepped into the rink with the torch I was instantly swamped by hundreds of screaming kids all trying to get as close to me as possible! After some help from volunteers clearing a path for me I eventually was able to make my way up to the stage minutes later, without any kids clinging to my arms! The reception was amazing, more than anything I could have expected, and being able to be a role model to these kids, even if it was only for the few days the meet lasted, was a truly awesome feeling! After the Track & Field meet I was able to do short two day training camp over the weekend with the NWT biathlon team where we were able to work on the fundamentals of shooting and roller skiing. I also had the opportunity to quickly visit with a couple of classes during my visit. The week went by way too fast, but it was great to see my family again and eat my Mum's home cooked meals... I experienced quite the homecoming! What can I say... being from the North is awesome! (Pictured above: Outside Wesclean with Brad Mapes, visiting Harry Camsell School, roller skiing with the biathlon team. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures to share from the Track & Field Meet).</span>
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >Oktoberfest!...
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<br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">Training over the rest of the Spring and Summer went as planned without too much excitement. I had a few illnesses and a kind of painful and unpleasant shoulder injury, but other than that training was smooth. The pictures above are from a training camp in Europe. Once again this Fall after roller ski trials I made the trip to Austria for a three week training camp on the Dachstein glacier in the town of Ramsau. The ski conditions and altitude are ideal for the type of training we are trying to accomplish at this time of the season. Highlights from this training camp, other than being able to ski long hours in October <span style="font-size:100%;">were<span style="font-family:georgia;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></span></span></span></span><meta name="Title" content=""> <meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 2008"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 2008"> <link style="font-family: georgia;" rel="File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/Brendan/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0/clip_filelist.xml"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:drawinggridhorizontalspacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:drawinggridverticalspacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:dontautofitconstrainedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="276"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">experiencing </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Oktoberfest in Munich (which was nuts!), and having the opportunity to take part in some testing at the University of Salzburg.<span style=""> </span>They were doing a research project at the University using force plate analysis and pressure mapping to see the trends of elite shooters.<span style=""> </span>The set up used was pretty slick and the feedback we received was both interesting and useful.
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<br /></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJxaqAx10r0ztIJZF1roCwa-cEjaCI5spV81zRe_vNRQAYE7BY9G0kdHLPYhQOKRrFh1r9MAVDaEoallbd9dVm4JLElsXFbmH_IFyFmiSFlgzMY2Q65GrKDAw7_h6vbi1jfxLxhQoAAf4/s1600/bg_7.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJxaqAx10r0ztIJZF1roCwa-cEjaCI5spV81zRe_vNRQAYE7BY9G0kdHLPYhQOKRrFh1r9MAVDaEoallbd9dVm4JLElsXFbmH_IFyFmiSFlgzMY2Q65GrKDAw7_h6vbi1jfxLxhQoAAf4/s320/bg_7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580271090109310770" border="0" /></a> <!--EndFragment--> <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >
<br /></span></span> <meta name="Title" content=""> <meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 2008"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 2008"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:drawinggridhorizontalspacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:drawinggridverticalspacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:dontautofitconstrainedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="276"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >World Cup Season…</span><o:p></o:p></span></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I left Canada on November 20<sup>th</sup> to Scandinavia for a short training camp before officially kicking off the World Cup season in Ostersund, Sweden.<span style=""> </span>From there it was off to Austria and then Slovenia for two more World Cups before taking a short break over Christmas.<span style=""> </span>This year the team decided to spend Christmas in Europe to avoid the jetlag of returning to Canada for Christmas only to fly back again two weeks later.<span style=""> </span>Rosanna and I spent three days relaxing and recharging in Venice before returning to meet up with the rest of the team to resume training again.<span style=""> </span>Venice was great, we were able to escape winter and forget about biathlon for a few days.<span style=""> </span>From our training camp in Italy we drove to Oberhof, Germany, for World Cup #4 and then to Ruhpolding, Germany, for World Cup #5.<span style=""> </span>The team skipped World Cup #6 in Italy to instead head back to Canada to rest and train before racing two more World Cups in Maine, USA. </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">From Maine it was back to Europe to acclimatize and train for a week in Dobbiaco, Italy before flying on a charter to the Siberian city of Khanty Mansyisk for this years World Championships.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">So far my season has been going quite well.<span style=""> </span>My shooting percentages have been on the rise, I’ve scored more World Cup points than I ever have, and I’ve turned in some solid performances with the highlight of qualifying for the Mass Start race at World Cup #4 at the biathlon crazy venue in Oberhof.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">At the moment I am in Russia making final preparations before my first race on Saturday.<span style=""> </span>Conditions will be challenging but I am optimistic that I will be able to perform well at these Championships and meet my expectations.<span style=""> </span>More to follow on my racing and experiences in Russia soon!</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=";font-family:Times;font-size:10pt;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Brendan</span></span></span></p>Brendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-85328451457671982572010-01-29T07:31:00.008-07:002010-01-29T07:49:23.628-07:00I love Anthlolz!At the moment I’m in Bavaria, staying in a small town near Garmisch, where I’m winding down and resting up after an amazing week of racing on the World Cup!<br /><br />The tour first started out in Germany, where we raced World Cup #5 in Ruhpolding. Biathlon in Germany is extremely popular and the fan base is enormous. With it being the most popular sport in the country, the German athletes are huge icons. This was my first time racing at a World Cup in Germany and it was quite the experience. All of our competitions took place at night under bright lights, and racing in front of 25 000 intense fans made for a pretty cool vibe and some fun racing. You know it’s going to be an epic day with the fans when you arrive at the venue to the smell of beer and Bratwurst thick in the air. The smell of beer I can deal with, but my lungs definitely did not enjoy the cigar smoke that wafted over parts of the course, causing you to be short of breathe for the few seconds it took to pass through. If you were ever skiing near or shooting at the same time as a German athlete, good luck being able to hear anything. The roar from the fans was so intense that you could feel the sound resonate through your body! As for our performances during this World Cup, most of the team had a bit of a frustrating week finding our form, myself included. I was skiing well, but it doesn’t matter how fast you ski because when the shooting isn’t there, the good results won’t be either.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S2LxsyMdvFI/AAAAAAAAAY4/FcA9UscmCDE/s1600-h/95829596.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S2LxsyMdvFI/AAAAAAAAAY4/FcA9UscmCDE/s320/95829596.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432169852252830802" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Racing the Relay in Ruhpolding.<br /></span></div><br />From Germany we drove three hours to Antholz, Italy, where World Cup #6 would be taking place four days later. Situated in a mountain valley, Antholz is home to one of my favorite venues on the World Cup circuit. The stadium is awesome, the trails have nice flow, good snow is always a guarantee, the weather is amazing with sun most days, and the cuisine is stellar with four course meals!<br /><br />The racing here went extremely well for me and I finally had the results I’ve been waiting for. While training during the week I put a lot of focus into my shooting and was able to sort things out on the range. The other aspects of my training felt pretty good as well and I was looking forward to racing. The competition kicked off last Thursday with a 20km Individual race. The race went awesome. I felt relaxed on my skis and skied at a fast yet comfortable pace that I was able to maintain for the duration of the 20km. In the range I felt focused and confident. The shooting conditions were tricky with inconsistent wind, but I managed to stay assertive while shooting and ended the day in 19th place, my best result ever on the World Cup! Placing in the top 20 was a huge result for me and I proved to myself that I am able to compete and put up a fight with the best athletes when things are going well for me.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMjohrGuwyKOXmwrtsYzfBf9R8qVvIWYbfAODKCNdc6RrataRGXhiOkPcnMO54Dazkip1jJN4tUgbXuRpgu3V0skc6IQHQOns25Cr0MIIgIxFn39VVfYh9XzJX5R6PFhs0SlIOghPO7Ac/s1600-h/Antholz+2010+Individual+P1750295.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMjohrGuwyKOXmwrtsYzfBf9R8qVvIWYbfAODKCNdc6RrataRGXhiOkPcnMO54Dazkip1jJN4tUgbXuRpgu3V0skc6IQHQOns25Cr0MIIgIxFn39VVfYh9XzJX5R6PFhs0SlIOghPO7Ac/s320/Antholz+2010+Individual+P1750295.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432170187316256882" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Racing in Antholz - Photo courtesy of Michel van Balkum<br /></span></div><br />Saturday’s 10km Sprint race also went quite well. I woke up feeling a little low on energy and tired, but as the day progressed I gradually began to feel more awake. I was skiing well, shot clean in my first prone bout and was having a great race, but two penalties in standing dropped me back to 34th at the finish. All things considered it was a very respectable race for me. I was happy with my result and looking forward to Sunday's Pursuit race.<br /><br />Leading into Sunday’s race things felt normal. I had a routine Zero and my warm-up for the race felt typical – nothing special, just OK. Because it was a Pursuit race the start is based off of the previous days Sprint race results. The winner from the previous day starts first and all the other athletes’ start according to what their time behind the winner was. I was starting the race in the 34th place, 1:25 behind the lead.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S2LyffwEA8I/AAAAAAAAAZM/4W8PAhcH1_M/s1600-h/Antholz+2010+P1730817.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S2LyffwEA8I/AAAAAAAAAZM/4W8PAhcH1_M/s320/Antholz+2010+P1730817.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432170723475194818" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Training in Italy - Photo courtesy of Michel van Balkum</span><br /></div><br />As soon as I left the start gate I found myself in a pack with three or four other guys. The pace was fast but I was feeling awesome, and thanks to our wax techs, my skis were bombing. I cleaned my first two prone bouts and was steadily working my way up the field. When I came in to shoot my first standing I was in 20th place and had 1 miss. My skiing was strong though and I continued to move up in the rankings. When I came into the range for my final bout of shooting I was in 13th place. Normally in a situation like this I would begin to feel very stressed, but today this was not the case. I felt extremely relaxed. I came into the range, stepped onto lane 13 and noticed that almost everyone ahead of me was still in the range. I dropped my poles, took my rifle off my back, and then my mind shut off. I left the range with one more miss standing. I cruised around the penalty loop and then once on course I lay the hammer down. I knew it was a tight race and that there was a pack of guys in hot pursuit of me. I didn’t want to be leading these guys so I did my best to put a bit of a gap early on in the loop and began to push the pace as much as my body would allow. It hurt like hell but I didn’t care. I was too focused on my skiing to think about the pain. For the rest of the loop I was slowly gaining on a pack ahead of me, and with about 400m to go I was caught by a Russian. We sprinted to the finish and just caught up to the back of the pack that was ahead of us as we lunged at the line. I looked up at the scoreboard to see that I had made up 20 places and finished in 14th!!! By far my best race on the World Cup to date! I also posted the second fastest ski time of the day which was an awesome bonus… 3 seconds off of the lead pace!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S2L0IA7UGII/AAAAAAAAAZY/Hdf4mAmA_dU/s1600-h/Antholz+007.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S2L0IA7UGII/AAAAAAAAAZY/Hdf4mAmA_dU/s320/Antholz+007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432172519087151234" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The Grande stand in Antholz.<br /></span></div><br /><br />It was an amazing race. I felt like a machine while skiing, but felt very focused and relaxed on the range. I’ve trained hard this year while working a lot on all aspects of my training, so to have it pay off with a result like this is an incredible feeling and an experience I will never forget. Antholz was also the last World Cup stop before the Olympics; so to have my three best results at this World Cup is definitely a confidence booster heading into the Games!<br /><br /><br />Cheers!<br /><br />BrendanBrendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-44617459800694086472010-01-18T10:41:00.019-07:002010-01-19T09:04:43.024-07:00I'm back! - Life from September to December...I’m back! One of my New Year’s resolutions is to blog more regularly, so here’s my attempt at keeping that resolution. I suppose I’m a bit late but I haven’t had much down time lately!<br /><br />Since the end of September I’ve been on the road with only a few short breaks back in Canmore to re-energize in-between training camps or racing tours. Three weeks in the Fall were spent training on the Dachstein glacier in Austria. Here we were able to put in a solid amount of high volume days skiing at altitude while being able to roller ski and do intensity at a lower elevation in the town of Ramsau, where we also stayed.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S1Sgtx1VCxI/AAAAAAAAAWg/kHXpFLp5VPE/s1600-h/IMG_1772.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 224px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S1Sgtx1VCxI/AAAAAAAAAWg/kHXpFLp5VPE/s400/IMG_1772.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428140159219862290" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Skiing on the Dachstein glacier... it was a bad summer for snow but the track held up alright most days.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXEa_1nGYkIvXb5puKUvrUMws_71DszKwfD-RPwf5AU1llW24a03MewT_2haSBsPyX0GnHeDnCeJVtWZqaLxP6fh4FKoaFdotM1liWXf65mJXyC6-rDAOtPiUgI4pcPDpqbt31tpQQVzM/s1600-h/IMG_1753.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXEa_1nGYkIvXb5puKUvrUMws_71DszKwfD-RPwf5AU1llW24a03MewT_2haSBsPyX0GnHeDnCeJVtWZqaLxP6fh4FKoaFdotM1liWXf65mJXyC6-rDAOtPiUgI4pcPDpqbt31tpQQVzM/s320/IMG_1753.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428177686208254658" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Ramsau seemed to be the land of miniature animals. A pony chillin' halfway up a mountain that I came across during a run.<br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S1TFzJeOpxI/AAAAAAAAAXA/tS4_uqYBvUI/s1600-h/IMG_1748.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S1TFzJeOpxI/AAAAAAAAAXA/tS4_uqYBvUI/s320/IMG_1748.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428180933394999058" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The view from a Tea House during a run.<br /></span></div><br /><br />After a big few weeks of laying down some solid training hours it was back to Canmore for a high intensity block. Almost all of these hard sessions took place on the roller ski treadmill at the University of Calgary. We’ve done a similar format of max intervals over the last two years, which seem to produce a positive response from my body, although these workouts are always guaranteed to be some of the most grueling training sessions of the year. Mentally being able to deal with the pain that you know you’re about to endure on the treadmill is half the battle.<br />Upon our return from Austria we were also able to continue our skiing on snow at the Canmore Nordic Centre. During some abnormally cold weather in October, enough man-made snow was blown to form a small training loop (about 700m if you skied it in a figure 8) in the cross-country stadium.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S1TLj3atsYI/AAAAAAAAAXM/ZIVKR57PxRA/s1600-h/Summer+%2708+124.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S1TLj3atsYI/AAAAAAAAAXM/ZIVKR57PxRA/s320/Summer+%2708+124.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428187267920146818" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Grindin' away on the treadmill.<br /></span></div><br />I spent my birthday at the beginning of November packing to leave the following day for what turned out to be an epic training camp in Silver Star, BC. They received some early snow that made for absolutely wicked skiing. While most athletes were training on the mind numbing hamster loop back in Canmore, our team was able to take advantage of over 50km of perfectly groomed trails that we could ski at our leisure just a few steps from our hotel. During our time here our schedule literally consisted of training, eating, and sleeping. The camp quickly became nick named the high-high-high camp, because of the volume of hours, the amount of intensity, and the altitude at which we were training. I was feeling pretty wicked all week with the exception of the last two days where all of a sudden I hit a wall and felt pretty cooked. I backed off on the intensity for the last two days and was able to recover a bit before heading back to Canmore. In the last 7 days we trained 25 hrs and averaged one hard intensity session a day ranging from ski strength, to time trials, to 20km of sub race pace. I left Silver Star feeling pretty bagged but happy with the training I was able to complete and the level of quality and focus in which I was able to accomplish it.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S1TOPi3IGZI/AAAAAAAAAXY/wSMypGbPxPk/s1600-h/IMG_1868.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S1TOPi3IGZI/AAAAAAAAAXY/wSMypGbPxPk/s320/IMG_1868.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428190217339672978" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Scott's body starting to let him down after a tough week of training! (The photo was actually staged... as usual Scott trained like an animal during our stay in Silver Star.)<br /><br /></span></div>After a short break back in Canmore to unpack, do laundry, and repack, I was on the road again, this time to Sweden were we would kick off our World Cup season. The travel as usual was long, but when we arrived at our final destination in Brusksvallarna, we were greeted with lots of snow and pretty sweet conditions. We trained here for about a week before driving to Ostersund a couple of days before our first race. After three races in Sweden we flew to Munich and then drove to Hochfillzen, Austria for World Cup #2. I got sick with a cold the day after our arrival in Austria which I was pretty bummed out about. I had a couple days to take it easy before our next races and I did my best to recover as much as possible in that given time. We had to race three days in a row, which is punishing on the body, but I managed to do all right despite feeling pretty terrible and low on energy the whole week. On top of racing sick which is never any fun, it didn’t help that conditions were tough and slow with either fresh snow or rain during our races and training. Our last World Cup stop on tour before Christmas was in Pokljuka, Slovenia. It was my first time in Slovenia which was fun and despite feeling tired from all the racing I was finally more or less over my cold which I was stoked about. I was feeling good about the week and had some decent performances in the cold temperatures and strong wind, which made the racing tricky.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S1VznIXEWKI/AAAAAAAAAXw/F9lcKSPRMs4/s1600-h/IMG_1896.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S1VznIXEWKI/AAAAAAAAAXw/F9lcKSPRMs4/s320/IMG_1896.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428372041961330850" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The veiv from our hotel room window in Bled, Slovenia.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S1TQz5X9g8I/AAAAAAAAAXk/7Z5sd7rVvIw/s1600-h/IMG_1919.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S1TQz5X9g8I/AAAAAAAAAXk/7Z5sd7rVvIw/s320/IMG_1919.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428193040881517506" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Boats along the lake.</span><br /></div><br /><br />After 30 days on tour and 9 races in 18 days, I was in big need of some rest and recovery and was soon on a plane back to Canada for Christmas! I was tired, of course from all of the racing, but also in large part I think due to jetlag. In all my years of travel I have never experienced it this bad. In the first ten days of tour I averaged maybe four hours of sleep a night. I felt like a Zombie. I started sleeping a little better after about two weeks but my body never seemed to really adjust throughout the whole duration of the tour. I didn’t have one solid sleep during the entire 30 days and nothing I did seemed to make a difference. I pulled out all the stops… Melatonin, Litebook, sleeping pills, and deep relaxation breathing but nothing really helped. Not seeing the sun most days in Sweden definitely didn’t help the situation, but I was sure that things would improve once we arrived in central Europe where we would see more sun. Guess I was wrong!<br /><br />Travel home was hectic and stressful as it always is during Christmas but it was nice to get back to Canada and relax, even if I didn’t get my bags until 5 days after I arrived. For the first time I decided to spend Christmas in Canmore away from family. It was a tough decision to make but I think it was the right one with the Olympics not far away. This way I was able to minimize travel and get in some solid training during the short break I had. Christmas turned out to actually be pretty busy and I was not lonely at all thanks to the amazing generosity of friends in Canmore!<br /><br />In reflecting upon my pre-Christmas tour, I am satisfied with how things went. These were the last three World Cups that would fall within our Olympic qualification time period, so it was obviously a very stressful tour to say the least. The men were fighting hard for one of the four Olympic spots by either trying to maintain and add to previously met criteria, or by trying to finish off partially met criteria. There were some extremely stressful moments but there were also some great results produced from the team. For myself, I didn’t have any really amazing performances, but I was consistent which is a good thing. I started in all nine races, was consistently placing within the top 60 with my top result being 46th, and I qualified for both pursuit races. With Olympic qualification on everyone’s mind, I think I was able to stay focused and raced respectable given the circumstances.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S1V3ocGEdjI/AAAAAAAAAX8/x4XWZ-b6TZ4/s1600-h/Green111209cm059.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S1V3ocGEdjI/AAAAAAAAAX8/x4XWZ-b6TZ4/s200/Green111209cm059.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428376462485124658" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Adjusting my visor during the Sprint in Hochfillzen... It iced up and got pretty hard to see during the race. Photo credit - Christian Manzoni</span>.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S1V3pP98k2I/AAAAAAAAAYE/7hqM52VXHuo/s1600-h/Green121209cm122.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/S1V3pP98k2I/AAAAAAAAAYE/7hqM52VXHuo/s200/Green121209cm122.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428376476409697122" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Racing World Cup #2 in Hochfillzen. Photo credit - Christian Manzoni.</span><br /></div><br /><br />I am now in Europe again and just finished yesterday racing at the ‘Super Bowl’ of biathlon, World Cup #5 in Ruhpolding, Germany. More to come on that later though because I’m starting to feel carsick… At the moment I am sitting in the back of our van driving over the Brenner Pass on our way to Antholz, Italy, for World Cup #6, which will start on Thursday with a 20km Individual race for the men.<br /><br />Cheers!<br /><br />BrendanBrendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-88801124792068957902009-10-11T02:57:00.004-06:002009-10-11T03:30:32.484-06:00Trials Recap (from early September)After a very tense four days of racing and a stressful few weeks leading up to trials, I am happy to report that I’ve qualified as one of four men who will represent Canada on the first World Cup tour! As I mentioned in my previous post, I knew I had done all the hard work necessary to perform well, it was now just a matter of executing under pressure. I’m not the biggest fan of having trial races on roller skis in September (for a number of reasons I won’t get into) but it’s been the norm for the last few years now and I’m learning to accept and deal with it.<br /><br />Three races were held over four days and a percent ranking of the best two races were counted towards team selection. Thursday’s 10km Sprint race was the start to the week I had been hoping for and I finished up the day in third. I had a solid performance on the shooting range hitting 9/10 targets and I felt decent on my skis. I didn’t have a stellar day on the skis but I felt fairly strong and conservative, and figured that I had enough energy left in the tank to be able to increase my ski speed as the week went on.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/StGidLK8QjI/AAAAAAAAAWA/K6uLzgDlt84/s1600-h/P9110003.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/StGidLK8QjI/AAAAAAAAAWA/K6uLzgDlt84/s400/P9110003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391268851037782578" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Shortly after starting the Pursuit race</span><br /></div><br />Friday’s 12.5 km pursuit race was a little tougher on the range for most of the athletes in the lead pack. I had a mediocre shooting day with 6 misses, but I skied well posting one of the faster ski times to tie for a fourth place finish. Percents were tight with three spots on the team still up for grabs, and it was now obvious that the final race on Sunday would be the deciding factor.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/StGidm7iNBI/AAAAAAAAAWI/ntg3gyHLCBg/s1600-h/P9110014.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/StGidm7iNBI/AAAAAAAAAWI/ntg3gyHLCBg/s400/P9110014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391268858489353234" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Cresting the last climb before entering the range</span><br /></div><br />I took Saturday chill and did some easy training while trying to relax as much as possible. I knew that I needed a strong result on Sunday but I tried not to stress or think about it too much. Sunday’s 15km mass start format turned out to be a fun and very tight race. Three of us skied almost the entire race together, which was exciting, but in turn added quite a bit of pressure on the range. I took my time shooting standing, as I knew I had to focus on hitting the last ten targets if I wanted stay in the race and have a chance at the win. I definitely sacrificed some time in the range in the final two shooting bouts, but I think it was necessary and I crossed the line finishing second behind Robin Clegg, who had an extremely fast and clean last shooting bout, allowing him to cruise to victory.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/StGid-Gg3CI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/FZ12Ak5rfcQ/s1600-h/P9110031.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/StGid-Gg3CI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/FZ12Ak5rfcQ/s400/P9110031.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391268864709418018" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Final shooting bout in the Pursuit - All photos courtesy of Tom Zidek</span><br /></div><br />It was a feeling of relief when I crossed the finish line in that final race, as I knew I had qualified for the World Cup, and could now decompress and relax a bit before switching my focus to preparing for this Winter.<br /><br />BrendanBrendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-60881123983774459212009-09-09T12:11:00.015-06:002009-09-09T19:13:53.513-06:00Skiing the HaigLast week the team spent a few days at altitude skiing on the Haig glacier in Kananaskis. I was a little skeptical of heading to altitude a week before our first World Cup trial races, but looking back I think it was alright. We were there mainly for altitude exposure, and being able to log some hours on skis in early September was a bonus. Conditions were marginal and the snow was going fast, but we still managed to get in some good days of training.<br /><br />If anything, it was just nice to get away from Canmore for a few days to have a change of pace. Tension among athletes on the range has been growing steadily the last couple weeks with Trials just around the corner, so I think a mental break was good and what my coach had in mind. We had lots of time to relax between workouts, and were able to take our mind off the stress of Trials while chillin' on the lunar landscape that is the Haig camp.<br /><br />Training at altitude can have negative effects on the body if done wrong, so I was very careful and diligent to not overdo any workouts and took it pretty easy. Since returning back to Canmore I’ve been fine tuning for this week's competitions, which begin tomorrow. I’m ready to race – I’ve trained hard over the Spring and Summer and I am confident I have done all the work necessary to perform well this week. Let the Trials begin! I’ll try and post regularly over the next few days to let everyone know how things are going.<br /><br />Brendan<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SqgfdD1G0SI/AAAAAAAAAVI/tmB28Uj9nrw/s1600-h/IMG_1716.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SqgfdD1G0SI/AAAAAAAAAVI/tmB28Uj9nrw/s320/IMG_1716.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379584338998776098" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The Haig camp</span>.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sqg_OG78n9I/AAAAAAAAAVQ/zMdscDJQBkQ/s1600-h/IMG_1718.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sqg_OG78n9I/AAAAAAAAAVQ/zMdscDJQBkQ/s320/IMG_1718.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379619266506825682" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Hiking up to the glacier for some early morning skiing with Robin, Tom, and Joel.</span><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sqg_Ous2aEI/AAAAAAAAAVY/OYpLfhmcVgg/s1600-h/IMG_1719.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sqg_Ous2aEI/AAAAAAAAAVY/OYpLfhmcVgg/s320/IMG_1719.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379619277180921922" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The 'tongue' of the glacier.<br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sqg_Pieo4XI/AAAAAAAAAVo/rblHqD3TorY/s1600-h/IMG_1724.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sqg_Pieo4XI/AAAAAAAAAVo/rblHqD3TorY/s320/IMG_1724.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379619291079958898" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Post ski on a sunny morning.</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sqg_QOl9BxI/AAAAAAAAAVw/lrdbV4Ppyuk/s1600-h/IMG_1733.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sqg_QOl9BxI/AAAAAAAAAVw/lrdbV4Ppyuk/s320/IMG_1733.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379619302921799442" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Finished training and getting ready for the hike back to camp.</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SqhNVKNhvJI/AAAAAAAAAV4/YkHdbm0oI_g/s1600-h/IMG_1734.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SqhNVKNhvJI/AAAAAAAAAV4/YkHdbm0oI_g/s320/IMG_1734.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379634780807740562" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Trekking across the glacier while trying not to slip on the ice. In addition to the ice, some fairly big crevasses started opening up on day two that required some caution while crossing. </span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sqg_PHSA6_I/AAAAAAAAAVg/QV7mHgvwQNc/s1600-h/IMG_1722.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sqg_PHSA6_I/AAAAAAAAAVg/QV7mHgvwQNc/s320/IMG_1722.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379619283779251186" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Post training hike back to camp.</span><br /></div>Brendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-85659008622804341692009-08-27T19:24:00.004-06:002009-08-27T20:02:26.384-06:00Up HereAn interview from Up Here magazine that appeared in their June edition. (If you click to make the image larger it should be possible to read!)<br /><br />- Brendan<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV7g7lQDpWn-PqCwFHdjLN4nZlHL1Z52ZPi7pHWiSQYAssZKQ_moFZ4fTeaxZBMuQ4KPp68lqKO2x00Tr507sjp579-VeSx1uIAuKIfDZT4FVDJb9AmCdw3BbwnNznAQxHoty1jJjd2nE/s1600-h/IMG_1713.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV7g7lQDpWn-PqCwFHdjLN4nZlHL1Z52ZPi7pHWiSQYAssZKQ_moFZ4fTeaxZBMuQ4KPp68lqKO2x00Tr507sjp579-VeSx1uIAuKIfDZT4FVDJb9AmCdw3BbwnNznAQxHoty1jJjd2nE/s400/IMG_1713.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374827259858700274" border="0" /></a><br /><img src="file:///Users/Brendan/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/moz-screenshot.jpg" alt="" /><img src="file:///Users/Brendan/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/moz-screenshot-1.jpg" alt="" />Brendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-82821996532532392392009-08-16T17:14:00.014-06:002009-08-16T21:29:01.273-06:00Day of rest...It's Sunday, my day of rest. I've got a fresh pot of licorice tea brewing, Bob Marley is keeping things chill on iTunes, and I've decided I'm overdue for a blog post. I just finished watching Usain Bolt crush his previous world record and run 9.58 seconds at the World Athletic Championships in Berlin. It blows me away how someone can be so confident and relaxed, at such a major championship so early in their career. The contrast between Bolt and Tyson Gay was interesting to watch on the start line. The tension and stress in Gay was obvious next to the relaxed and entertaining Bolt, who was confident in his ability to dominate while having fun in the process. If you haven’t already seen the race, be sure to check it out. It’s inspiring.<br /><br />Out of curiosity I was looking through my training diaries earlier today to look at how much intensity we've been doing. Intensity has been the name of the game this Summer, so I decided to tally it up, and so far I've logged 20 hrs of Z3 intensity and 5.5 hrs of Z4, with plenty more to come! It’s been good though and training has been going as planned during the last month and a half.<br /><br />Shortly after my last post we started up a testing week. These field tests are done twice every year, once early on in the Summer and once in the Fall, to give us an idea of where our fitness is at. The week consisted of two shooting tests combined with an uphill run up Sulphur Mountain, an uphill roller ski up Mt. Norquay, and an uphill double pole test. These tests and races went well and I am pretty happy were my fitness is at the moment. A more detailed description of the tests as well as results can be found on the following link to Scott Perra's blog.<br /><a href="http://blogs.fasterskier.com/scottperras/2009/07/13/rocky-mountain-testival/">http://blogs.fasterskier.com/scottperras/2009/07/13/rocky-mountain-testival/</a><br /><br />Nothing too exciting has been going on lately... The hard intensity continues, and my body seems to have its ups and downs (along with the weather!) as to how its been handling these training loads. I’ve been feeling pretty good for the most part, although these last few weeks have been fairly tough and at the moment I’m feeling pretty tired! We’ve upped the amount of Zone 3 and 4 intensity training over the last couple weeks which has been challenging, but I’m looking forward to my upcoming week of training which will be more volume oriented. We’ve also done a couple of time trials now (15km Mass start and 10km Sprint) which have been useful in getting me dialed for our upcoming Trial races in September, which are fast approaching.<br /><br />I’ll leave you all with a couple of pictures. Unfortunately, I left my camera behind on a lot of our more scenic roller skis as well as a pretty fun 5 hr mountain bike ride up Skogan and Jewel pass. I’ll have to remember to bring it along more often.<br /><br />-Brendan<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPL2LFUPnjjq2bVTrjwgXn-j6XpfBpkZXrn5hKoQFOZ_ywW9krAlKu9lJkve9sro4s6n5He9tduj5_SKPE6s3pjvN1kIA-ZaCOKdI_GdDXXoJT6D8nvbLgqHwnSucdy7hemdX3yRmdFZk/s1600-h/P6300339.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPL2LFUPnjjq2bVTrjwgXn-j6XpfBpkZXrn5hKoQFOZ_ywW9krAlKu9lJkve9sro4s6n5He9tduj5_SKPE6s3pjvN1kIA-ZaCOKdI_GdDXXoJT6D8nvbLgqHwnSucdy7hemdX3yRmdFZk/s320/P6300339.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370704253074613138" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">Nearing the end of the 8km Canada Day Race - I was lucky enough to win this race for the second year in a row! Photo - Scott Perras<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivnIwvgrinFFHra31vsvKGaDVnh6Wc7x_vcALYtJAoNG_sOKj4o2Gu-tclj0ALKvKYY1a5uH-3ex7zL0Z9TnDg00T4muIHFfmVapadnKCDqpkGaWhFkkbNvVulQ43Yui062hGfaI7wqXw/s1600-h/IMG_1675_2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivnIwvgrinFFHra31vsvKGaDVnh6Wc7x_vcALYtJAoNG_sOKj4o2Gu-tclj0ALKvKYY1a5uH-3ex7zL0Z9TnDg00T4muIHFfmVapadnKCDqpkGaWhFkkbNvVulQ43Yui062hGfaI7wqXw/s320/IMG_1675_2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370705965656705650" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1uXEiLKSMRpZmcAXayRZ310ADKrKvVn1G_wmYB1vTqCBM5wB71LGHTJotSWZF4eDXj_Udummxk9S5NgI20yM60pj3eAR8WYAJqtlPFRH-pLwhT-HWq0ugfakbHSpoAVjpxLHeVISv80/s1600-h/IMG_1709.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1uXEiLKSMRpZmcAXayRZ310ADKrKvVn1G_wmYB1vTqCBM5wB71LGHTJotSWZF4eDXj_Udummxk9S5NgI20yM60pj3eAR8WYAJqtlPFRH-pLwhT-HWq0ugfakbHSpoAVjpxLHeVISv80/s320/IMG_1709.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370721830709370946" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">During a few days off at the end of July a few of us hiked in to Fortress Lake for some camping. We got rained on pretty hard and had a close encounter with lightning, but the great fishing more than made up for any bad weather.</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SoiUIYZtDeI/AAAAAAAAATo/7GrJJwzuIFI/s1600-h/IMG_0814.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SoiUIYZtDeI/AAAAAAAAATo/7GrJJwzuIFI/s320/IMG_0814.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370705427349442018" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SoiUIxfM_GI/AAAAAAAAATw/ZxifKHVNj7c/s1600-h/IMG_0815.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SoiUIxfM_GI/AAAAAAAAATw/ZxifKHVNj7c/s320/IMG_0815.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370705434083392610" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The team doing interval training on Mt. Norquay. Photos - Tom Zidek</span><br /></div>Brendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-60297113588703626452009-07-20T17:15:00.014-06:002009-07-20T23:13:05.932-06:00May & eary June - Transition into training...This entry should have been posted about a month ago as it has been sitting on my desktop for a while now. I finally got around to finishing it today.<br /><br />Since the beginning of May I’ve been back in training mode and have been logging quite a few hours. I spent the first few days of my training in quite a lot of pain as my body transitioned from skiing on snow to the dry land training we will be doing over the coming months. I could barely walk for two days after my first session of lifting weights, and suffered for another day or two after transitioning into other dry land activities such as long runs, and the first few hrs on the road bike saddle. Over the next week or two my body slowly adapted and my muscles are no longer in a constant state of stiffness, but are now ready to face this summer’s training full on!<br /><br />In addition, we’ve also recently started up our first high intensity block and have been pounding out intervals on what seems like a daily basis! I knew I was in for tough couple weeks when I received my latest training plan and opened it up only to be greeted with an abundance of daily workouts printed in red font. To my teammates and I, this red print only means one thing - intensity! I knew what I was in for however, and have been feeling pretty good during the intensity sessions over the last two weeks.<br /><br />Highlights from the last little while of training included some of the following….<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Skiing in Sunshine</span><br /><br />Late May provided some of the best skiing I’ve had all year. The snow was long gone in Canmore, but at 2000+ meters there was still a ton of it. The alpine meadows on top of Sunshine had the best crust skiing I have ever experienced and provided endless hours of it. On one of our last 3 hr workouts up at Sunshine we were able to ski all the way into Assiniboine Provincial Park, and turned around only when the trees limited us from going any further. It was fun to ease into training again by having the opportunity to ski on snow and we were also able to take in the benefits of training at altitude.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SmT-ZaxUVhI/AAAAAAAAASo/lTUokJVDqEQ/s1600-h/IMG_1593.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SmT-ZaxUVhI/AAAAAAAAASo/lTUokJVDqEQ/s320/IMG_1593.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360689169114093074" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Scott Perras on our ski into Mt. Assiniboine Provincial Park</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SmUCPNBwGzI/AAAAAAAAAS4/d0AhkGh7DbI/s1600-h/sunshine.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SmUCPNBwGzI/AAAAAAAAAS4/d0AhkGh7DbI/s320/sunshine.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360693391672744754" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">A picture of the scenery with a couple skiers in the distance - Photo from Scott Perras blog </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://blogs.fasterskier.com/scottperras/">http://blogs.fasterskier.com/scottperras/</a><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Sport North Awards Banquet</span><br /><br />Towards the end of May I had the opportunity to spend a weekend in Yellowknife during the annual Sport North Awards Banquet. This year I had the honor of accepting the Male Athlete of the Year award along with cross country skier Mike Argue. It was fun to get a chance to chat with other athletes and acquaintances who were at the banquet, as well as visit with my parents who drove from Hay River for the occasion.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SmUBukvFcXI/AAAAAAAAASw/p4GdWBh6ZfA/s1600-h/IMG_1170.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SmUBukvFcXI/AAAAAAAAASw/p4GdWBh6ZfA/s320/IMG_1170.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360692831101219186" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Myself and Mike Argue</span><br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Testing @ UofC</span><br /><br />During the first week of June we spent a day with sports physiologists at the University of Calgary doing field tests. The morning started out with blood testing followed by body composition testing. These tests are done to monitor change in the body. I have records of these tests dating back to four or five years, and variances from my normal numbers provide insight into how my body is responding to my training load. They can also provide early warning signs of sickness or over training.<br /><br />After getting some time to eat and digest I was back in the lab and on a running treadmill to perform a cardiac output test. This test measures the stroke volume of the heart, which is the amount of blood pumped from the heart per contraction. The more blood you can pump per contraction the better, as it will help all systems in your body be more efficient when under the stress of racing. This was my first time doing this particular test and it will be used as a baseline for comparison in testing later on.<br /><br />In the afternoon I was in the Olympic Oval, which is home to the roller ski treadmill. Here the team was doing Incremental testing, which determines roughly what our individual target heart rates are for training in each particular zone. It was a long day in Calgary with a couple hard intensity sessions, but it was worthwhile as the information gained from these tests is quite useful.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SmUC6sVQD1I/AAAAAAAAATA/qQSM8TC3NaA/s1600-h/strokevolume.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SmUC6sVQD1I/AAAAAAAAATA/qQSM8TC3NaA/s320/strokevolume.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360694138810404690" border="0" /> </a><span style="font-style: italic;">Mid-way through the cardiac output test - Not the most comfortable test to do with all the equipment that your hooked up to. The tubes are used to measure gas exchange as well as input gas at different points throughout the test.</span> Photo courtesy of Scott Perras.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sfOBn6IVueF6E2U-bw6rjXDyzVjMwVcWtzT17hj0iKGGU-VHjMQTrDkkdjX6Ullw9mhEO72BikXhjxDMdD6_0EOrb5Em2aaMxV0b8DiEEa2ZF5ACwuFXQGZ_72fX78BrlbIr9E5nFic/s1600-h/Summer+%2708+125.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sfOBn6IVueF6E2U-bw6rjXDyzVjMwVcWtzT17hj0iKGGU-VHjMQTrDkkdjX6Ullw9mhEO72BikXhjxDMdD6_0EOrb5Em2aaMxV0b8DiEEa2ZF5ACwuFXQGZ_72fX78BrlbIr9E5nFic/s320/Summer+%2708+125.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360701026567346034" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">On the treadmill.</span><br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Riding it up in the Kootenay’s</span><br /><br />During the second week of June we kicked off our first training camp of the year in Revelstoke. Mt. Revelstoke once again provided an awesome opportunity for roller skiing, as the 25km climb with 1200m of elevation gain is tough to beat when a long and punishing workout is on the plan. From Revelstoke we road biked through the Kootenay’s towards Nelson and then headed back to Revelstoke for another session on the mountain before heading back to Canmore.<br /><br />Our short four day camp consisted of the following –<br /><br />Day 1 – AM - Drive to Revelstoke<br /> PM - Roller ski up Mt. Revelstoke w/t 30 min of high end Zone 3<br /><br />Day 2 – 152km ride from Nakusp to Nelson along the Slocan Valley – Just over 5hrs of riding.<br /><br />Day 3 – 168km ride from Nelson to Nakusp via Caslo and New Denver – 5hr 40 min of riding. An awesome ride that I would highly recommend.<br /><br />Day 4 – AM – Ski striding up Mt. Revelstoke w/t 40 min of continuous Zone 3<br /> PM - Road ride from Radium along highway 40 / drive back to Canmore<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SmVImAmC80I/AAAAAAAAATY/DFapMA6Ekhk/s1600-h/P6100323.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SmVImAmC80I/AAAAAAAAATY/DFapMA6Ekhk/s320/P6100323.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360770749286249282" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Mid-way through our ride in Caslo.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SmVHceHjepI/AAAAAAAAATQ/TdB8Bz8rpeg/s1600-h/IMG_1614.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SmVHceHjepI/AAAAAAAAATQ/TdB8Bz8rpeg/s320/IMG_1614.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360769485901101714" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Waiting for the ferry on our way back to Revelstoke.</span><br /></div>Brendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-90877904195802526922009-06-02T18:36:00.003-06:002009-06-18T21:28:22.178-06:00Spring & RestI drove 16hrs home the last week in April to spend some time with family, who I don’t get to see that often anymore, especially during race season. In addition to relaxing and eating home cooked meals, I was able to get in some great skiing on Great Slave Lake as well as some nice running and even a roller ski. I returned home two weeks later to resume training here in Canmore. I normally stay a bit longer in Hay River but my coach wanted to start May off with fairly big hours of training. So, I decided it would be better to return to Canmore and begin to focus on next season.<br /><br />Anyways, here are some pictures from my time off in April.<br /><br />Brendan<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8GiPGmR6nWxroPgbE-J1oRu8Nw_QbImXO9LslNkQqT0cAFXFBTsHWPBlMPD0j_tC4Tqw54gw5Gn3yCIHRgnOd816GDrLgvGUiyW17bAtjED9Z068jvHrRy_0Nvu88sdRmhwm9AGChRDg/s1600-h/IMG_1423.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8GiPGmR6nWxroPgbE-J1oRu8Nw_QbImXO9LslNkQqT0cAFXFBTsHWPBlMPD0j_tC4Tqw54gw5Gn3yCIHRgnOd816GDrLgvGUiyW17bAtjED9Z068jvHrRy_0Nvu88sdRmhwm9AGChRDg/s320/IMG_1423.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348832519913236674" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">I spent Easter visiting my sister and her family in Saskatoon. One of my nephews Dominic showed great patience while painting eggs all morning!</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SjrhnBzXevI/AAAAAAAAAMA/prCDYlDtvrs/s1600-h/IMG_1480.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SjrhnBzXevI/AAAAAAAAAMA/prCDYlDtvrs/s320/IMG_1480.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348835568070916850" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SjrhuT-y5ZI/AAAAAAAAAMI/nMq02WkXGGM/s1600-h/IMG_1487_2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 192px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SjrhuT-y5ZI/AAAAAAAAAMI/nMq02WkXGGM/s320/IMG_1487_2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348835693209773458" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Enjoying some powder skiing during the rest month with team mate Nathan Smith</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SjryMN7gJOI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/pXMU5Qt6Noc/s1600-h/IMG_1497.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SjryMN7gJOI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/pXMU5Qt6Noc/s320/IMG_1497.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348853799167468770" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Alexandra Falls before breakup</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIHdafBfRteiAd1J70GdZj59QUZqKtXydXmjpjYGzNu-FIuFtDSRQVrF26-0bzioYrpr7H9RmYnn_4oeHou6YOSnHDF2KdIYYxjsWRGjfXUBHz0IqCRjDJiouui1-9fWjRFaF4tHbGoc/s1600-h/IMG_1527.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIHdafBfRteiAd1J70GdZj59QUZqKtXydXmjpjYGzNu-FIuFtDSRQVrF26-0bzioYrpr7H9RmYnn_4oeHou6YOSnHDF2KdIYYxjsWRGjfXUBHz0IqCRjDJiouui1-9fWjRFaF4tHbGoc/s320/IMG_1527.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348854999942137890" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SjryvKU1rNI/AAAAAAAAAMY/2tEiDnf5CWM/s1600-h/IMG_1517.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SjryvKU1rNI/AAAAAAAAAMY/2tEiDnf5CWM/s320/IMG_1517.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348854399495417042" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Fly fishing on the Kakisa River with my Dad during the Arctic Grayling run</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sjrz52FWpTI/AAAAAAAAAMo/A6AkkLWq_II/s1600-h/IMG_1544.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sjrz52FWpTI/AAAAAAAAAMo/A6AkkLWq_II/s320/IMG_1544.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348855682551948594" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sjr0OxhjomI/AAAAAAAAAMw/DTBNrvlzvYA/s1600-h/IMG_1545.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sjr0OxhjomI/AAAAAAAAAMw/DTBNrvlzvYA/s320/IMG_1545.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348856042105315938" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">One of my favorite things to do while up North during the spring. This year had some of the best conditions for skiing on Great Slave Lake during May.</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sjr1r3aWciI/AAAAAAAAAM4/2TmpXBCrAsU/s1600-h/IMG_1561.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sjr1r3aWciI/AAAAAAAAAM4/2TmpXBCrAsU/s320/IMG_1561.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348857641413538338" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sjr4ppZ5XUI/AAAAAAAAANA/UwMGxy_-Ulk/s1600-h/IMG_1562.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sjr4ppZ5XUI/AAAAAAAAANA/UwMGxy_-Ulk/s320/IMG_1562.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348860901828681026" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">It was my niece Anna's 5th birthday while I was home. She wasted no time in getting a taste of the icing on her birthday cake!</span><br /><br /></div>Brendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-38611742970670218882009-05-27T15:01:00.007-06:002009-06-01T12:50:26.428-06:00Where I stand in terms of Olympic qualification...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sh2sdkv4GBI/AAAAAAAAAKg/RtEW_DxWpfY/s1600-h/Olympic+Rings.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sh2sdkv4GBI/AAAAAAAAAKg/RtEW_DxWpfY/s320/Olympic+Rings.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340614357211944978" border="0" /></a>Now, to shed some light on a question that I’ve been getting asked a lot recently. The 2010 Olympics! The situation is complicated, and what happens now is out of my hands. I wish I could give a concrete answer at the moment, but the fact of the matter is I cannot. All I can say is that it will still be a little while before the Olympic team is decided for biathlon. In order to qualify for the Olympics we have to meet international criteria while competing at the highest level of competition - the World Cup. While on this circuit, we have to meet performance benchmarks, which comprise the Olympic criteria, at three different times throughout the season. I am pleased to say that this season has been a break through year for me. I spent the winter racing for Canada on the World Cup circuit as a rookie, and in addition was selected to race at this year’s World Championships in Korea. At World Cup #7 in Whistler I met the third and final part of my Olympic criteria and have now qualified to be nominated for the 2010 Olympic team.<br /><br />This year the men’s team had their best ever season with many outstanding performances which included 17 Pursuit starts, 3 top ten finishes including a historic 7th place finish in the relay at WC#3, and one team member consistently ranked within the top 30 overall. As a team we ranked 14th out of 40 countries in the World Cup standings (despite missing a World Cup), which is a break through for us. We have shown that we are competitive on the World stage.<br /><br />As of right now however, Canada may not be able to send a full team to the Olympics although this is pending. At the moment I am the third ranked Olympic qualified male, and would hold a strong position in the event that we are allowed a full team. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll hear good news soon and will hopefully be able to provide a better update regarding the Olympics soon.<br /><br />Cheers,<br />Brendan<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sh2r6HqM07I/AAAAAAAAAKY/3kyssCfLVqo/s1600-h/IMG_1539.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sh2r6HqM07I/AAAAAAAAAKY/3kyssCfLVqo/s320/IMG_1539.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340613748108088242" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Training on Great Slave Lake three weeks ago!</span> </div>Brendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-49697480970510662892009-04-02T18:20:00.000-06:002009-06-18T18:33:15.051-06:00Out of gas…After a week in Norway it was time to get back on a plane, this time headed for Quebec where I would compete in my last three races of the season at Canadian Champs. This time our path of travel took us from Trondheim to Oslo, Oslo to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Toronto, and then Toronto to Quebec. We arrived in Quebec late at night, and arrived at our accommodations just before 2 am feeling pretty exhausted.<br /><br />I tried to sleep in as much as I could the following morning but due to jetlag that was easier said than done. I went for an easy ski in the afternoon to get my body functioning again and did some short intensity the following day in preparation for Thursday’s 20km race.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sjrbm1hDp5I/AAAAAAAAALo/5rbwk9rQwro/s1600-h/March-29AM-0876.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sjrbm1hDp5I/AAAAAAAAALo/5rbwk9rQwro/s320/March-29AM-0876.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348828967703127954" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Racing in Quebec</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> - Photo by Dan Giroux</span><br /></div><br /><br />The following three races over the next four days were exhausting and I performed far from potential, similar to how I was feeling! My legs burned the second I left the start line, and after the first lap of every race I felt totally bagged. I was however able to put together a much better performance on Sunday’s race was a nice way to end my last race of the season.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SjrbDEo3qvI/AAAAAAAAALg/Cdu8QewM9L0/s1600-h/March-29AM-0643.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SjrbDEo3qvI/AAAAAAAAALg/Cdu8QewM9L0/s320/March-29AM-0643.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348828353287138034" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Start of the Relay</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> - Photo by Dan Giroux</span><br /></div><br />After a night out with friends in Quebec City I journeyed back to Canmore where I could finally relax and get some rest after a long season on the road! Because I was feeling so wrecked, I drove into Calgary a couple days after I got home to get some blood work and body composition testing done just to double check that everything was in order.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SjrbzodsJiI/AAAAAAAAALw/FG2L46w4gRk/s1600-h/IMG_1359.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SjrbzodsJiI/AAAAAAAAALw/FG2L46w4gRk/s320/IMG_1359.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348829187537643042" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Sight seeing in Old Quebec</span><br /></div><br /><br />The spring skiing in Canmore is great right now so I’ll detrain for a week or two before taking a total break a little later in April.<br /><br />BrendanBrendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-63747411356485227942009-03-27T16:04:00.001-06:002009-06-18T18:20:47.474-06:00Wow, that was long…Our travel to Norway was long to say the least. From Vancouver we flew to Calgary where we jumped on our connecting flight to Heathrow airport in London. After a fairly long layover, which consisted of walking around the airport followed by trying to catch some sleep on airport benches, it was off to Oslo. From Oslo we got on yet another flight to Trondheim and arrived at our hotel after a 45 min bus ride from the Trondheim Airport. We arrived in the evening, so after a quick snack and a shower that’d I’d been looking forward too since my last race in Vancouver, it was off to bed!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sjq8Egc2QyI/AAAAAAAAALI/ubpe_Fk8Lg8/s1600-h/IMG_1323.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sjq8Egc2QyI/AAAAAAAAALI/ubpe_Fk8Lg8/s320/IMG_1323.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348794293072315170" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">One of the amazing views from Trondheim</span><br /></div><br />Tuesday and Wednesday were spent trying recover from the races in Vancouver as well as prepare for Thursday’s 10km Sprint race. It had been raining a lot all week, which meant that we would be racing in tough slushy conditions. My race started out well and I was able to ski the majority of my first lap behind Norwegian Lars Berger. After shooting prone however, I began to suffer more on the skis than normal and just did my best throughout the rest of the race to hang on. I knew that I didn’t have a great day on my skis and I crossed the finish line in 63rd with two misses and just a few seconds outside of the top 60.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SjrXkmSSTzI/AAAAAAAAALQ/pDFMEnvks0Q/s1600-h/IMG_1346.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SjrXkmSSTzI/AAAAAAAAALQ/pDFMEnvks0Q/s320/IMG_1346.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348824531208392498" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Mass start race. The track was salted prior to the race in order to absorb and eliminate most of the slush that we had to ski in.</span><br /></div><br />The vibe at the venue was pretty awesome. Hundreds of school children lined the switchbacks into the range in addition to the thousands of fans that packed the grande stands. Every time Ole Einar skied by, the stadium would erupt with cheering. It was pretty cool.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SjrZMBx-1-I/AAAAAAAAALY/Mlstodb05t8/s1600-h/IMG_1354.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/SjrZMBx-1-I/AAAAAAAAALY/Mlstodb05t8/s320/IMG_1354.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348826308115617762" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">The King of biathlon, Ole Einar <em>Bjoerndalen</em> on route to another World Cup victory in front of his home crowd<br /></div><br />Norway as a country was really interesting as well. Scandinavia is the birthplace of skiing and biathlon so it was really neat to experience a country where skiing is part of the culture. I had the opportunity to do a couple of long skis on the surrounding trails, which was really fun. Trails went in every direction and were busy with people of all ages and skill levels. People were out having fun and being active which was great to see. It’s motivating to be in an environment like this and it was revitalizing to get away from the stress of racing and be able to ski around and explore. I would like to spend more time in Norway at some point although it is a very expensive country. Be prepared to spend $10 Canadian if you order a beer!<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />BrendanBrendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-22783976307764619672009-03-25T15:40:00.001-06:002009-06-18T16:03:42.767-06:00Whistler World Cup – Racing at home!This past week the Biathlon World Cup circuit moved to Canada for World Cup #7. This was the pre–Olympic World Cup where we were able to test out the new Olympic venue for Biathlon in the Callaghan Valley, just outside of Whistler, BC.<br /><br />It was awesome to be able to jump on a plane and not have to cross the Atlantic Ocean for once! Finally the Europeans would get a taste of what our life is like on the circuit with having to travel so far from home. The week in Whistler was a lot of fun. It was special because my parents along with my brother and his family came out to watch me race and there were a lot of other familiar faces in the crowd cheering the Canadians on. The stellar conditions were a much-welcomed change for anyone who had raced in Korea and racing on natural snow was especially nice. It’s rare that we race entirely on natural snow, as the warmer conditions in Europe often require man-made snow.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzcur9a5gqjfFsUdyYv4rJTkZ2AvKRnHESs39P5I3lUILOVStBKkLbBPzXfvMzGPIpjFjAMaRwVtvRoWv6ftaq3Lj5QibmptC5PG_0SFtN7bRmH4bowRL_B-oF_381Atpz0F-u2qhs-A/s1600-h/Green130309cm329.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzcur9a5gqjfFsUdyYv4rJTkZ2AvKRnHESs39P5I3lUILOVStBKkLbBPzXfvMzGPIpjFjAMaRwVtvRoWv6ftaq3Lj5QibmptC5PG_0SFtN7bRmH4bowRL_B-oF_381Atpz0F-u2qhs-A/s320/Green130309cm329.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348787365348110770" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Racing on the Olympic course in Whistler</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> - Photo by Christian Manzoni</span></div><br />As for the races I am very pleased with how they went, with the exception of the Relay. I was skiing consistently fast and my shooting had improved since Korea, which allowed me to put together some pretty solid performances. In the 20km Individual I crossed the line in 46th shooting 17/20 and finished 52nd in the 10km Sprint shooting 8/10.<br /><br />I like the Olympic course a lot. It boasts nice rolling terrain with great flow and is challenging in terms of many technical transitions which make you have to work hard to maintain speed. The new venue seemed to be well liked by the Europeans and everyone is excited for next February.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sjq4G46H1uI/AAAAAAAAALA/eUdp46lte_c/s1600-h/WOP6-09-0493.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sjq4G46H1uI/AAAAAAAAALA/eUdp46lte_c/s320/WOP6-09-0493.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348789935950780130" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Lapping through the stadium during the Relay</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> - Photo by Dan Giroux</span><br /><br /><br /></div>After the Relay on Sunday we jumped straight into the team van and drove to the airport in Vancouver to continue on to our next destination; World Cup #8 in Trondheim, Norway. Not being able to cool down after the race, not being able to have a shower, and having to scramble to pack our equipment is definitely not ideal for recovery, but with our tight schedule to get to the airport we didn’t have a choice!<br /><br />Thanks to all the volunteers and supporters who helped make the World Cup such a great success!<br /><br />BrendanBrendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-89276071148131320712009-02-25T19:16:00.006-07:002009-06-18T15:39:10.741-06:00Thoughts on World Champs…The World Championships wrapped up the other day with the Men’s 4x7.5km relay. Conditions had improved slightly from earlier in the week, but there were still some corners that were pure ice on the down hills. Our team finished up in 16th, which was far from our best relay result of the season, but I think respectable given the pressure we were under. I actually had my best race of the Championships during our Relay and I managed to finally adapt to the unforgiving wind on the range. I felt solid on my skis, was able to push hard in the up hills, and logged one of my faster ski ranks of the Championships which I was pretty happy about.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipX0CIKCU5QfErutwsHeOjqDjRPSzGVAhxJaDtpjOn7NDdSqlVLJOLr95Ww7wWl7RFUg3wQ-pg-y4Jka6aaZu5hNs74SMktjIdDIV2PBYwBZsLEP5I7e_q7qU-ApQImWlAuu_6W1Cq6aE/s1600-h/Green220209cm105.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipX0CIKCU5QfErutwsHeOjqDjRPSzGVAhxJaDtpjOn7NDdSqlVLJOLr95Ww7wWl7RFUg3wQ-pg-y4Jka6aaZu5hNs74SMktjIdDIV2PBYwBZsLEP5I7e_q7qU-ApQImWlAuu_6W1Cq6aE/s320/Green220209cm105.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348771217750429218" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Racing the Relay. Photo credit - Christian Manzoni</span><br /><br /></div><br />Following the race which was once again at night, we had to scramble to pack our skis and rifles at the venue and have everything ready to be loaded into cargo vans, which would meet us with our luggage at the airport in Seoul the next morning. Once arriving back at our accommodation we grabbed our last Asian buffet meal and did some last minute packing before heading to bed around midnight. Only a few hours later it was time to wake up to catch a bus to the airport and begin my journey back to Canada. While the rest of my teammates were able to fly back home over the Pacific Ocean, I had to fly home the opposite direction around the world with an overnight stop in Frankfurt. I made it back to Canmore in one piece but I am still feeling fairly fatigued from the travel.<br /><br />My first World Championships was a fun and interesting experience, and I think it’s safe to say that it was also quite a different and unique experience for many of the veterans on the circuit as well. I can’t say that I’m a fan of racing in Korea, and won’t be disappointed if I never get to race there again! The Championships didn’t really have the same feel compared to the World Cups in Europe and the conditions were so adverse it made racing and training extremely frustrating at times. Performance wise other than in the Relay, I didn’t perform to my expectations which was very frustrating even though my skiing was in good form. I struggled a lot with the conditions, mainly the wind, and I think I lacked the knowledge and understanding that the most experienced athletes showed like Ole Einar Bjørndalen and Halvard Hanevold. This type of experience can only be gained through racing in these types of conditions and I think I am a stronger athlete now having had the opportunity to race these World Championships in Korea. I was happy to finish on a positive note with a good leg in the Relay, and I’m looking forward to the remainder of the season.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA9xpeD-XMggLCpyDusKwAFJoZqp7I_tkgm00C6bsoQRsNjv-9rwjlukObq8lFxNbo0OJ_6a9x_kvuXJx35UdksYZPbVnvct7TTRHuEJT2PQOZL_iFqvnoq9kUW_XCmFpe2_4l41wPRIY/s1600-h/IMG_1260.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA9xpeD-XMggLCpyDusKwAFJoZqp7I_tkgm00C6bsoQRsNjv-9rwjlukObq8lFxNbo0OJ_6a9x_kvuXJx35UdksYZPbVnvct7TTRHuEJT2PQOZL_iFqvnoq9kUW_XCmFpe2_4l41wPRIY/s320/IMG_1260.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348126235172894386" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Skiing in the cross country stadium with ski jumps in the background.</span><br /></div><br />I’m now back in Canmore and will be putting in a solid week of training here before packing my bag again and traveling to Whistler for World Cup #7. This should be an awesome experience to race on home soil and it will be fun to have some family and familiar faces cheering me on!<br /><br />See you next in Whistler!<br /><br />BrendanBrendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-46920125199089328152009-02-17T22:21:00.008-07:002009-05-21T12:52:52.739-06:00World Champs Sprint & Individual<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Since my last post both the Sprint and Individual competitions have gone underway here in Korea.</span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I procrastinated writing a post about the Sprint because I hoped that I would have something more exciting to write about from today’s 20km Individual race.</span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Unfortunately this is not the case, and I am disappointed to say that I have not been performing to my expectations.</span></span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Saturday’s 10km Sprint race was one that I won’t forget.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">When I woke up the rain had stopped and our team got the word in the morning that the race would be a go.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The course would be slightly modified however as parts of the original loop were now too icy and dangerous to race on.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Instead or racing 3 laps of the 3.3 km course, we would now race the 2.5km course and do a double lap of 2.5km in the middle of our race.</span></span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sg9-s4jdhiI/AAAAAAAAAKA/74DQOAxIwFQ/s1600-h/Mens%2BSprint%2BEvent%2BIBU%2BBiathlon%2BWorld%2BChampionships%2B1_Pb6o8UdVHl+%281%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 215px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sg9-s4jdhiI/AAAAAAAAAKA/74DQOAxIwFQ/s320/Mens%2BSprint%2BEvent%2BIBU%2BBiathlon%2BWorld%2BChampionships%2B1_Pb6o8UdVHl+%281%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336623393017792034" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Working hard to stay on my feet on one of the sketchy downhills</span><br /></span></span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">After sleeping in and killing time in the afternoon by going for a run and dry firing at the race site, we made our way to the venue to prepare for the night’s race.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The organizing committee trucked in quite a bit of snow and entirely recovered the stadium and most of the course.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Everything leading up to the race went normal.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Conditions were far from ideal though.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The snow was really soft and a mix between slush and sugary manmade ice, especially on the climbs where our skis would get buried, making it a tedious day on the body.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It felt like I was trying to ski through sand at many points throughout the race.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The descents on the other hand were icy and fast which made the corners on the more technical down hills super sketchy and provided spectators with a few good crashes to watch.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I tried not to fight the slush while skiing and instead tried to ski as relaxed as possible which is very important to do in these types of conditions.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Instead of powering through the deep snow I tried reduce muscular fatigue by taking smaller steps on the climbs while skiing with a higher tempo relying more on my engine and VO2 max as opposed muscular power.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The other difficult element to deal with that night other than the snow was a strong wind that was always present and would switch to stronger gusts throughout the race.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In short, I didn’t race well and got off to a terrible start with three misses prone due to having problems making the proper corrections for the wind.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Shooting standing was a little better, but still not great and I was out of the running for a top 60 finish, which meant I wouldn’t be starting in the Pursuit race the next day.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">JP and Robin were the top Canadians on qualifying for the Pursuit in 42</span></span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">nd</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> and 48</span></span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">th</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> place.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The only positive from the race was my skiing in which I ranked in the top 45. For me this is solid.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Ski speed is all relative however, as it doesn’t do much good unless combined with an excellent performance on the shooting range.</span></span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLY_DM1vavswugiIbtQJ6rdAmzzSb9gaYvB7igfFFjQUJGrIxTVA4OV4WYRNNoCgWWX8WPDEUngRpxnG-Qv-FnLWgcIp1VmQ7amrwwaAj9wdQCDegMY7D2FzDlCk3pAjpM6L3RFPwvf1Y/s1600-h/IMG_1263.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLY_DM1vavswugiIbtQJ6rdAmzzSb9gaYvB7igfFFjQUJGrIxTVA4OV4WYRNNoCgWWX8WPDEUngRpxnG-Qv-FnLWgcIp1VmQ7amrwwaAj9wdQCDegMY7D2FzDlCk3pAjpM6L3RFPwvf1Y/s320/IMG_1263.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336984283083646674" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">Our wax techs working hard as usual finding us the best pair of skis for the day</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I put the Sprint result aside and focused the next few days on getting prepared for today’s Individual race.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Training was going very well leading up to today.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Race prep yesterday couldn’t have gone much better.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I was feeling strong and had seemed to have mastered the tricky wind conditions in the range.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I was pumped and ready to go.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">After a very thorough zero which included some visualization of different wind scenarios and a solid warm up, I was confident that I could have a good race even if the wind wasn’t favorable.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The race started out awesome.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I paced my skiing well and shot clean prone and had 1 miss standing.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">At one point on the third loop I was ranked 25</span></span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">th</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This was until I came in for my third shooting bout and things started to go downhill.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The wind had changed and this time instead of not correcting enough, I think I may have overcorrected.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I left the range with 3 penalties and my next standing bout didn’t go any better.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It was very frustrating but I buried my thoughts and fought hard until the end.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Once again I had a great ski and once again my shooting held me back from what had the potential to be a great performance.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">There were a lot of misses today; even from many of the top ranked shooters.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Having a lucky day on the range with conditions being the way they were was definitely the ticket to a great result today.</span></span></span></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/ShDEUDSp-mI/AAAAAAAAAKI/IPgv_M5hLsc/s1600-h/IMG_1246.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/ShDEUDSp-mI/AAAAAAAAAKI/IPgv_M5hLsc/s320/IMG_1246.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336981407194020450" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">A view of the stadium while training during the day<br /><br /></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I’ll take tomorrow’s training a little easier and then it’s time to focus on preparing for Sunday’s Relay race.</span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Results, articles, live results, and a live video feed of all the races can be found at <a href="http://www.biathlonworld.com/">www.biathlonworld.com</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Brendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3953934044253039348.post-39255367706430820442009-02-13T06:33:00.002-07:002009-05-03T18:22:05.327-06:00Hello from Yong Pyong!<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Well, after a 10hr plane trip and a 3hr bus ride from the Inchon Airport near Seoul, we arrived in the Yong Pyong Winter Resort.</span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Greenpia Hotel will be home for the next 3 weeks while we prepare and race during the World Championships.</span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The resort we are at is like a miniature Whistler and made entirely with tourists in mind.</span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Apart from the ski hills, other winter attractions include a 400m snowmobile course and ice fishing in a nearby pond.</span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> These activities are </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">definitely not authentic over here, but pretty hilarious to watch, especially if you come from the North!<br /><br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sf4nPmSC0lI/AAAAAAAAAJo/zjqO70IYwPw/s1600-h/IMG_1178.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sf4nPmSC0lI/AAAAAAAAAJo/zjqO70IYwPw/s320/IMG_1178.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331742157780996690" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The Greenpia Hotel will be our home for the next three weeks.</span><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The venue is located about a 5min bus ride from our hotel and has been a hot topic of discussion amongst the teams since our arrival.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Simply put, the trails are very challenging.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The up hills are frequent and each one is long and very steep.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Following the giant climbs are technical and super sketchy down hills.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">They wouldn’t be so bad under normal conditions, but the snow conditions here are a little adverse.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">All the snow is manmade and the temperature climbs to well above zero every day.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">With the exception of the Individual competition all our races will take place at night under flood lights and the last few days we’ve been training at night during the same time we’d be racing.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">By the time the men start training the temperature begins to drop, and the slush during the women’s training just a few hours before is turned to solid ice.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Huge ruts on the down hills form and things start to get intense.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Every night during dinner you hear of one or two epic crashes from the day and can see the fresh carnage walk through the door which is usually in the form of a scraped up face.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The other day my team mate Scott had an impressive crash that definitely took the cake for wipeouts during that nights training!</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">As a team we were skiing the down hills together trying to come to a conclusion about the best lines to take during the competitions.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">On the last downhill into the range we were skiing down single file with decent speed, and Scott who was third in line started to gain a bit on JP who was just ahead of him.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">He took an inside line that was a bit tighter to avoid having to slow down, shifted his weight slightly before entering the turn, caught an edge, and then went over the tips of his skis where he literally became airborne.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">He had nice Superman like form while flying through the air a few feet off the ground, until he came down for an extremely hard landing.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Robin and I were skiing behind him and witnessed the whole event.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">When we skied back over to him I was positive bones were broken as Scott was lying on the ground in a slightly contorted position and in a lot of pain.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">After the whole ordeal was said and done, and after he came out of what appeared to be some state of shock, he luckily only walked away with a sprained hand and some scrapes and bruises.</span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Initially it looked like it was going to be much worse.</span></span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj322ZeFynPI_ESKRqPkMm3YV9K1cLgySVoVgtQmyka4DUu4eMgfvjwMgH6J2URinqGhgUk1n6WSr0HfhPOEVrsaJNsD9LXet85EJ_o5SUCMAMJZfJoJWDYKVeGwl8J100kvedD-kzRawA/s1600-h/IMG_1259.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj322ZeFynPI_ESKRqPkMm3YV9K1cLgySVoVgtQmyka4DUu4eMgfvjwMgH6J2URinqGhgUk1n6WSr0HfhPOEVrsaJNsD9LXet85EJ_o5SUCMAMJZfJoJWDYKVeGwl8J100kvedD-kzRawA/s320/IMG_1259.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331743954244968194" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">As you can see, there is not a lot of snow...Part of why the course is so sketchy!</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sf4hEGVtkwI/AAAAAAAAAJg/mfCifGBoFfU/s1600-h/IMG_1221.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8qJqzpjfP3o/Sf4hEGVtkwI/AAAAAAAAAJg/mfCifGBoFfU/s320/IMG_1221.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331735363158119170" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">While out for a run one day I came across this exercise equipment in the middle of the forest.</span><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Couple conditions like this with the so far typical 8 click wind on the range and we have our work cut out!</span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I can say though that things have improved over the last couple days and the conditions on the course have gotten a lot better and more reasonable.</span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This was until today’s rain storm.</span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It’s been pouring rain all day which is doing a lot of damage to the snow on the course.</span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The winds were also gusting up to 50km/hr last night which also took its toll on the snow.</span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I was up at the venue just a couple hours ago to do some dry firing and when I walked through the stadium all that remains is a sheet of ice with a giant puddle in the middle.</span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I guess conditions over the rest of the course are similar.</span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The rain continues to come down in sheets but apparently the organizing committee has been trucking in snow to the venue since four o’clock this afternoon.</span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">There will be a meeting early tomorrow morning to decide whether or not the race will go ahead or be postponed a day so that more work can be done on the course. </span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">There is a lot of pressure for it to be a go, especially with all the TV networks that will be airing the races live.</span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I’m sure the organizing committee will be working hard over night to try and make things happen.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Let’s hope the weather turns around so that we can race!</span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC9BoKgJy_0CBDTTB9bAzsG9mEk4zQBIPnEqb1R9WlABjswJVt61FSmZhxkI4dYnd7Kpt3FmbeD1AATv4kvt8eMKHNAAVOT7_s6h3GNol1lhzOrq55hePXQH7nckd4xgmoCWbYBQUADWM/s1600-h/IMG_1175.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC9BoKgJy_0CBDTTB9bAzsG9mEk4zQBIPnEqb1R9WlABjswJVt61FSmZhxkI4dYnd7Kpt3FmbeD1AATv4kvt8eMKHNAAVOT7_s6h3GNol1lhzOrq55hePXQH7nckd4xgmoCWbYBQUADWM/s320/IMG_1175.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331749544150446258" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">During the rain storm the downhill ski stadium slowly turned into a massive puddle.</span><br /></div>Brendan Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09144746171489493770noreply@blogger.com0