Something about jetlag...

I'm not exactly sure why traveling across 8 or in this case 11 time zones seems to put me in the bloggin' mood when I get up a few hours before the local bakers but here is my second installment in a month coming under the same circumstances.  I guess the above could potentially be viewed as a disclamer as I am working on 4 hours of sleep but I also feel very much awake and ready to get after it so maybe not. 

Yesterdays trip home from Sochi was uneventful as a triple connect from Sochi thru Zurich, Amsterdam, Minneapolis to Salt Lake could be be but time enough to cement one's clock being thrown off big time and here I am at 5am ready to train or do something to make myself better.  In fact I just fnished watching Ted Ligety win his opening event at the FIS World Alpine Champs in Schladming, Austria in Super G and that in and of itself was inspiring. 

Add that to having just had a lackluster weekend in the pre-olympic venue and I am starting to salivate at the prospect of climbing the result list.  If you read my last blog you know that I believe our Nordic Combined team is very close to to some very good things and like clockwork my teammate Taylor Fletcher raced onto the podium hrs or days later.  Our last trip was fits and starts with some good and some ugly but overall showing that we are amongst the teams that are fighting to win.  Home now I have a couple weeks to really try and automate the things I know can bring me to the podium in Val di Fiemme, Italy for our own World Championships later this month and especially lay the foundation for next season. 

My last trip I finally jumped at a level that  qualified me into the individual events each weekend and was good enough to place 12th in the Klingenthal World Cup.  Despite a less than perfect event in Sichi on Saturady I managed to find some form on the jumphill Sunday which helped our team jump close to the contenders.  I am an optimist and find solace in the small things but the urgency of the situation is not lost me and I am processing all this into clear tasks and goals to make changes that will put me back where I want to be.  All this aside I am enjoying watching both Fletcher bros continually push toward the top of the field and can only realise that them being where they are only gives me better targets to train with. 

It is like it has always been in Nordic Combined USA.  A team environment which breeds success as long as someone is always out front and setting a bar high enough for the rest to chase and also to realise how good we can be. 

To my teammates, lets make the next weeks training camp count and get'r done!

Latest round of World Cups

Season 2013 has started a bit lackluster for me but on a whole we have, as a team, produced some good results by some new guys.  The Fletcher Brothers have proven to be a force and Bryan leads our team in ski jumping while younger brother Taylor is the fastest Nordic Combined skier on the circuit!  Together they are our two top ranked skiers and continue to impress.

After suffering from whooping cough (yes whooping cough! Like cough til you gag, whooping cough.) for over a month I've started finding form on the cross country tracks again and the jumping portion continues to be my achilles.  Recently I've taken some pretty good jumps but the day to day reality is that I need to bring up my level.  I'm home now to try and do that.

After ringing in the New Year on a plane from SLC to Paris our team headed to Schonach, Germany for the historic Schwarzwald Pokal.  While Schonach has historically been a good place for me I failed to qualify in the individual event ski jumping provisional round.  On Sunday we had a Team relay and I was back on the start list.  Jumping for the team is a different feeling, instead of trying to qualify for my own I felt the pressure of making it happen for my boys.  That day I produced my best jump of the season and helped land the team with Bryan, Taylor and Todd in 6th place a mere 30 seconds behind the podium. 

Heading into the race we knew we had a chance and as the cross country track was reduced to boot deep slush we started licking our chops as those tough conditions have always favored us.  We sent Bryan out first followed by Taylor, a tactic designed to allow Taylor to try and bridge as much of the gap as possible.  Taylor delivered tagging Todd in 5th together with 4th place France.  Todd skied a smart race and left France's maxime Laheurte behind giving us a crucial gap over France and behind Austria in 3rd by only a few seconds.  As I was tagged any plan to start a bit easy went out the window and I put my head down catching Bernard Gruber quickly as we left the stadium and pouring on the gas to make Jason Lamy Chappuis pay as he tried to close from behind.  After several kms of hard skiing I felt Jason fade behind and Gruber breathing hard and I knew it was time to attack.  If left it to a sprint both of them could best me and my insurance was to go hard enough, early enough to make it clear.  I started with over a km to go and went into a pain so deep I thought I might fall over but the sound of Gruber falling behind was motivation to keep going.  Finally crossing the finish line I fell over harder than I ever have before and was greeted by my team exhuberant over the first Team USA Relay podium in a World Cup and the first since the games in Vancouver!  It was a huge day because although we did well we also knew we could have done even better.  A confidence boost for the whole squad as we start preperations for the World Champonships in Italy. 

Last weekend in Chaux Neuve, France Taylor again showed his strength by skiing the fastest time and moving through the field from 35th to 10th in the cross country portion.  On sunday we a Team Sprint event and the Fletchers Teamed up against myself and Johnny Spillane.  We skied most of the race together and in the end Taylor skied an amazing final km to land Team Fletcher in 7th out of 20 teams.  Not the best results we've ever had but solid stuff and something to build on.  My feeling is that we are closer than we even know.

 

A picture from the Team Sprint in Chaux Neuve courtesy of Jessica Walker

NNF Drive for 25 is ON!!!!!

Tomorrow is the final day of the National Nordic Foundations "Drive for 25!"  We have raised almost $50,000 to directly benefit the athletes of today and tomorrow and by tomorrow night could really use your donation!  Please donate $25 or more and enlist some friends to do the same.  This is an awareness campaign as much as anything and we will utilize the emails we get to keep you informed of our results and experiences.  I have personally donated over $500 this year and will match another $500 on a 10-1 basis so lets do this! My goal for tomorrow is to raise $10,000 to make sure that our top skiers can go as far as their hard work and dedication can take them.