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It is seriously raining here in New England. Over the past few days, I have started wondering whether something has gone awry with the weather-maker. A few weeks ago, there was snow on the ground. Now, we have four inches of rain. Had this been snow, I of course would not be complaining!
On Monday, I turned twenty years old. No longer a teenager, but not yet legally an equal member of this democratic society of our's. For my birthday, my mother sent me a pumpkin pie. Since my birthday is so near Halloween (October 31st for you Europeans), that I get a pumpkin pie instead of a birthday cake. I certainly prefer the pie!
Things have been going well with training. Last week I did a mock time trial and shot only three misses out of twenty. I skied well and felt great. I am really yearning to get on snow and start the competition season. Unfortunately, this season will only have a few races. The team will travel to Italy and France for a month of competitions, but following this trip, there will be few races here in the Northeast.
As a result of this awkward racing schedule, all of my focus is on January. World Junior Championships are the last week of January, and that is most definitely a time for all of you sick people to stay away from me! This is my last year as a junior-level racer and I want to make it a memorable one (meaning results, of course).
The time between now and January is quite full. In two weeks, I will be driving up to Fort Kent, Maine, on the New Brunswick border for a ten-day training camp. Last year at the same time, I had a similar camp. I was pleased with the amount of concentration I was able to focus on biathlon. Everything seems so much simpler when you live right next to the trails and shooting range and only five minutes from town. This is also why the summer went so well this year.
After Maine, I will return to Vermont for my final examinations in German and Russian before packing up and driving over to Lake Placid, New York, for a final preparation camp. I hope to be able to do a few time trials against the Senior National Team before moving over to Europe to compete against the best. From Lake Placid, I will depart for Minnesota, where I will spend a few days with my family before going to Grand Rapids for three qualification races.
Come February, I hope to look back to this time and say that I did everything possible to create the best possible situation for World Junior Championships. That is what this season has come to represent: a movement of all of my energy into sport. Though I have had a lot of bumps along the way, my course is still set. The destination is good results that last week of January.
Peace,
Brian
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