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On Thursday, I drove the seven hours from Fort Kent, Maine, where I had been living for the past three months, to Vermont. The time that I spent in Fort Kent was very productive. Not only did I make some impressive jumps in terms of my performance level, but I also turned into a full-time athlete.
Today, I went to the Ethan Allen Firing Range, which is the facility I had trained at for the past two years before moving to Fort Kent in May. A time trial was on the plan, just me against the clock. Or, so I thought. More on that in a bit.
A week ago, there were some biathlon races in Vermont in which I chose not to race. I am going home to Minnesota in a week, so driving to Vermont twice did not seem like an attractive option. Plus, I had a few workouts that I had to finish in Fort Kent before leaving.
I had planned on having this time trial for about a month. The main purpose was to try the new ideas that I have been developing in training, but now in a race situation. Secondly, the rollerski loop in Fort Kent is far easier than any real course, so the time trial gave me some feedback as to how my body responds to steeper climbs.
After a long warm-up and a successful zero, I started. The pavement was still wet from the previous week’s heavy rain. Moss had begun to grow on the surface, making it very difficult and frustrating to ski. Since the wheels on my rollerskis are polyurethane, they slid and slipped a bit when I tried to push with my legs, especially on the many uphills.
The approach into the shooting range is 45 seconds of uphill, so my pulse was high. I settled onto the mat and took the first few shots. I was shooting well. All of my shots felt like solid hits. My feeling was confirmed as the first four targets went down gracefully.
Now, I have to remind everyone that the Ethan Allen Firing Range is an active military base. The “Firing” in the name does not mean me and my .22 caliber rifle, but anti-tank guns and field artillery. Having fooled myself into thinking that I was the only one in my time trial, I was rather shocked when the field artillery, a.k.a. the Howitzer, went off with a bang and concussion shock right before my final shot in the first stage.
Usually, the large artillery is shot from a shooting range further inside the base, but for some reason, today they shot it from the one adjacent to the biathlon venue. This meant that the Howitzer was shooting from less than a half-mile away. We biathletes try to pride ourselves on having perfect focus and concentration, but I have to admit, I was distracted. Truthfully, I was probably in the “ear protection required zone.”
True to my training, I took the final shot as normal, but either the shockwave moved it (that is my story), or my “fight or flight reaction” thought that the latter would be prudent. Choose either excuse; I missed.
I would go on to miss five more targets for a total of six. 70 percent shooting is not what I am looking for anymore in a race, so I was a bit disappointed with my performance on the range. The time trial served its purpose. Shooting at this range is much more difficult than in Fort Kent because of the uphill climb into it. Taking this into account, my poor shooting was understandable.
When I come back in October, I plan on missing no targets. I hope the Howitzer shows up, too. Though it might be able to hit all five targets with one shell, I think I can get around the course a bit faster.
Peace,
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