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After the races finished in Valcartier, we drove to Vermont and flew to Minnesota for the next two North American Cup races, which were to be held in Grand Rapids. I had checked out the weather forecast for the week and saw that the predicted high temperatures were all below zero degrees Fahrenheit. The highs seemed to be skirting the legal racing limit of -4 ° F, -20 ° C.
Just after landing in Minneapolis, I received two messages from two different people. Both of them said that the races had been officially cancelled. On one hand, I really wanted to race. The second race was to be a mass start competition, so I was anxious to be able to put what I had learned from the mass start race in Valcartier to use. On the other hand, I knew that I needed some time off to train properly for the remainder of the season. If Trials had not been three races in three consecutive days, then I might have been fine.
The next morning, I woke up with congestion in my nose. At first, I just thought that it was all of the traveling that I had just done, but later on Wednesday, I realized that I was sick. By Thursday, it was a full-on common cold, but nothing too serious. I cancelled training and stayed inside. Outside, it was many degrees below zero. If it had been warm, then maybe I would have gone for a run or ski. But cold weather is dangerous, especially when you have a respiratory infection.
It’s difficult for most of us biathletes to be patient and forego training. It is something that is a constant part of our schedule. One day off per week is normal, two days off is rare, but the four days that I had to take off is something I have only done when sick. Fortunately, I had a lot of things to do inside. Still, it felt like jail time.
On Saturday, I returned to limited training because my muscles started to feel extremely tight. My cold seemed to be subsiding. My sneezing had stopped. The sickness only involved my nose – not a sore throat, headache, fever, or tight muscles – so for the limited severity of it, I was thankful. Training involved going to a health club to spin and run for an hour. In between, I had to stretch for a half-hour. I almost felt like my leg muscles would snap.
Today, I feel better, but because it is still below-zero outside, I went to the health club again to spin and run. It has been almost a week since I last skied and I miss it dearly. Going outside into the sun, like a gargoyle, I was almost blinded. It will be few days before I am back in my old shape again, but I am looking forward to the very good possibility that I will be racing the World Cup in Torino in mid-February. In the meantime, the temperature is supposed to return to normal by tomorrow night, so I’ll get back on skis on Tuesday.
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