Grace Boutot

It's called COLLEGE

2011-11-10T19:25:00.001-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Just sending a quick shout out to you all!!! I hope that you're having a splendid Fall wherever you are. Here in Maine it's been beautifully warm and sunny, and the leaves are still as bright as ever. I've had a great autumn season so far but I'm also anticipating the moment when I wake up and see the ground blanketed with a layer of crystallized snow. There hasn't even been a frost yet! But it will all happen in good time.

Right now I'm residing in a lovely dorm at college. Yes, COLLEGE. Actually it's a University, to be completely correct. That's right, you read it properly the first time. Grace actually went to school. I'm sure some of you are shaking your heads, wondering, "Well, she probably just threw her athletic dreams out the window. It's too bad, she had potential.". Or maybe some of you are like, "What? Grace? You mean she can read and write and multiply? I mean, she WAS homeskcooowoooled by her mommy." And then maybe some of you are saying, "YEAH! Get that education and move forward with your real life!".

Well, right now I'm actually imagining those scenarios and many more in my head. For one of the first times I'm making my own decisions about what to do with my life, and I'm very happy with my choice. I admit, it hasn't been all parties and fun and rosy moments. School has been hard for me to get used to, especially since I had never, ever gone to school before. But my classes have been going well and I've joined some great groups on Campus, made lots of friends, and even joined a Sorority. (Please don't immediately stereotype, it's great!)

It's very different from where I was last year for sure, but it's the best thing for me right now. I am going to miss seeing all of my European competitors, coaches, reporters, friends, and wax techs this winter, but hopefully I will see you again soon! And now it's off to studying!

xoxo
Grace

September Love

2011-09-11T13:14:00.000-04:00

It's September! My favorite month of the year. I love the cool, crisp air with the smell of approaching autumn. It's especially nice when the sun is brightly shining and wraps you in it's warm rays. Right now it's beautiful-I can't wait to run outside!

Just thought I'd send a quick note out to all of those who have been wondering what I've been up to. I had a lovely summer and am excited to be gearing up for fall and winter. I regret not posting more updates this year, the main reason being that I wanted to keep my life more private. I'm sure Facebook has been one way for people to check up on me, but that truly does not reveal too much either!

Thank you so much for all of your support. I still have the same future goals and dreams, however the path to get to those is vastly different than I could ever have imagined. I am learning to appreciate myself as a person first, and an athlete second. Before I this year I had never really taken a step back and evaluated what I was doing. Sure, I knew my path to the Olympics, knew my training plan for the next 52 weeks, and knew my travel schedule down to a T.

But I am so much more than just an athlete. I'm a person, not a machine. When I break I can't just go to a mechanic, get some nuts and bolts screwed in, and be good as new. So I'm taking my time, learning to appreciate everything around me, and seeing life through new eyes. I miss my old friends, appreciate my supporters, wish well to my teammates, laugh with my friends, and love my new family. xoxo

Remember September 11th.
photo from worldpittsburgh.wordpress.com

July

2011-07-17T12:51:00.000-04:00

I hope you're all having a great summer and enjoying training/living/working/dancing in the sun!

It's been beautiful here on the coast with the brilliant sun shining and the ocean crashing! Life has been busy, but it's really just what I need.

Yesterday I had a great off day with some roomies of mine and some other Serbian friends. I've been picking up a few words in Serbian, but my accent is terrible, so mostly they all laugh at my attempts. I've been super busy with everything that's going on lately, but I know I should enjoy every moment because summer will soon be over. Then it's on to the next challenge!

Mostly I'm excited to go home this week for my brother's wedding. I still can't believe he's getting married! It's going to be such a beautiful time. I'll be sure to post some pictures once I have some.

Zbogom da vas!

Quick Update

2011-06-14T12:14:00.002-04:00

Hello!

Just sending you all a quick update. I'm currently living where there is no cell phone service and hardly any internet, so it's been very difficult to stay in touch with everyone and to keep up with what's going on in the rest of the world!

I regret that I have not been able to keep in touch with as many of you as I'd like. I especially miss and am thinking of my close friends, supporters, followers, 6th Grade Class at VRMS, the Jalbert Program kids, and everyone I have ties to in my hometown. And I miss the Custom Cake Cafe's delicious coffee. Thank you all again for supporting me through the best and worst times. And to my far away friends-I can't wait to visit you sometime in the future!

I've been having a very interesting spring/summer and really loving every new experience that comes my way. Life has been great. It's been very busy, with many new experiences for me (realizing that I can handle more than I think I can is such a good feeling!). And at the same time I have been meeting lots of new people. That's really one of the best parts of it all. I have wonderful, amazing roommates and many more awesome people who are fast becoming friends.

I'm looking forward to a fantastically great summer, and hope you are all doing well!

xoxo

Grace

May Musings

2011-05-16T03:15:00.001-04:00

It's already the middle of May. Unbelievable. You never would have guessed due to the recent cold winds, rain, and lack of spring flowers. But it seems the worst is over. The International bridge to Canada is still intact, despite water almost flooding onto it. And even though water levels were extremely high this year, they never reached the epic proportions of the disastrous 2008 flood.

Really whenever I write a blog it's a small battle for me. Not because it's hard to do, not because I can't think of things to say, not because I know tons of people will read it. It's because I struggle with finding my voice and projecting what I'm thinking, or feeling, or observing at the time. And more than that. Even if I know exactly what my topic is, and exactly what I want to write, there is always a voice inside my head countering my initial thoughts. Really it's like I'm in a room with two drunken congressmen willing to fight each other to the death. They're having a colossal argument and trying to move themselves forward politically by beating each other down, even though they're members of the same party. So absurd.

Writing has always been so personal to me, and I really drag my feet when I write something that someone other than myself will read. Things written in blogs can be like the fortune inside of a Chinese cookie. Some people throw it away and never read it, some interpret the meaning of the fortune in the way that they want to, some people keep it and read it again. Only now there are billions of "cookies" floating around in the web (no pun intended). And once something is written there is no way of knowing where it will end up.

Sometimes I just want to write something crazy, something funny, something really from me. I really am surprisingly spontaneous and candid underneath it all. But then my other voice in my head always tells me to behave and write about the weather. And it's true, some things are best left unsaid. It is always better to write something nice, or nothing at all, rather than to write a dreary account.

That is a lesson learned from Biathlon. There are so many athletes with completely different backgrounds, values, and personalities thrown together in sports. They all have different voices, but the same dream. It's wonderful that everyone is so unique, but it's not so wonderful when everyone thinks that they alone are the most unique. But that's what sports does to us sometimes. I mean, the overall aim of sports is rooted in selfishness and the top goal is ultimately to be #1. How else will you get there without holding yourself high and beating the other athletes?

I always tried to be humble and not bring others down. Sometimes that was detrimental since I actually let people just run over me. Sometimes I apologized to people when I beat them in races. What was I thinking? Other times I made light of the fact that I won, saying it wasn't a big deal. And when I think about that now I think I probably hurt other's feelings by doing that, since without realizing, I downplayed their achievements as well. After a few bad experiences I tried to fly under the radar and tried to never do or say anything, to make waves.

Now I know there is a thin line that must be walked to be the best of both worlds. To try to be humble, grateful, and kind, but at the same time be determined, strong, and confident. It's hard, and even though I try I still fall short sometimes. It's good that there's always room for improvement!

Well now that I've written a novel, maybe that will make up for my lack of updates. I promise I will post more in the future. I just have to have even more sleepless nights than I've been having to do so. It's amazing how sharp your mind feels at 3:12am. And! I finally updated my blog background which was a great change. Black is great. :)

xoxo
Grace

Testing

2011-05-01T21:23:00.002-04:00

Testing 1 2 3...

Spring in Pictures

2011-04-10T00:42:00.000-04:00

A few pictures from my world this spring...

my friends from the Netherlands and Slovenia! :) I miss skiing and hanging out with them.

Some up and coming skiers and biathletes from Maine at the Biathlon Champs!

rockin some sweet glasses on the way to a race

Gentle and I becoming cupcake business extraordinaires

Fast and Female Biathlon Day in Charlo, NB! It was an awesome day filled with skiing, shooting, zumba, and FUN!

Danielle and I having a blast. So happy I got to see her this Spring!!!

My brother and I after running in a spring race. It was warm and beautiful!!!

The End!

Lots of Energy!!!

2011-03-31T00:14:00.001-04:00

It's sunny, beautiful, and warm in Maine. We still have SO much snow! And this weekend it's forecasted to snow 6-8 more inches. Today was a perfect day to get outside and maybe get some color into our winter skin! I went for an amazing spring ski with Gentle, visited Shelly Pelletier's 6th Grade class, and then went to the end of the season Fort Kent Middle School Team's get together. It was perfect! Busy, but fun.

The Class with their yummy Honey Stinger snacks!

I talked to the class about healthy eating, exercise, being active for fun, and enjoying life. They are such a great class, and they're always so happy all the time when I go see them! Going there is great for me, since I need to practice not to be afraid of talking in front of people. And they're a very forgiving audience. :)

They also did some homework for me! Last week I asked them if they'd write about a country in the world that they'd like to visit. And they had such interesting things they wanted to see and do while visiting their chosen countries. I told them that I'd pick only a few to post on my blog, but if I could put them all up I would!!! They were all simply amazing.

The countries they picked were New Zealand, Spain, France, The Czech Republic, Ukraine, Canada, Brazil, Poland, England, and Great Britain. Lots of them wanted to go to Paris, which I would love to go visit too! And I loved the paper about Brazil...it was so blue it didn't show up in my picture though. It was really fun to read.

Here are a few of their papers. I was going to pick just one, but I had to put more up!

By Lily Brickman

By David Ouellette

Bangor Daily News Article

2011-03-23T00:20:00.001-04:00

Fort Kent Biathlete Grace Boutot taking some time off — for now

Article by Julia Bayly for the Bangor Daily News, check it out:
http://new.bangordailynews.com/2011/03/20/outdoors/fort-kent-biathlete-grace-boutot-taking-some-time-off-for-now/

Surprises of spring

2011-03-19T23:01:00.000-04:00

Spring seems almost here! Even way up here in Aroostook County the sun is out and the snow is melting!!! I am happy to be here after spending almost 2 months in Europe traveling. It's been great to catch up with everyone, and I'm especially excited to see the middle school county championships on Monday!

Yesterday I made the trek up to my house without snowshoes. It was great until halfway up when every 3rd step I took, I sank down into two feet of snow! But it was an adventure as usual, and once there I found my cat very fat and happy to see me.

In other random moments I have been scouring both Mardens and Craigslist this week with some mixed success. Mardens provided me with some unbelieveable shoes, but I have yet to find a car! I need something affordable that will last, and hopefully with patience I will get a car as beautiful as the gold heels I found.

Here is a recipe to satisfy your wild taste buds. I am planning on baking these soon, they just sound absolutely scrumptious!!! (it's from a blog called Eating for England, it's great!)

Candied Bacon-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
For the candied bacon:
•8-10 slices center cut thick bacon (American bacon – or streaky bacon, as we call it in England – is best here)

•1/2 cup brown sugar

For the cookies:
•2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

•1 teaspoon baking soda

•1 teaspoon salt

•1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

•3/4 cup granulated sugar

•3/4 cup packed brown sugar

•1 teaspoon vanilla extract

•2 large eggs

•1.5 cups semi sweet chocolate chip cookies

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350F.

2.Place bacon in a single layer on a foil lined sheet. Sprinkle brown sugar on top of bacon strips. Bake for 18-25 minutes or until crispy, making sure to turn bacon over after 10 minutes. Feel free to dunk and drag it through the delicious juiciness that’s collected on the foil.

3.Remove from oven and place on a wire rack for cooling. Once bacon has cooled chop it finely.

4.Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5.Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in bacon and chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

6.Bake for 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

7.Get ready to make friends.

Maine State Biathlon Championships

2011-03-15T00:14:00.001-04:00

Cody Johnson racing last year (photo courtesy bangor daily news)

The Maine State Biathlon Championships were this past Sunday and the races were really fun and exciting! We had lots of younger boys and a few girls (we need to recruit more!) competing in the air rifle and .22 categories. It was wonderful to see their enthusiasim for the sport, and I hope they will continue to always love being outside and enjoying winter activities. It was especially nice to catch up with all of the kids and their parents after being away for so long. Thank you to everyone who attended! I am hoping to see and ski with all of you more often now that I am back in Maine. With our recent snowstorms and sunny weather, it should be a blast!

Honey Stinger

2011-03-07T16:02:00.000-05:00

Here's a big thank you to HONEY STINGER, my latest sponsor. Honey Stinger is a natural energy food company from Steamboat Springs, CO. They make everything from gels to protein bars. Their primary sweetener is all natural honey, which has the same glucose to fructose ratio of fruit, so it burns slowly in your body and gives you long lasting energy.

And I am SUPER excited about this since I really love their Cherry Blossom Chews! Seriously I could eat them all day long! Think of a scrumptious combination of cherry and a hint of honey together in a really melty, fruity chew. I have been using their products for a while now and it's great to have them as a sponsor.

Here is the link to their website:
http://www.honeystinger.com/

photos from google.com

Back at Home

2011-03-06T22:39:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!!!

I'm going to try to post regular updates now. Being at home in Maine has been great!!! I still had to hike a mile up my driveway and back down, but that is the life I lead. For the past few days I've been staying at one of my friend's houses which has been amazing, not to mention way easier than walking in a snowstorm.

Technology seems so be evading me recently. My cell phone is broken and my computer is resisting the internet. Crazy, right? But it'll get figured out soon hopefully. And then you all will have many more exciting blog posts!

Here is a quick quote that I like,

“Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.”
- Storm Jameson

and a cool video of Canada winning their first nordic World Championship Medal ever!!!

Canada Gold

Italy

2011-02-23T10:23:00.000-05:00

Italy! It's such a beautiful country. Amazing mountains, warm weather, delicious coffee, gourmet food, 10 different saunas, and lots of athletes! It's definitely the most enjoyable place that I have ever traveled to for Biathlon. I'm in a little town called Ridnaun (in the north eastern part of Italy, by Innsbruck, Austria) for U26 Championships, which has been good so far.

The 12.5km individual race was yesterday, and wow! was it tough. It was above 30F and snowing the whole time, and my skiing was pretty slow. My result was 22nd, and considering how I felt, I was happy to have finished there.

I'll give you another update tomorrow since I am racing the Junior's Mixed Relay with Corrine, Ethan, and Raleigh. None of us have ever done a mixed relay before, so it'll be fun. The internet here is very sporadic, but I'll try to get some pictures up!

German Cup

2011-02-17T16:37:00.000-05:00

Group Classic Ski

Heading out tomorrow morning for Italy for U26 Championships! It should be a fun drive since our van is a little risque. It's dirty, battered, the back door barely stays shut, and not one, but both license plates are dangling. Yes, it's a true keeper. And tomorrow our valiant Ford behemoth will be chugging up and over the Alps in 2nd gear. I'll try to get a picture of it up next time.

mmmmm 45 degrees and RAIN!!!

Quick update: Last weekend we raced in a German Cup in Ruhpolding, which is pretty much like a Nor-Am competition. It was really fun. I did a sprint race in the POURING rain, which was interesting. Everyone was soaked after the first 10 minutes of being outside. I shot 10 for 10 and skied well. I ended up being 3rd or 4th among the German Juniors who are some of the best in the country, and then was the 3rd US woman. So overall it was successful.

Ethan with our new friend

Training in Ruhpolding for the most part has been sunny after the rain! We've been keeping busy with a few jigsaw puzzles, and have made friends with the 3 cats who live at our hotel. Our group has shrunk, and now it is only Ethan, Raleigh, Susan, Kelly, and I left to drive to Ridnaun to meet the rest of the group. Ciao!

The Drive In Pictures

2011-02-07T11:13:00.001-05:00

7am Wakeup
7 hr Drive
7 Athletes
7 Ways to get lost?
7 Czech Koruna in my pocket
7 Ski bags packed to the max
7? Wafer bars consumed by boys
7 ways to try to get comfortable in a packed van

Nove Mesto, Czech Republic to Ruhpolding, Germany

The beginning:

Hotel Romantika

Tying Ski Bags on our old van

Last Goodbye with Camilla, our massage therapist

Leaving the land of no snow

MAps maps MaPs

Ben getting advice from Cosmo

Passing through

Austria

Raleigh trying not to get crushed

Solar Farm in Germany

Ben still getting educated

Mountains!!!

Almost there...

Our first day-Beautiful Skiing

Classic Skiing and SUN!!!

Relay

2011-02-05T19:47:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update for now since we are leaving Nove Mesto early tomorrow morning!!! JWCH ended on a high note for me, which was super fantastic! I started the Junior Women's relay, which was great since I have never started a relay before. I tagged off the team in 5th place!!! It was such a good race for me. I kept my head together, skied well, and shot great (I only used 1 spare round). The only blooper was that I went to the wrong point in prone. So an IBU official yelled at me and I had to get up and ski back from point 4 to pont 13. I lost some time doing that, and it stinks because I would have tagged off in 3rd instead of 5th with the time I lost.

Also, another great thing was that the US Junior Women's relay today was the first to start in 3 years!!!! It's unbelieveable that it had been so long, but also really cool for our relay today. So our starting bib, #13 was based on how the relay team finished back in Ruhpolding, Germany in 2008. Today our end result was 16th out of 18 teams. The team ended up having 6 penalties. It wasn't a great finish, but the fact that we were able to race was awesome.

Which is interesting because that is exactly where we are going tomorrow!!! Yes, Ruhpolding, Germany, one of the biggest biathlon meccas in the world, and also the site of my first ever Y/JWCH. I am looking forward to it. We're going there for about a week, and I'm not sure how the internet will be there, so this might be my last update for a while. I'll let you know how it is!

Pursuit

2011-02-01T05:49:00.000-05:00

Starting the Pusuit

After a sub-par sprint, I decided to put my results behind me and focus on having a better pursuit. I thought about all the angles in which I could improve for the next day, and figured my best best was to improve my shooting time. My skiing has been pretty slow, and my body feels so sluggish right now. I know that this is due to my training this summer and fall, and unfortunately, during JWCH there is not much I can do to fix many months of mediocre training. Right now I can't make myself faster, I can't make myself stronger, I can't magically wave a wand and give myself the results that I had hoped for. All I can do is try my best with what I've got.

As much as I've cried, felt sorry for myself, been frusterated, depressed, and generally beat myself up about being a bad athlete, I realized that none of that will help me. It will only drag me down. And I have started thinking about the positives, like the fact that I actually qualified for JWCH this year, and that I am doing pretty well after what my body and mind were put through this year. I'm not really a bad athlete, skier, or shooter. As Kamila (our team physio/massage therapist) told me before the sprint race, "Grace, this is just a game, remember, you do this for fun, because you enjoy it." It is not the end of the world if I have a bad race. I need to remember why I started Biathlon, and go back to where I was when I once loved and enjoyed it.

I wrote down my start time...every athlete is now required to start themselves. Leave a second too soon and you get a 30 second penalty! It's a new IBU rule that just started this year.

I improved my place from 47th to 42nd in the pursuit with 5 misses, which was an improvement even though I didn't shoot the best. And my shooting time improved from being ranked 60th in the sprint to 7th in the pursuit!!! I was pschyed about that since my overall shooting in four stages was 10sec slower than the fastest shooting time, and my last standing stage was 12 sec slower than my 1st standing stage. So I almost had the fastest shooting time of the day! Of course hitting targets matters much more than shooting fast, but it was very encouraging. On to the Individual tomorrow!

Outside the Wax Room

Sunset in Nove Mesto

Sprint Pictures

2011-01-29T15:50:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of me racing in the Junior Women's 7.5km Sprint in Nove Mesto.

Dorthea Weirer of Italy was the race winner, which wasn't a big surprise, since she hit 10/10 and has been racing in a few World Cups for Italy this year. She was 24th in the Ruhpolding WC! My race wasn't quite as spectacular. I was really disappointed with my finish, but honestly I tried my hardest. Tomorrow is a new day, and I'm looking forward to moving up in the Pursuit! I don't have anything to lose, so I'm going to go for it!

Starting the pain fest

Over the tunnel and towards the Range...

The glasses hid my glazed over eyes.

Standing-hit 5/5 in the wind. Check out the flag...

And finally the finish line!

Pre Race

2011-01-28T16:10:00.000-05:00

US Team before Opening Ceremonies

Tomorrow's the first JWCH Sprint Race! It's the first race in Nove Mesto, but it will also be my last sprint race ever at Junior World Championships! I am a little nervous, a tad anxious, and very excited. It's just normal pre race jitters, and the anxious part of me just wants the first race to be over so I know where I stand! The exciting part is that it is the first time for this whole week in the Czech Republic that I have actually been pumped and ready to go.

Tonight I ate two whole cloves of garlic in an attempt to be able to breathe better since my nose is congested and my ears pop every time I swallow. I am not sick, but my body is just not completely 100%. But a little cold never stopped anyone before, and it definitely won't stop me tomorrow!

I'll be sure to update tomorrow with how the race went. You can also see live results on http://www.biathlonworld.com/ and they might have a live video feed too! To get to live results, just click on the datacenter and then the event. the junior women's race starts at 11AM European Time, which is 5AM Eastern Time.

Camilla, me, and Carly

Fireworks!
Photos by Judy Geer.

Czech Cup Race

2011-01-23T14:59:00.001-05:00

Racing in Nove Mesto. Photo taken by Judy Geer.

Today I raced in the Czech Cup! It was really great to have a chance to race on the course before JWCH. It turned out really well overall. My skiing felt really sluggish and slow, (I'm still getting over jetlag) but shooting was great! Even though you are allowed 6 extra bullets to use if you miss, I didn't need any and shot 10 for 10! It was the first time in a long time that I've done that, especially in a windy range like today. Now I just need to shoot 20 for 20 in a race...for some reason I always seem to hit 19.

This afternoon I was able to watch the men's relay (at the World Cup in Antholtz, Italy) race live. It was a really exciting race, especially since Lowell Bailey (the first out of 4 US men) from the US tagged off in 2nd place!!! By the end they finished in 9th, which was still their best finish yet this year. They're getting better and better.

Tonight we had a great dinner provided by our Czech host, Pavel, who owns the hotel and restaurant where we are staying. He is super friendly, and it's great when he serves us, since he gives the girls their food before he serves the guys! Tonight we had our first dessert which was ice cream made with real cream, raspberries, and a touch of whipped cream on top. We're athletes so we can't afford to gain weight, but hopefully we burned off the calories today.

During dessert I had a long conversation with some of my teammates who are from Alaska. I laughed so hard at some of the things they enlightened us lower 49ers with. They told me about the Arctic Winter Games (the Olympics for countries above the Arctic Circle), the PFD (Permanent Fund Dividend (money they get every year from oil companies if they are an Alaskan citizen), Alaskan Baseball and Biathlon (both played/raced on snowshoes!), and of course discussed the ever entertaining Sarah Palin. It was a good end to a long day. I'll update again soon!

Nove Mesto Na Morave, Czech Republic

2011-01-22T16:00:00.001-05:00

I'm safe in the Czech Republic! Just going to send out a quick update. I have a race tomorrow and then I'll write a longer post after that! It's an individual relay format with just a few teams, Russia, Slovakia, The Czech Republic, Latvia, Poland, and Belarus. Individual relays are like a sprint race, but in each stage (prone and standing) you have 3 extra shots to use. So the probability is that you won't have to do any penalty loops! It should be a fun race and just a chance to get warmed up before the important races next week! It's warm here, and there is plenty of snow on the trails, so life is good. :) I'm sorry for the lack of pictures, the internet has been snailish tonight.

La Patrie

2011-01-20T15:19:00.000-05:00

Breakfast....mmmm

Here's a quick update about last weekend. My mom and I traveled to La Patrie, Quebec for a Nor-Am Cup. Warning: La Patrie has no cell phone service and seems to be in the middle of nowhere. It is 6 hrs from Fort Kent, and is located in between Quebec and Montreal (closer to M), but a little more south. It's actually right near the western Maine border. I went because (a) there is no snow in Fort Kent!, (b) there are no longer any targets on the Fort Kent range, (c) La Patrie had TONS of snow, and (d) I just like hanging out with Canadians. So as you can see there were a lot of reasons to go. : p We found a very nice B&B to stay in that wasn't too far from the venue. It was really charming, and the breakfast was so delicious since Julie is an amazing chef!!! Here is the link in case you ever are in the vicinity: http://www.hautboisdormant.com/index_englais.html

In addition to the fun Biathlon trails and gorgeous views of the rolling mountains, La Patrie seemed to have a huge snowmobile crowd. While eating at the only restauraunt in town for lunch one day, I counted 21 snowmobiles outside! The Fort Kent snowmobile club would have a blast there. I would love to go back in the summer sometime and check out their roadbiking, since the roads seemed beautiful.

I would have been completely on my own during the weekend if Sandrine, the coach for the club in La Patrie (Estrie), hadn't of offered to zero me and help me out during the races. She was really wonderful, and such a huge help. Before she offered, I was just going to borrow a scope that someone wasn't using and zero myself! So having Sandrine there was really great. She gave me some great waxing advice too!

For the first race I ended up putting on a wax that was too warm, and then on top of that I used a pair of skis that I haven't skied on since high school. Needless to say, I've gained some weight since then and was probably 10-15lbs too heavy for them! Whoops. Audrey and Yolaine sailed by me on the downhills, but it was a good learning experience for me. It was really the first time in years that I have had to wax my own race skis, and the 2nd day I nailed it and had great skis.

The races were super fun, and also great for me since I had not done any intensity before them. During the last race I felt my shooting get back into a groove for the first time in a while! I think it was mostly due to the fact that I got to do some head to head shooting with the Quebec girls who are pretty great shots. :)

Anyway, I am currently in Nove Mesto, the Czech Republic, and I will update tomorrow with news and hopefully pictures from here!

Solutions

2011-01-07T14:05:00.000-05:00

So. Since I haven't posted for a while, I thought it wouldn't hurt to put two updates up in one day. I'ts never happened before, but there's got to be a first for everything! It is snowing very lightly right now in Maine, which is a very good sign. Accumulation would be super though, since I've had to ski over ice, rocks, and tree roots lately!

The awesome news is that my rifle has been fixed! I thought that I might have to ship it to someone or drive all the way down to Portland to get it back in working order. But it turns out there was someone in the County who was willing to look at it and see what he could do. His name is John Herald, and he did a great job of figuring it all out! He ended up taking the ejectors off the front of my bolt and found a piece of brass from my exploded shell underneath. It was amazing how a pretty significant chunk of brass had actually managed to get under there in such a small space! John was able to replace one of the ejectors, put the bolt back together (not as easy as it sounds) and the next day, my rifle was working perfectly!

Here's a picture of how my 2nd group of bullets that I shot turned out. The one high left was a flier, but there are 4 bullets in that small group, I promise! :)

And also today, after much thought, I decided to go to the Czech Republic and compete. The past few days have been really hard, there's been so much stress and other things happening. Yesterday I just wanted to give up and not even go. But after a night's sleep I knew I would regret not going to my last Junior competion ever. So my plane ticket is bought, and in a few weeks I'll be across the ocean!

January Sunshine and Snow (or lack of)

2011-01-07T13:42:00.000-05:00

The Range in Fort Kent

Hi Everyone!
I'm long overdue for an update about how US Junior Trials went. It's been a busy week! The day after Christmas my mom and I drove down to Burlington, VT where I had two sprint races and a pursuit in 3 days. All of the competitions were held in Jericho, VT, since there is an Army base there that has a full biathlon range and great ski trails. I was a little nervous because of the recent rain and lack of snow in the Northeast, but when we arrived the trails were beautiful.

It was a big event, since in addition to the US juniors, there were many Canadian biathletes who traveled from Ontario and Quebec to race. That made it all the more exciting! I think that it was the biggest junior biathlon event we've had in the US in quite a few years. For the races I worked with Algis Shalna, who is a great coach. He actually has quite an impressive resume too, since he won an Olympic Gold Medal competing for Russia in the 1984 Olympics.

The first day I won for the US, and was 2nd overall. Audrey and Yolaine, two Canadian juniors, were 1st and 3rd. For the next two races I was 2nd in the US. The organizers kept putting my club as RMR, who I trained with in Canada. I kept asking them to change it to MWSC or USBA, but they never did. Regardless, RMR is a great team, so I didn't feel bad at all about being associated with them. :)

My rifle has been giving me lots of trouble ever since a bullet exploded in it when I was in Whistler. I was shooting standing, pulled the trigger for my 2nd shot, and all of the sudden I went deaf. It was really scary since the bullet exploded with a noise that sounded like a bomb went off! Instead of traveling through the barrel it went out the easiest way possible-down through my clip that was still holding three other bullets. It completely blew my clip apart. As soon as it happened I dropped my rifle and just covered my ears. I couldn't hear anything for a few minutes, which was a really strange experience. The Canadian coaches came running over since they thought I had blown my face off! They'd never seen anything like that happen before.

Anyway, the short story is, my bolt became fantastically messed up when I tried to use my rifle during Junior Trials. Algis and some other coaches helped by replacing a piece on my bolt, but my rifle kept jamming in the races. As a result, my shooting was pretty slow and erratic, not the best for a trials situation! That wasn't too fun, but I got through it.

But I qualified as the 2nd Junior Woman to go compete in the World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic this year. It will be my 4th and last World Juniors, since I will be 21 next year, and a Senior competitor in Biathlon. Training right now is tough though, because as you can see from the picture above, there is not much snow right now!!!

Junior Trials Results

2010-12-30T21:37:00.001-05:00

US Junior Trials are done! Great job to everyone who competed...we're going to have an awesome team! I'm also really looking forward to seeing Scott Gow, Aaron Gillmor, Stuart Harden, Christian Gow, Danielle Vrielink, Emma Lunder, Albert Bouchard, and all of my adopted Canadian teammates in Nove Mesto! :)

Here are the US 2011 junior team members:

Junior Women: Corrine Malcome (Maine Winter Sports Ctr),
Grace Boutot (USBA)

Youth Women: Carly Wynn (Saratoga Biathlon, NY),
Kelly Kjorlien (Mt. Itasca, MN),
Silke Hynes (VT Biathlon),
Tara Geraghty-Moats(Craftsbury, VT)

Junior Men: Ethan Dreissigacker (Craftsbury, VT),
Raleigh Goessling (Maine Winter Sports Ctr),
Ben Greenwald (Maine Winter Sports Ctr)

Youth Men: Sam Dougherty (Alaska Biathlon),
Sean Doherty (Saratoga Biathlon, NY),
Ray Wonders (Alaska Biathlon),
Casey Smith (Methow Valley Biathlon, WA)

The Team will represent the USA at the Championships at Nove Mesto in the Czech Republic from January 29th through February 5th 2011.

Full results at: http://www.eabiathlon.org/

US Trials Day 1

2010-12-28T18:24:00.000-05:00

‎1st day of US Junior Trials! Results from the Sprint can be found at:

http://www.eabiathlon.org/index.html

If you scroll down the page, click the pics of the results and save them on your computer, you can look at them more easily. :)

This race was also a Nor-Am (North American) Cup, so there were actually more Canadians than Americans racing!

Right now I'm in the top US spot for Junior Women. There are 2 more races to go! Depending on percentage points, there are up to 4 spots in 4 (2 men, 2 women) age categories.

Whistler and then back to Maine

2010-12-25T23:29:00.000-05:00

Racing in Canmore

So now I'm back in Maine! Leaving Canmore earlier this week was sad....I'm going to miss the mountains, memories, and great people I met there during the almost two months that I lived there. I'm especially going to miss Bill, Maxine, and Cindy, who were my amazing hosts. Cindy just had an awesome 15th place finish in Rossland at the Nor-Am xc sprint, which was pretty sweet.

After Canmore I traveled to Whistler with RMR (Rocky Mountain Racers) to race in the Canadian Junior Trials for World Championships in the Czech Republic. It was an amazing trip! I had tons of fun hanging out with the team, and the weather was beautiful. Racing went really well too. I finished 3rd in the Sprint with 2 penalties (a huge number of girls cleaned the entire race, which was pretty amazing) and then was 2nd in the Pursuit with 3 penalties. Skiing felt good, and the best part was that I was happy and relaxed and enjoying what I was doing once again.

I'm really going to miss RMR with it's great coaches, athletes, and supporters. They taught me so much, and really helped me get back on track to have a great year. I've never felt so much love. :) I can't say thank you enough!!!

The best part about coming back to Maine was getting to see my friends and family for the first time in 3 months. I missed them so much! It's been tough to adjust to some things, but I'm confident that the future is going to be brighter than the past.

Things have changed a lot, and I have changed in so many ways too. I won't be accepting any more hate mail from teammates, and will not apologize for things that I did not do. I also won't receive any judgement or unkindness from people who are not aware of situations and circumstances. I won't be told that I am no longer a member of the MWSC team, because I still currently am. I also won't be told that I am a bad athlete. I value myself much more than before, and now I only want real, true friends. I am tired of being nice to people and then having them turn around and stab me in the back. I am only going to share my real self with my friends and people who love and care about me. They are the people who truly deserve all of my energy and love.

To the person who took down my Amazing Grace sign from the ski trails: Thank you, because now I am getting a new one. And also a thank you to Bob Jones. I'm glad that you revealed who you really are.

Have a Merry Christmas!!! :)
Love, Grace

Beautiful Ski in 30F

2010-12-08T16:55:00.000-05:00

Watching out for bears and cougars!

Just had to share some pictures I took with my cell phone on my ski this morning. It was absolutely beautiful here in Canmore. The sun was out, the snow was fast, the weather was warm, and I had the trails almost completely to myself. There was a cougar sighting at the Nordic Center yesterday, so I kept my eyes open in case I caught a glimpse. Thankfully, all I saw were a few deer silently watching me as I glided by.

It was the first long ski that I have had in a while. My body finally felt up to it, and I was able to make it through. It was a really good morning, and I desperately needed it. I skied almost on almost every trail! After my ski I popped into town with Jesse and had a delicious strawberry caramel crepe. Perfect for a recovery meal! :)

The reason the trails were pretty empty is because many of the xc skiers and biathletes have headed off to Silverstar for the weekend. This morning Cindy, Kurtis, Matt, and Andrea left for Vernon/Silverstar, and then next weekend they are going to Rossland for some xc trials races. It was pretty sad for me to see them off this morning, but I wish them the best of luck!

I'll give you an update on how the Biathlon Nor-Am goes for me this weekend! Enjoy the snow! :)

I skied all the way to Banff National Park.

See the skinny classic trail behind me? I tried to ski down that rocky trail on my skate race skis....it was a bad idea, but a fun adventure!

Broken and Battered

2010-12-05T00:23:00.000-05:00

Canmore Nordic Center Flag

Nothing is ever boring for long, that's for sure. Whenever I think life might be giving me a break, an unexpected situation occurs. Last week while having a time trial with the Canadian Biathletes, I ended up falling and breaking one of my new Oneway poles. When I scrambled up and continued skiing down the hill I realized that not only did I break my pole, but my rifle stock was dangling from my back, snapped in half. Realizing my race for the day was over, I skied 2km uphill with one pole and slowly removed my rifle from my back. I didn't even want to look at it and see the damage. I'd never broken my stock before. The stock is the carved, wooden part of the rifle that is specially customized for the athlete. So breaking it is a huge deal. Mine was new in May, and was made in the Czech Republic out of lime wood, which is very soft and light.

The break was devastating for me until John, my Canadian coach here in Canmore, recommended I give my rifle to Peter Zidek, who works with Biathlon rifles. He took it overnight and had it fixed by the next morning!!! He is truly amazing. It's pretty cool also because his daughter in law is Anna Carin Zidek, who just won the Individual race at the World Cup in Sweden this week. He also found a bunch of things wrong with my rifle, that were detrimental to the rifle itself and also to my shooting. So now, because of that my shooting has also improved.

Other than that, Canmore has been great for training. There is lots of snow and sunshine here. My Canadian teammates are upbeat and really fun to train with. They've been more friendly and inclusive than any other biathlon teammates that I've had. The Clarks, who I have been living with, are amazing. I've had such great times staying with Bill, Maxine, and Cindy, and also Kurtis, who stays on the weekends with us too. Bill has been baking some delicious bread, and Maxine always makes healthy, yummy meals. I made some spinach soup (the first batch exploded out of the blender and coated the kitchen with green slimy goodness. The smell of garlic and basil overwhelmed the kitchen with their delicious aromas) which turned out great! I've also been having cravings for avocado and soy sauce. I remember the first time someone introduced it to me I thought it was strange, but now I love it and miss eating it.

Today the Canmore Nordic Center held an Alberta Cup, which is similar to an Eastern Cup. There were over 300 racers for the skate sprint. I did the sprint, my first in a few years, and it wasn't too bad. I qualified 28th, which was good since after catching the girl who started 15 seconds ahead of me, I twisted my back and pulled some of the muscles. That ended up losing me a lot of time. I've been struggling with my back lately, and twisting it today put my lower back in a world of pain. So I didn't end up racing in the heats. I've been putting lots of heat though on my back for hours to loosen up the muscles.

Til next week! Have fun skiing,
love Grace.

Skiing at the nordic center

The Reservoir, courtesy pixdaus.com

I See My Life Like a Window

2010-11-21T23:58:00.001-05:00

The Moon Midafternoon In Canmore

3 races in 4 days last week: Check. I finished them all even though it was pretty tough at times. The first race was my worst race in a few years, but the good news is that every race got progressively better. The Canmore organizers did a great job of blowing snow every day, and we had enough to have an odd shaped penalty loop for the mass start the last day. It was slow and cold out there! The last day was -18 degrees Celsius, and the snow was like sandpaper.

I’m nowhere near the top of my game right now, not even close. I knew that since training wasn’t great this year, things were going to be interesting. Having really slow races isn’t fun for anyone. But I was behind once before, and I know that I can move forward once again. So that is what the next step is going to be for me. Moving forward.

One of my best friends told me once that I was a fighter, and I laughed. But really, deep down they were right, because I don’t give up on things that I am reaching for. They saw a part of me that I need to pull out now. I have never been a quitter, and don’t think I ever will be. When I want something, I go for it.

I see my life like a window, a beautifully colored, super messed up stained glass window. Sometimes it gets cracked and I can't see situations clearly. Other times the whole window shatters and I can see things even clearer than before. And then when I step through the broken mess, I'm free to put the glass back together, one piece at a time, fitting it all back in a different way than before.

Tomorrow I’m getting an early 20th birthday present! It’s something I’ve wanted for a while, and it’s something that I’ll keep with me forever.

Have fun skiing if you can find snow! Also, a big shout out to everyone who's reading, since February this year till now, I've had over 1000 hits on my blog! I've had people from 14 countries visiting, from Brazil to Germany. Thanks!

Canmore Update

2010-11-10T23:52:00.000-05:00

Canmore Last November

An update is definitely due since it's been a while since I posted. Right now I'm in Canmore, Alberta training and getting ready to race next week at the US Trials for the World Cup and IBU Cups. I'm not sure if I'll race yet but we'll see what occurs. This training season has been very difficult for me. After a tumultuous fall I have decided to continue training to the best of my ability.

I love Canmore! Deciding to come here was a great decision. It has been wonderful here surrounded by the Rockies and sunshine. It's a beautiful place to train, and there are dozens of talented athletes from all different sports who call Canmore their home. Unfortunately there has been no natural snowfall yet but the Nordic Center here has recently started to blow snow so that our races can be held.

All of the Canadians, both XC skiers and Biathletes, have been great to train with. I've met a lot of great new people and had some fun training sessions. Halloween was the best holiday to celebrate here, with lots of exciting happenings. The family that I am staying with has been absolutely amazing, and I am looking forward to the next few weeks here. Thanks for reading, I'll give you another update soon!

Fall Training Camps

2010-10-07T00:00:00.000-04:00

After a Fantastic week-long camp in Wyoming with the MWSC cross-country group, I am now training in Utah with the Women's National Biathlon Team. In Wyoming I did a ton of fun hiking, went on a 2hr horseback ride, and unfortunately got delayed for two days on two separate flights at either end of my trip. I now have Delta on speedial! Fortunately I won't have to travel anytime soon since I am going to be in Utah for a little over two weeks. We are staying a few minutes drive from the range in Soldier Hollow, where the Olympics were in 2002. The training has been good so far. There have been a mix of beautiful, sunny, 80 degree days, and also have experienced shooting in a windy, cold, thunder and lightning storm. The adventures never cease! Here are a few pictures from our 4+hour hike up Mt. Timpanogas. We climbed up to around 11,000 feet. :)

Airport Blog

2010-09-22T23:18:00.000-04:00

Shelly Pelletier's 6th Grade Class
(there are a few missing students)

It’s been a while since I’ve last updated. I’m now injected with caffeine and was inspired to write! All I can say about my blog absence is that there has been a lot going on in my life lately. There are not even enough words or ways to explain. I’ve been learning so much, and sometimes you learn more from complicated things than you could ever imagine. Really, it doesn’t ever seem that anything comes easily and I suppose that makes you work harder for what you want, and become more driven. If only motivation came as often as snow in the middle of January!

Here are some of the things I’ve done, places I’ve been, and fun things I’ve enjoyed!

-Sugarloaf, ME XC Camp. I was able to train with all my non-shooting teammates and also stay in the beautiful new CVA dorms! It was really fun, especially when we helped put on a clinic for some of the middle school kids from Farmington.

-A week spent in Gilford, NH at my teammate Kat’s home. We stayed in her Uncle’s amazingly restored 118 year old farmhouse and it felt like I was on vacation the entire time that I was there.  Kat’s family also owns a farm and great “Farm Stand” store with baked goods, fresh fruits and veggies, and most of all, CORN! Seth, Andrea, and I all spent quite a while getting lost in the corn maze while Kat made it out in 20 minutes! We also went out to an island on Lake Winnipesaukee which was incredible. All of the Howe’s deserve a big THANK YOU!

-Driving to Quebec to spectate, volunteer, and ride during the 2010 Mountain Bike World Championships. A few teammates and I made the trip and camped despite the rain and wind (Ok, so the last night I gave up and slept in the van. What can I say, I really dislike camping!) I tested out some sweet 2011 mountain bikes… (Love, love, love) and was blown away by the many talented athletes who raced in all the events. Especially the American woman who won the bronze medal in the XC race!

- Life back at the Lodge in Fort Kent. Grocery shopping with teammates, getting amped up about the progress on our athlete house, making some delicious fall soups, having the last summer Jalbert practice, visiting my newly adopted 6th grade class project (who are all absolutely awesome!), packing, organizing, and cleaning my rifle repetitively thanks to the rain!

Now I am en route to Cody, Wyoming via Atlanta and Salt Lake City. I am going to train there at Sarah Dominik's family ranch with the XC team. Thank you free SLC airport internet! I’m flying on Delta and it’s a little scary how much they have taken over the airline business lately. I have some wicked long layovers, and I have had time to contemplate mortality, death, and life. I thought about it after seeing two people almost die in an airport and then again on the aircraft. New life has been quite apparent also since there are quite a few 17 yr. old Mormon girls complete with fancy wedding rings and new babies here in SL. I am feeling a little caught in the middle of both spectrums. But I’m thankful to not have a baby and I’m also thankful that I’m a teenager who isn’t disabled in any way. Life isn’t guaranteed for anyone for any amount of time really so I suppose that provides more incentive to live it fully.

Jericho Camp and Races

2010-08-09T14:51:00.000-04:00

Sprint Podium in Jericho

So after a week spent in Jericho, VT training and racing, I am now in Sugarloaf, ME for another week long camp. Jericho was a fun camp. It's definitely a staple of our training every year August, this time was the 4th year that I have trained there. Every year I get a little bit braver on the treacherous rollerski loop! The races were alright for me. I always like racing in snow much better than rollerskiing. The sprint race wasn't the best for shooting or skiing, but the pursuit was better since I only missed 3 targets total.

We are staying at the new Carrabassett Valley Academy dorms in Sugarloaf, which are really spacious and comfortable. Much better than the army barracks in Vermont! It should be a fun camp since all the MWSC athletes (both biathlon and xc) are training together.

Also I am currently writing a weekly article for the Fiddlehead Focus. You can check it out online at http://www.fiddleheadfocus.com/. The Fiddlehead Focus is a new newspaper, both online and in paper form, for the St. John Valley. Andrew Birden is the editor, and has done a great job of making it an interesting informative paper. It's turning out to be very popular among all the locals!

That's all for now, I'll try to give you another update on how Sugarloaf went! :-)

Melting in Fort Kent

2010-07-17T15:59:00.001-04:00

Another great way to make use of a watermelon besides for eating it. :)

The past few weeks in the county have been hot! We've had so much sun, humidity, and high temperatures which has made us really appreciate swimming in Jacuzzi falls after a hard workout. Sometimes it seems like the air is so thick that we are breathing water. At the lodge all the girls have resorted to carrying mattresses down to the basement and sleeping there since it is much cooler than the 3rd story. I keep thinking about winter and -20 degree temps to keep me from complaining about the heat. Compared to that 85 degrees is quite nice!

I had a fantastic 4th of July, starting with an awesome BBQ at Danni's house and ending with an afternoon of tubing at the Soderburg's camp on Madawaska Lake. It was the perfect way to spend the weekend. Danni's parents went above and beyond making food for all of us and I got to check out her dad's gardens which were beautiful. At the lake everyone waterskied, wakeboarded, and tubed until we were pretty tired out. Tubing was pretty tough on my roadrash which started bleeding crazily after some wild rides, but it was all good since there are probably not any sharks lurking in Madawaska Lake. ;-) Thank you to the Packards and the Soderburgs for a great time!

Back in Fort Kent I have been busy training as usual. There are only two weeks left now before a training block where I will go to Jericho, VT for a biathlon camp, Sugarloaf, ME for a xc camp, spend a week at Kat's house training in Gilford, NH, and finishing with an Epic D2R2 bike ride in Deerfield, MA. It's exciting to think about! It will be a lot of training but it will also be really fun at the same time. Then when I get back we will head up to Mt. St. Anne in Quebec for the Mtn. Bike World Championships! It should be pretty sweet to see all those guys and girls compete.

June Update

2010-06-14T13:57:00.000-04:00

Demolition Day

It's June already! Warm weather, sunshine, fun workouts with the team, and spending more time with friends and family who are in Maine for the summer. When I looked at the calendar and counted the months until the winter season back in early April, mid June seemed so far away. Spring was busy at times but mostly it was a relaxing new beginning for me. Really I look at May 1st as the start of a new year for me...a little odd I know, but it just fits with everything in my life. When January 1st comes around, I'm in the middle of the racing season and just focused on that and not too much else. At the time it doesn't really seem like a new year to me. So when May comes around with all of it's melting snow, mud, changing temperatures, and for me, change of focus, it seems like the whole world is changing it's seasons and having a new beginning right along with me. It's a wonderful feeling. Having a new beginning was so important for me this year. Last year was the hardest year of my entire life so far in so many ways. I know that I probably will have a few years in the future that will be just as hard or harder, but right now that's a little unbelieveable to me. So I am just really looking forward to having a fantastic 2010, right from May till next April. And so far, it has been better already, which is a really great sign.

In April I spent some time de-stressing and getting things organized, and then in May I started some easy training. I also went to the National Team camp in Lake Placid for two weeks which was a new experience for me. It was really fun and challenging, and I learned so much there. It was great to train with lots of different people and coaches. I was a little nervous before the camp, especially since I had only skate rollerskied once at home and there was quite a bit of rollerskiing on the schedule, but I gained my rollerski legs pretty quickly. No more epic crashes for me! However I definitely got my body worked over, especially during a 3hr bike ride in 90 degree heat where Andrea Henkel (Multiple Olympic and World Championship Medal winner) strung the girls out behind her. It was supposed to be an easy bike ride, but my heart rate went much higher than it should have during that ride! We also did a lot of shooting at the camp-shooting drills, shooting tests, dryfire sessions, and scat. Since I got a new rifle stock this spring I've spent some time getting used to it and shooting has been feeling good. After the camp I went to Vermont for a few days with my mom to spend some time with my aunt and uncle. My aunt and I made Rhubarb pie, my mom biked, and we spent some time just chilling.

Now I'm spending the majority of my time this summer in Fort Kent training with my lodge roomies Kat, Corrine, and Andrea. It's also been fun since we have been joining in with the xc athletes during some of our training sessions. Last week consisted of ripping up our new athlete house that Phyllis Jalbert (Thank you Phyllis!!) has generously bought for us to use, a few rest days before a hard intensity week, and finishing up with a bike to Eureka Hall. The athlete house is going to take a lot of work before we can move into it in the fall, but it is amazing to think that we will be able to have a whole house just for athletes to live in while we are training. It's almost unbelieveable to me when I look at the house and think about how amazing it is going to be!

End of the Year

2010-04-13T22:29:00.001-04:00

After the races in Estonia I returned to Maine with enough time to get my body recovered for US Nationals and North American Championships. Traveling back to the US from Europe always seems to be a lot harder for me to get used to versus the trip there. I kept waking up at 5am for almost a week after being home. So it was nice to relax, go alpine skiing at Big Rock, watch XC Junior Nationals in Presque Isle, and then a few days later catch up with all the biathletes during our Nationals.

Hannah and I in Estonia

The races went well and it was a decent way to finish the biathlon season. I felt very tired at times and unmanageable stress took it's toll but there were only three races left to go, and I made it. The last race was fun since I was able to race with the senior women. That was great for me because there were hardly any other juniors competing that weekend. So I was able to ski with people! It's so much more fun when that happens. Despite crashing on a big downhill on my first loop I finished 6th overall and was pretty happy with my race.

Nationals Awards

Only three days after that there were XC Distance Nationals also in Fort Kent. I raced the 30km(which was twice as far as the longest race I'd ever done before)and it was an interesting experience. I had no idea how to race it or what to do! I had a bit of a shock when my coach gave me coffee mixed with coke for a feed, which I wasn't expecting at all! Yuck. I love coffee and coke, but never together! So after the first 10km, during which I thought I was going to die, I just relaxed and it turned out to be a fun race.

Fast and Female Group

The day after the 30km there was a Fast and Female event for all the Madawaska elementary girls. Fast and Female encourages girls to get out, be healthy, and ski! It was only the 2nd event held in the US. They got to skip school and ski all day! They were a blast to ski with and they all had so much fun. I was with a group of 3rd graders and they were amazing. One little girl told me that it was the 2nd best day of her life! When I asked her what her best day ever was she told me that it was when she went to Disney World with her family for a week. But "That week only counts as one day, so this is really the 2nd best day ever.".

The last race of the year for me was the Supertour 7.5km classic race in Madawaska. There was a huge field of women, and it was exciting to have a mass start with so many people. I never crashed which was great for me, especially on classic skis. There were a lot of Olympians there and Kikaan Randall absolutely crushed the field and won. My body felt so exhausted during that race that I knew my season was over. There was still a 5km hill climb and I decided not to do it. I thought that I might regret it, but I really didn't. It had been a long year and I was ready for it to be over.

The day after the hill climb my mom and I headed to Florida for a much needed break! I will post another update soon on how my off season has been going.

Estonia

2010-03-01T14:23:00.001-05:00

Current Location: Otepaa, Estonia. After a flight cancellation, multiple bus rides, three flight connections, and a three hour drive to Otepaa, I finally arrived at the site of U26 European Biathlon Championships in Estonia! For those of you who don't know, Estonia is a small country located between Finland and Latvia, and right next to Russia.

Getting out of Maine was interesting due to the storm that hit the entire east coast. My flight was cancelled, and I was told that the Portland airport was booked straight for the next three days. So I had to go to Boston via bus and get a whole new flight schedule, arriving in Estonia one day later than previously planned. So that was a bit of a bummer, but thankfully my new flight schedule went smoothly. However on the plus side of things, I was able to spend the night in Portland with the Humphries, which was absolutely great! We watched Billy Demong win the first Nordic Combined Gold for the USA on tv, went for a sunny run in 40 degree temperatures, and saw some crashing waves in Cape Elizabeth. Apparently off the coast of Portland the waves reached 23 feet in height during the storm! A big thank you goes out to Charlie, Sam, and Tara for having me.

Estonia is nice and seems very similar to the other eastern european countries. There are lots of boiled potatoes served here! The weather has been cloudy and warm and today it snowed/rained all day. The venue is great, although the soft slow snow and very windy range will make the races interesting. The first race, an Individual, is tomorrow! There are so many athletes here and the next week of racing should be very exciting.

Our team is staying in a hotel right in town along with the Russian team. There is a significant language barrier, so we have all been keeping to ourselves. It seems like they brought more coaches than athletes! This morning when the US girls were sitting in the entrance waiting to be picked up for training, I was surprised by one of them. I was sitting on the floor by the stairs when a Russian coach walked down, stopped, put one hand on my leg, crouched down on his knees, and with his other hand, began rubbing the floor, pointing, and shaking his head at me. He was very concerned looking. When he left I wasn't quite sure what to do, but I won't be sitting on the floor again! I mentioned it to the girls later and apparently Russians believe that sitting on a hard floor makes women barren and unable to have children. It made me laugh because that seems absurd, but Russian women seem to have lots of babies, so who knows?

Here, There, Everywhere.

2010-02-17T23:18:00.000-05:00

Since my last blog post was written there have been many interesting moments and adventures to experience. One could suppose that Anything might have happened...and as the old saying goes, "No news is good news." So now the silence is ended, and I will keep you updated more often!

Restaurant in Munich.

In my last post I said that I was looking forward to my first 15km Individual at the IBU Cup. It turned out to be a good race for me. I tied my best shooting ever during a race (hitting 19 for 20 shots) and I felt good skiing despite the longer distance. Ending up in 29th place and being the 2nd American in the race was great.

After training in the Czech Republic for a few more days I traveled with Leif and Addie to Torsby, Sweden to meet the rest of our teammates for Junior World Championships. It was my 3rd World Juniors, and the biggest Championships to date, with 33 nations competing. So it was very thrilling to be there training and racing, and to just experience the differences amongst the cultures and people. We were all there with the same objectives and purpose in mind (to succeed) but so many people had different approaches and methods that they used to be successful.

Torsby

Sadly, this year in Sweden I did not achieve the performances that I had hoped for. So many things went wrong. The easy part is looking back and seeing what I can do to improve, what I can learn from those experiences.occured. The hard part was feeling lost, and not having any idea of what wasn't right, and not feeling able to do the best that I am capable of. To top it all off I passed out after my pursuit race and had to go to a Swedish hospital. A firsthand lesson in socialized healthcare, when my emergency room bill and ambulance ride was unbelievably only $140 US dollars. The day after that I also caught a strange 24hr flu right before the junior relay, so the US did not have a team. It wasn't the best of experiences, but there were many positive aspects also which outweighed the negatives. My mom and brother came to Torsby to cheer me on, I made some new friends, and learned so many new things.

Finishing the Pursuit in Lake Placid

Now after going to the Lake Placid Nor-Am races and enjoying the fun in Stockholm at the Karen Sprague Valentine's race, I am home in Fort Kent for a while training. I'll see you out on the trails!

Europe-Places, Races, and Faces

2010-01-12T14:43:00.001-05:00

Olympic Team: First of all, Congratulations to the 2010 US Biathlon Team that will compete in Vancouver! Watching everyone compete in Minnesota and at Olympic Trials, knowing how hard everyone has worked, seeing everyone's disappointments and also their dreams come true...it's been beyond description.

The Travel: Getting to Altenberg(then Geising) was harder than everyone previously thought. It was supposed to be a 4hr drive from the airport, with most of the drive on the Autobahn. Well it turned out to be quite an expedition across Germany. Wynn and Leif picked me up from the airport around 1pm and with the help of "Karen", our GPS system in the van, we headed for Altenberg, near Dresden. The Autobahn was pretty speedy with the exeption of a few accidents. However Karen soon put us in the direction of Frankfurt, which is the opposite of where we were supposed to be headed. So out came the trusty map, after Wynn and I insisted that Karen was wrong, while Leif thought she was right. Then we all decided she was just a little confused =) After a few route changes we continued on while the sun set. Finally we made it to Altenberg-a pretty town with lots of amazing architechture. Very relieved to almost be there, we asked some locals to direct us to Geising. No Luck. Finally we went to a gas station, where we recharged with a chocolate brick and some pastries, and found the correct way to Altenberg. As it turns out, there are around 6 Altenbergs in Germany! We finally made it to the correct one around 11pm...

Germany: The last time that I was here was my first trip to Europe, when I traveled to my first Youth World Championships in Ruhpolding. This time I traveled to Altenberg to compete in my first IBU Cup(the level of racing below the world cup). So being in Germany again was very relaxing. Sure, I was thrilled to race in the US Olympic Trial races here, and also the IBU Cup, but I felt unusually calm, probably because I didn't have any pressure on me to qualify for the Olympic Team. I was just there for experience, and what a great experience it was. The best part was racing in my first IBU Cup Sprint, and actually making the pursuit, finishing 51st! Finishing 51st might not seem like a great finish, but it made me remember my first big international sprint in Ruhpolding against all the best 17 -18 yr old girls in the world, when I finished 55th. Going from that to 51st in an IBU cup with World Cup winners in the race gave me a boost of confidence that I desperately needed. So even thought the pursuit the next day was cancelled due to intense fog, I know there will be many more pursuits in the future.

Czeska Republica: Where I am now training for the week and then racing at another IBU Cup in Nove Mesto with everyone who didn't qualify for the Olympic Team. On the way here we stopped in Prague and did some sightseeing, which was really fun. We also tried some authentic Czech food: beef soup, pork, sauerkraut, bread and potato dumplings, and a strange but very good dessert. So far the past week has been really great. I've learned a lot, and I'm really looking forward to my first 15km individual this weekend. I'll keep you all posted on how everything goes.

Minnesota

2009-12-18T16:08:00.000-05:00

Home Sweet Minnesota! Being here is very similar to living in Maine, so it's a great place to spend a few weeks training and racing. I've stayed here at least once a year for the past four years. Now Grand Rapids is so familiar to me that it almost doesn't seem like I'm very far away from home. Almost every biathlete in the country is here training and so far we've got two races down, three to go! Even with the -4 degree temperatures during the races everyone made it through with no permanent damage-just a few frostbitten faces and ears. While all five races are part of the Olympic Qualification, the three remaining races are also Junior World Trials to decide who gets to compete in Torsby, Sweden in February. So the atmosphere at Mt. Itasca has been really exciting for the past week.

The races last week were tough for me. The bitter cold, slow skiing conditions, and longer race distances were all a test of how much I could handle. I made myself a promise to get through them as best as I could. And get though them I did. They gave me lots of things to work on for this coming weekend. Technique, tempo, strength, shooting, speed, balance...there are so many aspects of this sport that can always be improved. Even though the races didn't go as well as I had hoped I'm really looking forward to the rest of the races this season. Of course that's part of the elusive charm of biathlon...the never ending pursuit of the perfect race.

Speaking of great races, it was so exciting to hear about Tim Burke's amazing races on the World Cup. Two podium finishes and lots of other great finishes. He's currently ranked third in the world!!! Also Haley Johnson prequalified for the Olympics and earned some World Cup points with her 21st place finish in the Individual in Poklijuka, Slovenia. Their finishes are so inspiring to me. They proved that their hard work and dedication to biathlon for many years is paying off big time! For the rest of the winter it will be so exciting to watch all the World Cup races.

So besides for racing, training, and recovering life has been great. Everyone's been taking turns cooking dinner at the hotel, which has been delicious. Tonight Andrea and I are cooking Chicken Broccoli Alfredo. There's also a waterslide, pool, and hot tub here that was fun to check out. Personally the waterslide was pretty scary, since I'm not too comfortable with heights or water, but I'll have to say that watching The Amityville Horror on TV before going to bed was much worse. I had some freaky dreams after that. There's also some last minute Christmas shopping to be done before we leave. I'm really looking forward to spending a relaxing Christmas at home. I'll be sure to keep you updated on how the rest of the races go! You can also find results on minnesotabiathlon.com

146 Steps in Canmore

2009-12-01T17:11:00.013-05:00

Sunrise

　
It's been two weeks since I've been training here in Canmore, Alberta. The skiing here has been great even though there's no natural snow yet. There are a ton of cross country skiers, biathletes, canadian club skiers, and tourers all skiing on the 2.5km loop at the Nordic Center. It's exciting to see so many people out enjoying the warm weather and having fun out on the trails. Seeing all those different types of skiers-some doing intervals, some working on technique, and others just learning how to ski has reminded me of some of the most important lessons to keep in mind as an athlete: Go hard during intervals, Focus on technique, Ski easy during easy sessions, and Always have fun whether you're racing, training, or recovering. The last one can be pretty hard at times. Since I caught a cold last week right before the first races of the season, my coach and I decided it wouldn't be a great idea to race. I was pretty disappointed and frusterated, but it was for the best. I'm feeling better now so I'm really looking forward to racing on Saturday this week.

Since I didn't race I did a lot of running on the many trails in Canmore which was awesome! There are so many trails here...I've been exploring quite a few, but mostly I ran directly up to the Nordic Center to watch the races. On the way up there is a very long staircase that is pretty tough to run up at high altitude. I've been up it so many times lately that I finally counted every single step. All 146 of them. Every time I go up them I think about how much effort is put in to be a full time athlete and how many years of hard work it takes to get to the top. I know, it sounds corny, but it's true. And I bet 95% of skiers and biathletes would agree with me about the fact that it takes so many steps to get where they want to be in their sport. It's freaking hard, but it's worth it...

The times in between training here in Canmore have been sweet too-literally-since there's an amazing candy store here. Floor to ceiling, this shop is packed with every kind of chocolate, lollipops, fudge, caramels, mints, and even chocolate covered insects. Everything that will give you a few major cavities. It's been really hard to avoid it when I go into town since everything is sinfully delicious. There's also a cool used book store and my entertaining teammates who decided to get a pet lobster. Her name was Soybean, and she provided us with a full afternoon of entertainment before she was eaten.

Also, sunday was my nephew Austin's birthday. He just turned 7! Sometimes when I think about that it makes me feel so old...it seems like he was just a baby not so long ago. So Happy Birthday Austin! I hope that you read this blog and know that if I wasn't in Canada I would give you and Ethan a great big hug. : ) Ethan just turned 5 in November too. I put up a picture of their early birthday party that they had before I left.

And here are a few more pictures from Canmore. It's so gorgous here!

Austin and Ethan's Birthday Party :)

146 Steps

gangstas

soybean the lobster

blowing snow at the nordic center

Running Barefoot

2009-11-11T22:44:00.000-05:00

Lately I finished a book called Born To Run by Christopher McDougall. It was a very inspriring, interesting, and entertaining read, and I enjoyed it immensely. So on on of my afternoon runs last week I thought, "Why not? I'm feeling kind of crazy and this guy wrote about how great running barefoot feels. I'm on a muddy dirt road, there's no cars in sight, it's almost dark outside, and I hate the socks that I'm wearing right now." So I tried it. Off went my socks and shoes and off went my training mentality. "Wow! This really IS fun! I should have tried this ages ago!" And so I ran down the road enjoying the feeling of mud squishing between my toes. I didn't run for very long, maybe 20 minutes, but it was a great experience. My feet didn't even hurt! I wanted to take a picture, but it was so dark and all I had was my cell phone, so I held my feet up to the setting sun and snapped the picture above. I had a great time laughing at the thought of someone going by and seeing me rolling around in the dirt with no shoes on, taking a picture of my muddy feet in the middle of November. It was awesome. So I hope that this inspires you to get out and do something crazy, whether it's running barefoot or not. It'll feel amazing!

El Paso, Texas

2009-11-02T22:14:00.000-05:00

A picture of where I was last week when I visited my brother in Texas...as you can see it snowed in El Paso, which almost never happens, even in the middle of winter!

Utah Camp

2009-10-18T18:58:00.000-04:00

There's only one more week of our training camp left here in Utah...as usual time goes by more quickly than I ever expect it to during camps. Three weeks may seem long, but in reality it goes by fast. Mostly I've been staying in Park City with a few members of the junior team, but I've also been playing musical houses a little and staying in Heber with the rest of the biathletes. Park City is nice, but it's also great to not have to climb three flights of stairs after training every day! Here's a picture of the view driving towards Soldier Hollow:

Fall is here despite the numerous well watered green lawns that are everywhere, even though Utah is a complete desert. Though some people are trying to conserve by only watering their lawns every 3rd day, it's quite a different attitude towards lawn care compared to the way lawns are viewed in Maine. The weather has been nice here for the most part. We've experienced heat, freezing temperatures, rain, sunshine, hail, and even a few snow flakes. It's been constantly changing.

I'm definitely thankful that the weather was nice for our first race, and it looks like the rain will hold off until we're done racing tomorrow. Yesterday was my first 15km race ever, and it was pretty tough. Put together a challenging course, altitude, carrying my rifle, and being tired from training...I was a little nervous that I was going to be able to get through it. But of course I did...skiing wasn't spectacular, and I broke my pole on my 4th loop, but I did tie my best shooting during an individual(missed 1 out of 20), so that was a boost for my shooting confidence. There is an 8km sprint tomorrow which should be fun, I'm hoping to try and ski a little faster.... :)

Utah is also fun since there are opportunities to take advantage of like amazing farmer's markets, yoga classes, the park city library, and also real mexican food. I've been training hard, but it's fun to take a break and enjoy some of those things. This camp has had many ups and downs for me so far...When the good and the bad mix all together it always creates an interesting outcome. Whenever I think that things are under control...something happens and BAM! Everything has changed and I've got to react differently. It's been a great learning experience for sure. Nothing is ever boring for long. Bring it on, I'm ready.

-Grace

What time is it?

2009-09-19T21:37:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that in only three short months the ski season will have begun! Summer this year was elusive and now autumn is quickly exchanging everything green with beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow. September in Fort Kent has been beautiful so far. The past few weeks have been busy with training and the rest of life's occurences. This year fall doesn't seem very different from last year even though I'm free from the requirements of school. Time still flies by and leaves you behind in the dust wondering where it disappeared to.

So I've decided that one of my goals for this fall is to start managing my time more effectively, and not let it get away from me! Life is way too short to waste away. I wish that I could grasp the full concept of time-I'm never quite sure of how hours or days or even years drift on by without realizing what happened. For me it's always a struggle to see if it's better to look at time as a big picture or if seeing it piece by piece is simpler. Of course it depends on the circumstance at that time, but sometimes one perception is so much simpler than the other. Sometimes I feel like a camera lens zoomed all the way in on the details, while other times I stand so far back everything is a blur. It's fun to be able to do both sometimes.

However I know it would be a bad idea to zoom all the way out during a shooting session!!! Today I actually hit my sightcover and broke it since it wasn't completely open when my first bullet was shot off. It wasn't because I wasn't paying attention (I was, don't worry) since you can't see it through the sights when it's partially open. So it was a simple mistake, but it was really a big surprise since my whole rifle shook when it happened. Things like that keep training interesting. You never know what might happen!

I'll also try to put up some recent pictures soon!

-Grace

JERICHO

2009-08-12T20:49:00.000-04:00

So for the past week and a half I've been training with the USBA Women's Team in Jericho, VT, which is home to a large army base. There is a great range and fantastic rollerski trails here. We are all staying in the army barracks, which is an adventure in itself until sunday, when we travel to southern maine for a week long volume camp. Our reservations are for a "haunted" house there, so I'm sure our stay will be exciting. I'm really looking forward to biking there with everyone. Last week I trained with Vlad, the Junior National Team coach, which was a change in training styles for me. Sometimes I struggle with changes-so training with Vlad was a good thing. I trained differently than usual, and that experience got me out of my comfort zone. It was great, since it made me start to think a little more about what I have been doing all summer. The Jericho races did not go very well for me...but I am definitely chalking those races up as learning experiences. I have a lot of things to improve on!!! Anyways, this is just a little update-hopefully I'll be able to write more in Maine-the internet in Vermont is practically nonexistent. Which is probably a good thing-otherwise I would be spending a lot more time online!

Introduction To Summer

2009-07-18T20:29:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone!

For all of you who might not be familiar with what I have been doing lately here's a brief summary of how my year has been so far. From January to March skiing and biathlon were my top priorities and I was excited to have my most successful season yet. Winning a silver medal at Youth World Championships in Canmore, Alberta was definitely the highlight of my whole biathlon career, but I also had some good results at US Nationals and also North American Championships. Finishing a great ski season was thrilling, but it has also motivated me to try to be even better in the future. So this spring I took a few weeks off to relax at home here in Fort Kent and then gradually got back into training again. Now it's the middle of summer and Fort Kent, ME is the place to be! There were several biathlon and xc camps here a few weeks ago and I joined in with training and helping at all of them. We have a great biathlon and xc ski group here that knows how to work hard and have fun at the same time. And despite all the rainy weather training has been going well. I've also had no major rollerski crashes this summer -I'm very grateful for that!

Today was the infamous Mars Hill climb. It's basically an uphill time trial that takes between 12 and 20 minutes to run/ski walk up. There was a pretty big group of biathletes and xc skiers who ran up it today which was great. It was really tough for me but it also was satisfying to see how hard I could push myself to try and get a faster time. Tomorrow is the annual Tour of Stockholm which should be epic. 4+ hours of Running, Biking, Rollerskiing, and Canoeing in beautiful Stockholm almost doesn't seem like a workout at all. It'll be pure fun!

Have fun this weekend whether you're training, working, or just enjoying summer!
<3 Grace

The Beginning

2009-04-05T16:56:00.000-04:00

The creation of my new blog is in progress...