A transition from one side of sport to another

I have considered myself an athlete for as long as I can remember.   I have made biathlon my career for the past ten years of my life.  A sport that is like few others, drawing on your ability to physically push yourself  to a place that just doesn't feel very nice,  in addition to requiring calm and focus.  Ah biathlon, never a dull sport.  It is one of the best ones if you ask me, although I may be slightly bias.  

My life has revolved around my biathlon training and racing for almost as long as I can remember.  It felt right.  I love to train.  And I love to race even more, well, most days anyways.  But I have reached a point where I am ready to branch out a bit more in life.
While racing for the past six years I have also been working as a massage therapist.  It is work that I have enjoyed a great deal.  My curiosity for how our bodies respond to things, whether that be training, body work, the food we eat or the place we live in, is endless.  Working with others to help their bodies feel better, reducing stress our bodies hold from training, working and everyday living is extremely rewarding.  I am also left with a desire to learn more in ways in which I can help people to feel better and perform to their best ability   Treating your body to better health, that is what I have always strived to do in my massage work.  So as I have reached this point of transition in my life, I am putting more time and focus into my work as a massage therapist.
This transition of mine has included more that a slight change in focus, it has also involved a move across the country, from the great North of Aroostook County, Maine to the mountainous Boulder, CO.  Settling into the West has been great, although I am still working on the altitude associated with the move, but I am hoping I will eventually adapt.
My role in Boulder now includes helping coach the Boulder Junior Nordic Racing Team, which I have enjoyed thus far and am even more excited to get on snow with everyone and really put the summer training to the test.  I am also very proud to have a the opportunity to be working with the U.S. Paralympic Biathlon and Nordic team, helping to coach and doing some massage work with the team.  All of these athletes have given me a different perspective on the sport that I have been so focused on myself for the past ten years.  This new perspective has sparked new excitement in me for the sport that I love.  I couldn't be more excited for the snow to fall!
In between practice with the BNJRT and camps with the Paralympic Nordic team, I am  working on establishing my own business as a massage therapist, providing the greatest bodywork an athlete can find, here in Boulder.  All of these changes in my life has lead me to spend a lot of time coming up with new goals to work towards.  Bringing greater bodywork care to every level of athlete, is now at the top of my goal list.  Along with this goal, I am launching a new blog to follow my progress in reaching this goal of mine.  It will also be a platform for me to share ideas and thoughts on bodywork, skiing/biathlon, a means to schedule your own massage with me.  Check it out at:  B.A.M.bodywork.blogspot.com.  Yup, BAM: BethAnn Marie.
Changing up my priorities doesn't mean I won't be out on the trail this year.  I'll be putting a race bib on and throwing my rifle on my back as often as I can. I will just be juggling it with a few other things this year. And could not be more excited about them all.
Hope to see you all out on the skis trail or perhaps on the massage table sometime soon!  Until then, keep working on that snow dance! You can never do too much.

cheers, BethAnn

Ride Aroostook....round two!

Smiles from last years Ride Aroostook!

So I can hardly believe how long it has been since my last update.  I am not going to start making up excuses and just move forward with things.  I have good reason to do so because I have something else that is much more exciting to write about.  This weekend is the second annual Ride Aroostook event in Northern Maine.  I am working on raising money for Camp Adventure, which is an awesome camp for kids with diabetes.  At this camp the kids have a chance to do all kinds of cool, adventurous activities like run around and shoot rifles at targets.  Sounds crazy doesn't it!?!  Trust me it is a good time! ;).  The councilors at the camp also help the kids learn how to monitor their blood sugar while doing all these fun activities. It is a really great thing.
I would very much appreciate your support in helping raise funds for this awesome camp.  Every penny that is donated goes directly to the kids camp.  It really is a no loose situation.  And I promise to write a few updates following to let you know how the ride went!
So many thanks in advance for your support.  Just click on the link and you can donate to my ride, which is pass right on to the kids at this awesome camp!
Thanks again and happy riding to you all!
-BethAnn
http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/bethannchamberlain/ride-aroostook-2012

Fresh start

A foggy road ahead.  Sometimes, you just have to put your head down
and trust that the road is leading you right where you need to go. 

There is something nice about the ending of one season and the start of another.  While many things in life run right into one another, the idea of starting fresh has always been something that I have enjoyed.  In ski racing the end of the winter and working your way into the growing season again is always a time of transition, a time to regroup, a new beginning.
This spring season has been especially that.  Many changes are in the works, with many details yet to be worked out.  While the unknown often makes me nervous or perhaps more impatient, I am learning to work through things more slowly and enjoy the process, at least most of the time.

I do know that change is good.  To have things stay the same would only lead to a life without adventure, learning or new experience.  While I will continue racing in the year ahead, I am also looking forward to explore and expanding in other areas in my life as well.  More on that in the near future. I have to be on my way,  a new adventure awaits...

-BethAnn

This spring I have been able to enjoy a few different activities I don't often get a chance to do other times of year.  Including.....

An amazing afternoon of food, friends, and beauty in a perfectly plan bridal shower
for a very good friend!

A game of Settlers of Catan along with a hot coffee = the perfect activity for a
cold rainy spring day. (p.s. I won too! :) )

I enjoyed an amazing day of rock climbing in Acadia National Park 

Catching up on lost time with my very energetic niece and nephew.   You can
never spend too much time at the playground!

Worth waiting for...two years later my asparagus is going to be ready to eat shortly...
A true test of patience!

A quick rewind...to some amazing athletes!

The snow maybe mostly gone for the season but I still have a few stories to share about my adventures this past winter.  Bare with me as I play a bit of catch up...

Spring series in the North American Nordic world is usually about the last racing event for the year.  Traditionally it has been held out West in higher elevations, where the snow tends to stick around a bit longer.  This year it was in the East, at Craftsbury.  Being in the East already,  I was happy to participate in the events, not only as a racer but helping out with another team as well.   I know I updated a few times already on this event but this time it isn't about my racing but of my opportunity to help out other racers.  

The Adaptive skiing and biathlon programs have seen an amazing amount of growth in the last couple years.  The  U.S. hosted two World Cup in the Midwest this past season.  Both of which were a great success.  Our National team is growing stronger by the minute and programs across the country are calling in new recruits left and right.  It only seemed natural that Spring Series to add an adaptive category to the mix.   And somehow in the organization of this event I was asked if I had interest in helping out with the adaptive races to be held at Spring Series. I obviously said yes,  and I am so very glad I did. 

The Adaptive event at Spring series was a mini-tour, much like the other races.  This means that there area  number of races in a row, where the results are added cumulatively in the end creating an overall winner.  This event consisted of three races; a prolog, a distance race and a sprint.  Among many other things, I learned quickly while helping out that organizing an event for these athletes has you take a lot of additional factors into consideration.  Creating a course that is challenging yet safe and doable for those in both a sit ski and the stand up skiers is not an easy task, especially when you are limited to a very small loop to begin with.  Despite this challenge we were able to come up with a different course for the athletes each day.  And, for the most part, I think they were all happy about it. 

The Nordic world in the U.S. is fairly small.  You don't have to be involved in it for too long before most faces and names become familiar.  Working with the Adaptive athletes gave me an opportunity to work with athletes with totally different backgrounds, which was a really cool experience.  Each athlete has his or her own unique challenges to overcome, adding another huge task to each athletes already full plate  of simply competing at their very best.  The specifics of each sit skiers "bucket", (a new term I learned  for what I called their sit ski), has to be just right and fit just for them.  I relate this to fitting a rifle for a biathlete, also a very specific fit that often takes years to get just right.  Much of what is fairly streamlined for stand up skiing is still very much a work in progress  for those racing in the sit ski division. This includes everything from finding the best length of pole, ski technique, flex of ski, and binding system.  My mind is spinning just thinking about all of this!

One of the things that amazed me most about these athletes during this event is that when they faced with questions about equipment and technique, last minute changes in race course and distance and additional challenges with equipment, took it all in stride.  They kept their focus and worked hard racing and even had huge grins on after their races.  Well, maybe not immediately after, but soon after they had recovered! :)  It was a great reminder to me what sport is all about.  Learning how to best work with your body to have the best performance you are capable of, no matter what the circumstances around you may be.  This group of athletes racing were working hard to do just that and I was inspired by watching it.  Many thanks to them and the organizers and program directors for giving me the opportunity to do so.  Hope to help out again sometime. 

More to come. Until then... think spring!  Because there isn't any snow left and 40 degrees and rain doesn't make for fun outdoor activities!  Bring it on sunshine!!! I'm ready!

cheers, 

BethAnn

The season's end

Every racing season has it's ups and downs.  This year was no exception.  A few too many missed targets early on and sickness smack in the middle of it, threw my original game plan off for the year.  This is not to say that there weren't some successful moments or that I didn't enjoy my winter.  Things can always be a little bit better, right? That is what keeps us going, keeps us working hard?
The end of March came and I had one more race that I had signed up for.  My motivation going into it was not especially high. I was feeling a little tired, not in the best racing shape and my focus lacking slightly.  Thoughts of just passing on the last race of the year, the 30km U.S. Distance Nationals race, did pass through my mind a time or two. Finally, after giving myself a good kick in the pant,  I came to my senses and realized that I had the opportunity to race with an amazing group of skiers.  I was already at the venue and had already registered for it.  Of course I was going to race.
Now onto the weather.  Eighty degrees in March is not something I am use to.  Nor is it something that race organizers are planning for when hosting a ski event at the end of March.  After a year with limited snow, or snow followed by days of rain, a week of  nearly 80 F weather was not what any of the skiers or event organizers were hoping for.  This is where I take my hat off to all of the MANY volunteers and organizers at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center.  They did what I thought was impossible.  They held all the races of spring series, including the women's 30km and men's 50km race.  It was all done on a 1.5km loop, but they did it.  I never thought they would be able to make it happen.
Having committed to helping with the Adaptive races earlier in the week, (which I will report more on very soon),  I was left with only one race to choose from.  The 30km skate race.  A skate race, which is much more in my favor than classic, and a longer distance.  Not a bad event for me to sign up for.  So I did.

It wasn't my best race of the year.  But it was an experience like no other I have ever had in Nordic or biathlon racing.   A mass start 30km race, twenty laps on a 1.5km loop  in warm and pretty sloppy conditions.  The conditions ended up being the most challenging part for me.  Hard and fast conditions always favor my kind of skiing.  Slow and sloppy conditions are a bit more challenging, which was what I found during the race.  The small loop made for great cheering the entire way and easy to take multiple feeds.  I had a crew counting laps for me, which turned out to be priceless.  I think I might still be out there if it wasn't for them.
I finished 29th place.  A bit behind where I would have liked to have been but in tough conditions in a very competitive field, not terrible.  This race turned into a mental battle for me.  Even though the loop was very small I found myself alone on the trail for good portions of the race.  Keeping my pace up during these times was a tough struggle, especially since it was a 30km, where the pace isn't crazy fast, but you still need to be moving at a good clip.  Knowing that I wasn't having my best race and that nothing was really on the line, as far as where I finished, made it hard to just keep going at time.  But I did.  I was proud to win that mental fight with myself.  I stayed in the game and crossed the finish line.  It is a race that I will remember, not because of my place or time, but because of what I overcame inside of myself to finish it.  You really do learn something new every time you put that race bib on.
-BethAnn

Oh so tired...

Just keep skiing.....just keep skiing....

2011-12

.

Oh, where to start...

It is hard to believe so much time has past since my last update.  It leaves me a little uncertain as to where to pick up from. 

A quick review of February:  I was sick.  The biggest downfall from this was my inability to race in the Birkie.  I am not sure if there is anything worse than being at a big event, feeling well prepared but sickness or injury prevents you from starting.  This was probably my low point in the year.  It did help me realize just how much I really do love racing.  Despite the anxiety and pressure of performing well I often put on myself in races, it is a whole lot of fun when you actually get out there and do it.  The one up to being on the sidelines was being able to watch my husband David come in second, (later was moved up to first due to a disqualification), in the classic Birkie and my sister and brother-in-law have personal bests as well.  There always is a silver lining.

On to March:  It started out with amazing skiing in Aroostook County.  I enjoyed a great amount of time helping out at high school and other community events throughout the area.  I was able to join in on the fun of an amazing Women’s ski day, a kickin’ Aroostook Youth Ski day and even join in on the final Aroostook Cup race of the year. 

My final biathlon races of the season just wrapped up last weekend in Val Cartier, Quebec.  It is hard to believe that the conditions were as great as they really were, given warm weather and an early morning thundershower Sunday.  Somehow the course held up and the skiing was pretty darn good all week long.  I had a slow start to the week, with a lot of missed targets in the Mass start.  Thankfully I put things together over the weekend and walked away with two 5^th places in the sprint and mass start. 

 In between the races, I was able to help out with a Fast and Female event, (www.fastandfemale.com, check it out if you aren’t familiar.  It’s an awesome organization!).  And it was in a Quebec school.  There were a couple highlights to this particular F & F event.  First, it was a biathlon specific event.  We were able to set up a full biathlon air rifle range in the gym of the school!  It was so cool.  And the girls were so into it.  The second highlight was it was in a Quebec school, so it was mostly in French.  While a bit awkward at times, I was excited to work on my French with all the girls and many of them were excited to practice their English as well. 

I have since returned from Quebec, and enjoyed a couple days back at home.  I had the chance to get a ski in at Aroostook State Park and test out Atomic’s Skintech skis, which are awesome.   I can’t wait to order my for next year already.  I now have my car packed up again and am ready to head to Vermont.  I’ll admit, I am having believing I am going to be skiing on snow once I get down there.  The weather continues to feel more like summer and not at all like winter or even spring.  I am only signed up for the 30km race, as I will be helping out with the adaptive team earlier in the week.  One way or another, it should be a great time.  And I did pack some shorts! 

Update from Craftbury coming soon…-BA

March in Aroostook County started off with some amazing skiing.  Picture perfect day!

Perhaps the best part of the week,  maple candy!  Doin' it right in Canada! :)

A bit warm and foggy, but the conditions held up amazingly well all week in Valcartier, QU.

Lots of catching up to do...

How long it has been!  Here is a fairly quick summary of the last month:  trip to Mid-West,  cancellation of the Mora Vassaloppet due to lack of snow, racing 42km Pre-Birkie race instead and placing 2nd,  getting sick, getting the flu, endless frustration,  sitting out of the Birkie because of sickness.  It is always frustrating getting sick, and feels so much worse when you want and should be racing instead, but it happens to us all at some point in time.  After nearly three weeks of battling one thing or another, my health feels nearly normal again. Thank goodness.
I am back in Aroostook County enjoying the great abundance of snow we have here!  This morning I am even going to give a little classic sprinting a try, just as a workout.  I am not ready for a classic sprint race just yet.
 I do promise to have a more thorough update shortly!  Until then, check out the photos below of all great fun the kids of Aroostook County had yesterday in the Aroostook Youth Ski Festival.  I was working with the little Lollipop skiers!  Endless energy, no fear and OH so cute!  Great time had by all.

Happy skiing to you all,

BethAnn