Five Things I Learned in Utah
Written by GRP Biathlete Luke Brown
Last year, I came to the Outdoor Center as a visiting athlete to train with the GRP and USBA National Team for the fall. Afterward, I wrote about five things I learned during that month and a half in a blog. This year, I joined the GRP Biathlon Team and we traveled to Utah for the last month for a block of training and trials racing. It was a good time and I learned a lot. Well, I learned five things.
Hit the Window
I was infamous for breaking windows when I was a kid: I broke my parents’ front window while attempting a trick frisbee throw around the side of their house; I blasted a friend’s parents’ window with a soccer ball while trying another trick shot off a trash can that was conveniently located directly in front of the window - I missed the trash can; lastly, I dropped a window out of it’s frame while attempting a sniperesque nerf gun attack on my brother from my second story bedroom. Oofdah.
Recently, I’ve been trying to summon back this childhood skill not to break glass but to hit metal. Our coach, Mike Gibson, and I recently came up with this phrase as the cue to a more confident cadence for me while shooting prone. We realized that I was overholding on the target, especially in races, and this led to more movement in the sight picture. There’s a moment, or a window, when I come up onto the target, in which the movement minimizes - this is the time to take the shot. If I let this window pass, I get shaky and lose control of the rifle. Hitting the window means being confident and ready to take the shot at the right time. Hit the window.
“She’s got gaps, I’ve got gaps, together we fill gaps.” - Rocky
In my first conversation with Mike this year, we discussed performance gaps. Where am I lacking to become the best biathlete I can be? This could be fitness, my mental plan for shooting, technique, rifle set-up, etc.... While each athlete works independently to fill these gaps, just like Rocky and Adrian we also can work together to fill these gaps.
I saw this in Utah. I saw teammates helping each other with shooting positions. I saw athletes sharing knowledge of how to ski downhills and corners. I saw tired coworkers teaching each other new recipes. I saw friends sharing the emotional ups and downs of training and racing. I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked….
What? How did Ginsberg get mixed up with Rocky?
Anyway, I was impressed by how our team filled each other’s gaps. The only other gaps that need to be filled are in the pavement seams on the Soho roller loop.
(Carsen helping to fill gaps with a rear sight cleaning tutorial)
Communicate the Objective
When want-to-be mountain athletes mix with by-the-book biathletes it’s essential to communicate about the objective of a workout. A two hour easy run in the hands of some could become let’s get to that summit by scrambling on scree and bonking on the way back. I personally think that sounds awesome but I also recognize that at certain times of the year, such as leading up to important races, it’s key not to compromise the intent of a workout. So, because our team is made up of many different types of athletes with potentially different goals for a workout, we’ve been learning to communicate before leaving the trailhead. What’s our goal for this workout? A destination or a time and effort? I think there’s room for both but communication is always needed.
(What’s the objective here?)
Pretend You’re a Race Car Driver
Okay Speed Racer, you think you’re hot stuff? How about you hop on some short aluminum shaft rollerskis with no breaks, put a rifle on your back, and see what happens?
(Believing I’m a race car driver - the best of both worlds?)
There are some sweeping downhill corners and swooping transitions on the Soldier Hollow roller loop. While I generally think of myself as confident and competent in these places, I can always learn more. Something new for me in Utah was hearing my teammates talk in F1 speak about the roller loop. Should this turn be early apex? Where do you hit the accelerator and where do you float? A teammate and I even went out on foot to the main turn and walked and talked through our line. This focus may or may not have carried over to a safe stretch of road on the way to the venue where that day’s driver would take a turn at applying these crossover concepts between skiing and driving to the minivan. It seemed like a good warm up for the race. I’m not saying you should always pretend you’re Speed Racer but in the right space at the right time, why not?
BELIEVE
I’m torn between expounding upon this or leaving it be. On one hand, just writing the word “believe” in blue marker on yellow paper and putting it above your office door is enough. That’s what Ted Lasso did. But on the other hand, sometimes you’ve got to talk about it, draw attention to it, let it soak in. I saw an advertisement once that said, “Skiing is believing.” It’s difficult to deduce if that’s true because skiing is also disbelieving. But mostly I guess, skiing is believing.
I can’t pretend I didn’t learn more. I definitely did. I learned and I experienced and through experiencing I learned. Isn’t that life? We experienced the glistening golden aspen leaves, the surrounding snowy summits, the I-don’t-have-oxygen adjustment, the I’ve got your backs of long term training camps, the racing highs and the burning thighs. But yeah, if you really boil it down, I guess there’s five things I learned.