"...how good can you be?"

Floating down the Snake River with a good view of the Tetons. 

USBA just held its 30th Anniversary Celebration in Jackson Hole, WY. Not only was it the location for the Board of Director's Annual Meeting, it was also host to a Gala dinner, annual awards, Snake river float trips and fly fishing, skeet shooting and a grand gathering of influential people within the US Biathlon family.  Olympians from the 1960's until 2010, retired biathletes and officials, memorable staff members, current National Team members and our Olympic staff spanned the history of biathlon in the US over the past 50 years. It was not until some of these people were recognized that I realized why we had all traveled to Jackson - the Snake River valley is filled with former biathletes. This event was unlike any I have attended before and I appreciated the time that was taken to recognize this amazing community that has been created through a small sport in the US. 

Max, our CEO and President, speaking at the Gala dinner.

While this anniversary celebration folded the likes of past Olympians back into the current, time was also taken to acknowledge the newest members of USBA - the newly formed US Biathlon Foundation. An incredible league of distinguished business leaders make up this strong financial team that will help support current and future USBA programs. With short notice, I had the opportunity to address this impressive crowd during one of our dinners. Even though I nailed the short-order speech, I actually don't remember what I said (not far off from the in-the-moment feel of a race, actually) except that I enjoyed welcoming this new team to USBA and hope that it is a mutually beneficial connection. We are all striving for peak performance - be it on the range or in the board room - and I am pretty excited about the potential synergy created.

During one of our dinner table conversations I made a mental note of a comment from one of our new Foundation members who made an observation of a distinguishable quality: when people pursue something to its fullest potential. How good can you be? Its a risk, its a leap from average, and honestly it is one way to define many of us in that room that night because it is one reason why we were all there in the first place. 

After a good camp in Utah and with sights set on the final weeks of dryland training before heading to snow and qualifying races in Canmore, Canada it was nice to spend a few very relaxing hours watching Bald Eagles and floating down the Snake River: