"Team USA" articles to check out

The stories of myself and my teammates, Laura Spector, Lanny and Tracy Barnes helped a northeastern journalist write an article about the US Women's team, our relay team and biathlon in the US:

http://teamusa.org/news/article/14127

The same journalist also really enjoyed my cards, so check out this article about my Snowfall Cards and what other athletes do besides being athletes, like fellow teammate, Lowell Bailey who is also an accomplished musician:

http://teamusa.org/blog/post/969

To see more of my cards, thanks to Kara, check out www.haleykaralars.com or stop in at the Bookstore Plus on Main Street in Lake Placid.

Little interview with my teammates and I while training in Fort Kent

http://www.wagmtv.com/newssource8/story/2009-06-29-olympic-dreams

Thanks for the interview, Rainey!

Hurricane Hill

The US women's teams during a race pace interval session in Keene, NY during our training camp together. One of the Lake Placid coaches and the Development team coach, James, took video all through out this training session. He then e-mails short clips to each athlete and coach for us to get a second look at technique during a hard intensity workout.

Women's National Team Camp

I am in the last few days of this summer's National Team Camp. After a few more shooting workouts, a long bike ride, intervals and strength these next few days, I will surely be looking forward to a few days of R&R. It has been another successful training block, however, but this time with different goals and accomplishments than that of my first camp earlier in May. The first two weeks of camp I was together with whole women's team whose members ranged from Development to A-team. In my history with USBA, this is the first women's team specific camp. In part due to our asking, but also because we now have a solid group of lady biathletes who can together push each other and women's biathlon to new historic levels of participation and international results.

Laura S. and I at the end of classic ski on Slide Brook Rd. in Soldier Pond, ME. A bunch of us jumped off this bridge into the river moments later for a refreshing swim after a long ski.

Training sessions were designed to maximize our time together; intervals like the one pictured below and lining up on the shooting range for timed shooting drills and tests created a necessary atmosphere that is hard to replicate with a small group or by one's self. Skiing in a close group on matched rollerskis on a long ascent really brought out morsels of strategy, fight and perservence that come from having our competition just behind or just in front of you. Shooting together simaltaneously tested our abilities to maintain the internal focus of our own shooting process as well as being aware of the speed and precision of competitors around us. Kind words of advice earlier in the week reminded us that the roots of 'compete' involve coming together - so thats what we've done. We know that in order for our women's group to progress we need to improve our ability to handle race-like situations with close competiveness, fast accurate shooting, and strategic technical transitions (in skiing). And as we look towards improving our women's relay team, we also come together to think like a team, even in situations like when we make dinner together, make travel plans, or pack the van.

The womens team (and some neighborhood dogs) during one of eight 4 minute Level 4 intervals up Hurricane Hill in Keene, NY.

The second week of camp brought us to Fort Kent, ME and the Maine Winter Sports Center/10th Mtn. Division biathlon venue. Workouts alternated between skiing at the venue, and running, biking and skiing around the County.

I spent 4 years living and training with the MWSC and in Fort Kent. It was a perfect place for me to develop as a biathlete and as an active community member, and it is where I met some of my greatest mentors and life-long friends. Also, it is where I started making my cards. Below are some of my favorites inspired by the landscape of northern Maine:

A view of the birches beyond the stadium from the 10th Mtn. Lodge.


A common view of rolling fields of gold, deep blue skies and puffy cumulus clouds. This reminds me of the Perley Brook roads.

I spent a lot of time driving in the County from all the various towns and training spots. Often, I'd be headed home just after dusk.

Or, I would be out early while the fog was still lingering in the St. John River Valley. When the 9 am rising sun burned it off, mornings were glorious.

This final week of camp I will finish up back in Lake Placid where I am working with my coaches Per and Armin. We've been diligently working on my shooting position and process and will take some time tomorrow to check out ski technique and reasses for the next round of technique ideas. Per, Armin and I converse through e-mail and skype in between camps, so it is a treat to work with both of them here on home turf this week. They are a great combo and after talking to them about the goals that I want to accomplish this year the Swede answers to believe in the progress I have made and the Italian appropriately answered to remember to have passion. Ha - great answers.

Take good care.

I just wanted to take a moment to send my prayers and thoughts the Neal family for the loss of their son, Willie, who I have come to learn was a remarkable young skier and more importantly was an amazing person, teammate, brother and son. It is a tragic loss for his family, the Maine Winter Sports community, and the nordic community throughout the whole country.

Willie died on Sunday evening when he was hit by a car rollerskiing with a fellow teammate. [For more information: http://blogs.fasterskier.com/editor/ ] I did not know Willie personally, or his brother Elliot, who both moved to Fort Kent, ME this summer to train for biathlon and join the Maine Winter Sports Center biathlon team, but I have enjoyed learning more about him and his contributions. I spent four years in the County and know how closely knit this community is and how deeply felt is this tragedy. I also know nordic skiing is a sport and lifestyle that strongly bonds so many of us together...so many more than our close circle of skiers. We all circulate nationally and internationally through races, training camps, clubs, etc. and even if we only meet one another in a race, as a coach, or as a young skier commented about Willie, only on one training day where Willie lent him his poles and offered some technique advice; through skiing we have a great influence upon one another that extends our abilities for generosity, compassion, competiveness, empathy and knowledge. Thus, it is a collective loss.

And all together, it is a gain. Take good care to watch out for your self and your teammates and be safe running, biking and rollerskiing on the roads.

Thanks St. Agnes!!

I met the 6th grade class at the beginning of their final year at St. Agnes School and had the pleasure to attend their Graduation at the St. Agnes Church last Friday night. Throughout their year I was able to make it into class at least once a season, and nearly each time I was home, to tell them about my travels, what I had learned and experienced. We had fun each time talking about this and that, skiing, traveling, shooting, visualization, geography, the weirdest food I ate, my favorite places and when I will get married. In exchange for my stories, I would get to hear a little about them, what they were interested in and what class they were headed to next.

Each time I left, I felt I left a bit of my self there with them. And little did they know, I too took a bit of them with me. Here are a few of my favorite moments: In the first visit I had the class do a visualization/relaxation exercise. I started by asking about how they felt individually and collectively how the classroom atmosphere felt. They answered “tired” with a tired voice and a slump in their posture. With their eyes closed, I talked them through a narrative which brought them within themselves, then outside into the snow, sky, and trees, to pull them back again to themselves and their classroom. Afterwards with their eyes open, I asked the same question again about how they felt. They smiled and fulfilled a list with warm, happy, calm and my most favorite was when Laura’s quite poetic voice piped, “bright!” I am not around kids very often, and it was such pure joy to see them change in a matter of minutes and to express themselves so honestly to someone they were just getting to know.

In our last visit I used my race bibs and foreign currency to tell about all of the places I had been that year. On the World Cup circuit we get to keep each race bibs and within the ski world it is customary to give your bibs away to supporters as a gesture of thanks and as a token of their support and that they helped me get to that race. So, I picked out 9 and handed them out. In that visit we traveled from Germany to Sweden to Austria to Italy and South Korea talking about culture, food, ski venues, and language. As soon as one student, who also happened to be a skier, instinctively put the bib on, so did the rest. Later that day at our local bike shop where I was testing out a new road bike, in walks Maeve with her bib still on!!

I am very thankful to have met these great girls. I thought of them often while traveling, training and racing. Reaching elite levels in a sport often mean most of the things you do in your day are for yourself. Writing to them in a blog or a postcard brought some balance, a bit of peace, meaning and joy to my days on the road.

An enthusiastic "Thanks" from Hanna

My mom and I at Graduation - 14 years after my 6th grade graduation from the same school.

I gave each of the girls one of my race bibs from this past season. This is Jessie's bib above from Antholz, Italy. They also got bibs from Norway, Italy, Sweden, South Korea, Austria and Germany.

Ahh...it looks like home. Thanks for the painting Glenice!

Clearly, you are from Keene if you paint your mountains way above the horizon line and nearly off the top of the page - thanks Maeve and see you on Schaeffer Rd.!!

Nina's thank you, above, lay on top of the pile that handed. Their teachers specifically made mention of their artistic talents both individually and together. This one brought tears to my eyes and along with the rest of them, it is the best gift of gratitude I've ever gotten.

Good luck at the Middle School and have a great summer!!

best,

Haley

Local Uihlein-Ironman Sports Fund Grant

Hi,

I want to pass the word on about the Uihlein-Ironman Sports Fund Grant to local Adirondack athletes. The goal of this grant, which is administed by the Adirondack Community Trust in Lake Placid, is to help local athletes reach their athletic dreams regionally, nationally and internationally by providing financial support.

The deadline for the grant application submission is Friday, July 17, 2009.

Applying for and receiving can be a positive learning experience whether you compete locally or are aspiring to qualify for national and international. No matter what point in your career learning how to support your athletic pursuits is invaluable.

If you would like advice and guidance in filling out the application, a Grant Workshop will be held on Monday June 15th from 7 till 8pm at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid. Please contact me if you have any questions: haleyhjohnson@gmail.com

Thanks 6th Grade!

6th grade – It was great to see all of you again!! And I am glad you enjoyed my bibs and stories, because I enjoyed your questions and stories too (Jessica I will keep you posted on when I am going to get marriedJ ). Basically, that could be said of the whole year. I gained as much understanding, joy, patience, and curiosity as you did through our connections this year. Everywhere I went, I wondered how to best describe each new place to you. Consequently, this created more detailed and interesting reports from places like Sweden or South Korea that I was also able to share with friends, family and sponsors. It gave more colored and realistic view of what life is like on the World Cup circuit and traveling around the world. It enabled me to share my experiences. Thank you.

I am back to training now and am steadily working through a high quality training plan that fills my days with a lot of shooting and training, but leaves me feeling pretty happy. I started the training year with National Team camp in Whistler, BC. It was a great success and makes me really excited about this year. The camp was filled with long distance skis on both the nordic and biathlon trails, analyzing our competition courses inch by inch, getting reacquainted with combos (skiing and shooting training), learning new slowfire (shooting without a heart rate) drills to build our fundamental shooting skills, and spending the afternoons running amongst huge Douglas firs, Western Red Cedars and mtn. bikers. Days then concluded around a huge family meal cooked by our massage therapist. I would love to share some photos, but my camera died.

Looking ahead, my next camp is in the middle of June both in Lake Placid and in northern Maine. In August I head to Vermont for some races and then Sweden and German for another camp with more racing and testing. In October I am in Utah for a camp and will leave for the first World Cups in Sweden the middle of November. In between all of them, I will gladly be training at home. So, hopefully see you around! Good luck with lacrosse this summer and starting the middle school in the fall! Congratulations and see you at graduation!
Best,
haley