I just back from the second race of the season, a biathlon at the Euclid in Heber. Between every lap you would shoot five little targets, and for each target you miss you have to do a short penalty lap (around 10 seconds). We did 5 laps and so 25 shots total.

I was happy with how I felt today, I went out hard and tried to hold on to Carter Anderson’s wheel, but was unable. But afterwards I was able to ride a consistent and smooth race which I’m happy with. I shot 4, 4, 4, 4, 3. I’m pretty happy with that. I remember before I left my roommate asked me, “are you a good shooter?” and I replied, “Nope! But tonight I will be!” I’d say I was decent.

What’s exciting to me, is that it’s working! I’ve spent the past 6 months skiing, primarily in zone 2, with a focus on building the biggest base I’ve ever built. And I say it’s working because today my normalized power was right about the same as where it was last year. So you might be wondering, well it doesn’t seem like it’s working. The difference is that this year I have done almost no intensity, while by this time last year I had raced several times and was doing 2-3 interval sessions a week. I was peaking for Missoula in June, and so during this time of year I was riding fast.

So to be about in the same place I was last year, but without any of the intensity seems to be a good sign. I won’t know for sure until later down the road, when I stack intensity on top of this foundation, and see what happens. But I’m confident I’ll end up having a really strong late summer and fall, which is where I want my focus to be this year.