* Rosanna Crawford, biathlete

Home for the Holidays

2011-12-28T15:27:00.001-07:00

It was great to be in Canmore this year for Christmas. Last year the team stayed in Europe and Brendan and I took mini 3 day vacay to Venice, Italy. This year I got to hang out with the family and enjoy some great skiing at the Canmore Nordic centre. But a quick recap of racing after Sweden;

We ended up spending two weeks in Hochfilzen, Austria because there was no snow in France where World Cup 3 was supposed to be. The first weekend was sprint, pursuit, relay. I missed 3 in the sprint and didn't make the pursuit. For Sunday's relay Megan Heinicke (Tandy) came from the IBU to round out our team, it was a exciting race and I manage to hit 10/10 without any spares and tagged off in 8th just behind 6th and 7th, in the end we were 9th tying the teams best ever result. On Monday because we didn't have to travel to France we took the day to explore Salzburg and go see the Christmas market.

The next weekend was sprint, pursuit and mixed relay (2 women and 2 men) In the sprint things went bad again, I missed 3 prone and cleaned my standing but still didn't make the pursuit. This year so far has been disappointing, my skiing is faster and more consistent than last year but I've lost my shooting touch! I am sure it will be back for the rest of the year though!

The mixed relay team was Megan Imrie, Zina, Brendan and JP, they had an amazing day placing 6th! Brendan had a great start of the year making all the pursuit and not missing a single target in any of the sprints or relays!

On January 2nd I head back to Europe. Things are kinda up in the air for where I will be racing!

Possibility 1: IBU race in Forni Avoltri, Italy, Individual Sprint, 2 women head to Nove Mesto, Czech for WC5 then Anholtz, Italy WC6 there is a relay there and then one women will head back to Canada and one will continue on to WC7 in Oslo.

2: after Forni continue on to Haute Maurine, France for the next IBU races and head home on January 16th.

Megan Imrie and Zina will be going to those 3 World Cups as will Brendan and JP.

Brendan at the start of the Pursuit

Megan, Zina, JP, Brendan getting ready for the flower ceremony.

scary statue in Salzburg

Saw my first yarn bombing in Salzburg!

out enjoying the snow with Moki!

Happy Holidays!!

Rosanna

Sweden, Jah!

2011-12-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

When we first arrived in Ostersund there was hardly any snow and the tracks were more like a skating rink than ski trails. Luckily it snowed and it was much nicer skiing and a lot less like a death trap! But the range had constant winds and made shooting extremely difficult. One minute it would be blowing one way and the next another. Wednesday was the first World Cup race of the season, with the men's 20km individual. JP had a great day hitting 18/20 and coming in 14th, the other guys had a bit more trouble on the range.

Thursday was the women's 15km individual and the winds had not let up. Skiing felt pretty good and I skied much better than I did last year here, but I had 7 misses and ended up 70th. Friday was the men's sprint race where Brendan placed an amazing 14th with clean shooting, he was the only one to qualify for the pursuit. Our sprint race was Saturday, as I came into my prone shooting and right around my 2nd shot the announcer was telling the crowd how Chandra had come 4th in today's cross country sprint race in Dusseldorf, needless to say I focused a bit to much on him and missed my 2nd and 3rd shot but pulled my self together for the 4th and 5th. I hit 8/10 and came 56th, just making the pursuit. Zina had a good day placing 15th and Megan was 33rd.

Sunday the men and women both raced. As soon as the men finished racing the clouds moved in and it started dumping snow! By the time start rolled around it had snowed probably 4 - 5 inches. This made for really slow skiing. I wasn't feeling as good as in the individual but hit 17/20 and moved up to 51st.

It's great to finally be racing again and getting the first race nerves out of the way! I am happy that I qualified for the first pursuit of the season, but still have a ways to go to get to where I want to be this season.

Yesterday was a long travel day to get from Sweden to Austria and we are now in Hochfilzen for World Cup #2. They have moved WC3 to Hochfilzen as well, due to lack of snow in Le Grande Bornand, France. The men and women race Friday - Sunday with sprint, pursuit and relay. It started snowing this afternoon and looks like conditions could be good for these races.

cheers

Rosanna

out for a jog along the lake

ski testing with Tom

On the road again!

2011-11-24T16:51:00.001-07:00

Well it has been a while since my last blog post, I will try to get you up to date. Currently I am sitting in the lounge at the Calgary airport waiting for my flight to Ostersund, Sweden for the first World Cup races of the season. But let's back up a bit! At the end of September we headed back to Europe to Ruhpolding and to ski on the Dachstein glacier in Ramsau. We got to spend five days in Ruhpolding where World Champs will be held this year, the roller ski loop is very similar to the one in the winter and the targets are the same. The skiing on the glacier was pretty rough, but we got a bit of prolonged summer training on some great roads!

shooting range in Ruhpolding

Biathlon range in Ruhpolding

skiing on the glacier

Scott P taking a tumble in the snow/slush!

Megan skiing on the "snow"

Brendan skiing on the glacier

Matthias aka Yodel on the climbing wall in Ramsau

Jacqueline came along as assistant coach! These photos are curtesy of her!

Jean showing us his war face!

We went for a really cool hike one day, but had to climb down this super scary ladder!

this was also on the hike, kinda looks like the moon!

of our 3 weeks spent in Europe only 2 were rainy!

After getting home from Europe they pushed out frozen thunder (the snow saved from last winter) and we were skiing on some good, clean snow! At the beginning of November we had our World Cup and IBU cup selection races in Canmore on snow, the first time they have been on snow in a really long time. Megan Imrie was pre qualified for the WC team, meaning there was 2 spots left open. On Monday we had a sprint race and things were not perfect, my legs were not feeling super and shooting was ok. I hit 8/10 and came 5th. Tuesday was the mass start format race (meaning individual starts but mass start distance 12.5km) and things went much better! Legs were feeling good and I hit 20/20!!! I have never before hit 20/20 targets in a race, it was pretty exciting. That day I placed 2nd and snagged one of the WC start spots, Zina took the other. The mens team will be Brendan, Scott P, JP and Scott Gow (also know as golden Gow or Thor).

My first race is an Individual next Thursday. The training is all done and it is now time to start racing! I will be keeping you updated here, so be sure to check back often!

Cheers

Rosanna

Summer time!

2011-09-01T13:57:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I wrote a blog post and seeing as it is now September, there is snow on the mountains and race season is just around the corner, I thought an update is due! Since the beginning of June our team has been training hard in Canmore. Things have been going really well and I am feeling strong. Since we have been in Canmore training I don't have too many stories to share with you! The past couple weeks we have been training at High Wood pass, for some long skis at altitude, doing lots of intensity work outs and enjoying the playground that is the rocky mountains!

My last recovery week lined up perfectly with our Crawford family reunion out at Windermere. Every year we rent a cabin and spend a week enjoying the lake, playing music, eating great food and going out on my cousin's sweet boat! This year both Chandra and I got to spend the full week there, doing our annual Panorama roller ski!

Today we did a 10km Pursuit time trial. The race went ok, but there is defiantly some room for improvement! Next week we have a couple of races up Norquay and some Biathlon races on the weekend. Then it's a recovery week before we leave for a training camp in Germany. We'll spend three weeks, training on the Dachstein glacier and in Ruhpolding.

Here are some pics from the past couple months!

Cheers

Rosanna

Some pics from todays time trial. Coming into shoot.

skiing up the hill to the range

Chandra taking a dip after roller skiing Panorama road.

Megan met up with me on my way home from Windermere and we went for a great hike/run through the burnt forrest and up to Bole pass.

We found some snow at the top, Moki was very excited!

Super Moki, jumping off the dock in Windermere.

Brendan also made it out to Windermere for a couple days. He got to meet the whole Crawf clan!

My dad and his siblings, this was the first time in a while that all 6 of them were there!

Some of the cousins!

Canmore Crawford's at their best!

CAN fund eBook

2011-08-30T12:29:00.001-06:00

CAN fund eBook

2011-07-29T22:23:00.003-06:00

Wednesday July 27 marked exactly 365 days until the start of the London Games and in celebration of kicking of the One Year Countdown I wanted to share with you the first athlete eBook from CAN Fund called EXCELLENCE: The Ripple Effect. CAN Fund supports Canadian Athletes training to represent Canada in London and beyond. I have been a recipient of the CAN fund in the past and am one of the 671 athletes who recently applied to CAN fund for financial support.

This is one NEW eBOOK you need to read this summer

Canadian Athletes are coming to your cottage, your patio, your childrens camp, computer, your bedtime...in time for the summer.

Get ready to cry, laugh, reflect and be inspired. When you buy your eBOOK "Excellence: The Ripple Effect" you will be supporting Canadian athletes who are training to represent Canada on the world stage.

Jane Rumball shares the inspiration behind her decision to continue to row for London 2012.

World Champion Boxer Mary Spencer found a unique way to keep her focus.

Meet James Steacy who is the first Canadian to compete in Hammer Throw at the Olympic Games in 84 years.

2010 Olympic Gold Medalist Hockey Player Carla MacLeod writes a letter to her dream.

Overcoming cancer at the age of 7 gave Rower Brian Price the courage, determination and perseverance that would later guide him to the top of the podium.

EXCELLENCE: The Ripple Effect is 36 stories of Courage, Believing In Yourself, Success From Failure, Excellence and Representing Canada written by Canadian athletes including:

-Forward by Silken Laumann, Rowing, 3 time Olympic Medalist

-"Clive" by Christine Sinclair, Soccer, 2008 Olympian, Captain Women's Soccer Team

-"Maple Leaf" by Ben Rutledge, Rowing, 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist

-" Excuses or Opportunities? Living with No Regrets by Heather Moyse, Bobsleigh, 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist

The eBook includes photos of each athlete and their autograph!

These 36 stories share a significant moment in each athletes journey that has been influential in their dream to represent Canada. Every athlete contributed a story for the eBook because they wanted to encourage, inspire and connect with Canadians while at the same time raise awareness and funding for their fellow athletes through CAN Fund. As a fellow athlete I am doing my part by spreading awareness about the eBook.

The sale of every "EXCELLENCE: The Ripple Effect" is donated to CAN Fund to support Canadian athletes who are competing to qualify for the Games next year in London and beyond!

Order: Excellence: The Ripple Effect

Cost: $25

Website: www.MYCANFund.com

Purchase Link: http://www.canadianathletesnow.ca/boutique/can-fund-athlete-ebook.html

Purchase by Phone: 1-866-937-2008

Delivery: Once you have purchased your very own eBook , you will receive it by email, within 2 business days.

CAN Fund (Canadian Athletes Now Fund) is a not for profit that raises direct financial support for athletes across Canada. CAN Fund has raised over $13 million to date and was proud to support 80% of the athletes who represented Canada in Vancouver. Twice a year athletes from coast to coast apply to CAN Fund to be eligible to receive $12,000 annually. The majority of athletes in Canada rely on CAN Fund so they can afford equipment, coaching, travel expenses and proper nutrition. www.MyCANFund.com

Please pass this along to anyone you think might be interested!

Have a great summer!

www.MYCANFund.com

NEW eBook, 36 Stories by Canadian Athletes

Excellence: The Ripple Effect: http://bit.ly/lSuaLm

ps I am featured in the eBook!!

Spring training in Europe

2011-06-09T08:25:00.002-06:00

I just got home from an amazing training camp in Europe. This was my first time ever going to Europe in the summer and it was beautiful! We spent a week in Ruhpolding doing a lot of shooting work and had a special guest coach Jean - Pierre Amat who won gold at the 1996 Summer Olympics in small bore shooting. He also works extensively with the French Biathlon Team. Probably the most accurate men's and women's squad. We also got to do some shooting analysis at the Olympic training centre at the University of Salzburg.

me shooting at the University of Salzburg

Brendan

Jean - Pierre Amat

The rest of the week in Ruhpolding was spent at a indoor shooting range, shooting in Hochfilzen, Austria and doing various work outs.

range in Hochfilzen, where WC#2 usually is

shooting at Hochfilzen

indoor shooting range in Ruhpolding

electronic targets, as soon as your bullet hits the target you can see what your score is.

roller skiing around Ruhpolding

From Germany we made our way to Italy for 8 days of glorious road biking. We had great weather and lots of tough climbs! We biked a lot of the routes that the Giro d'Italia takes.

last climb of the trip

We biked 21 passes, around 600km and about 17 000m of elevation gain, over 9 days with one rest day. It was one of the toughest and funnest camps I have ever been on! If you love road riding then the Italian Alps should be a must on your list of places to bike.

Now back in Canmore I am hoping for some nice weather!

ciao

Rosanna

the team from the West, Scott P, Megan I, Matthias, Nathan, Scott G, Brendan, me

From South America to Northern Canada!

2011-05-06T13:21:00.001-06:00

I always look forward to April come March. After a full winter of racing and traveling it's nice to know that there is some down time ahead! But since I missed Canadian Champs due to a cold I still had an itch to keep racing. Lucky for me there was a winter triathlon going to be held in Canmore, I signed up, tuned up my bike and hoped that the 15cm of snow in the forecast race day was just a joke. No such luck, it snowed 15cm and kept snowing. The 10km ski took close to 45min (usually it would take around 30min) 10km bike in fresh snow on old snow took about an hour (last year it took people around 30min) and the 5km run took 30min. It was a tough day and looking back it was pretty fun! I won the women's category and got a sweet cookie medal to show for my hard work! The event was run great by AscentPhysio.

After that it was a week and a half in Canmore enjoying the amazing conditions at the Nordic Centre. Then Brendan and I jumped back on a plane and made our way to Belize. We had a great time soaking up the sun, swimming in the ocean and going on adventures. We spent 5 days on the main land in a town called Hopkins. We hiked to some water falls, kayacked and went out night boating in the attempt to catch a crocodile! From there we took a little plane to Ambergris Cayes to the town San Pedro. There we did some snorkelling, enjoy some beach time, rented bikes and road all over the island.

fresh fish

taking a dip in the refreshing pool after climbing ropes to get there!

baby croc!

beautiful turtle

B chasing a sting ray

on the beach in San Pedro

out for a kayak

After Belize we were home a couple of days before heading to NWT to Brendan's home town of Hay River. It was great to hang out with B's family and get to see where he grew up. We skied on rivers, lakes and up creeks, walked to some great water falls, bird watched and attempted to go fishing (we didn't catch anything) I had a great time and got see how beautiful the North is. I was told it's even nicer in the Summer.

skiing on the river towards the nordic ski trails

Alexandra falls

neat spiral staircase

BEAVER DAM!

beaver lodge

out skiing on slave lake

B fishing

pro!

Kakisa falls

McNally creek waterfall

sunset on Slave lake (at 10:15pm I might add)

BIG thanks to Buffalo airways who flew Brendan and I from Yellowknife to Hay River

they also do a show called "Ice Pilots"

they let us fly!!

After I got home from NWT I was off to Calgary for 5 days to get lasik eye surgery at the Gimbel eye centre. Sunday I spent the night in Calgary because my appointment was at 7am.

Monday - eye assessment to see which surgery is best suited for my eyes

Tuesday - lasik eye surgery, two hours after the surgery I could SEE without glasses or contacts.

Wednesday - follow up to make sure eyes are healing well and get the ok to drive. Eye sight is now 20/15 (which is better that 20/20)

Thursday - one more follow up because left eye wasn't healing quite as well as the right.

Friday - back to training without contacts!

Being able to see without glasses or contacts is amazing! I used to not be able to do anything without something to help me see. The Gimbel eye centre took amazing care of me and I knew I was in good hands!

Now it is back to full time training. Skiing is still good at the Nordic centre which is incredible for May 6th! May 21st we head over to Europe for our first training camp. It sounds like it is going to be lots of fun, rifle testing at the University of Salzburg, training in Ruhpolding, Germany (where World Champs are next year) and road biking through the Dolomites!

So with this spring weather (finally) I say get out there and enjoy the outdoors.

Ciao

Rosanna

Season wrap up

2011-04-08T10:29:00.000-06:00

23 races

7 countries

4 months on the road

This was one of my most successful season ever. Where I was on the World Cup for most of the season and had some personal best's at many races. By the end of the season I felt stronger than I ever have! Unfortunately I got sick right before Canadian Champs and had to miss them, but over all it was a great winter!

I would like to thank Sunshine Village for their support and to my family for always being there for me!

My race season is officially over, but winter seems to be far from over here in Canmore! Skiing is amazing at the Nordic Centre, with all the trails is excellent condition and Sunshine Village has great skiing/riding as well. Monday Brendan and I take off for Belize for 9 days to soak up some sun. Enjoy the snow here in Canmore!

Relay start at ECH in Ridnaun, Italy

relay ECH

Joel Pacas in Forni Avoltri, Italy

Joel looking awesome

Emma Lodge starting the pursuit

Jacq (our awesome coach) and I

fish face!

on the podium in Forni

our SUPERB wax tech Paval Stolba

coach Jacq

doing what she does best!

le beau Pat and bell Claudet!

Tyson

Sprint start at IBU cup finals in France

Melanie

Claude

moi

Megan Heinicke (Tandy) with her new baby in France

the happy Family!

B and I at Sunshine

B getting ready to rip!

To race or not to race....

2011-03-26T14:27:00.001-06:00

As soon as I got home from Europe I knew I was on the edge of being sick. I woke up Tuesday morning with my chest feeling tight and something weird going on in my voice box. By Wednesday evening I was sounding like a frog and had a nasty cough to go with it. I had taken every tincture I could think of and was popping cold FX and vitamins like they were candy, I even did a quick 3 day anti biotic treatment to see if I could kick it in time for Nationals. But things just moved from my chest to my throat and sinus and I wasn't able to train for 9days. On March 20th I was supposed to fly to New Brunswick to kick off Canadian Champs. I pushed my flights to Monday and then to Tuesday in hopes I would get better and be able to race the sprint on Thursday But no such luck, after much thought and talking to everyone, I made the decision to sit out Nationals. It was a hard call but probably for the best, it would have taken me a day to get to Charlo and I am only now starting to feel close to better. My last races in Europe I was skiing the faster I have all year and was really looking forward to fighting for the podium at Nationals. But this is the life of a skier, one minute you feel like no one can knock you down and the next you are sentenced to bed rest for a week or two.

This week in Canmore I have been loving the Nordic centre, going for snail pace skis with anyone who will join me! This is the most snow I can remember in Canmore, where all the trails are open! It is going to be great spring skiing!

This April Brendan and I are going to Belize for 9days, to soak up some sun and enjoy some much needed rest.

Good job to everyone at Canadian Champs and see most of you back in Canmore.

Cheers

Rosanna

IBU cup finals in France

2011-03-13T14:56:00.003-06:00

Today was my last international race of the season. Since Thursday my skiing took a 360 and today was my best ski of the season. Thursday was the 15km individual, it was +18, melt your face off sunny and ankle deep slush. Needless to say not my favourite conditions, I picked a winter sport for a reason! Going into the race my legs were feeling dead and not at all ready for a 15km. Skiing was hard but I had caught one of the fast Swedes who started 40sec ahead of me and had hit 4, 3 in my first two shootings. On my 3rd loop I got tripped up in the slush and a fence and when I got up my legs had given up! I could not get them to move even remotely fast for me. I came into my first standing and cleaned and left the range with said Swede, in a mere 100m she was probably 50sec ahead of me. I decided it was best to not ski the next 6km and save my self for the weekend. It is always a hard decision to not finish a race but I think it was for the best.

Saturday my legs were feeling a bit better and I was ready for the sprint. I hit 7/10 and came 30th. My ski speed had improved but my shooting had me falling short of my potential. Sundays story goes the same. It was still +15 but cloudy so the track held up much better. The 2km loop was perfect for me, no crazy up hills but some sweet downhills where I was able to make up a lot of time (Chandra has taught me well in the ways of xc skiing downhill) I hit 4,5 in my first two prone shootings and had moved up from 30th to 18th by my first standing bout. I set up and missed 4, I could not believe I had done it again, the same as my pursuit in Forni. After 4 dizzy penalty loops I left in 30th again. I moved up to 28th by my last standing and missed 1. Leaving the penalty loop I was in 30th with 5 people ahead of me, spread out over about 15sec. I skied my heart out and caught them all, passing the last two with about 75m before the finish line. In the end I was 25th with the 14th fastest ski time, my loops were the most consistent they have been all year and I felt really strong today. I am very disappointed with my shooting, but am happy with how my ski speed has improved over the year.

In the past 3 weeks I have had 9 races, I didn't get sick and by the end I was skiing the fastest I have all year. I would like to take a moment and re read the, I did not get sick part!! This year I only got a short cold right before Christmas. Props body, props! This is the most racing I have done in one season and my body responded well to it!

Tomorrow we leave Thones at 5:30am to drive to Geneva to catch our flight HOME! I will spend 5 days in Canmore before heading east to Charlo for Canadian Champs. 4 more races to go and my season will come to a close. Since November 20th to March 28th I will have spent 2 weeks in Canmore. After Nationals I will spend some time enjoying the awesome snow Canmore got before taking off for a spring vacation with Brendan. We are not too sure where we are going yet, but have been looking at Belize!

ciao

Rosanna

Miss Claude Godbout had some personal best at these races with 20th in the sprint and 17th in the pursuit! Bravo ma belle!

Forni Avoltri, Italy

2011-03-08T03:01:00.001-07:00

Our week in Forni was filled with great skiing, fun racing and lots of Italian sunshine! Tuesday we went for a great ski in Sappada which made me really appreciate what I get to do. I travel the world skiing in some of the most beautiful places and Sappada was no exception! Saturday was the sprint race and the Alpen cup felt a lot like an Alberta cup, just with more people. The race course really suited me with only one long up hill but not too steep and lots of one skate. I hit 9/10 and won the race, which was pretty exciting. Sunday was the pursuit and they mixed in all the categories that were doing the same distance, so Sr. Women, Jr. Women and Youth men all started together. I was feeling a little tired from all the racing but the 2km course was really easy and would help get some snap back into my legs for the coming week. I hit 9/10 prone and came into my first standing, my legs were shaking and I don't really remember much else, other than missing 4! I had come into my first standing 5th behind the youth men and after 4 penalty loops was 14th behind a lot of Jr's and youth. As I set up for my last standing I shook out my legs and put all my energy into hitting black, hit, hit, hit, hit, deep breath, hit! It was tough shooting and I left the range just ahead of some of the junior women. I hammered out my last loop and was the first women across the line and 6th behind the youth men!

Our next stop would be Annecy, France which is about 900km away, so we decided to break up the driving and start on Sunday and stop in Venice for the evening. It is carnival right now in Venice so there was a ton of people, most in amazing costumes. Because I had just been to Venice at Christmas time I was able to help the team make the most of our time there. Monday morning everyone got up at 7am and explored for 3hrs before hitting the road for a 6hr drive to France. Since I had just been there I slept in a bit and caught up on some much needed rest.

We are now in France and so far it seems like a beautiful area. Today and tomorrow will be training days and then 15km Individual on Thursday.

Joel and Tyson skiing in Sappada

skiing in Sappada

there was some kinda of celebration going on there and these guys were running round hitting people with their brooms!

carnival in Venice

Au revoir!

Rosanna

European Champs

2011-02-28T12:59:00.001-07:00

Well euro champs have come to a close and I had some of my best results! Thursday was the relay, which was fun but nothing special. Friday I took it easy to recovery before Saturdays sprint race. My legs were feeling a little bit dead and I knew it was going to be a tough skiing day. The sun was shinning and it was smoking hot out, but the tracks were holding up nicely. I cleaned my prone shooting and as I came into the range for my standing bout I knew that in order to hit 5 I was going to have to shoot slower than my usual, I set up and hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, awesome 10/10! My last loop was really hard and in the end I was 17th out of 53 women, setting me up for a fun pursuit.

Sunday I was feeling tired but my legs were feeling better than in the sprint. Zero went well and even though it had snowed most the morning it wasn't too slow out. I started 1min42sec behind Juliane Doll the winner. My first loop was great, Pavol Stolba had waxed me an amazing pair of ski and I was flying over the 2km course. I came into my first prone and knock down all 5 nice and quick. Back out on course my 2nd loop was feeling just as good as the first, I was sticking with the girls around me and even catching the girls in front. I set up for my second prone and missed my first shot, but the next four turned to white. One quick penalty loop and back out on course. The next two 2km loops were a bit tougher and my ski speed slowed down a bit, into first standing 5 hits and fast, last standing bout, 5 hits, 19/20 my best shooting this season! I left the range in 13th with 12th about 15sec ahead of me and 14th about 8sec behind me. I skied as fast as I could and left every thing on the trails and crossed 13th. It was really fun to be chasing the leaders rather than being chased by the leaders trying not to get lapped. It has been a while since skiing and shooting has come together in a race. It's funny how rare this seems to happen in Biathlon! I spent this past week not day dreaming about how awesome it would be to be in the top 15 but focusing on the doing. The doing of skiing fast and shooting well, that the results will come when you focus on the things that need to be done!

The rest of the team had some good results and with a couple top half's. Big props to Emma Lodge who got to start her first pursuit in an IBU race. Monday morning we took to the windy roads of Italy and are now in Forni Avoltri, the "birthplace of Nordic skiing and biathlon", or so says our hotel brochure! This weekend we will race an Alpen cup before going to France to race the last IBU cup of the season.

The World Cup team is now in Russia preparing for World Champs. First race is the mixed relay on Thursday, unfortunately with Zina being the only women there Canada will no be able to enter a team. Sprint, Pursuit on Saturday, Sunday. Good luck to those guys!

arrivederci (don't forget to roll your r's)

Rosanna

la belle Claude at opening ceremonies

team Canada Tyson, Joel, me, Paval, Pat, Claude Mel

Joel Pacas in his first 20km Individual

Get out more!

2011-02-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

Hello my blog readers!

Subaru Canada is currently highlighting some athletes on their Get Out More website, where athletes and Canadian's can highlight their favourite activities and places to visit throughout Canada, helping to inspire others to 'get out more'. They asked me to share some of my memorable outdoor adventures for their website. What you can do for me is go to their website and when my name comes up click on the read more and go to one of my favourite activities and "like" it. Which ever athlete gets the more "like's" will win $2,500.00!

here is a link to their website http://www.subaru.ca/getoutmore/en-ca/home.aspx

thanks and be sure to GET OUT MORE!'

Rosanna

European Champs, 15km Individual

2011-02-23T00:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the women's 15km individual here in Ridnaun. I had not been feeling well with a killer head ache and lack of appetite for the past couple days, so I knew skiing was going to be hard. The course here is petty tough with one steep long climb, similar to the one in Fort Kent and the rest you are winding through a field. The first two loops were pretty quick until it started snowing quite a bit and the tracks slowed down a lot. Shooting started off really well, hitting 15/15, I came into my last standing shooting, set up, hit, miss, miss, miss, breathe, hit. In a matter of 30 seconds and 5 shots I went from a good race to a bad one. I came 24th out of 48. There are usually more starters in IBU races, but these Championships are limited to athletes under the age of 26 and each nation can only start four athletes. Also the races are divided into Senior Women (21-25) and Junior Women (20 and under) categories.

Overall the women had a good shooting day, Melanie hit 18/20, Claude hit 17/20 and Emma Lodge in her first IBU race hit 18/20. Here is a link to the women's results

http://services.biathlonresults.com/results.aspx?RaceId=BT1011SCEUCH__SWIN

and men's results

http://services.biathlonresults.com/results.aspx?RaceId=BT1011SCEUCH__SMIN

Tomorrow is the 4X6km relay, our team will me my self, Melanie, Claude, Emma. Should be fun!

Ciao

Rosanna

internet is slow here so I will try to post some photos later

Italia

2011-02-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

We are now in beautiful Dobbiaco, Italy, where my days have been filled with glorious skis, delicious food and lots of sunshine! Tomorrow Melanie and I will drive to Ridnaun (about 1.5hrs from here) and meet up with the rest of the IBU team, Pat Cote, Tyson Smith, Joel Pacas, Claude Godbout and Emma Lodge. The first race will be a 15km Individual on Tuesday. Should be fun!
Here are some photos from the past couple days.

Ciao

Rosanna

Mount Everest of Biathlon

2011-02-15T11:31:00.000-07:00

The races in Fort Kent were probably my worst races of the season. The course there was the toughest course I have ever skied on. As you leave the range you climb a hill that is steep and where a normal hill would end you are only half way up it, after a quick flat section another tough climb awaits you! Magdalena Neuner said about the pursuit race you have to"...ski the Mount Everest of biathlon five times..." Lowell Bailey of US team called the initial climb possibly "the biggest hill I've ever seen on a biathlon course." Needless to say it was not a course that played to my strengths! The sprint was on Friday and I hit 5/10, putting me in 56th place, last place. I don't think I have ever been last in a race. But because there wasn't that many starters it meant a spot in the pursuit, so I needed to leave the sprint behind and get ready for the next race. I had to start 5min behind the leaders, and a 2km loop takes about 5min30 to 6min, meaning I was going to have to hammer off my first loop and shoot well in order to not get lapped and pulled out of the race. Right when I started Andrea Henkle (sprint winner) was about 250m from the range! When 5min hit I was out of the start gate so fast! I came into the range for my prone shooting, hooked up my sling and my arm band broke (in prone shooting we use an arm band to make shooting a bit more stable) I knew the leaders were close behind so I set up and tried to hit the targets. I hit 2/5 and while in the penalty loop the leaders were leaving the range, meaning I was lapped and not allowed to finish.

I was lucky to have my parents there to cheer me on and cheer me up! Sunday and Monday morning we trained in Fort Kent and then around 11:30 we took to the roads for our 6hr drive to Montreal. But there was a snow storm, the roads were horrible and about an hour away from Quebec city they closed the main road. We hung out in a small town for 3hrs, ate some food and found a new route to Montreal. At 6pm we were back on the road, the bad luck doesn't end there, when we stopped for gas our keys got locked in the car. Quick call to CAA and onwards at 10pm with 4hrs to go. At 2am, 14.5hrs later, we rolled into our hotel in Montreal. Just another horrendous travel day to add to the books. Our flight to Europe isn't until 8pm so it's nice we get the day to rest before jumping on the plane.

The rest of my season plans have now changed as well. Where I was going to World Champs in Russia I am now going to Under 26 European Champs in Ridnaun, Italy and then an IBU cup in France. Melanie and I will get to compete in some races against girls more in our field. I am really happy with this decision. As much as I want to be racing against the best in the World I know I am not quite there yet.

Hope you are all well!

Cheers

Rosanna

ps with all our border crossing last week we spent approximately 2hrs waiting at the border!

with my dad there he was able to take some great photos!!

Welcome to Maine

2011-02-08T09:24:00.002-07:00

Last Monday I started to make my way to the USA. We left Canmore at 5am to catch the 7:20 flight to Montreal. From there is would be a 7-8 hour drive to Presque Isle, Maine. But our plane leaving Calgary didn't get plugged in the night before and was therefore frozen. 6hrs later a plane came in that was able to take us there. Once we arrived in Montreal we thought it best to spend the night and tackle the 8hr drive the next day. We arrived in Presque Isle around 4pm on Tuesday. It took us longer to get to the other side of the North America than it does to get to Europe! All of this could have been avoided with a flight to Fredericton (2hrs from Presque Isle) or even flying Monday evening so we would have been able to train Monday morning.

It was pretty chilly on the first couple days of training but by race day on Friday things were mild at around -9. Friday was the sprint race and things went pretty well. I hit 9/10 and felt strong skiing, I came in 46th, my best result ever and the closest I have been to the leaders all season! That meant pursuit on Sunday! In the middle we did a mixed relay. This was my first mixed relay and my first time doing a mass start. It was pretty exciting being in the jumble of the mass start and trying to keep with the leaders on that first 2km loop. Our team was me, Claude, Scott P and Nathan. I had to use one spare prone and one standing and I tagged off to Claude in 9th. In the end we were 12th with some pretty decent shooting on all our parts. On Sunday morning we woke up to 7inch of fresh snow! Not what you like to see race day. The trails were super soft and it was really windy. I started 2min35sec behind the leaders, I came in for my first prone and missed two. Second prone I made some corrections and hit all 5. First standing miss one, last standing, the wind was howling and my legs were dead from battling the snowy tracks, I missed four :(. I crossed the line in 49th. It was a tough three days of racing but the crowds in Presque Isle made us feel very welcome!!

Monday morning it was time to pack up and head to Fort Kent. The first thing we find out is that we are not staying at a hotel in Fort Kent but we are now staying across the border in New Brunswick! The real bad news, half the team doesn't have passports because they are getting Russian visas. The IBU thought we wouldn't mind being sent across the border because there wasn't enough hotel space in Fort Kent and Biathlon Canada some how didn't get the e-mail or didn't put up any fuss when they got the e-mail a month ago. We arrived in Fort Kent around noon, I went for a nice ski and then spent 4hrs hanging out in a diner waiting to see if we were going to be able to cross the border without passports. We are now in a hotel in New Brunswick, so every day we have to cross the border to eat meals, to train and to race. I have never been on a tour that is so disorganized and with no one knowing what is going on. I just hope the travel to Italy next Tuesday will be smooth!
This week the men race sprint on Thursday, the women race sprint on Friday, pursuit on Saturday and mass start on Sunday. Should be some good races and they are expecting quite the crowd here! Wish me luck!

Cheers
Rosanna

Our amazing massage therapist also took on the roll as camera man for the pursuit. Here are some photos!

so ready for my race start

ok time to be serious

ready GO!

leaving the range

Claude leaving the range

Brendan in his pursuit race

On the road again

2011-01-28T17:43:00.001-07:00

It feels like just yesterday I was back in Canmore ready to enjoy some good skiing and glorious sunshine and already too soon it is time to pack up the bag and hit the road again. But while I was in Canmore I got to enjoy some time with friends and family and had some great skis around Canmore.

out skiing around the mine scar in Canmore

I also got to get out with Canmore Nordic for a fun night of shooting and skiing!

Brendan and I up at Mt. Shark for an amazing day of skiing!

the Biathlon range at Mt.Shark

On Monday we make our way to Presque Isle, Maine for WC#7 and then Fort Kent, Maine for WC#8. From there we will have a training camp in Italy before going to Russia for World Championships. The last stop of the season will be Canadian Champs in Charlo, N.B.

I am excited for the next set of races and it will be cool to do some races in North America and to have some family there to cheer me on!

Enjoy the rest of winter and I will be sure to keep you all posted on the second half of my season!

Cheers

Rosanna

CAN fund (Canadian Athletes Now)

2011-01-26T21:47:00.002-07:00

I would like to ask a favour. If you could take a few minutes to read about a great organization I believe in. As you know I am proud to be training to represent Canada in the sport of Biathlon. It is my dream to be able to compete against the best in the World and be on the podium while doing it.

Myself and 650 of Canada's elite athletes recently applied to the Canadian Athletes Now Fund. CAN Fund is a non profit that raises direct financial support for athletes across Canada. Each Athlete is eligible to receive $12 000 annually. The majority of athletes in Canada rely on CAN Fund so they can have better equipment, coaches, cover travel expenses and afford proper nutrition.

A great feature about CAN Fund is with each donation you find out the name of the athlete you supported and receive a tax receipt.

I first applied for the CAN fund so I could attend important training camps, it has helped me get to where I am today.

The CAN Fund has raised 13 million for Canadian athletes and supported 80% of the Canadian Team that competed in Vancouver 2010.

This past July celebrating 2 years leading up to the London 2012 Games the CAN Fund gave over 1 million dollars to athletes. Right now the Athlete Holiday Drive is on until January 31, 2011 and each donation is getting matched dollar for dollar. I respect this organization and hope you can visit their website to learn more about them:

www.MyCANFund.ca

Thanking you in advance for considering this invitation to support all Canadian athletes.

Athlete Holiday Drive Link:

http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?EventID=29252&LangPref=en-CA&RegistrationID=1039771

Facts about the Canadian athletes and the CAN Fund:

1. With every donation you receive the name of the athlete supported and receive a tax receipt

2. 35 medalists from Vancouver re-applied to CAN Fund for financial support
3. Top level athletes receive $1500 a month from the government to live (rent, food, gas, etc)
4. On July 27th, 2010 CAN Fund handed out 1.1 million dollars to our Canadian athletes
5. CAN Fund supported 80% of the athletes who competed for Canada at the Vancouver Games

6. A record 545 applications from athletes across Canada seeking direct financial support were received for the last CAN Fund athlete application

7. Of the 386 summer athletes who applied, over 1/3 are not only the best in the Canada but they are the best in the world (ranked in the top 10)

8. 58% of these summer athletes who have a world ranking of 1-10 have negative net incomes.

Help Canada Own the Podium in 2012 in London and 2014 in Sochi!
cheers
Rosanna

lucky charm

2011-01-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

Ruhpolding Germany seems to be holding the trend of first's for me. It was where I competed in my first World Youth/Junior Champs, my first World Cup and now where I finished my first World Cup pursuit. The fog from Oberhof seemed to have followed us and we were not impressed. The first race was an Individual race on Thursday and the coaches had decided that Melanie would race that one and I would race the sprint on Saturday. It was raining most of the week and by Thursday it had turned into torrential down pour. I have never raced nor seen anyone race in rain like this. Needless to say I did not envy the girls doing a 15km race in the that! I am pretty sure they were wringing out their boots for days!

Now before I forget Ruhpolding has gotten a makeover this past summer and now the course runs much smoother, but it now has some dozy of a downhills and a grunt of an up hill. On training days girls were terrified to go down this one hill and I have never seen so many crashes on one course. Even your downhill expert Canadian girls didn't come off unscathed. As Saturday rolled around the rain had let up a bit and by race time it had stopped. I have always loved the Ruhpolding range, there is almost never wind and the run in into it is really easy. I started bib #77 and came into my prone bout, 5/5, excellent back out on course. Up the monster up hills and down the epic down hills that make you squeal! Into the range for standing shooting, set up and 5/5 nice and quick, ah the joy of hitting 10/10! I had to hammer out my last loop in order to make the pursuit, but in the end was 57th. The course here was smoking fast from the rain and the course being salted, the winning time was 20mins!! That is really fast for a 7.5km sprint!

The weather for the pursuit was again nice with no rain. My race started off well with hitting 9/10 in my prone, my first standing bout I missed two. As I left the penalty loop I knew that I would have to hammer out my 4th loop in order to not be lapped by the leaders. I started 3mins behind the winner and the 2km loop was taking less than 6mins! As I climbed the last hill before the range Tora Berger was right behind me, so sprint loop into the range for my last standing! I missed two again and crossed the line in 58th, but I didn't get lapped and I am pumped on that! I left some room for improvement on the shooting side and was really happy with how I attacked the course skiing.

That evening we packed up the van and drove to Munich. Monday I was supposed to be back in Canmore. Unfortunately our plane left Munich late and we didn't make our connection to Calgary. After 4hours of waiting in different lines to try and make another flight to Canada we were stuck in Frankfurt for another night. We were not impressed After two months in Europe we were all very ready to be home. Our travel on Tuesday went smoothly and I was in Canmore by 6pm.

Now I have two weeks at home to recovery and get some volume in before heading to the States for two World Cups. I am now qualified through to World Champs in Russia and will be gone for another 2months.

See you on the trails!

Rosanna

wind, fog and rain

2011-01-07T09:04:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was the women's 4X6km relay. Start was 7:30pm, I woke up just before 10, had a leisure breakfast, watched the tour, took a nap (I don't think I have ever taken a nap before a race), ate some more food and before you knew it, it was 5:30 and it was time to head to the sight! The wind had been howling all day and the rain was coming down pretty hard. As zero (sighting in our rifles) rolled around so did the fog. The coaches who are normally 50m behind us with their scopes had to come down right beside our mats in order to see the targets. The wind was being tricky and kept changing intensity and which direction it was blowing.

Zina was the first leg of our relay. The course here is pretty tough, you climb a monster climb and then have to come down a steep hill with a sharp right hand corner. Zina was off to a good start but right before the corner it all went wrong, she crashed hard into an Italian who had put on the brakes and did a full somersault over her and lost her ski in the process. Needless to say she was a bit disoriented and now at the back of the pack. She came in to her prone and hit all 5 with a couple spares. But as she came into her standing bout noticed how much her hand and arm were actually hurting from the crash. She ended up having to do two loops. Megan had a decent leg only using one spare prone and one spare standing. It was then my turn to go. I was feeling pretty good on the skis and came into my prone shooting and thought the wind had died a bit since my zero, I made a correction and hit 2/5, meaning I had three spare bullets to hit 3 targets. I ended up with two penalty loops :( . I hammered out my second loop and came in for my standing shooting. I hit all 5 nice and quick with no spares. Back out on course I knew that I was going to have to hammer if I wanted to give Melanie a good shot at finishing this race. (side note - they have a new rule in relays that if the your last person is not done shooting standing by the time the winning team crosses the finish line then you don't get to finish the race, lame I know!) I tagged off to Melanie right as the winning team was coming into shoot their prone bout. Unfortunately Melanie didn't get to finish her last lap and we ended up unofficially 13th.

Not a single team got away without penalty loops yesterday. In relays there are usually no more than 10 loops and maybe 100 spare rounds used, yesterday there was 84 penalty loops and 263 spare rounds. In the mens relay it was the same, 100 penalty loops and 352 spare rounds.

Tonight is the men's 10km sprint starting at 5:30pm. Tomorrow is the women's 7.5km sprint start time at 5:40. Unfortunately for the women we only have 3 start spots, meaning one of us will have to sit out. The coaches have decided that Melanie will be the one to race tomorrow, we are pretty close in ski speed and she shot better than I did yesterday. So looks like it will be the side lines for me.

ciao

Rosanna

Here is a video of Zina's crash.

off to the races

2011-01-05T08:17:00.001-07:00

Our training block in Antholz went really well, with some excellent altitude skiing and a time trial in Dobbiaco, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen home town. OEB and his wife Natalie showed us around the course and helped us find the right loops to ski. On Sunday we hopped in the van for what was supposed to be a 6hr drive to Oberhof, but because of traffic and bad weather turned into a 12 and 1/2 hrs! But after a long day day we arrived in foggy and windy Oberhof. Today is the first day of races, with the men's 4X7.5km relay starting at 5:30pm. Then tomorrow is the women's 4X6km relay starting at 7:30pm, which is really late for us but perfect timing for you sports fan who want to watch the race online!

Monday - Wednesday were spent getting to know the course and getting back into race mode. Unfortunately on Monday night Melanie Schultz got some food poisoning and spent all day Tuesday in bed. But she was out there skiing today and said that she is feeling much better and ready to race tomorrow. Our relay order will be Zina, Megan, me, Melanie, and with some good shooting we are looking to improve on our 11th from the last relay.

wish us luck!

ciao

Rosanna

5 lane biathlon range in Dobbiaco

the men shooting during their time trial

at the opening ceremonies in Oberhof

Scott hung his race suit out his window to air it out and it fell onto the roof where it spent the night!

Catch up!

2011-01-01T14:01:00.001-07:00

Since Venice Brendan and I met up with the rest of the team in Antholz, Italy for 9days of training before heading to Oberhof, Germany for the next World Cup. I will give you some photos of the past week and a bit and write more when we get to Oberhof!

exploring Venice

on the gondola

B and I

trying to find out where we are on a run in Venice

Chinese gift exchange in Antholz

the sweet gift Scott was so lucky to get!

out skiing in Italy

getting some well needed Sunshine!

my parents were nice enough to send me a nice pic of Moki!

Hope everyone had a great holiday and a very happy 2011 to you!

Cheers

Rosanna

Christmas break!

2010-12-20T11:36:00.002-07:00

After the mixed relay in Pokljuka our team made their way back to Munich, where we all parted different ways for the next couple days. Megan headed to Switzerland to visit some friends, Zina met up with her boyfriend Ian and went to Austria to meet up with Z's parents, JP and his wife went off to Paris, Nathan was off to France, Geret, wax techs, and our massage therapist Scott Edmunds are on their way back to Canada, Tom is off to Sweden, Scott, Marco and Jean made their way to Ridnaun and Brendan and I made it to Venice, Italy!

B and I had the afternoon to enjoy some pizza, take in some sights and learn about the Carnivale here in Venice. Every where you go vendors and stores are selling these amazing masks. This is what we learned! Carnivale started as a time for celebration and expression throughout the classes, as wearing masks hid any form of identity between social classes. Masks have always been a central feature of the Venetian carnival; traditionally people were allowed to wear them between the festival of Santo Stefano (St. Stephen's Day, December 26) and the start of the carnival season and midnight of Shrove Tuesday. They have always been around Venice. As masks were also allowed Ascension and from October 5 to Christmas, people could spend a large proportion of the year in disguise. Maskmakers (mascherari) enjoyed a special position in society, with their own laws and their own guild.

The next couple days will be spent exploring and recovering before making our way to Ridnaun to start training again. We will be there from the 24th onwards and spend Christmas day with most of the team.

Quick recap on my sprint race in Pokljuka; I was still sick when Saturday rolled around, but really wanted to race. I wasn't as bad as the beginning of the week but still not 100%. But when you are racing against the best in the World being a little bit sick can push you way far back. Shooting was poor and skiing was slow, I hit 6/10 and came 91st. What I learned is that there is no point in racing when you are not 100%. It knocks down your self esteem and makes recovery take even longer.

Our next set of races start on January 5th in Oberhof, Germany then Ruhpolding and then home! It will be different being away from my family for Christmas, but I have my amazing boyfriend and great friends to keep the good times coming!

Wishing you all happy holidays!

Cheers

Rosanna

sLOVEnia

2010-12-16T02:04:00.000-07:00

We are now in the town of Bled, Slovenia. Today is the 15km Individual but sadly I will not be racing. I have come down with a cold and racing while sick is never a good idea. I was really hoping to make it through the season without getting sick, so hopefully this will be the only time (knock on wood).

The men race their 20km at 10:30 today and Brendan is lucky number 2!! Seems like he has been at the start of every race so far this year!

Thinking healthy vibes!

Cheers

Rosanna

this was the Slovenia saying from the Olympics!

snow, snow, snow

2010-12-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

I sit here trying to find the words that can describe my sprint race on Friday, some that come to mind are; frustrated, so close, one more shot, good effort, so close. As you might have guessed I didn't make the pursuit race. I hit 8/10 one miss prone, one miss standing and ended up 70th, about 20 seconds out of top 60. It hasn't stopped snowing since Thursday so the trails were soft and visibility was poor. I was one of the last starters and the snow and wind seemed to be coming on pretty strong right when I started. I am happy with how my skiing is improving, I am much more consistent than last year, and feel much stronger. Zina also had two penalties finishing in 62nd, Megan had 4 and finished in 80th.

snow on our balcony Wednesday evening

snow the next morning

Salmon car that didn't get moved since Thursday

Saturday was the 4X6km relay, for those of you who might not know how a biathlon relay works I will give you a quick explanation. Each person skis 6km with two shootings and for each shooting you get 3 extra bullets. So that is 16 bullets to hit 10 targets, if you still miss then it is off to the loop of shame. Our relay order was Megan, Zina, Me, Melanie. Megan had a good start using 3 spares in her standing and tagging off to Zina in 9th or 10th. Zina needed two spares for prone and had one miss in standing, so unfortunately a loop, tagging off to me in 11th. I was pretty close behind Italy as I came into my prone shooting and used two spares. Standing was clean with no spare and I tagged off to Melanie still in 11th. Mel had a good prone bout with no spares and two spares in standing. We finished in 11th. Not too bad, but with some better shooting on all our parts we could have done much better. This was a good improvement from our relay last year in Ruhpolding with the same team, still one penalty but we were 16th.

The guys raced a sprint on Friday as well, in the same snowy conditions. Yesterday was their pursuit race with some tough shooting and then today they raced their relay. Brendan was the first leg of the race, and had a great start, he used two spares in standing and tagged off to Nathan in 8th only 30 secs behind the leaders. Nathan and Scott both had some trouble in these windy conditions and ended up with some penalty loops. They finished 16th out of 26 teams.

mens start

Brendan after his prone shooting

Tomorrow we will train in Hochfilzen before driving to Slovenia for the last World Cup before Christmas.

Cheers

Rosanna

Sunshine and snow storms

2010-12-09T02:14:00.000-07:00

After a pretty chill travel day we arrived in Hochfilzen, Austria. We are staying at a nice hotel about 10mins from the range and the first day we got here the sun was shinning and it was +6! We all took the time to defrost from chilly Sweden, before the weather changes on us. And change it has, the weather forecast is calling for 70cm of snow between today and Sunday.

Tomorrow is the first race, 10km sprint for the men starting at 11:30 and 7.5km sprint for the ladies starting at 2:30. Yesterday our team grew by two with Scott Perras and Melanie Schultz joining our happy family! The men have 4 start spots so Scott will be staying with the WC team until after xmas, but unfortunately the women only have 3 starts so Mel is just here to race the relay on Saturday before going to Martel to race the IBU races.

There are a few new things that we encounter in Europe every year and this year I have come across shelf toilets. I am just going to let your imagination run wild with that one, but it's weird.

Happy trails!

Rosanna

Another one bites the dust

2010-12-04T02:02:00.001-07:00

It was a tough day at the office yesterday, as my teammate Zina put it! It was a balmy -22 all day here in Ostersund and by 3:30 it had only warmed up to -19.2. Meaning it was a bit touch and go if the race would start. We have a -20 cut off for racing in biathlon and as zero loomed closer the clouds rolled in and it started to snow and the temperature stayed around -19, race start a GO! I was bib #87, meaning a 6:03pm start. I was feeling really confident heading into this race, I was feeling strong and ready to race my favourite race, the 7.5km Sprint!

Zero went well and I was ready to rock as 6:03 rolled around. Things went great off the start, I was skiing strong and feeling good. I came into my first shooting and hit 5 nice and quick. As I left the range I was in 30th place, a great spot to be! Skiing around my second 2.5km loop I stayed in that same position coming into the range for my standing shooting. The cold always makes it a bit slower shooting, so my set up was sluggish and my eyeballs were frozen because my glasses had frozen up, never mind that just focus on hitting the black. Miss, miss, re set, miss, deep breath, hit, miss. I dropped my head in amazement that I had just missed 4 targets. This is not what I do, I am good at shooting. As I skied around and around the penalty loop I could feel my hopes of making the top 60 slipping away. Still I had one loop to go and no point is skiing slow! I crossed the finish line disappointed and angry. But on the up side I did accomplish my skiing goal. To push hard off the start and not loose so much time on my second lap. I felt strong out there skiing and know that it will only get better the more racing I do. The shooting will come, like it always does!

The other ladies had a tough time on the range as well. Megan finish 69th with 0 miss prone and 3 miss standing, Zina was 84th with 2 miss prone and 3 miss standing. So no pursuit for us, you need to make the top 60 in order to get to race the 10km pursuit. There is a lot of season left as Megan nicely put it, but it still stings!

The weekend will be spent cheering on the boys and getting some training in. Today the men race at 2:20, Brendan being bib #2!!! JP #50 and Nathan #57. I am sending out good shooting vibes to them and hopefully they will do much better than we did! Monday we head to Hochfilzen, Austria for the next set of races; sprint, relay and pursuit. Here we will have a good contingent of Canadian parents come out to cheer us on! Brendan's and Nathan's mom and dad as well as Zina's I think.

top three results from the day

1st - Kaisa Makarainen 10/10

2nd - Miri Gossner 10/10

3rd - Darya Domracheva 9/10

Cheers

Rosanna

this is from the Individual

World Cup number one.

2010-12-02T03:40:00.000-07:00

And so the season has begun! Yesterday evening was the first World Cup race of the year, and they started it off with our hardest race, the 15km Individual, 4 shootings and 1min penalties for any misses. This race is all about the shooting, because it is pretty hard to ski a minute off your time. In order to reach the fans here in Ostersund, Sweden race start was at 4:20pm, prime time in Euro land! So my day was pretty chill, roll out of bed around 9am to an excellent spread of breakfast food here at the Scandic city hotel, go for a little jog around the lake with Brendan, stretch and dry fire, eat some lunch, rest, eat some more food (all about having the energy for that 50min race) and head over to the sight just before 3. I have been feeling pretty good this week and shooting has been excellent since we arrived in Sweden. I was feeling confident and really excited to start racing. Individuals are always few and far between and we never really do long races in training, so it is a bit of a guess on how to pace your self.

I was bib number 78 out of 96 women, starting at 4:59. My plan was to pace my self at a just below race pace and really focus on the shooting.The course here is pretty challenging, it is 3km, where you climb, then tuck all the way to the bottom of the trails, ski back up, down again, back up and then down into the range. Lots of climbing and with the cold temperatures we were having here it made for some slow snow. I came into my first prone and shot clean, nice way to start it off. Back around the 3km loop and into my first standing shooting, 1miss, second prone, 1miss, last standing (side note, because of the cold it made the mats super slick) legs are shaking from skiing and I am clinging on for dear life to my mat in order to not slip, and clean!! Phew, 18/20 not too shabby!

I ended up 69th, longer races have always been my nemesis but I am very happy with how well I pushed through out the race and if some one caught me I stuck on them, using them to help me ski faster! On my last loop it was me and this Finnish girl and we got to hammer it out, it's always fun to be out there with someone!

Today will be pretty chill in preparation for tomorrows 7.5km sprint. The men race today at 5:20pm so 9:20am Canmore time if you've got some time and want to catch some sweet Biathlon action!! Brendan is bib #14. http://www.biathlonworld.com/en/home.html

here are the top three results from yesterday

1st - Anna Carin Zidek 20/20

2nd - Marie Laure Brunet 18/20

3rd - Helena Ekholm 18/20

Canadian's

49th - Zina Kocher 17/20

69th - Rosanna Crawford 18/20

84rd - Megan Imrie 14/20

here's a link to full results

Race start is 5:20pm tomorrow, so another long day of waiting.

Wish me luck!

cheers

Rosanna

out for a morning run around the lake, finally seeing some sunshine!

yours truly

Mr Green!

Today was Salomon ski, boots and bindings first biathlon podium! Great job Anna!

Sweden ya!

2010-11-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

After a 24hr travel day with 2 van rides and 3 flights we arrived in Lillhardal, Sweden. By 3:30pm it was as dark as it is in the middle of the night, this was quite the shock for me, having never experienced Scandinavia in the months before Christmas! But it has left us the opportunity to go for a couple full moon skis at 4:30 in the afternoon.

Megan all ready to head out for our ski at 4pm

These past couple days have been pretty easy, trying to get over jet lag as fast as possible. A 20min drive down the road is the town of Sveg where there is a four lane range we will be using till Sunday. Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek lives in Lillhardal and trains out of Sveg, so we have gotten the chance to catch up with her and her son Liam. (Anna is an amazing biathlete and married to our wax tech Tom Zidek)

The 4 lane range in Sveg

On Sunday we will make our way to Ostersund, Sweden for the first World Cup of the season. December 1st will mark the first competition for the women, a 15km Individual. I am really looking forward to racing and this Saturday we will hold our own little race in Sveg to get our race legs moving!

out for a ski

Sweden is a very snowy place and all the trees look like if you flick them they will shatter into a million pieces! The town we are in is pretty small so not much exploring but I hear Oestersund is beautiful with a great knitting store!!

Happy Trails!

Rosanna

And they're off!

2010-11-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

Well it is that time of year again. The snow has hit Canmore and we are about to take off on the road to start the race season! The team heads to Sweden on Saturday for a pre World Cup training camp. From now till January I will be living out of my neatly packed suitcase and traveling with my sport family!

Here's where we start:

December 1st - 5th - WC#1 Oestersund Sweden

December 10th - 12 - WC#2 Hochfilzen, Autria

December 16th - 19th -WC#3 Pokljuka, Slovenia

December 20th - January 2nd - CHRISTMAS in Europe!*

January 5th - 9th - WC#4 Oberhof, Germany

January 12th - 16th - WC#5 Ruhpolding, Germany

I will have to still keep up with some good results in order to stay on the World Cup, but I am feeling strong and confident! I got hit with a stomach virus on Saturday night but recovery was super quick and I am now back on my feet getting in some training on the lovely snow we have gotten here in Canmore.

It's going to be an exciting season and I can't wait to get started!

Enjoy the snow and be sure to stay warm out there!

Cheers

Rosanna

ps. you can follow along here on my blog and see results on the IBU website. And if you're an insomniac you can watch some of the races online as well!

*side note: this will be my first Christmas away from my family. But luckily I get to spend it with my amazing boyfriend Brendan. We are going to spend 4days in Venice, Italy right after world cup 3 to unwind a bit!

Snow?

2010-11-04T13:12:00.000-06:00

Since my last post we put in a couple volume weeks at altitude and have started doing some training at the Oval in Calgary. Right after trials we had a couple of easy days before we were supposed to head into the Haig glacier again. But the groomer was broken, so we had to make a new plan. We spent two nights in Lake Louise, roller skiing on the ice field parkway and doing various hike/runs around there. The next week we hoped the groomer would be fixed but no luck. So we spent two nights up at Bow Hut. It was some pretty epic training, day one: roller ski in the morning run into the hut, day two: run out , roller ski/road bike, run back into the hut, day three: run out, roller ski head home do strength!

Crow Foot Glacier

Roller Skiing out by Takaka falls

Melanie, Megan, me and Claude

At the end of that week I had to have a little procedure done and was set to 5 days of rest and then to ease back into training. Now we are in the middle of our intensity block, using the roller ski treadmill at the U of C.

I leave for Europe in 16 days and am super excited. This will be my first year starting on the World Cup. Our first stop will be Sweden. Just hoping and wishing for some snow to land here in Canmore before we leave!

Happy trails

Rosanna

Done and done!

2010-09-22T11:38:00.000-06:00

Trials are now over! Sunday was the 7.5km sprint race and things did not go very well. I seem to always have these up and down races when it comes to trials. I let the nerves get the better of me. It was pouring rain Sunday morning and the track was wet and covered in puddles. The friction of the rain makes it a lot harder to ski and turns the race into a strength workout! My legs were not feeling as peppy as Friday but I knew I just had to tough it out. I came into my first shooting, set up and had no rhythm for my prone shooting, I missed one. Back out on course slugging through the rain. Into my standing shooting, and I missed two, I knew that today was not going to be what I had hoped. I crossed the finish line disappointed, knowing that this was not my usual self. Zina won with 2 miss, then Megan with 3 miss, Mel with 1 miss and Claude with 1 miss. After looking at the percentages from the race it was down to Melanie and I again. It was like Olympic trials all over again. Tomorrow would be the race that would decided it all, again!

I rested up that night and focused on what I needed to do. I am a good shooter and a good skier and those are the only things I can control. No thinking about results, no thinking about what may or may not happen tomorrow. I woke up Monday morning to an almost dry track but it was a windy day. Zero went great, I was feeling confident in my shooting, my legs felt better than the day before. We started in the order that we finished the day before, so I started 20 seconds behind Zina. The first loop is a short 1km (because there isn't a 2km loop) so we all came into the range together. Megan, Melanie and I all shoot clean, we rip past the penalty loop and head out together for our first 2.5km loop. Megan pulled away from us a bit, but Mel and I stick together pretty close. Back into the range, Megan has one miss but Mel and I shoot clean again. We all leave about the same time, pushing each other more and more. First standing shooting and it is windy, Mel and Megan fire off their shots and both have 3miss I take a bit more time but still end up with 2miss. I leave the penalty loop just ahead of Melanie with Megan not to far ahead. Mel catches up quick and I can feel my legs burning, but I just stick on her. It will all come down to this last shooting, we get there at the same time again, set up, I blast off my shots nice and quick with only one miss, Mel also has one miss, I leave the penalty loop just ahead of her and think that there is no point hammering now, that we might as well work together a bit on this last loop. We ski up the last hill side by side, both our cheering squads going nuts! Taking turns taking the lead, as we come to the beginning of the last up hill I decided to start my sprint now, I blast off as fast as I can, sprinting and trying to move my body as fast as it will allow me! I cross the finish line about 12 seconds ahead of Melanie and with the 10 seconds she started before me that puts me in 3rd by about 22 seconds!

After adding up our two best races I was about 1.5% ahead of Melanie. It was a great 3 days of racing and I just want to say thanks and congrats to Melanie and if we only had 4 starts on the World Cup Melanie and I could spend the season duking it on there!

Now it is two months of training before heading over to Europe mid November. Monday we are back up to the Haig glacier for some more yoyo camps. I was very excited to see some snow on the ground the other day and can't wait to start skiing in Canmore.

The boys also had some pretty exciting racing, keeping it close all weekend. In the end the guy getting the last spot on the World Cup team will be Nathan Smith. But after the first World Cup they will be sending one more guy up to race, because the men have 4 starts. Brendan had a little tumble the other week running and separated his shoulder. He is doing much better now and leaves for Europe on Sunday for a training camp with Zina and Matthias.

Keep dreaming of SNOW!

hugs

Rosanna

Claude right off the start

Me on my first loop

Megan Imrie

Melanie and I up the hill into the range

Zina

at the finish

Jan and I

B and I

p.s a BIG thanks to my family and friends who came out to cheer me on! You helped get me across that finish line!

World Cup Trial races

2010-09-18T16:05:00.000-06:00

Well we are back again to our lovely roller ski trial races. Yesterday was race #1, 12.5km for the ladies and 15km for the gents. I was a little worried heading into this race because last Sundays 10km race I had nothing to give, my legs felt like dead weight. But things slowly improved over the week and by Thursday I was feeling pretty good. Thursday evenings weather forecast was for 5 - 10 cm of snow, so they pushed the race starts back to the afternoon. Lucky for us the course was dry and it wasn't too cold. Start was at 3:30pm so that left the rest of the day to sit around and wait. I have a love/hate relationship with afternoon starts, I love it because I feel my body is more awake and ready to race in the afternoon, but I hate it because of the waiting, nerves building all day long. My warm up and zero went great and I was ready to go. It was 10sec starts which can make for a pretty exciting race. I came into my first prone shooting and missed two, not how I usually like to start a race but still lots of race left. As I left the penalty loop Melanie was leaving the range with clean shooting, it was great to be able to ski a loop together, each of us pushing the other to go out of our lap 2 comfort zone. As I came into the range for my second prone bout Geret told me that I had a perfect group but needed to go two down. I set up and made the correction, 5/5! Sweet back out on course. At this point Megan and Zina were not too far ahead of me. I come into the range for my first standing bout, set up and 5/5. Hammer out another 2.5km loop and come in right behind Megan and Zina, I see that Zina had 2 misses and Megan had 3, I try not to think too much about shooting clean, but to clear my mind and focus on the doing. I set up, hit, hit, hit, (brain starts going crazy) miss, miss. Darn two quick penalty loops and I leave about 20secs behind Megan. That last loop my legs and lungs were burning, I felt like I couldn't get enough oxygen into my body, but I just kept pushing, cheering my self on in my head. Coming up the last hill, my mom, dad, sister, Jan (sport psych) and Brendan are all cheering for me like there life depends on it, I push every thing I have and cross the finish line gasping for air!

I ended up 3rd about 20secs behind Megan and just over a minute behind Zina. I am really happy with how my skiing went and have some improvement for the shooting. Tomorrow is the 7.5km sprint race, so if you've got the morning off and want to come watch the race, start is 9:45am for the men and 11:30am for the women!

Cheers

Rosanna

This is a photo from last weekends race.

We're here to breath the air

2010-08-28T15:06:00.000-06:00

It's been three weeks of hard training with two trips up to the haig and one week of intensity with lots of upper body work. The haig was great and we were really lucky with the weather. On the first haig trip I got a bit of a sore throat and had to take one day easier and just hiked up to the snow and breath the air or what little air their is up there! After the second haig camp when we got back to Canmore the smoke from B.C. made it impossible to train. But lucky for me I was headed to Windermere for our annual Crawford family reunion and there was no smoke there. So on Saturday my mom drove me up Panorama road so I could do my intensity. We found a nice steep pitch I would ski up it and then my mom would drive me back to the start. It was a great workout and I was very grateful to have my amazing mom there to cheer me on!!

Now I have a nice easy week before starting the ramp up for trials. It is crazy to think that we are only three weeks away from trials. The first race will be Friday September 17th, mass start format so 12.5km, then sprint on Sunday and pursuit on Monday. These races will decide the beginning of the race season, who goes on the World Cup and who goes to the IBU cups. Zina is pre qualified for the World Cup season so that leaves 2 spots for the women, JP and Brendan are pre qualified so there is only one spot for the men. Then there is 4 spots for the men and 4 spots for the women on the IBU cup. I am really looking forward to these races and can't wait to get onto snow! It looks like it might even snow in Canmore soon!!

Here are some photos from training the past month!

B and I up on the glacier

Melanie on the run out the first time

jumping in the river after intensity up panorama

my fantastic mom!

Cheers
Rosanna

Look, up in the air...

2010-07-06T14:47:00.000-06:00

The other day my friend Megan Fink who is a helicopter pilot took me up for a little flight! It's not ever day you get a birds eye view of Canmore and the surrounding mountains! Here are a couple pics from that day!

Megan getting ready for take off!

leaving Canmore

the beautiful glacier fed lakes that are a couple mountain ranges over!

Thanks Megan!! You ROCK!

cheers

Rosanna

photos from bike camp

2010-06-28T08:10:00.000-06:00

Me, Megan and Z on the ferry

getting our last ride on

go team go!

last ride of the trip

cheers

Rosanna

Biking

2010-06-27T18:05:00.000-06:00

Every year we go on a bike camp to get in some volume and roller ski/bike up some epic passes in BC. This year we made our way to Nelson. The day before we left we went out to High wood pass and roller skied. Day one the boys (Brendan, Scott, Nathan, Tyson and Pat) biked from Canmore to Radium and we (Megan I, Zina and Melanie Shultz) biked from the 1A to Radium. After 4 and half hours and 2 bears we arrived, took a nap and did some fun agility and run stuff with Matthias. Day two we drove for a couple hours to Creston and then skied up the Salmo/Creston pass, switching to our bikes once we got to Salmo and biking from there to Nelson. Day three we drove to Castlegar and roller skied up the gradual hill that would take you to New Denver, once we got to the top jumped on our bikes again and rode back to Nelson. Day four after taking the ferry from Nelson we biked for 120km to just before Yahk and then drove the rest of the way home. It was a great couple days filled with hard workouts and good company, and on the plus side we didn't get rained on while biking!

On the ferry from Nelson

B and I on the ferry

After 400km on a bike, 40km skiing up hill and 20hrs of training we arrived back in Canmore, Saturday was a tough strength work out and Sunday was a much needed day of rest before our next big week of volume training. I am happy the sun has decided to come out again and now that my mountain bike is all fixed up I am looking forward to hitting the trails!

See you out there,

cheers

Rosanna

Music

2010-05-31T13:20:00.000-06:00

I thought I would stray from the usual of writing about training and racing and write about something different, music. I feel a song can pump you up, keep you calm, bring a smile to your face or let you cry if you need it. This past month I have gone to a couple shows and I forgot how much I love live music.
At the beginning on the month I went and saw Hannah Georgas play at Communitea. "Her voice, bittersweet yet as spunky as an indie film heroine, will make you swoon as she sings about love, language and awkward situations." My favourite song by her is "The Deep End".

Hannah Georgas album cover "This is Good"

One of the opening acts was Colleen Brown, an Edmonton born signer song writer, who's music I fell in love with right away. She has a very unique voice, with lyrics you can't help but sing along with and beats that keep your toe tapping. My fav song by her is "Love You Baby".
Last night I went and saw Xavier Rudd & Izintaba at the Banff Centre. What a show, he is such an amazing artist, playing didgeridoo, drums and guitar all at once! The atmosphere in the Eric Harvie was pretty great, everyone was on their feet as soon as he started playing and most people didn't sit for the two hours he played! His opening act was Justin Nozuka, 3 guys on guitar and one on percussion.

Xavier Rudd

Be sure to get out there and enjoy some live music this summer and remember to dance like no one is watching!

cheers
Rosanna

Spring 2010

2010-05-05T12:47:00.000-06:00

Spring, the word along helps me relax! After the last world cup in Norway I made my way back to Canmore in time for Shark fest (ski races up at Mt. Shark) and some good end of season skiing. I got out ski touring with my parents and Moki, first time in a long time, and just enjoyed my 2 weeks in Canmore before I was taking off again.

sunrise in Oslo, Norway

First stop Burns Lake, B.C. Chandra has started an organization called Fast&Female that I am sure most of you have heard of. Young girls from all over Canada get to come together and get motivated but older experienced athletes. So right before leaving on my spring vacation I went to Burns Lake with my mom to hold a F&F event. We had about 70 girls and it was awesome! The day was filled with fun, games, yoga, dancing, healthy lunch and great talks from me and other amazing women. Rachelle van Z was my fellow ambassador and she organized most of the day and a huge THANKS to her for a wicked day.

Fast&Female event in Burns Lake

This year Brendan and I decided to go to Hawaii together. Maui was our island of choice and it did not disappoint, true the weather was not as nice as we were hoping but this forced us to explore a little more. We spent 5 nights in Kihei and the high light of this part was going to a luau one night and exploring the south end of Maui. The lava fields are just so amazingly beautiful. There is one area of lava where they fought battles way back when in bare feet. B and I tried to stand on it for a second and could not handle it!

lava fields in South Maui

Brendan and I in Hawaii on our way to the Luau.

After Kihei we took the Hana highway to Hana. If you ever go to Maui you have to take a day to drive the Hana highway, if not stay in Hana for a couple nights. Everything is so lush and green and there is more than enough waterfalls to satisfy everyone! We spent 3 nights in Hana and I think we could have spent more time there. It is so quiet and peaceful, that you just fall into a trance and forget about the outside world. If you get up early enough you can find a lot of beautiful places where you can have them all to your self. My favorite was when we got to walk through the bamboo forest. The clacking of the bamboo together is music to your ears.

waterfall along the Hana highway

Bamboo forest just past Hana

9 days in Hawaii was perfect and Brendan and I came home for about 15hrs before heading back to the airport and flying to Ottawa. This is where we started the last horray of the Olympics. The first day some athletes went to talk to school before heading over to Parliament hill and having lunch with the PM and ministers. It was pretty neat having a good chunk of the Olympic team in Parliament and when they broke out in O’ Canada it was pretty special! From Ottawa we went to Montreal for a parade and the Olympic hall of fame gala dinner. There was a great turn out for the parade and it was awesome to see how the country is still so pumped from the games! Then we had the Hall of fame evening! As an athlete we rarely get to dress up, so when the opportunity arrises we like to go all out. Everyone looked so amazing and after a hour in our heels the women were dying, but thats the sacrifice you make to look good! It was so good to be able to see everyone from the games one last time. Because we most likely won’t be all together again for 4 years! And for the athletes who retired after these games it was a chance to say good-bye.

all the people at the parade

all dressed up and ready for the Gala!

From Montreal the rest of my team went home and I went off to Toronto to visit my good friend Kately Mudry. She gave me an insiders tour of Toronto and we probably biked the whole city! My favorite part was when we went to Toronto island one afternoon and got to bike from one end to the other. It is so crazy that you can escape from Toronto to these quiet little islands with no cars and very few people (I am sure it is packed during the summer) and still see the CN tower across the water!

CN tower from Toronto island

biking around Toronto

Katelyn and I on Toronto island

As female athlete rep each April I have to take some time for the executive meetings with Biathlon Canada. Last year there was no male rep so it was just moi, but this year Scott Perras signed up for the job and it was great to have him there! In Biathlon we plan our sport in quads, so since the last quad ended with the Olympics it was time to plan the next 4 years. This took a lot of time, I was in Ottawa 5 days in meetings from 8am - 6 or 7pm. It was pretty full on. But our voice was heard and we got some things changed and some things the way the athletes want it so that was a plus. Having two of us there made a big difference as well.

Right now I am on the airplane flying back to Calgary. I been gone from home for almost a month (with just one 15hr stop over in Canmore). These past 5 days have been pretty full on and I can’t wait to be home. To have some solid down town in Canmore. Also I get to start training again!!!! I love that I am so excited to get started again, so if anyone wants to go insert activity here I am so down!

Cheers!
Rosanna

That's a wrap!

2010-03-27T18:00:00.001-06:00

Another season over and I have to say it was my most successful season ever, filed with a lot of first. My first full race season, my first World Cups, my first Olympic games and qualifying for my first pursuit. I raced my last world cup race in Oslo, Norway on March 18th, shooting was great I hit 9/10 but my ski speed was just not there, I ended up 67th, just outside of making the pursuit! Because of how much training I have missed over the past couple years my ski speed is not very consistent yet. One weekend I will feel amazing on my skis and then 5 days later feel like someone has replaced my legs with a ton of bricks. This is the first time that I will enter May really excited to start training. To see what I can accomplish with a full summer and fall of training.

There are so many people who have been with me on my journey in sport.

To my family, your support was always unwavering and without you I could not have made it as far as I have. You picked me up when I fell down, always ready with a hug and kind words, you helped me celebrated when I accomplished my goals. I love you all and am excited to bring you along for the ride to Russia!

To my friends, thanks for understanding when I say I need to go to bed at 9 and then rallying the troops when I say I need to go dancing!

To my teammates, you are my best friends and my family. We have shared many a dream together and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us. To those who have decided to follow the next chapter of your life, you will be missed and always there in spirit with us!

To my amazing sport psych, you helped keep my head in the game. You became my second mom and one of my best friends! Heres to the next four years!

To my home town, a community like no other. No matter where I go, whether is it on the ski trails or at the movie store you are always telling me how proud you are of me! Those kind words have helped keep me on track. Thanks for believing in me.

To my support staff, coaches, wax techs, physio therapist, chiropractor and massage therapist, your support and contribution have helped me get where I am. You were always there to push me to my limits and give me a kick in the butt when I needed it! Thank you!

To my sponsors, thanks for joining my team and coming along for the journey. Without your help I would be a pair of skis with no wax!

Spring is just around the corner, April will go by in a blur and before I know it, it will be time to start training again, and I am happy to say that I can’t wait!

Prost
Rosanna xo

One or the other.

2010-03-14T08:59:00.001-06:00

Biathlon is such a tricky sport. Rarely do you have a day where skiing and shooting go hand in hand. Today was not one of those days. I woke up this morning feeling good and really excited to race my first world cup pursuit. The weather was warmer then forecasted and only -8. Zero went well and I was feeling good on my skis. I started 2min 50sec behind the leader, and felt strong, coming into the range I was with a little group. Lay down for my first prone and miss, miss, ok check the wind, hit, hit, miss. Shoot 3 penalty loops off of my first shooting, not the way I wanted to start this race. Thats ok, still lots of the race left. I caught back up to a couple of girls and came into my 2nd prone, no sight correction from my coach so the other misses were all me. Set up, miss, miss, crap deep breath, hit, hit, miss. Oh no, three more penalty loops. In a pursuit race if you get caught by the leaders then you get pulled out of the race. As I was leaving the penalty loop after another 3 turns the leaders were just going into the loop. Crap, crap, now I have to ski like the wind to stay in this race. Right before the behemoth up hill I was caught by the leader group of 5 women. As I came into the range for my 1st standing an IBU official pulled me off to the side, and I skied away to the start finish area not being allowed to finish the race. Seeing as I started almost 3min back and did roughly 3min of penalties, on a course where the 2km takes about 5 1/2min it is not surprising I got caught.

I am so disappointed and slightly embarrassed with todays race. Shooting is what I am good at, what I can count on in a race. But today I think I let the excitement get to me. It still stings a little but I am trying to be happy in the fact that I qualified for the pursuit, with this being my 3rd world cup, and the 3rd chance I had to make a pursuit. In biathlon if you have a bad shooting day, no matter how fast you ski, it is hard to make up time.

Tomorrow we fly to Oslo, Norway for the next world cup. Thursday is a sprint, Saturday a pursuit (where I will hopefully redeem my self) and a mass start on Sunday (that only the top 30 get to race). I have decided not to go to Russia for the final world cup as I would only get one race (it is sprint, mass start, mixed relay). So I will be back in Canmore March 22nd, in to race Sharkfest that weekend!

Happy trails,
Rosanna

In hot pursuit!

2010-03-13T09:19:00.000-07:00

Today was the 7.5km pursuit in Kontiolahti. It was a chilly morning but the sun came out and the course was hard and fast. The course here is super tough, it could give Canmore world cup course a run for it’s money. On the 2.5km course you have a flat and a nice down hill then its long hard climbs back to the range. The wind had been tricky all week but had settled down this morning. I came into my prone shooting and missed my last shot. Thats ok, one quick penalty loop and back around the course and up the behemoth hills. As I came into my standing shooting I was told that I was in 51st, telling my self not to think about it I did my range procedure and hit 5/5, excellent 9/10, good shooting for a sprint race. I was the bib 87 out of 88 and finished in 57th, that means that I get to race the 10km pursuit tomorrow!

Pursuits are one of my favorite races and I haven’t done a real pursuit yet this year! One where there is 60 starters and people are every where, there is always someone to chase and someone chasing you! This will also be my first World Cup pursuit! All four Canadian women qualified for the pursuit, so it should be an exciting day. I hear it is supposed to get pretty cold and be -18 or so for the race tomorrow, brrr!

Wish me luck,

hugs

Rosanna

Back to winter!

2010-03-08T21:50:00.001-07:00

My week at home flew by, with me trying to get healthy, watching Nationals and packing again. This was the first time I haven’t raced Nationals since I first competed in them at 12. It was pretty sad. I always loved Nationals, because even if my start of season didn’t go so well, I would always show up a Nationals and rock it by getting on the podium a couple times.

Nationals was the selection races for the men to pick the last 3 guys who get to go on the World Cup. As some of you may have heard I am dating my team mate Brendan Green, so being up there cheering for him I have a new sympathy for family and friends when they are watching. I was as nervous as if I had been racing my self, maybe even more. Watching him shoot and just willing the targets to go down, cheering as he skis past wondering why he is not moving faster (even though he was moving pretty quick)!

Brendan was 3rd in the sprint and 2nd in the pursuit and qualified for the team! The other guys that made the team were JP (pre qualified), Scott Perras and Nathan Smith. The lovely ladies of the team are Zina, Megan Tandy, Megan Imrie and my self.

After a long day of travel we are in Kontiolahit, Finland. There is a ton of snow and I feel like I am back in winter. But not nice spring winter, we have been told that it is -20 most morning! Friday is the mixed relay, which will be JP, Brendan (I think), Zina and Tandy. Then sprint, pursuit on Saturday and Sunday. Monday we make our way to Oslo, Norway for a week then the last World Cup is in Russia. This tour I get to go to all new places, very exciting.

Enjoy that Canmore sunshine!

Rosanna

The ends not near, it's here.

2010-03-02T16:16:00.000-07:00

I sit here in my living room back in sunny Canmore and try to think of the words that describe my Olympic experience, and many come to mind;

proud, inspirational, motivated, honor, love, life, gratitude, with glowing hearts, team work, energy, passion...I could go on for a while!

With glowing hearts

I feel so lucky to have been able to compete at a home Olympics. Many athletes will never get this opportunity. From talking with other athletes I think there is a unanimous response that this was one of the best Olympics ever! The volunteers in blue were fantastic and deserve much more than just a thank you. The fans were inspirational and deserve a cheer them selves, WHOOOO HOOOOO!! The athletes played fair and made these games exciting to watch.

Although I did not have the races of my life at these Olympics I am very proud of my self. I shot clean in my first race and have come a long way from a year ago when I was stuck on the couch for months not being allowed to train. I am an Olympian and got to wear the maple leaf proudly! It has also shown me how much I love biathlon and I want to continue in it for the next four years.

Megan Imrie, Zina, Megan Tandy and me at the opening ceremonies in Whistler.

On the 28th we made our way down to Vancouver to go to the closing ceremonies. We arrived in the Van village right before the end of the 3rd period of the hockey game. Watching the Americans score that goal made for an exciting last event of the games. Over time was exciting and as soon as we scored we could hear the roar from BC place just across the way from the athlete lounge. I have never heard anything like that before, thousands and thousands of people cheering at once, and when they sung the National anthem we could hear them all the way across the water! It was exciting for Canada to get hockey gold but don’t forget we got a world record breaking 14 gold medals at these games! And not to mention around 65 top 8 finishes. We might not be owing the podium just yet but we are on the right track. It was also really cool to get to meet all the athletes who competed for Canada. Seeing all their medals and hearing there stories of how they got here is really motivating.

I remember watching the Olympics in 2002 and 2006 and knowing that being an Olympian was something I needed to do in my life time. Watching those athletes get their medals and knowing how hard I would have to work if I wanted to be there some day. I can only hope that some one out there watching me race might be motivated to follow their dreams. Whether it be sport, academics or the arts. Find something you are passionate about and hold on. Cause it will most likely be a bumpy ride, but the outcome is so worth it.

Brendan and I with the rings!

I am now home just in time for Nationals. Tomorrow is the sprint race, but I am on the edge of a cold and will not race. Thursday is the individual and I will take part then a couple days of training before I leave on Sunday to go race the last 3 World Cups in Finland, Norway and Russia! No rest for the wicked!

stay happy and dream BIG!

Rosanna

Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyes

Gold medal bobsleight winners!

me and my favourite Caniwi Sarah Murphy!

Sunshine and long races!

2010-02-21T22:02:00.000-07:00

Well my individual competitions are all over. Thursday was the 15km individual and things went well. I didn’t shoot as well as I was hoping but skiing felt much better. It was a cooking hot day! Race start was 10:20am but with bib number 85 I didn’t start till just after 11am. By then the sun was shinning and the snow was slushy but I was feeling good. I came into the range for my first prone and hit 4 targets (in an individual each missed target adds one minute to your ski time.) Back out on course for another 3km loop into the range for standing and I missed 2 targets, darn 3min added so far. 3km loop then second prone shooting, 5 hits, excellent. Because I was one of the last starters it was pretty lonely out there on course by then end of my race. As I entered the range for my last standing shooting I was going to be the sole athlete on the range and knew people would be a cheering! But I keep my mind quiet and set up and hit the first target, miss, hit, hit, hit. So 16/20, not my best shooting but not horrible. I ended up 76th, nothing special but I am really happy that my skiing felt better. I am still working on my endurance and 15km is really long for me, the race took around 45min.

Now onto the most exciting event, the 4X6km relay!! This is our only team event at the Olympics. Each of us will ski 6km and shoot two times and each time we shoot we get 3 extra bullets to hit the targets, so you have 8 bullets to hit 5 targets! Leading into the relay we have been taking it pretty relax, doing some intensity but also spending some time with family and friends and getting to enjoy some of the Olympic spirit around Whistler. Today Megan Imrie and I went up the peak to peak gondola and got to enjoy some glorious mountain sunshine on what felt like the top of the world!

Chandra and I in the Olympic village

As most of you know my sister Chandra is also here competing at the Olympics in cross country skiing. She had her classic sprint race the other day where she qualified 18th. I am so pumped and proud of her! She has come a long way from being injured and missing a whole season of racing. Her next event will be the 4X5km relay on thursday. The XC team is not staying in the village but she came around the other day and it was great to get to spend some time with her.

Loving my Olympic experience and can’t wait for the relay on tuesday!

GO CANADA GO!!

Rosanna

"I aspire to be the person my dog thinks I am."

Dave Neighbor at the mens 30km pursuit

Let the Games begin!

2010-02-14T18:13:00.000-07:00

Well lots has happened since my last posting. I thought I would take some time off of the internet to focus on my up coming race. We finished off our training camp in Mt Washington and on Feb 8th flew back to Vancouver. At the airport we got our accreditation and made our way to the Vancouver village. There we got all our awesome Canadian gear. This was such an amazing moment, it made everything so real. I now have Canada written all over my back, arms and legs, no matter where I go for the next two weeks people will know which country I am from and who I get the privilege to represent. From there we took a 2hr bus ride up to the Whistler Village (and not to put down Vancouver, but our village is way sweeter!) Once checked in we got a little tour of our home away from home. We are in the far top corner of the village and have a moose to watch over us! His name is Slider (I tried to get him called Bow Winkle) it is a bit of a trek to the dinning hall (7min) so they have gotten us sweet motorized bikes!

Since we were racing the next day none of the biathletes went to the opening ceremonies. But we got our own little march through Whistler which was great. A lot of people came out to cheer and it was such an up lifting experience. After that we did a little hello in the Canada Olympic House and then made our way back to the village to rest up for the next days race.

Now on to the exciting stuff. Yesterday was the women’s 7.5km sprint. Leading into this race I had done some really good prep, in our intensity sessions I felt strong skiing and I was confident in my shooting. I was bib #22, the first Canadian! During zero I heard my family and friends cheering for me so I knew where they would be watching from. It was raining but they had salted the track so if you knew which line to take you could find a mostly hard track. I started off the race feeling pretty good, the crowd was so loud and helped fuel me around the course. I came into my prone shooting, saying my cue words in my head, fired off my 5 shots and hit them all. Back out on course my legs were feeling pretty heavy and I didn’t have much snap, but I just tried to push through the pain. I came into my standing, set up and hit, hit, hit, hit, hit! Awesome, 10/10! What a great way to start off my Olympic races! But my legs were just not feeling it and I could feel my self slowing down. I crossed the finish line in 16th, but that doesn’t mean much when only 22 people had finished. I ended up 72nd. It’s sort of bitter sweet, on one hand I am so happy with my shooting but on the other hand I didn’t make top 60 which means no Pursuit on tuesday for me. I have come a long way since last year and feel so privileged to even be on the start line, but I have to remember that I missed a lot of training over the past 3 years and I am still working on my fitness!

my dad and me after the race

Now we have four days before the next race on the 18th. The Individual, so more good shooting will be a huge bonus. Today I will take it pretty easy and meet up with my dad and sport psych Jan Derpak.

Happy Valentines day!

Go Canada Go,

Also big ups to Jen Heil who got Canada’s first medal!

Rosanna

Itunes

2010-02-08T21:06:00.000-07:00

Hey music lovers,

So itunes asked me to put together a playlist they could sell on itunes. I was more than happy to oblige! So go into itunes and look up celebrity playlists under music to take a look!!

Cheers
Rosanna

Athletes in Motion

2010-02-05T17:21:00.000-07:00

A while ago I wrote about Megan Imries and my actor debut! Well you can now watch the 2min movie online! The film is called "Bring it home". Be sure to take a look at all the other films as well!
http://www.CTVOlympics.ca/athletes-in-motion/index.html

Rain, rain go away!

2010-02-05T17:06:00.000-07:00

"There is no telling how many miles you'll have to run while chasing a dream"

At the Calgary Aiport

(Me, Zina, Megan I)

Training here in Mt Washington has been good, wet, but good. There are a couple other countries training here as well, Germans, French, Americans, Chinese, Swedes and Czech, so it makes for a fun environment on the range. Since leaving Canmore I have not seen the sun which has made things a little gloomy! But we have gotten in some good intensity sessions and yesterday Megan Imrie and I went for a nice long ski. We couldn’t see much because of the fog but the trail was nice. For our pre games camp we brought along our physio, Carol, and massage therapist, Yvonne, so those two have been working hard to get us into top physical shape, working hard to keep everything working smoothly!

training on the range in Mt Washington

Monday we make our way back to Vancouver where we will get all our accreditation and Olympic swag at the Airport. Then a drive up to mountain to get settled in at the Whistler Village!

Good luck to everyone racing the World Cups in Canmore, wish I could be there to cheer you on!

out skiing (Megan Imrie)

Take care

Rosanna

race schedule

2010-01-31T13:11:00.000-07:00

Hey friends,

Well my Olympic journey is about to begin! Here is the race schedule, be sure to tune in to watch on TV if you can't make it out to Whistler!

February 13th - women 7.5km Sprint 1:00pm start
February 14th - men 10km Sprint 11:15pm start
February 16th - women 10km Pursuit 10:30am start
- men 12.5km Pursuit 12:45pm start
February 18th - women 15km Individual 10:00am start
- men 20km Individual 1:00pm
February 23rd - women 4x6km Relay 11:30am start
February 26th - men 4x7.5km Relay 11:30am start

Go Canada, Go!!

Preparation

2010-01-28T18:54:00.000-07:00

“Success always comes when preparation meets opportunity”

Henry Hartman

As the games draw nearer and nearer I can’t help but think about preparation and about what I have done to get here. Did I train hard enough, did I dry fire enough, have I done everything in my power to be as ready as I can be? I have had many obstacles on my road to 2010, back and hip injuries, heart problem and throat problems, things that were out of my control may have gotten in the way of my preparation, but I feel that with the healthy time that I have had I took advantage of it. People ask me about what sacrifices I have made to live the life as an “athlete”, but for me I don’t look at it as a sacrifice, more about what opportunities I took advantage of. This is the path I chose, to try and be the best at something I am passionate about, I gave my self to it 100% and would not change a thing if I could. My injuries have made me a stronger and more determined person.

With only 15 days till the opening ceremonies I can feel the excitement building. Everything is becoming so real. I have to try to live in each moment and suck up as much information and learn as much as I can! I want to thank everyone for their support over these past years, and without my family and friends there is no way I could have made it this far!

So please keep sending your e-mails, facebook messages and notes on my wall, but I won’t be replying to many things for the month of February.

Monday we take off for our pre Olympic training camp in Mt. Washington B.C and then Feb. 8th off to Whistler!

GO CANADA!

Rosanna

One more shot.

2010-01-23T06:35:00.000-07:00

One more shot, thats what it usually always comes down too. One more shot and I would have made the pursuit, or been in the top 10 or made a podium. Yesterday one more shot and I would have made my first World Cup Pursuit. The day started off good, my legs were feeling a bit heavy but the sun was shinning and it was shaping up to another beautiful day in Italy. Zero went well and I was feeling confident as I did my warm up waiting for my start. I was bib number 67, start was good, my legs were not as light as they were in the individual but the race is short and sweet. I came in for my prone shooting, the wind looked the same as my zero, but I missed two. Around that annoying penalty loop and back out on course. Skiing was slowing down a bit and my legs were not very happy. Standing shooting I missed my first shot. 7/10 not horrible but just not good enough. I finished in 69th, better than in Ruhpolding and with two more misses, so things are looking up for my skiing!

Sunday is the pursuit and the way that works is that only the top 60 athletes from the sprint get to race. I was about 20sec out of the top 60, which is about one penalty loop. Darn, but this is my first year on the World Cup and Megan Imrie can tell you how many times she was 61st or 62nd last year!

Today I got to ski the glorious pass from Italy to Austria. It is about 5km climb then once at the top there is another 5km of skiing. Tomorrow I will do another long ski and watch the pursuit race cheering on Megan and Zina who qualified for the race. The mens sprint is today which will decide which men get to race the pursuit! GO boys GO! Monday we fly back to Canada, then 5days spent home training before leaving for Mtn. Washington on Feb 1st for our pre Olympic training camp. It is crazy to think that I am about to start the leg of my Olympic journey! Something I have dreamed about for years!

Miss Sarah Murphy had a great race yesterday, hitting 8/10 and qualifying for her first World Cup pursuit! I am super pumped for her! Go Sarah Go!

Happy Trails

hugs

Rosanna

photos

2010-01-21T00:04:00.000-07:00

a beautiful afternoon in Italy

the crowd in Antholz

supa dupa wax tech Tom Z

a neat ice thing in town

WC6, 15km Individual, Antholz, Italy

2010-01-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

Today was our 15km race. Start time was 2:15, so much nicer than in Ruhpolding. Every athlete has to go through doping control at some point on the World Cup and today I was the lucky one! A women showed up at our hotel at 11:40 and got to hang around (by that I mean follow) with me until I was ready to head up to the site. Once there you wait to see 2 doctors who take a tiny vile of blood analyze it right there and let you know if you can race or not. My blood was good and I was off to get ready for zero.

It was a beautiful day here. The sun was shining and it was the perfect temperature. My bib was 62 and a start time of 2:46. My first loop was awesome, my skis were flying (thanks to our super duper wax techs) I came into my first prone and missed two targets, bah not my usual and not the way I would have liked to start off an individual. Back out on the 3km loop, come in for my first standing bout, clean, phew thats much better. Second prone bout was fine with 4 hits and 4 hits in my last standing. 16/20, not bad but not good enough for an individual. I finished 56th which I am happy with. I left some room for improvement befor the next individual at the Olympics.

Megan Imrie was 48th with 16/20 Melanie was 67th with 17/20 and Zina who had some trouble on the shooting range was 72nd with 12/20.

Tomorrow is an easy ski before Fridays sprint race!

I hear the Olympics torch made its way through Canmore today and I hope some of you got out to see it!!

Happy trails,

Rosanna

Ciao Bella

2010-01-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Italia! Monday morning we drove from Ruhpolding to Antholz, Italy. The drive was about 3hrs and we arrived just in time for an amazing lunch. Noodles that are always perfectly al dante and a salad bar with everything us bunnies could need! Shortly after lunch we made our way up to the sight, about a 15min drive and 600m of altitude gain, and did some afternoon training. The sight is at 1650m, making breathing not the easiest thing in the world!

Today was official training so us ladies did some race prep and got to enjoy some nice sunshine. Tomorrow is the 15km individual, with 4 shootings and minute penalties for any missed targets. The course here is beauts and a lot like Canmore, rolling hills and nice hard packed snow. Race start is 2:15pm so for any early birds up in Canmore you can online to watch the race at 6am Alberta time.

Wish me luck,

ciao

Rosanna

WC5, 4X6km Relay, Ruhpolding

2010-01-16T03:53:00.001-07:00

Ah relay’s, one of the more exciting events! You only have ski 6km and you get 6 extra bullets! If only all races could be like that. Again race start was 5:20pm, so the day was spent chilaxin’ and not thinking about the evening to come. We organized our own transport so no stress was needed in trying to find our way to the sight. Now I thought the crowd at the sprint was crazy, but they were nothing compared to the crowd for the relay. Maybe cause it was a friday or maybe cause the relay is so exciting, but it seemed like all of Germany had turned out for the race. There was not a single spot on course that didn’t have people. I think that is one of the things I love most about Ruhpolding. You can’t help but smile when you see all these people, with their bells and whistlers and funny looking hats!

Megan Imrie was the lead of our relay. She had a great first loop but a little bit of trouble on the range in prone, after one penalty loop she flew around the course and hit all of her standing targets. She then tagged off to Zina, who cleaned her prone with no spares and cleaned her standing using only a couple. It was then my turn! We had a smooth tag and I was off on course. With all these extra people the smoke, alcohol and bratwurst smell was even stronger! But still people knew my name and cheered loud as I skied past! I came into my prone shooting with a couple people in front of me, set up and hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, woo hoo clean with no spares, thats what I’m talking about! Back out of course I had made up a couple spots. Come into my standing, deep breath and hit, hit, hit, hit, hit! Oh snap 10/10 with no spares, I seem to always do this in relays. One final loop up the monster hills and down the sharp downhills, flying into the tag zone to pass off to Melanie. Melanie hit 10/10 with a couple spares and we finished in 16th.

We have the weekend to relax in Ruhpolding, today is the men and women’s mass start, Sunday the men’s relay, before we head off to Antholz for a couple more World Cups before heading home.

Hugs

Rosanna

World Cup #5, 7.5km Sprint, Ruhpolding

2010-01-14T02:47:00.000-07:00

My first world cup sprint race has come to a close! Yesterday was the waiting game. Our zero wasn’t till 4:25pm and with bib 105 I wasn’t starting till 6:17:30pm. My morning was spent relaxing and trying not to stress about the up coming day. At 3pm we were supposed to be picked up by transport to take us to the sight. By 3:25pm no one had shown up, so we made the 10min trek to town to find a ride to the sight. By 3:40 we arrived and lucky for us our wax techs had already tested our skis. Zero went smoothly and I was feeling good and excited.

Start went smooth and I was out on course. Ruhpolding has some pretty tough hills and not many spots for resting. It is incredibly how many people come out to watch Biathlon. I think there was 30 000 fans! And these fans don’t just cheer for the Germans, they cheer for everyone. People were cheering my name and it helped fuel me around the course. About 12 000 of these fans are all in the stadium and if you come into shoot beside one of the best in the World, or a German you can hardly hear your self think, which can sometimes be a good thing in Biathlon!

Anyways back to my race. I came into prone and hit 4. One quick penalty loop and back out on course. Standing my legs were feeling a little shaky but I pulled my self together and hit 5, 9/10, much better that my sprint at trials! One final loop pushing as hard as I could! I crossed the line and 62nd and by the end of everything was 77th. Not bad for my first World Cup. Only 20sec separated 69th - 86th, and if I had been 5sec faster I could have been in the top 70 but 5 sec slower and I would have been in the 80’s. It’s crazy how close everyone is, so while you are racing you have to be looking for the best line and pushing a little harder over each hill, trying to get those seconds where ever you can.

Today will be easy as we prepare for tomorrow’s 4 X 6km relay. Melanie arrived yesterday and she will be the anchor of our relay. The race will start at 5:20pm my time for those of you who are wanting to watch it. The men’s sprint is today, which will be exciting to watch.

Zina was 30th yesterday with 8/10 and Megan who had some trouble on the range was 94th with 5/10.

Happy trails

hugs

Rosanna

Athletes in Motion

2010-01-13T02:53:00.000-07:00

Back in May Megan and I got to do a little stint as movie stars! We spent a day of filming just outside of Calgary, pretending we were biathletes training in the 1900's!
The screening will be presented by One Yellow Rabbit's High Performance Rodeo Festival. It will take place at The Uptown Stage and Screen, 612-8th Avenue. SW, Calgary on Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 2:00 pm. The event will be followed by an informal reception with Bravo!FACT executive director, Judy Gladstone.
So if anyone feels like attending you can buy tickets here http://www.hprodeo.ca/2010/bravofact

Cheers
Rosanna

Racing in the dark

2010-01-12T02:50:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow is my first World Cup ever and I couldn’t be more excited! Tom Zidek pointed out that the first time I got to race in World Juniors they were in Ruhpolding and now my first World Cup is in Ruhpolding! Fate, I think so!

Tomorrow is a 7.5km sprint that starts at 5:20pm. So racing in the dark! This will be the latest I have ever raced. But good news for you Canadians, if you happen to be up at 9:20am you can go online and watch! Go to http://www.biathlonworld2.de/en/ and click on “biathonworld TV”.

I feel a little star stuck when I see all these athletes I have only ever seen on TV. It’s hard to believe that I am going to be racing against them, skiing the same trails and shooting in the same range! I’ve got my butterflies in formation and am ready to get er’ done!

So wish me luck,

Stay classy

hugs

Rosanna

on the road again

2010-01-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

It has been a whirl wind since my last entry. I had my last trials race on tuesday and things went well enough. It was tricky conditions, pretty windy and cold, and by the end of the race it was still pretty unsure who was going to the Olympics. I hit 15/20 and skied well but was still 2nd to Melanie Shultz who hit 18/20. It was going to be really close between Melanie and myself, we had both won a race and came 2nd in a race. After waiting for around 45mins, Geret Coyne, my coached, told me that I was about .5% ahead of Melanie. I couldn’t believe it, I was going to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games! I made it a bit more stressful than it needed to be with my shooting, but I was going! Something I have dreamed about for years, something I thought was out of my grasp after injury and sickness, was finally real and finite, I had made the Olympic team.

Tuesday night we went out for a celebratory dinner with my family at Crazyweed. Wednesday was spent packing and that night I went into Calgary to spend the night because my flight to Europe on Thursday was at 7:30am. Off on the road again, heading over for my first World Cups ever! After a painful travel day where few things went right, such as 2hr delay leaving Calgary, 2hr wait in Ottawa for my next flight, 1hr delay tacking off and 1hr delay once we landed in Frankfurt and running as fast as I could from one end of the Frankfurt airport to the other and just barely making my flight! On the up side all my luggage made it with me and except for a brief hold up at Munich custums I was back in Europe safe and sound. Brief side note; thank you to anyone who got out of my way and let me jump lines and sorry to anyone I shoved out of my way!!

We are now in Rupholding, Germany waiting for World Cup #5. I love this snowy little town and am looking forward to racing here again. My first race is a sprint on Wednesday and then a relay on Friday. The team for these World Cups is also the Olympic team, so Megan Imrie, Zina Kocker, Megan Tandy (who plans on coming later because of a cold) and my self. For the men J.P Legullec, Robin Clegg, Brendan Green and Marc-Andre Bedard.

Hugs

Rosanna

two down one to go!

2010-01-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

So this weekend was the first two races. Saturday was a sprint and went really awful. I didn’t realize how nervous I was until race morning. My zero didn’t go well and I just put way too much pressure on my self. Skiing was good and I came into my first shooting bout and only hit 3 prone, not my usual. Then all around the loop I made the mistake of thinking about my shooting the whole time and not focusing on my skiing. My standing bout I missed all except my last shot. 4/10 my worst shooting ever. I finished last out of out 4 people.

Very disappointed I spent yesterday angry for a good chunk of the afternoon but then I just focused on what I needed to do Sunday. Zero went much better I had a tight group, I was feeling very confident in my skiing and my shooting. Because of how I finished yesterday I was starting last today, my preferred spot cause then I get to chase people down. I came into my first prone bout and hit 4, hammer out one penalty loop and was back out on course and I had caught one of the girls in front of me. Second prone I hit 4. I was chasing them down one by one. I came into my first standing bout a little nervous but determined, I hit 5, yes fly past the penalty loop and back out on course. Last standing I set up and did what I do best and hit them all. 18/20 much better than yesterday! I finished first today and with one more race to go I still have a good chance to make the Olympic team.

Tomorrow will be pretty mellow, trying not to over think things and just believing in my abilities as an athlete. This is what I love, this is what I am good at! Race start will be 10am again for anyone who wants to come out and cheer.

Happy trails,
Hugs

Rosanna

shooting standing. ( don't worrie I hit them all )

my super awesome sport psych Jan Derpak cheering me up a climb!

Olympic trials

2010-01-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

The two weeks since I have been home have just flown by and we have now arrived at my Olympic trial races! Tomorrow is a 7.5km sprint, Sunday a 10km Pursuit and Tuesday a 12.5km mass start. Start time is 10am for anyone who feels like coming out to cheer! It will be a small field with only 5 of us racing, but exciting none the less.
Hopefully you all had a very happy new years eve and all the best in 2010!

Hugs
Rosanna

Christmas time

2009-12-27T12:14:00.000-07:00

Another Christmas has come and gone. It was great to be home with the whole family. We even had an addition this year! Claude Godbout is in Canmore getting ready for the Olympic trials this weekend so she spent Christmas with us! On boxing day we had our Crawford extravaganza party, ice skating, good food and a jam session, could you ask for more?!

Now on to the exciting news, starting this Saturday we will have our first Olympic trial race up at the Nordic center. There will be 3 races and the woman who has the best 2 out of 3 races will fill the final Olympic spot. I am feeling pretty good about these races, I have almost completely kicked my cold and am pretty excited. So if anyone who is in Canmore wants to come out and cheer that would be awesome!

Happy Holidays and wish me luck!
Hugs
Rosanna

Travel day

2009-12-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

Well I am back in glorious Canmore as are my parents and Chandra should be home some time today!
Travel back was long, we flew Munich to Frankfurt and then once we got to Frankfurt our plane was over sold in the back and so they were paying people to not take the flight. But lucky for me I got to use one of my up grade certificates and sat in first class for the long flight home. Not only is the flight 9 1/2 hrs but we had to hang out on the runway for two and a half hours waiting to be de-iced and therefor left 3hrs late. But those first class pods are glorious I got to lay out like I was in my own little world!

Now it is time to get healthy, enjoy some family time, get some training and then have our Olympic trial races! Those should start around the 2nd of January and there will be 3 - 4 races where only athletes who are World Cup qualified get to race. That means Claude Godbout, Sandra Keith, Melanie Shultz, Cindy Clark and my self will be battling it out for the last spot on the women's Olympic team. Should be fun! I will keep you up dated with when the races are so if you are in Canmore you can come out and cheer!

Happy Holidays and all the best!
Hugs
Rosanna

ps here are some photos from my trip.

Racing in Ridnaun

the town of Obertilliach

Church in Obertilliach

Skiing in Obertilliach

playing in the snow with Cindy

Skiing in Obertilliach

No racing :(

2009-12-19T00:29:00.000-07:00

Well today is another cold day and my sore throat has gotten worse. I decided it would best not to get any more worse by racing, because about 7days after I get home I have my Olympic trial races. So resting up and being 100% for those races is my main priority right now. I am pretty bummed because I love pursuit races so this was a tough decision!

Today we drive back to Munich and fly home tomorrow, just in time for Christmas!

Happy Holidays and stay healthy!
hugs
Rosanna

7.5km Sprint, Obertilliach

2009-12-18T12:37:00.000-07:00

Today was a balmy -17! Where we are in Obertilliach the range is in a little gully surrounded by a creek, with the humidity it feels a lot colder. The mens race almost didn’t go because it was close to the -20 cut off.

I was bib #36, so I made sure I was toasty warm before my race, wearing almost all the warm clothes I had brought with me! My parents came over to watch Chandra race in Davos and then made their way over here to cheer me on. It was great having my mom cheer for me up the long up hill. I started off strong and came in for my first shooting, after a couple arms circles I took my 5 shots and left the range with clean shooting! Rip past the penalty loop and back out on course. Going around the course I kept telling my self to demand more and push out side my comfort zone. It felt great to be able to do what I asked. I came into my standing bout with warm hands and fired off my first 3 shots, hit, hit, hit, miss, hit, perfect 9/10 much better than last weekend. One quick penalty loop and back out on course. I pictured my mom and dad cheering for me all the way around the 2.5km loop. I ended up 27th out of 116 girls! I am pretty happy with my result. This also means that I get to start the pursuit tomorrow. I start 1min53sec behind first, so with some good shooting I should be able to move up some spots.

It is supposed to be colder than it was today so their is a chance that the race will be canceled, which would be too bad. I have also been fighting a sore throat the past couple days which is always annoying!

Stay classy,

hugs

Rosanna

7.5km Sprint, Ridnaun

2009-12-13T09:42:00.000-07:00

Today was the sprint, a nice short race with only two shooting bouts. Things started off well I was skiing fast and feeling great. I came in for my first shooting and hit 4 prone. Not bad for a sprint. I whipped around the 2.5km loop and came in for my standing shooting. Maybe I skied too fast or maybe I didn’t set up right but I missed my first 3 shots, deep breath and hit, hit. 3 laps around the penalty loop and I was back out on course. The sprint course is much nicer than the individual course here. Only one super steep up hill!

Today I was bib #2 so there was not much to compare to till people started crossing the finish line. In the end I as 48th out of 106 women. Hopefully next weekend back in Obertilliach I can pull together a good skiing race and a good shooting! We have a sprint race on Friday and a pursuit on Saturday then it is home for Christmas!

Hope you are all well!

hugs

Rosanna

15km Individual, Ridnaun Italy

2009-12-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

Today was my first ever 15km Individual and it was tough! Ridnaun has a course that could give Canmore’s World Cup course a run for their money. Steep up hills with some sketchy downhills. Individuals are all about the shooting, because for ever shot you miss you get 1min added to your ski time and one minute is hard to make up in skiing.

I started out at a good pace and came into the range for my first prone bout, five solid hits and back out on course. Around the 3km loop and in for my first standing bout, another five hits! With the down hills it was always good to try to be in front, cause if you got stuck behind someone who snow plowed you were just as likely to fall as them, I managed to avoid any sketchy downhill people so that was good. Third shooting was prone I hit my first four targets but missed my last one. Last bout was standing and I missed my first shot but pulled my self together to hit the next 4. 18/20 one of my better shooting days! The last loop is always fun, cause you can let loose not worrying about saving anything or having to shoot again. My bib number was 23 so on that last loop I was told I was seconds out of the top ten. Hammering up every hill, channeling my inner Chandra on every downhill, sprint the last up hill into the finished. I crossed the line in 6th! After everyone finished, 78 people, I was 26th, no bad for my first individual as a senior women!

Tomorrow is the 7.5km sprint, a distance I can handle better! So wish me luck.

Hugs

Rosanna

Italia

2009-12-10T12:32:00.001-07:00

After driving down the windy road from Obertilliach, we drove up the windy road to Ridnaun and arrived safe and sound! The internet here is pretty expensive so after this post there probably won’t be a new one till Monday when we are back in Obertilliach. Tomorrow is race prep and then it will be my first 15km Individual on Saturday! I am feeling pretty nervous, I haven’t done a race longer than 12.5km ever I think! The course here is tough, all the up hills are straight walls and the down hills are super sketchy. But with some good shooting I could have a great race. Sunday will be a 7.5km Sprint. We will have somewhere between 100 and 120 starters!

We are staying at the Scheneberg again, one of my favorite hotels. It’s fun because all the countries are staying at the same hotel, so you get to meet up with everyone from last year.

Wish me luck and you will be able to look up results on http://www.biathlonworld2.de/en/

Hugs

Rosanna

Austrian Cup

2009-12-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

Today we took part in an Austrian cup, a 12.5km Individual. Jet lagged has been pretty rough this tour. I am usually pretty good with it, but this year it is punishing. Night one - good sleep! Night two - four bad sleep around 5-6hrs, which is down from my average of 10hrs in Canmore. Going in todays race I knew it was to going to be hard, Yodel (aka Matthias) said that if I feel too punished to just stop at 7.5km. Well as soon as those words left his mouth I knew that at 7.5km my brain would shut down and I would not be able to ski fast anymore. So I did the 3 out of 4 shootings and hit 13/15 and stopped at 7.5km. I think this was a good choice, it got some cob webs out and hopefully tonight I will sleep through the night.

Tomorrow we have an easier day, so after some light training in the morning will make our way down to Linz for some shopping. I’ve been told there is an awesome Christmas market!

Right now the World Cup team had just finished their first races in Sweden and will be making their way to Hochfilzen, Austria tomorrow. JP Legullec had some amazing races with a 10th in the Individual and a 12th in the Sprint, a very nice start to the season for him. From the women’s side Zina had some decent races, skiing like a champ but having a few too many misses. Megan Tandy and Sandra Keith have both gotten sick so neither did the Sprint and then without them they didn’t get to do the relay. Hopefully they will be feeling better by next weekends races.

Be sure to stay warm in Canmore!

Hugs

Rosanna

Starting to look a lot like winter...

2009-12-04T12:29:00.001-07:00

This past weekend there was the first official races in Canmore. North American Cup #1 went of with a couple of glitches, like no snow, but was still a success. Saturday was a 7.5km sprint, I hit 9/10 and came 2nd behind Megan Imrie who hit 10/10! Megan was leaving Monday for Europe so on Sunday I got to start the Pursuit. Pursuits are always my fav race cause you get to chase people while being chased! Quite a few athletes from the US had come up to race so there was some stiff competition. I hit 9/10 prone but had some trouble with my standing, 6/10, leaving me in 3rd. Overall not a bad weekend for my first races as a senior woman. I had been feeling a bit sluggish going into these races cause we had been doing some loading (lot of hours) leading into them. So I was able to test my race legs out and am hoping they will just keep feeling better.

Then the time came to pack my bag and make for the Calgary airport. We fly into Munich and then drove to Obertilliach, Austria where we will train for about 6 days before going to Ridnaun, Italy for our first races. After a long day of travel we made it to Obertilliach and it didn’t stop snowing till Friday night. Friday we did some easy training and tried not to nap! Sunday there is an Austrian cup here so we will get to have a race before the IBU ones start.

I am super excited for the season to get started and to test out my race legs again. This will be my first tour before Christmas! I have either been injured or had some health problem and not been able to go. So wish me luck and I will keep you all posted!!

Hugs

Rosanna

What a fine life we are living...

2009-11-14T10:41:00.000-07:00

Mid November all ready and things are getting under way. After spending 5 brutal sessions on the roller ski treadmill it was time to chase down the snow! The chase has taken us to Lake Louise, Mtn. Shark and around and around in circles at the Nordic Center. With race season right around the corner all the athletes in town are hoping and praying' for cold weather and snow!

On Friday we had our first on snow time trial up at Mtn.Shark. I don't know what it is about Mtn. Shark but if just leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. Maybe it was the months and months of driving up their in grade 12 after school while renovations were going on at the Nordic Center. But the high altitude, mixed with a bumpy range just doesn’t work for me. So I got the first race jitters out of the way and am looking forward to the next one on Tuesday.

At the end of November our first Nor Am races are in Canmore and then December 2nd I take off for Europe. I am really looking forward to the race season this winter, with a solid block of training behind me I am in the best shape ever!

Roller ski treadmil at the U of C.

Megan Imrie after a hard interval

Skiing in Lake Louise

Shooting at Mtn. Shark

See you on the trails
hugs
Rosanna

e-mail

2009-10-30T16:01:00.000-06:00

Hey,

I now have an e-mail you can send me any questions or comments you have! I will try my best to respond to each one!

rocrawf@hotmail.com

thanks
Rosanna

signed BBB calender

2009-10-29T14:32:00.000-06:00

On sale on ebay is a limited edition signed bold beautiful biathlon calender. So if you missed out the first time or are looking for a signed one here is your chance!! Be sure to pass the link onto anyone you think might be interested!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120486680749

Dogs

2009-10-24T12:56:00.000-06:00

This May we got a new puppy from the Cochrane SPCA. We got to pick her up when she was 2 months old and just a tiny ball of fur! Sadly around the time we got Moki we found out that our older dog Strider had cancer. It was a hard time for our whole family, especially since Strider was only 8. We got Strider from a friend of ours who lives up near Hinton. My brother and mom drove up their and picked out Strider and brought him home. He was the perfect puppy and him being around brought Rascal (our other dog) back to life! Sadly at the end of July we had to put Strider down. Strider was really my brother’s dog and Jordan’s best friend. It’s been hard without him but we will never forget him!
Dogs are incredible that not only are they your best friend but your psychologist, doctor and training buddy. No matter what kind of day you had they are always happy to see you and looking for a cuddle! I have always had dogs in my life and could not imagine it without one or two!
So give your dog or cat a cookie and remember they only don’t listen cause they love you!

woof woof

Summer and Fall 2009

2009-10-24T12:35:00.001-06:00

Well it is almost November and I have neglected my blog very well! That was not my intention but I could have sworn that yesterday it was July! The summer passed in a blur of sweet training and no injuries! Well except in July when I got my tonsils out, but since then it has been smooth sailing. This was my first summer in 3 years that I was able to do 3 months of training un-interrupted! No sickness, no injuries, it was AMAZING! (knock on wood)
The season started off with a great road 4 day bike camp from Revelstoke to Nelson and back. Day one roller ski up Mtn Revy, Day two bike to Nelson, Day three bike back to Revy, Day four roller ski up Mtn Revy again! We had great weather and got to spend some time with our lovely men’s team! Almost as soon as I got home from Revy I had to have my tonsils out. I was constantly getting sore throats that would last for weeks so the docs thought we should take them out. Now let me tell you getting your tonsils out is VERY unpleasant. It’s not all ice cream and jell-o like they make it up to be. It’s no talking and no food, I almost went crazy. But I had my amazing mother to keep me company!
After healing from tonsil removal I headed to the west coast to Whistler, to shoot and train at the Olympic venue as much as possible. After two weeks of wicked training with my team mates, Zina, Megan and Sandra we made our way back to Canmore. August was spent getting ready for trials at the beginning of September. These trial races map out the race season before Christmas.
I was feeling pretty nervous going into those races, but I knew that I had trained hard and improved immensely since last year. Also I was a rock star on the shooting range! The first race was a 7.5km sprint, and things went well, skiing didn’t feel as good as I hoped but I hit 9/10 and came 5th. (side note, the top 4 qualify for the World Cups before Christmas.) Day two was a 10km pursuit I hit 18/20 and was 5th. Day three was 12.5km mass start format I hit 17/20 and was 5th! So I didn’t qualify for the World Cup, but did make it onto the IBU cup. Meaning that December 1st I head over to Europe to race in Austria and Italy.
The rest of September I trained in Canmore. Then at the start of October I joined the Canmore Nordic ski club to do some training in Revy again. We had a great time and even got some snow!
Now it is the end of October and we are ramping things up getting ready for the season and just hoping for snow! This week and the next 2 weeks we are going into Calgary to do some testing on the roller ski treadmill at the U of C. Always a good time, I will put some photos up of how awesome it is!
On qualifying for the Olympics I still have a couple opportunities to make the team and plan on training as hard as I can until the team is announced!

Wish me luck and see you on the trails!
Hugs
Rosanna

A few photos from some of the things I did this summer...

Jaime Robb and Dominique Carrier got married at the start of October. It was beautiful!

Megan and I got to be movie stars for a day, filming a mini movie with Athletes in motion.

Pizza party with my lovely girls!