Part 3: Plans for the Future.

A lot of people have been asking me what races I will be doing to wrap up my season. This is my last year to compete at Junior Nationals (which I have never been to). NorAm championships and Canadian Nationals are shaping up to have some competitive competition. And US biathlon nationals in Truckee California sound like a ton of fun in the sun. But my answer is none! And here is why:

All summer, fall and winter I have been battling constant fatigue and tiredness. When I start to go hard or try to ski a race effort I feel like I can only keep the pace for a maximum on 3 minutes. Then my legs begin to feel very heavy and weak. My arms then begin to tire and before you know it my body feels like it’s been racing for an hour and it’s only been 10 minutes. 

If you recall “The Warning Signs Were There” from August I talked about suffering through the Rollerski Races in Jericho. I thought it was because I didn’t have enough rest in between Jr. and Sr. races. But later on in the fall I when we went back to Jericho I suffered from the same fatigue and had poor results. I still tried to keep my head up and blame it on a large training block or something. Then there was the North Haven Lobster Roll 15K rollerski race where I thought I was going to drop out half way through. Followed by early season skiing in Canmore where I felt ok skiing but was getting passed like crazy by people whom I was competitive with the year before. 

Racing in Jericho

Racing in Canmore

The only time I did not feel like crap while going hard in the past 10 months was while racing at Mt. Itasca for IBU and Jr. World trials. But Itasca is a unique course in that it is very technical and the skiers who can ski the transitions better will do the best.

They say you win some and you learn some. And that’s what I am going to do. Learn what worked this year and what didn’t. There are many things that will have to be changed in next year’s training plan but for right now I am going to get a head start on my recovery season. 

Shooting at Mt. Itasca

Racing at Mt. Itasca

More Mt. Itasca racing.

One thing I thought showed great improvement over last year however was my mental preparation and focus towards training and racing. I have learned so much about how to be in the right mental state for success I can’t wait for everything to come together both mentally and physically in the future.

I truly love Biathlon and cross country skiing. One of my fondest memories from growing up was the J2 (U16) festival. The fact that all my friends and I could join up together as one team to represent New York against all the other New England states seemed like so much fun, And it was. I am a true believer that trips like that is where kids fall in love with the sport. So that is why I have volunteered to coach the U16 team in Fort Kent this year. The sport has given so much to me now I want to give my time back. And who knows, the next Martin Fourcade could be on this trip and fall in love with the sport the same way I did.

Now that my season is over I will be cutting back on the frequency of blog posts until the summer. I will update once or twice in the next 2 months just to let you know I am still alive but I will still be posting on Facebook, Twitter (@bhbiathlon) and Instagram (@brhalligan4) regularly. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me. This season has had a lot of ups and downs and would not have been possible without you. Words cannot describe how grateful I am for my friends and family. Thank you!

15 year old me and the New York crew on our way to J2's (now U16s)
P.S. That blonde in the middle raced on the world cup this year!