Last week I went down to Carrabassett Vally with MWSC for
Maine Team Camp. This camp is exclusively for Maine skiers that have qualified
for Eastern High School Championships or the J2 Festival. The week was full of
training and good times. The week started off with L3 intervals on the
rollerskis followed up by a long 5 hour hike, L4 hill bounding intervals,
Strength and trail running. All capped off with the famous Will Sweetser
Scavenger Hunt. 2.5 hours of running through the woods looking for questions on
cardboard. This Hunt featured running on trails, bushwhacking, running down a
river and walking through a bog.
The bog was definitely an experience I won’t soon forget.
When first walking up to the bog it looked like there was about a foot of water
followed by some mud. I was wrong. Upon taking my first step into the water I
sunk down 3 feet until there was muck and mud up to my abs, then a foot of
water to my neck. With every step I
could feel the mud trying to pull my shoes off. While standing in the muck
reading the question. I noticed 6 inch black snakes slithering around in the
water. Then I realized they weren’t snakes, they were huge leeches. It was
nasty. Luckily I didn’t find any on me.
Reading a question during scavenger race.
"The Cave" during our hike
80% muck. 20% water 100% nasty
Leeches
reaching for the question
run through a river
Coach Will Sweetser instructing
PG boys eating lunch during hike
Nice view
Team run
Swimming hole that was really freaking cold
This week is one of my biggest weeks of the year in terms of
training hours so if you need me I’ll be out training. Thanks for visiting.
Follow me on Twitter: @bhbiathlon, Instagram: @brhalligan and facebook
Now that it is the end of June I have made the "End of June Video" as I was making it I thought of a great idea for the "End of July Video" so I'll be working on that one this month. Have a great 4th of July!
I have been attending biathlon camps at the U.S. Olympic
Training Center (OTC) in Lake Placid, New York for many years now, but this one
was different. I had always been there training in the shadow of the National
Team but this time I was there training with the National Team.
When I first arrived I met the new USBA shooting coach Jonas
Johansson, and met up with some friends like Sean Doherty and Susan Dunklee.
Our first workout was some L4 race pace intervals at the new
roller loop behind the Ski Jumps. Due to the Time Trial we had in Fort Kent
only two days earlier I felt gassed and unable to go fast.
That afternoon I was able to meet With Jonas in the SCATT
room to work on shooting. (SCATT is a program that allows you to see where you’re
aiming on the target via a laser that is attached to the end of the rifle.) After
a Solid two hours of working on getting in and out of position and shooting at
paper, Jonas and I were able to come up with some good thing to work on while
shooting, and keys to think about.
Some other “adventures” that happened during the camp was a
Hike up Big Crow, Little Crow and Hurricane mountains. Unfortunately it was
foggy and rainy that day so there was no view (literally couldn’t see 10 feet)
There was a Rhythmic Gymnastics event at the OTC this
Weekend so there were about 250 15 year old Girls at the OTC this week. After talking
to a small group of them (just trying to be friendly) there was constant “HI
BRIAN!!” whenever I walked in the hallway, entered the cafeteria or strolled
through the lobby. I did find some time
to watch a little of the competition. I wasn’t sure how the scoring worked, or
what was going on at all really. But some of the routines were pretty
impressive.
Overall I would say the camp was a success. It was good to
meet my new coaches and teammates, also to see how typical National Team training
sessions go. I look to bring this professionalism back to FK and use it in my
everyday training.
Thanks for visiting, Follow me on Facebook, Instagram
(@brhalligan) and twitter (@bhbiathlon)
Also I added some pictures of my newly finished stock! (I know some of you have been asking for pictures)
Week
one of Fort Kent living is in the books and I am finally back to full time training.
(I know I was boring a lot of you with golf course stuff). It is good to be
back in “The County” there has been beautiful weather so far, except the drive up,
which was pretty rainy and miserable. But, as I sit here on this beautifully
warm spring afternoon, in this relaxing rocking chair looking down the St. John
Valley at the U.S. and Canada fitting together like a puzzle, seemed together
by the St. John River, I can honestly say, it is good to be back.
view of Canada from the house
Since getting here on Wednesday I have been hard at work
training. Mountain bikes in Canada, rollerskis at the 10th Mountain
Outdoor Center, runs down the never ending Heritage ATV Trail and even some
shooting. Getting back on that training grind makes me feel so at home, and
even motivates me to work harder.
Biking down by the range
Before and after of my and Casey's bike ride. It's hard to tell but in the "after" we're very dirty
As much
of a physical sport biathlon is, it’s an even more mental sport. And this year
I have decided to up my mental game. I have been reading a book called “Mind
Gym” by Gary Mack. This book has been great in pointing out what the difference
is between athletes with good talent and those who become legends. I definitely
recommend this book to anyone looking to up their game on the field, trails,
court or even at the office or place of work. These techniques can help you in
everyday life if applied correctly. Another book recommended is “With Winning in
Mind” by Lany Bassham. I read it last year and will be reading it again soon.
On the maintenance side of life, I had to replace a flat tire after a ride on Sunday. The spare tube I had had a hole in it so that was no good. However, I was able to find another tube in my bag of assorted stuff. unfortunately that one exploded in my hand because I pumped it up too much (I don't think I pumped it up too much, It said 65 PSI and it was only at 50 at the time). Anyway the blast was enough to wake up the neighbors little yipe dog. On a brighter side, my Coach Seth and I put the finishing touches on my new stock (hand piece, staining, you know rifle stuff), Thanks for stopping by, feel free to send me a friend request on Facebook and follow my on Twitter @bhbiathlon and Instagram @brhalligan4
The United States Postal Service has made many stops at the Halligan house this past week. First was the much anticipated arrival of my new stock! After breaking my stock during the individual at Junior Worlds this past winter, I put in an order to Timo Antilla. After a few months of talking back and forth about fitting and delivery the new stock finally found its way to my door step.
New stock in action at SBC
New Stock
A few days later the mail man found his way to my house again. This time to deliver my new business cards. I decided to get business cards because I found a lot of people asking me multiple times how to follow my career. I would tell them how they could follow me, then, next time I see them they'd ask again because they forgot.
card design
Card in real life
my whole life I've always wondered if I'd be able to keep up with the Peloton in a big bike race like the Tour De France. well I can now officially say I cannot. Here is how I came to this conclusion. On Tuesday last week I decided to go to the Blue Sky Bike Shop Tuesday Night Ride. There were about 25-30 people who came out that night for the ride. our plan was to ride around Saratoga Lake then head out towards the next town over then ride right back. Over all it would be about a 40-45 mile (64-72 km) ride. It started off pretty easy but we were moving at a pretty fast pace. But 25 miles in (40 km), we got out of town and the pace picked up really fast and before I knew it, I dropped off the back and was alone in the middle of nowhere. Luckily I knew where I was going and completed the ride on my own. I also took a little different rout home and ended up with 52 miles (83 km). In all fairness though my bike is a few hundred dollars and the next cheapest one was probably over a grand. oh well.
It has been a while since I made a blog post. It’s not
because I haven’t been doing anything, I’ve just been doing the same stuff
since I last posted. I’m still working at Glens Falls Country Club. The only
difference is I now have a partner in crime. Ex-section Nordic skiing champ and
longtime friend, Will “the Rotary Machine” Frielinghaus. Together with the help
of Tim “21” Messina, we have been able to mow around all the tees, up and down
all the road sides, and clean up all the grass near the clubhouse at record
pace. Working with Will is also very entertaining, the amount of jokes and
laughs shared throughout the day makes the 8 hours go by pretty fast. Some memorable quotes off the top of my head: “it’s
like getting paid to train” in reference to running as fast as you can with a
lawn mower. “I’m a geology minor” after throwing at least 100 rocks at a bigger
rock trying to get them to break in half. “I’m getting a laser for my townhouse
next year” this line comes up at least 5 times a day for no reason at all in
reference to absolutely nothing. This is Will’s last week at GFCC before he
moves out to Wisconsin for summer training. Unfortunately I was unable to race
will this past winter but these two weeks of working with him was a great time
and it was good to catch up.
On the training side of life, I have only been training
twice every three days. However, thanks to the amount of running, raking and
tamping I’ve been doing at work, I feel like I’m in pretty good shape. I’ve
been doing mostly bike riding, 30, 40 and 50 milers. Hopefully I’ll pop a
really long one in there before the summers over. I’ve also been joining team
HURT for their Monday night rollerskis. Most of my training this past week has been with Will (wow I just realized I've been hanging out with Will a lot)
At the end of the month I’ll be heading back up to Maine to
start the summer training season. It’s too bad because I’ve been home for a
month and all my friends are finally coming home from college, right as I leave.
Oh well.
I’ve mead a few updates to my blog. I have added a “Friends
Blog’s” page where I will list my teammate’s blogs, competitor’s blogs and
general biathlon blogs/websites. So if you want to read up on how they’re doing
you can easily find their information here. Also I will be starting a new
feature on my blog SONG OF THE WEEK! Song of the week is just to sum up my
mood/feeling of that week, also to spread some good music to the world. This week’s
song of the week is “Better Run” by the Royal Bangs. The music video is a little
“interesting” but aren't all music videos? Sorry there weren't any pictures this week, so here's one of the gang that terrorizes the neighborhood: The Catricalligans
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