Oh Snow!

It was raining Christmas morning. Skiing was not the greatest and the range was closed. I had smacked my head hard on the wall during the night (Who knows what I was dreaming about) and for some reason I had no electricity in my room.

But then....lunch! Yes, things are looking up. A nice Christmas lunch out with 4 Brazilians, 1 brit, and 7 Aussies. Oh, and me, the Kiwi. Nice lunch and for dessert they gave us Heiße leibe. For those of you Germans giggling out there, "Hot love" was a great dessert (but strangely enough it was ice cream, not so hot).

Back to the accommodation and Mum and Dad opened their Christmas presents I gave them on Skype. So, we had a bit of Christmas together which was great. As I sat their watching them admiring my clay-bowl-shaped things I had made at the Borrowmans pottery studio (www.ofcabbagesandkings.ca) I noticed a change outside.

OH MY...It' snowing! Yessssss! So, thank you Santa for bringing us the great Christmas gift. Training today was absolutely spectacular. Blue skies, no clouds, perfect snow, around -10. Beautiful!

Christmas in a Cupboard

Christmas Eve- 2010- I am in Obertilliach, Austria in my cupboard size room. Today my father called me on Skype and my mother called my father from work on the home phone, so I was talking to my mother on skype through the phone while she was at work. Hilarious! My parents are awesome.

I drove from Alleghe, Italy to Obertilliach, Austria today. All the passes were open and it was a very nice drive through Cortina and Dobbiaco and all those crazy places. I would love to come back one day and road bike here, gorgeous!

So now I am all settled in in Obertilliach. My bathroom is bigger than my bedroom and I have no kitchen, or plug ins. I think I am in an old cupboard space or something. Oh goodness, how hilarious.

My last race in Pokjluka was not great. I woke up with a very sore quad and could not walk up or down stairs very easily. I raced on it in tough conditions and it was painful. I also did not shoot very well; 6/10. It was the most dissappointing race of the season, BUT you can always learn. I learned that falling on your tailbone in Hochfilzen can then cause problems later on in other parts of your body.

At least, this is what the Italian physio told me. He was amazing. There was one physio in this whole valley and he saw me 3 days in a row and fixed me. I walked in and he said 'Its your back'. He did not even look at my leg. Superstar? I think so! So he massaged and heated and zapped and lazered my back and now my pain is gone and I feel great! Go random man in the middle of nowhere! Woo!

I went for a nice ski in the rain today, and real training starts tomorrow. Christmas day! The greatest gift would be snow, not rain! (except for maybe world Happiness and love for everyone).

So, MERRY CHRISTMAS and I hope all your wished come true!

Awesome Alleghe

I must still write about the Pokljuka sprint, but I am on limited internet. Right now I am Alleghe, Italy in the middle of the Dolomites. I have been here for 2 days and it is just a bit of rest time before i head to Obertilliach, Austria for more training.

There is no internet in the town and only 1300 people. It is so beautiful and a great place to 'get-away' as they say. As soon as I have more internet I will fill you in on the sprint, but lets just say it was not awesome.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is my 2nd X-mas away from the Fam fam, which is good as they are saving money with me away. Haha, I am hilarious!

Yay team! Stay awesome!

Sorry Slovenia, but your range doesn't like me!

Thursday- 10:48am, I started a 15km Individual in Pokjluka, Slovenia. Conditions were perfect- it was -10 or something, hard and fast snow, and I was happy with my start number (54).

Coming into the range everything looked good. The wind was a little bit up from the right so I went one right and hit 5! Woo, great start! Ski, ski, ski and I was feeling good and keeping up with other competitors. Standing, that was a different story. 4 misses! 4 MISSES- WHO misses 4? I was shocked and went out on course not so pleased. Okay, prone time, this is what your good at Sarah.....3 misses. OMG, I cannot believe it. That is already 7 misses and I still have one more shooting. Crap!

I was still feeling good on the skis and coming into the last standing I was thinking "Well, seeing as your standing is awful lets try a different direction and maybe something will happen". So instead of shooting C-B-A-D-E I shot E-D-C-B-A and ended up hitting 5. Woohoo and thank goodness.

I skied hard my last loop and ended up finishing 104th. 7 misses is so bad and I am not please with myself, but.....What are ya gonna do. Don't dwell on it, figure out what the heck you did wrong and move on.

Tomorrow is a rest day and then it is the sprint on Saturday. Hope life is treating you all well. Party hard friends!

Roaring Ridnaun

Ridnaun, I am not going to lie, is absolutely amazing. It is at the very end of a big valley in the Alps in Italy and it is beautiful. I was staying at the Schneeberg, which is a fancy hotel with big rooms, 3 course lunches and dinners and a huge Sauna area with about 15 different types of saunas. Luxury!

I arrive on Friday and had Saturday off of racing. Just went for a couple skis during the day and enjoyed myself. It was nice to just be able to relax for a day. I happened to bump into my coach in the hotel whom I had not seen for 3 or so months so that was exciting. I also bumped into two Kiwis- Phil and Olivia from Wanaka. They were in Ridnaun attending an IBU development camp. We ended up eating our meals together and spending some time together. It was great to see them!

For Sunday, the sprint, I was starter 17. I was excited to start so early as I never get to in World Cups. Right behind me, number 18, was Kathrin Hitzer, winner of the day before individual and amazing German athlete. We went into the range together and to my excitement I cleaned my prone and was out on the course before her.

My skiing was feeling great and once again Ukraine made amazing skis. Hitzer and I went into the range together again and I missed 2. 8/10 again, Im getting a bit bored with this number. Come on 10/10!

Anyways, I skied hard and ended up placing 46th. 2 mins 46 secs behind the leader and at the 10%. This is exciting at the New Zealand qualification is 12.5% behind in a World Cup. So if I have a similar ski race and a bit better shooting it will be awesome!

Now I am in Bled, Slovenia about to go for coffee with my amazing sponsor Manuel Steinbach.

Stay Classy, entire World! xoxox

Keine internet= keine sprechen

WOw, hello! So, it has been crazy since I last wrote! We had no internet in Austria and I felt very disconnected.

I left Sweden on Monday at 635am. It was so sad to say goodbye to my friends but I will see them again, so its no problem. I flew to Stockholm, and then Coppenhagen, where I had 4 hours to bum around. It is an amazing airport, more like a mall. The shops are all prada, Louis Vuitton, I dunno, I'm awful with brands, but all the highest end ones. It was a bit intimidating, haha, so I hung out in the book store. Nerd Alert!

I flew from Coppenhagen to Munich, where I got onto a shuttle bus with the Polish and USA team and we rocked it up to Hochfilzen. I was staying at the same hotel as Ukraine, and the same one as last year, Gasthof Obermair. It was great, but there was no snow and upon arrival it was raining. Not so hot.

On Wednesday and Thursday our prayers were answered and some snow fell. Very wet snow, but it covered the track and made it look a lot prettier (because that is really important when your racing, to have a pretty scenery). Friday was th sprint, and I was starter 67, starting at 1145am. It was a good number and I was feeling good. During my warmup I was running up the road doing some leg lifts and, I dunno, maybe my leg lifts are a little too extreme, because I slipped, flew into the air, and landed directly onto my tail bone. Wholly mother that hurt. My dad did the same thing a few years ago, so you would know Pops!

Anyways, I was so so sore going to the start line, but it was all good. My first loop felt pretty good, but the course was very very soft. I missed 1 in prone, and that penalty loop sucked. It was a toughy. I hit 4 in standing as well so 8 out of 10, but my back was killing me from that dang fall. The finish line was really tough because it was so slow and on an uphill. Nobody looked awesome finishing yesterday, thats for sure.

Because I was not in the top 60 I was not racing in the pursuit the next day, and New Zealand once again was not putting a relay in, SO I packed up my stuff and jumped into a van with my Ukraine Papa and we drove to Italy.

I am now in Ridnaun Italy, which is so beautiful, and I will be racing tomorrow in the Sprint. Woohoo! I also saw my wonderful coach, Janez Vodichar, and the Canadian team. Ballin!

Stay awesome Superstars!

Östersund World Cup- Sprint!

So, after the Individual the women had a 2 day break from racing. It was good, just having a normal training day, where I went for a nice classic ski and the men had their 20km Individual. Friday was official training again, and I was feeling better and better. I have now slept through 2 full nights, so I am now in the European rhythm.

Friday night, Östersund had a Christmas market, with a whole bunch of booths and such. It was really nice to go somewhere new. Whilst standing by the fire, I felt my World Cup accreditation fall from my pocket. As I am searching the ground, someone said "Oh no, the fire!". My accreditation had fallen into the fire! Who knows how but it was pretty hilarious. Anyways, now I don't have any World Cup identification until the next World Cup in Hochfilzen. So silly.

So, for the Sprint race I was starter 66. A great number, and a good start time, at 12:03pm. This race was much earlier because it was on a weekend and they wanted as many spectators as possible. That is why the Individual was so late, so people could come after work.

Back to the race. It was great. I hit 4 prone, and 4 standing- 8/10 hits, which is not amazing but I'll take it. I ended up 92nd, which is my 2nd best place in a World Cup ever. I also made the 20% qualification, so now I am all qualified for WC 4, 5 and 6! Woohoo! I also compared my times from last years exact same race and I have improved by 2 minutes or so. Which is pretty ballin, I think!

So, it was a successful day in Sarah Murphy's world. I don't think New Zealand is going to put a relay team in for tomorrows race. The whole team is pretty tired. So I am just going to go for a long ski. Haha. I leave early Monday morning for Hochfilzen, Germany. Woohoo, should be fun!

Take care, smile and have fun!!!!

Östersund World Cup!

Well, what a week it has been! I got back to Ostersund from Idre on Monday, the 30th. Back to Leif's palace which is paradise compared to any hotel. It is just amazing cooking your own food, sleeping in a wonderful bed and having place to just chill with great company. It is also only a 5 or so minute walk to the venue, which is perfect. Not gonna lie, Leif is one of the nicest people I have met!

The next day, Tuesday, was already official training for the first World Cup race; the 15km Individual. I trained with the Ukraine team, whom I absolutely love. They wax my ski, zero me, and let me travel with them for not a lot. Just an accreditation at World Cups, so I think they are amazing.

On Wednesday, at 6:52pm, I started my first Individual since last February. It is so tough racing so late because you have aaaallll day to just hang out. I would go to bed a bit later so that I could sleep later in the morning, and then wouldn't get tired being up and about all day. Anyways, the Individual was not a super race for me. My skiing felt better than in Idre, but my shooting was a bit pathetic: 1-3-1-3. SO I had 8 misses, that is 8 minutes added onto my time. I ended up 109th, but I heard 109th is the new first so its no problem.

Next blog ASAP!

First Races- Idre, Sweden- Oh sweet sweet Sweden

Hello all! Well, the first two races of the season are done. It's amazing how fast things come up! My sleeping patterns have been absolutely crazy since arriving here; I probably got about 3 hours on the trip over, 11 hours Tuesday night, 2 hours Wednesday night, 7 hours Thursday night and Friday and Saturday night have been not so hot with my being awake at 1 am until about 4 or 5. I may not have been perfectly rested at the start of these races, but that's okay, I did them anyways. Good training, right?!?!

SO the first race was on Saturday and the women raced after the boys at 1pm. It was a bit rough because those beastly boys cut up the track and softened it quite a bit, making it more challenging. I was starter 44 out of 115 women, which I was pleased with, and my wonderful Ukraine coach, Vilius, zeroed me. I hope thats his name....I am SO awful. Pretty much Ukraine men are: Vitaly, Alexander, Sergey. So, yo have a 1 in 3 chance of getting it right...pretty good odds I think.

Well, anyways, I felt alright racing, but not super. It seemed like I was just there, doing it. I could not push myself. I hit 7/10- 1 miss prone, 2 miss standing, which is a bit too many misses. I ended up 98th, which did not please me. BUT I was happy to be here racing getting prepped for the World Cups.

So that night I did not sleep again; Partly jet lag and I think also my mind was thinking too much about the season. Anyways, today I woke up at 10am because the race start was so late and I wanted to try and sleep as much as possible. I was starter 41 today and felt worse then yesterday, haha. But that's okay. Went out and did it and I hit 8/10- 1 miss prone, 1 miss standing. I placed 68th, a better placing than yesterday and 1 minute faster, so that was nice.

Now I am sitting on a couch in the hotel lobby with Alan Eason from Britain, listening to the chatter of the Lithuanians beside me. Oh how life is grand. Tomorrow, my Ukraine Papa and I are driving to Ostersund to get ready for the races there.

Bis bald!

xxoxox Smile!

Interesting Idre

Hello All! I hope life is just great.

Well, I stayed at Leif's for 2 nights. It was great having a comfortable place to just relax. The day after I arrived Leif and I went for a 1 hour 45 mins run in Ostersund. It was raining, but +2 degrees so pretty warm. Leif took us, I guess you could say, on a bit of an adventure; around a lake where there was a warning sign about cows, past a circus, through a muddy farmers field, and finally up to the top of the local ski hill. Leif got me all exciting by telling me all about the beautiful view at the top. Upon arrival, we had an amazing view of the mass of clouds we were in. It was hilarious. But as we ran down the ski hill and emerged from the clouds we could see a bit of the area and it was gorgeous. That night, I surprised Leif, and myself, by making an edible chicken lasagna. Let's just say the last time I cooked I caught a tea towel on fire causing there to be a permanent boot mark on the wood floor and broke a pot, spilling it's contents all over the floor
92 separate occasions). So it was pretty exciting that nothing crazy happened and I only cut my finger once.

The next morning, I have to thank Leif so so much, he drove me at 6:50am to meet the Swedish team. We packed the covered trailer full, I mean FULL to the brim, and all squished into a couple different cars. We were like clown cars almost. Now let me remind you, last year on our drive down we slid off the road into the ditch, were pulled out by a crazy Norwegian man, and almost hit a hundred Raindeer. So this year I was hoping for a smooth trip: Nein, niet, no way.

30 or so minutes down the road our lovely Swedish filled van is pulled over by none other than some investigators. I don't even know if they are allowed to pull people over, I guess they are. There were 3 of them in this van and 2 of them got out to talk to the coach. Turns out he was not licensed to drive a VAN and a trailer, but he could pull a CAR and a trailer. So we have this huge trailer full of who knows what and we have to call one of the other drivers to come pick the trailer up in his little car. Oh man, it was hilarious watching them drive away as there was hundreds and hundreds of kg's in the trailer. Anyways, we sat some more and Jonas ended up getting a 3000Kronar ($500CND) fine for I'm not even sure. But, once again, our smooth trip did not go as smoothly as planned. After seeing two moose and a couple more Reindeer we made it to Idre and everything was super.

Today was my first day on skis in a week. It felt great but the track is a bit slippery so it should be interesting tomorrow. There is not a lot of snow but tonight it is supposed to snow 1/2 an inch and get to -2 degrees. I also met back up with my Ukraine team which was GREAT! I saw my Ukraine Papa and it was such a happy moment. It is really nice to have a team that knows you, and that you know, to support you even if you don't speak the same language. But, we have a large improvement already from last year: I bought a Russian/English dictionary! I know, crazy, but it might help a bit more!

I am number 44 tomorrow, starting at 1:22pm. There are 115 women and 159 men! There is more here than World Cups! It is absolutely insane, but exciting.

Take care, smile, have fun and stay healthy!

xoxo Sarah

Leif's palace!

I AM HERE! I was picked up at 7pm by my two wonderful friends, Lena and Leif. It was so great to see them. Leif moved into a great new apartment and Lena got married and s now 4 months pregnant! All my bags arrived on time, not like last year where none of them arrived. We went to the Supermarket and then back to Leifs, where I am staying until.....tomorrow! I am off to Idre tomorrow morning for the IBU cup, traveling down the the lovely Junior Swedish team.

We went for a 1 hour 40 mins run this morning and I was dead! Man, running all jetlagged sucks! Now we are relaxed on the couch, trying to stay awake.

Have fun, smile, and party hard Superstars!

Here we go....again!

After an amazing trip to Victoria to my brothers wedding and visiting family, the adventure has begun. I am currently in Stockholm airport, about to board my flight to Ostersund. I cannot understand too much around me except that they seem to have an infatuation with Tacks (Pretty positive it means ‘thank you’…yep it does, asked the man beside me) and everyone is very well dressed.

The day started at 7:30am when Mum, Dad, Erin and I squeezed (and I mean squeezed) into the family Matrix. Those cars are not made to have huge ski bags shoved through the middle, and then a rifle placed on top, and I don’t think my mother and sisters heads were made to hold them up…but it all worked and we caught the 9am ferry and made it to the airport in 1 piece. I checked my bags in, having to pay $100 for excess, and then my family left to drive another 8 hours and I went through the gate.

Funnily enough, as I am walking down to gate 55 (the farthest one as usual) I see a familiar red haired individual struttin her stuff down the walkway. My dear Cousin, Andrea and her husband Mike, were about to catch their plane to Cuba where they were planning a tough week of relaxing on the beach and trying to beat the World record of amount of tequila drunk in 14 days. Well, that was a pleasant surprise so I had some company in Vancouver. An hour after they left, I boarded my plane for Frankfurt, and away we went.

10 hours later, and feeling not to worse for wear, we landed softly in a rainy Frankfurt and I jumped off as my connecting flight was in an hour. What a walk! I hope no old people with canes have to do that one, or they should get an escort because it is pretty dang long. After another security check I made it to my flight in time to board right onto it. It is only a 2 hour flight from Frankfurt to Stockholm and I slept almost the whole way.

Upon arriving in Stockholm I had no problems with the police as I had all my paperwork printed and set. How proud am I! Things were going great, I go to get my baggage tags, and for the first time in my biathlon career I am told I have to separate my bolt from my rifle. I have traveled all day from Canada, I have gone to Korea, New Zealand, and the States with my rifle, and I have never heard of this. So anyways, since my other bags were gone I had to transfer things from my carry-on backpack and take my bolt from my locked firearms case, wrap it in my fuzzy toque, and then check my backpack. It is never ever the same, but I guess that makes it such an adventure.

My flight boards in 18 minutes and then I am done for the day. Total travel hours for the day will be: approx. 28.

Happy travels!

Sarah

Almost time!!

Well, times a comin! Only 6 days until I leave, heading for my brothers wedding in Victoria, BC. He is marrying a lovely lovely lady, Brigit, and I am flying out on Thursday and then.....if you can believe it...Monday I fly out of Vancouver for Sweden!!!!WOOHOO! It's near, my friends, it's near.

First update from Canmore, Canada

"There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream."  ~Author Unknown

Since leaving New Zealand, life has been really great. I have had 5 weeks of steady training and I am feeling strong. Early on I got into a consistent schedule. Yoga and physiotherapy twice a week, and Pilates and massage once a week, along with 11 training sessions a week. My shooting coach Petr Zidek has been absolutely amazing. We shoot 5 days a week, with one day free and one ½ day.

Physio for my back has been going really great. Annie Tredray, a Kiwi who went to University with my Wanaka physiotherapist in Dunedin, has been working really hard to try to find out what is happening with my body. We have been doing specific strength exercises for my back and IMS (intramuscular stimulation). IMS is sort of like extreme acupuncture and it is pretty extreme. I have gotten about 20 needles up my spine, six in my glutes, and six in my inner thigh. It is a bit painful, especially when the muscle tightens around the needle, but I am sure, or at least hoping, it is helping!

It has also been really great to see my family and friends. I think I potentially have some of the greatest frends in the world. To try and help me raise some money for this upcoming year, they set up this website (http://ofcabbagesandkings.ca/SupporttheCaniwi.htm) to try and bring in some funds. They did this all very secretly so that it would be a surprise. Unfortunately I found out before (dang Facebook) but they were fine with it as now they could go a bit more public about it.

Everything is getting organized for the upcoming season. I am heading to Silverstar, where there is enough snow to do some time-trialing, then driving straight to Vancouver with my family for my brothers wedding! On the 23^rd of November I am flying out of Vancouver to Sweden for the first IBU cup and world cup. I cannot believe how fast it has come. I will be supported by Ukraine again this season and I am excited to meet up with them again. Bring on the Russian conversations and exuberant hand gestures!

I think that is everything for now. I have a new blog page, as my web master has many family issues right now, so check it out!

http://murphy-biathlon.blogspot.com/

I hope you are all happy and healthy and lovin life!

Take care, smile and have fun!

http://ofcabbagesandkings.ca/SupporttheCaniwi.htm

I am so blessed to have the most amazing support system. Not only do my parents and family back me up completely with my crazy endeavors, but my wonderful lifelong friends are behind me 100% as well. They even (secretly) created a website to help me raise funds, as I am completely self funded. I cannot believe how lucky I am to have them ad I cannot thank them enough. I heart you all!

All my Amazing friends, good looking as always, at Seba beach (Our little summer hideaway)