The pursuit of Finland

Man, I was sure I had written an update about my first 2 races at national champs! Where the heck did it go? I also spoke about Louise Crawford calling me Canmores little bird....am I crazy? (rhetorical question, no need for an answer!)

Okay, I'll do a brief update then on the races. I arrived home from the Olympics on the 2nd, and raced on the 3rd in Canadian National Championships. It was the 7.5km sprint race and I missed 3 in prone and 2 in standing- 5 misses out of 10 = disaster! I placed 7th, and was not so pleased. BUT if you look at a positive: If I had had a great race I would have been thinking "WHAT? WHY could I have not done that last week at the Olympics?!??!" So after this race it was like "Oh, nice Sarah. At least you didn't shoot THAT bad at the Olympics." Positive, right there.

The next day was the 15km Individual and my last individual of the season. I was nervous my legs would not be fresh in this race, but when I started I felt great. My skiing felt nice and smooth and I had no problems. I came in to shoot my first prone and missed 2! "AHH....not a good start---If I keep going like this, that's 8 misses!" So I was slightly nervous heading into my next shooting, which was standing. CLEAN! Woohoo. Prone again- Oh no....CLEAN! Yessss....okay Sarah, one more shooting. Focus on every shot as its own. CLEAN! WHAT!?!?!?, YESSSSS....18/20 in an Individual. I had no idea how Zina Kocher or anyone else had shot so I was just doing my thang on the race track. Then, on the 2nd last hill, Petr Yells at me "YOUR GOING TO WIN THIS RACE!!!" Best 6 word any athlete can hear, unless its "YOUR GOING TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES!!!" (Which nobody yelled at me, but said in a soft whisper creates the same amount of excitement, I think) So I placed 1st in the Individual, which was just splendid. Oh, and after the race someone came up to me and said "Sarah, why couldn't you have just done this at the Olympics?" hahaha....theory BLOWN!

We had Friday off where I slowly started to digest that I was leaving in two days. Thought about packing, but decided to get my eyebrows waxed instead.

On Saturday it was the 10km Pursuit. I was the 7th starter because of my challenging shooting in the sprint, so I started 35 seconds behind the leader, Megan Tandy (who wiped the field, hitting 19/20!). I came in for my first prone and missed 2- crap! "well, maybe it will go like the Individual!" was what I thought as I left the range. I came in and hit all 5 in my next prone! Wooohooo...on my way to 18/20! Wrong- I missed 2 in my first standing, then 2 again in the 2nd standing. So, that dang penalty loop and I had 6 small dates that day, but it seems slightly lost in life, always going in circles, so hopefully I won't be seeing much of it anymore. I ended up 3rd in the Pursuit, which was still very nice. Petr was not pleased with my shooting, and I even got a few words from Mrs. Zidek about my shooting- I'll try harder just for you Eva!

The next day I hopped on a plane and flew to Joensuu, Finland. Thanks to Devonian Properties for making it possible for me to come here!!! Now I can compete in the next 2 world Cups- One in Kontiolahti, Finland and the next on in Holmenkollen, Norway!

I like Scandinavians- It's cold up here, and lots of snow, but the people always seem happy. They choose their words so carefully that it always excites me whats going to come out of their mouths next! About 5 minutes ago I went and got a new room key and she says, nice and slowly "So, here...is...your...room...key...and.." I thought she was going to say "you owe 10 euros" or something but then "everything shall be working fine now, please have a good day, bye". Sort of seems like a lame story when I write it down, so maybe you just have to experience it yourself- haha. I am staying at the Sport institute with Ukraine and Japan. Back to Russian/German/Japanese/ sign language- Woohoo!

Smile everyone!