We're on the bus driving the sea to sky hwy for the last time down to Vancouver. Scored tickets to the Hockey Gold medal game between USA vs Candada. Lowell Bailey Tim Burke and myself are meeting up with Billy Demong to cheer on our Team. All that's left Is to walk in closing and stay up till my flight on Monday. Hope you all enjoyed the games check back for a Olympic album and videos.

Two down three to go. Had a good start in the sprint and had a little luck with the start seed ending up finishing in 9th. Not podium but a good start to the games. Today's pursuit race had some interesting things happen.....like not starting in the right position? I started the race not knowing that I started in JP's start time after he started early too and came into the range shooting on point 7 wearing bib 9 and no I did not pass anyone. So I just figured someone must have been sick. Cleaned two stages went out on the third loop to get passed by Bjorn F and that's when I knew something was wrong with the start. Ended up missing two targets in each stage after that finishing in 24th with my time added on in the end. Hey that's just racing gotta learn from mistakes I make OR others like today and move forward. I'm already focused on the recovery phase now and I'm looking forward to race the 20k on thursday. Sorry no pictures I've been busy. Promise I will post something soon.

I've got my routine down now. Found the internet and figured out what food I should be eating. Out of the three duffle bags of clothes I now have couple favorites I wear (pictures later). Too many decisions was sensory over load and yes there is Mcdonalds all day long. Not only is the Olympics the greatest test of skill for athletes but a test of will power not to eat too many cheese burgers. 

 I'm back in Utah after what was a very long productive trip to Europe for the World Cups. I'm skipping Antholtz World Cup to have another week for resting/training/acclimatizing and dealing with jetlag. Next stop Vancouver! I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me. That support has helped me get to where I am today.

Oberhof update, Seems like each week for me is getting a little better. Yesterdays sprint I finished up in 18th place with three mistakes in one of the most snowy/windy conditions I've raced in. Today was the mass start and since I'm not in the top 30 I just had an easy two hour ski before I sat on the side lines to watch Burke in action. Here is a little video I took from my point and shoot camera. Enjoy

Tim Burke from J Teela on Vimeo.

Last I left off, we had just arrived in Slovenia. Right lot’s has happen since then, and I have loads of excuses why I didn’t update!

1. Didn’t want to Jinx it;
2. No internet;
3. I was busy having fun.

So, like some people say, I am a procrastinator. Pre-qualifying for Vancouver came down to the final week in December. I finished 27^th in the sprint with 2 misses. Next race was the pursuit race and there was still a chance to move up on the scoreboard, but also for another one of my teammates to pre-qualify as well. Had to keep my head on straight for the race and not worry too much about the site updates. In the mean time, Tim Burke moves into the YELLOW Bib!! With an impressive race and a nasty last lap to over take the Frenchman—first time an American has ever held the overall.

      The next week was a down week for us and I really didn’t have internet (iPhone doesn’t count) I spent some of the days doing hot laps down Hoch Solden on the tele boards for power training. So now you’re up to date.  I’m in Antholz, Italy doing a volume training week making some minor changes in shooting that I saw needed changing after December racing. Hope you all have a great New Year.

Remember a taxi is cheaper than a DUI!! Don’t be stupid. Cheers.

Been awhile since I posted something here. Since the last post two world cups have come and gone. I knew that I was not going to be in my top form in December because Vancouver was two months away though it’s hard coming into the season so far behind. I have to admit I thought I would be a little closer. Even though things did not get off to a fast start for me the team has done quite well. Tim Burke kicked things off with two podiums and stamped his name into history for US Biathlon. Our last two relays have shown that we as a team are on our way and are close to the goal though a little more work needs to be done.

      Last weekends Relay went ok for us Lowell and Jay put in good performances and had us in reach. Tim took over and brought us right into site of top 6. I was able to hold it together until standing shooting on point 7 in site of 5^th place. It was ours to take or lose. I dropped 2 out of 5 in standing so I had to play the game and use three to hit three. After this top 6 was long gone and I had moved back into 10^th. Even though I wouldn’t call this a good relay it showed us we are there as a team and can be fighting among the top teams like last season. We are now in Slovenia getting ready for world cup 3. Here is a shot from my run this morning.

Like I said I would update monday Utah time. 15 minutes left. Here's a shot out of my a window at the ski track in the reflection is my roommate Jay eating breakfast. Woke up again a bit early (4am) training is @9 might have to eat another breakfast.

One day out till travel day. If you’ve ever been around me during this time you know it can be a little stressful. Not just the packing part which I leave until the night before, but taking care of life. No one really thinks how bills are paid  when you’re gone for couple months at a time or that the homeowners association will fine me if I don’t shovel my driveway and sidewalk after it snows. Not to fear I’ve learned to do most things online and will hire one of the kids next door to shovel after each snow fall. What is the going price for that anyway?

            On the training side I’ve chosen to stay at home on dry land for an extra week and Utah did not disappoint. They weather has been prefect for this time of year and I should transition right into perfect ski condition when I arrive in Sweden on Sunday….I hope.

That’s it not much new had one day in the back country for some good OD training on the tele boards. Oh I did get something new I just bought a new Vacuum! Normally I don’t get excited about cleaning supplies, but this thing really SUCKS. WOW you can feel this Bissell powergroom dual cyclonic pull to the foor when you turn it on. Next post will be from Ostersund Sweden on Monday check back.

Yes, I have let all my fans down.  I’ve tried to come up with an excuse—I’ve been training hard, I’m tired, I had to pee for USADA, I had a camera crew follow me around for two days—but that just seems kinda lame.  No, instead, I’ll just say that I’ve been unmotivated to blog this training cycle.  My bad.

First week back home in Utah we had a down week before the team came out.  I was able to get a little R&R and take care of life stuff, which piles up when you’re gone for 7 weeks at a time…. Open position for an assistant!!!

Our October camp started out well.  All of the US biathletes descended on Soldier Hollow.  We had some great weather to start with, some roller ski races that decided who would be our 5th man at the December World Cup.  Congrats to Kevin Patzoldt for stepping up this month and bringing his A-game when it counts.  He’ll be the new addition to the team in December.  From that point until now, its just been training hard, training smart, and the weather has been a bit colder than usual for Utah this time of year…I’m just glad its been dry.

Tomorrow’s the last day of the camp.  We finish up things with a nice little roller ski by Provo Canyon (4x15min Lv 3 if you like that kinda info.  If you don’t know what that means, that’s ok it doesn’t matter).  Around 6 pm we will then adorn our Halloween Costumes and head into PC. No, I can’t tell you what I’ll be…I would hate to ruin it for all the kids.

If you’re bored and still looking to waste more time on the Internet, I suggest reading Jacked Up Old Man’s latest Blog.  Halfway through it I thought I was going to get a good deal on a treadmill—oh, can’t ruin it for you—I just feel sorry for the Finns.  Here are a couple pics from my easy week after Europe.

Gods country

Me being very un-nordic

In the home stretch now I can see the finish! Well we’ve made it into the final week of this seven week training camp. Last weekend we ended the training week with some competitions in the summer Biathlon World Champs. I felt much better racing than I thought I would after all our training up till now. Tim Burke lead out the team with a four place finish I came in 7th and Lowell came in 11th and Jay in 28th. It was nice to redeem our selves after the embarrassing relay performance in Rupholding the week prior. This week we’ve moved into the new ski hall here in Oberhof just in time for the bad weather. We’ve started to get the feeling back in the legs for snow and I’m testing all the new skis from Madshus. Testing new skis is the only thing keeping my mind from going off the deep end at this point. A new skis is fresh with possibilities is it going to work for me? is it going to be a world beater!!! So far so good out of the first batch I have some great skis but I can’t say more its secret and unless you’re a racer or a master blaster its not that interesting. All I can say is the new model for Madshus is amazing. Here is some pictures from the last couple weeks. Enjoy. "update internet not working sorry looks like only one pic today"

Photo by Viktoria Franke

We had a mix of weather today training in Bavaria. Morning we saw warm sunny weather for our level 3 combo training. The afternoon brought rain and dark skies for the 1:30 double pole. Here's some shots from today enjoy.

7 week travel map from J Teela on Vimeo.

After our pursuit race on Sunday we headed out from Ostersund on the lake for a boat ride. All we knew was there would be a boat an island and a castle. To our surprise we show up to three wave runners sunny sky and calm water.

My seven week trip to Europe as begun! Normally we do not spend this long of trip during the summer/fall months here but this is a special trip for a very special year... The final year of the quadrennium is upon us. Six months till the games in Vancouver. 

Over the last couple days I spent some time in an undisclosed location working on my shooting position the only way I know how. I'm now in the second phase of the trip SWEDEN for two weeks with some racing and a little testing. This part will be followed by a couple weeks in Rupholding Germany and finishing up in Oberhof Germany with a relay race at summer worlds and a week in the new ski tunnel. 

Here's a shot from my deck.

Just took delivery of my new Mountain bike from custom bike builder Doug Driessen at Edwin Bicycles!

I try to do this hike once a year during one of my over distance days. Still there is lots of snow and goats! We're well into our first week of the the block I hope to update more if I'm not so tired. Oh and the Mt bike is almost done check back tomorrow pics will follow.