December 15, 2008 (Hochfilzen, Austria) – It’s been a bit of a rough start here in Hochfilzen, Austria – the site of the second and third world cup events on the Internation Biathlon circuit this year. I arrived earlier this week feeling good and ready to race. Training went well all week until the morning of the Sprint race. I woke up feeling a little under the weather. This is actually not that uncommon. A lot of times you will wake up on race day feeling a little sluggish. Usually that goes away with an easy morning jog. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case and the feeling stuck with me right up to the race.

Needless to say, the performance wasn’t anything to write home about. I’ve been trying to nurse this thing out of my system and focus on next week. I know I wouldn’t be able to give 100% in the relay on Sunday, so I decided to sit it out. Thankfully, we have five guys on the world cup this year which means that my decision won’t effect the team’s ability to compete. Russell Currier will be racing in my absence. Now, it’s just a matter of cheering for team USA from my hotel room, dousing this fever/virus with massive amounts of Vitamin C and rest, and focusing on the 20km Individual coming up next week.

I hope this update finds everyone well and looking forward to the holidays.

Ciao,
Lowell