Biathlon blow-out: a week full a races at the Guard Champ
By Greg Rudl

Getting paid to ski. What a concept! No, really, I'm not that good. I'm just a member of the Ohio National Guard Biathlon Team and I competed in the National Guard Bureau Biathlon Championships at Camp Ripley, Minn. Feb. 14-22. About 16 states sent teams (or partial teams) to race in events that included a 10k, 20k, 15k patrol race and a 4x 7.5 relay race.

Two to three feet of snow was on the ground as pulled into Camp Ripley (about 2 hours north of Minneapolis). Temperatures were cold, about 20 below at night. With the help of the post's very own state-of-the-art grooming machine, the trails were immaculate. About 55 athletes filed into Ripley for the competition. In previous years, there was well over 100. Many guardsmen-biathletes are serving in the global war on terrorism right now.

Each team has a coach. Two important things a coaches does is attend a daily meeting (and pass the info along to the athletes) and zero athletes in before the race. Prior to each race, athletes shoot at paper targets and the coach gives sight corrections with the use of a sighting scope.

This year, it was just me and a fellow guardsman who lives near Dayton. He runs a lot but doesn't ski much. Our fellow teammates were either deployed, in military training, injured or had civilian work conflict.

The first race was Monday's 10k sprint. I finished 11th out of about 50 competitors but there were a fair number of novices competing. I shoot only 3 out of 10 -- pathetic considering I've been doing this for over eight years. You can shoot bad in the 10k and still ski lights out and finish fairly high.

On Wednesday we skied the 20k. Five loops, 4 shooting stops. My off-hand (standing) shooting has been a problem all week but my strategy was to ski comfortably and conservatively and try to shoot a high number (15 out of 20 or better). Five loops today with 3-4 decent hills in each loop. (The biathlon trails at Camp Ripley are hilly and most rise about 40-50 feet. The down hills aren't technically challenging, just long and fairly straight. Someone with fast skis can gain time there. You're either climbing or descending on this course. There's very few flats).

I skied the first loop smooth, came into the range and rested for a few extra seconds. I took my time shooting, and knocked down all five. Alright! I skied the second loop much like the first, especially taking it easy on the last hill before the range. Came in and shot only 2 in off-hand -- what happened!

Shooting can be so finicky. One day you can't miss, another day nothing feels right. One of the tricks to good shooting is anticipating the little black circle (the target) lining up in your sights. Something I'm still learning. If you squeeze the trigger when the sight picture looks good, you'll miss every time. Strange, isn't it? The perfect sight picture a is fleeting thing. Especially when your barrel is moving all over the place because your heart rate and breathing are up. You're actually squeezing the trigger anticipating that your rifle barrel will be pointing at the bulls eye in the next few milliseconds. It does, when you rhythm is on. This takes a lot of practice and knowing you breathing patterns, heart rate, and your barrel movement. This is even more true in the standing position. Enough of the Zen of shooting.

I ski slightly harder the 3rd loop, knowing I need to make up time. In the 20k, you're penalized one minute for every missed shot. I come into the range for my 3rd shooting boot and only shoot 2 of 5. Damn! I miss my last shot because I wasn't absolutely sure I had a round left to fire, because of previous misfire. I lost count of the my the rounds. I shot the last round half-heartedly, not confidently. How amateurish!

I ski the 4th loop conservatively thinking I might be able to clean my last shooting and salvage the day -- it doesn't happen, I shoot 3 of 5. I ski the last loop all out and try to get up those stubbornly steep hills, made harder by the cold snow. I try to release adrenaline by singing an inspirational song to myself (do you sing to yourself sometimes?). It can be lonely out on the those trails.

Today -- no glory, nothing special, no mind-conquers-the-pain. Just mediocrity. I find out that my teammate who skies twice a year (but runs a lot) beats me by shooting 16 of 20! I shot 12. I'm happy for him and astonished at the same time.

Thursday is a rest day and Friday is the patrol race. We team up with two guys from Massachusetts and ski to a 5th place out of 12 teams. Jim from Mass. is in his early 50's. He tells me he did iron-man triathlon earlier in the year. It took him 16 hours because he sustained an injury during the running portion. This guy doesn't give up. He's the "whipping boy" for today's race because he's the slowest of the four (In the patrol race, the team must ski together so you're only as fast as your slowest guy). The race starts and we soon find out that he has the fastest skis in the world--he blows by us on down hills. He's using 10-year-old Atomic ARC cap skis. The temperatures are in the upper 20's and it's a day for fluros. He later tells me about the three layers of wax he used from the Star line of waxes. I think I need to do some more wax research.

Saturday is here and it's the funnest race of the week -- the relay. It will also be my 4th in 6 days and I haven't been sleeping very well.

In National Guard Biathlon, two states stand out over everyone else -- Minnesota and Vermont. This year, Montanna is poised to win the team title because of strong patrol race yesterday. Their state name has never been ingrained on the trophy, and this is the 29th competition year.

I'm chosen to ski the first leg. It's a mass start and I double pole like I mad man but am toward the back as the group enters the woods. I pass a few people in the first loop and come into the range breathing hard but focused. I drop my three spare rounds on the mat, load my magazine, attach my sling, and give myself a few extra seconds to lower my heart rate. I shoot well -- knock four targets down with five shots. I take a while loading a spare round, but get it in, sight, shoot and down the target goes. I spring to my feet, grab my poles, and am off.

I see skiers ahead of me in the distance, but their faster, leaner, and they don't drink beer, so I don't bother trying to catch them and keep up with them. Into the range for a second time, I once again shoot well, and fast. I knock all five targets down with 6 shoots. Some of the better biathletes are having to ski penalty loops because they can't drop all five targets with 8 eight shots. The last loop I ski as hard as I can, almost collapsing at the tops of hills. It's much more fun skiing when you've just shot well. I come in to the range area and tag off and am instantly congratulated. I get us into 4th place. I ski my leg in 27 minutes, by far my best relay. We end up finishing 5th place out of 12 teams.

The team from Montana takes the team title with ease. After my leg, I go out on the course with my cow bell and make a lot of noise while rooting on other skiers. Next year, I conclude, I'll bring a bugle and maybe a drum. How about an accordion to give people inspiration as they're grinding up the hills?

Again, doing National Guard biathlon is a real thrill and a highlight to my Winter. It's one of the many benefits of serving in the National Guard. The program's goal as always is to produce world-cup caliber biathletes. I'm definitely not one but maybe I can recruit one and get him/her on their way. The team is always looking for guardsman who can ski. If you'd like more information, send me an e-mail (rudler@yahoo.com).