Category Archives: Bill Meyer

Midwest Regional Race updates Jan 14 & 15

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Conditions are good at Blackhawk considering there is no natural snow in southern WI. Our Snow makers did a great job getting the course and range ready.  We will have a 1.0 and 1.3K loop for the races. The entire course has 1′ to 3′ of snow base and will ski fast. Race day temps are expected to be in the  mid 20’s to upper 30’s degrees.  

Registration closes on Wednesday evening 1/11/23 at midnight. Looking forward to seeing a good turnout. Please plan to help with races as we need volunteers to make the races a success. Currently we have over 40 racers registered for each day.

Looking forward to great races this weekend

https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=301265

https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=301266

For those not attending the Blackhawk events, on Sunday the 15th, the MN Guard will be hosting an event at Camp Ripley. If you wish to attend, please contact me, Bill Meyer,  directly by noon tomorrow- [Thursday]!!

I have 8 civilians registered and the Guard is expecting 8-10. 

Mass Start

Women 7.5km

Men 10 km

9:30 meeting at F Range [need to stop at the gate on the way onto the base, then need to stop at Range control and sign out a pass—then watch your speed on the way to F Range!!] 

10:00 zero

11:00 race

In addition the range/trails will be open from 1:00-3:00 for open training after the race. Bring your own lunch!!

We do need to turn in names by Thursday pm for both the start list and to provide them to gate security!! 

Hope you can do some Biathlon this coming weekend!!

And we will have an Invitation out for the 22nd and 29th at Elk River shortly!!

Bill Meyer, Coach

Updates and Info

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Happy Holidays to you!

So, we have folks in Anchorage for the US Y & Jr World Championship Team Trials, others headed that way, many working with their high school teams this week, and others doing their own thing. With that wide spread of training advice needs, I think I am done with the “Hypothetical 500 hr per year” weekly training plans —for the time being…ski a lot, shorter and harder when you are approaching an important race series, and keep your hands on that rifle!! The majority of your fitness training is over now for the year—but you can still gain by adding some frosting to the cakes—both skiing and shooting—and definitely in the combination of the two!!

If anyone wants a plan..let me know! 

I will likely continue to send out a weekly epistle, but sans the weekly plan. 

In Anchorage, Dec 26th is Unofficial training, 27th is Official Training where the course and range are set up like for the first race, and Wed the 28th is the first race—a Sprint with 10km for all Men and 7.5km for all Women. If they use the normal winter Biathlon courses, the courses have more vertical climbs than Mt Itasca. They are not quite so technical [hard corners, difficult transitions], as I recall. 

The Sprint will be followed on Thursday the 29th by a 10 km Pursuit format for both genders, then another Official Training Day, and finally another Sprint—this one 7.5km for Men and 6.0 km for Women.

The Trials are scored on a % back basis based on the average time of the top 3 athletes in each race. Then each athlete is ranked by their best two races.

The US Team announcements should be made soon after the last race.

Then in mid Jan we have two opportunities; a Regional Race weekend at Blackhawk near Madison WI and also an Invitation to a race at Camp Ripley on Sunday the 15th—please see the attached, and let me know if you plan to attend either event. The following two weekends in Jan will each see an event at Elk River on Sundays—a MN Cup first then a one day Regional race on the last weekend. 

So, a lot of opportunities coming up shortly, but in the meantime—follow along with our MN Biathlon team in Anchorage. Results should be available on Zone4.ca , the USBA webpage, or the Biathlon Club of Anchorage webpage. 

Enjoy the snow, it will warm up soon [just a little, I hope] and be sure to get out on skis with your rifle!! And  Dryfiring really works!! As Nike used to say, “Just Do It”

Happy New Year’s—Enjoy the Journey!
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon

Biathlon Officials and MN Biathlon Parent/Coaching Ed

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Good Morning Everyone!!

As you hopefully have noticed, over the past couple of years we have been upgrading the quality of our MN Biathlon races especially at Elk River where we have new mats and bibs, and have been putting on a variety of race formats to familiarize the athletes with formats they are likely to encounter at Regional or National events. In addition, we have some new timing protocols utilizing spreadsheets done by Zean Baker to simplify and formalize that effort. 

Our largest source of help at the events is our Biathlon families. Line coaches, target resetting, timers etc are all volunteers and most are parents/relatives of the athletes..and we are trying hard to stay within the IBU rules with only slight adaptations to match our participants and facilities. Like any sport, Biathlon has Rules and organization, in our case as an Olympic sport, starting at the International level! 

With that in mind, we would like to invite you to a Basic Official’s education class on Sunday morning the 6th of Nov at a location in Elk River, followed by a MN Parent/Coach’s ed program in the pm. We anticipate the morning to be devoted to Officials’ roles, ending with a take-home test you can do at your leisure, perusing the Rules, and mail in to me. The subject matter will deal with the IBU Rules and formal race organization. Where to find the information and situations where the Rules need to be applied rapidly during an event.  

In the pm, for those who are interested, we will switch to the role of a Parent/Coach..roles currently filled by folks like Marcus and Tara Landrum, Jeff Bosek, Chad and Lynda Bouley, David Hudrlik, or Coaches like Holly, Carl and John. Here we will discuss coaching the development of a Biathlete. So, physiology, shooting skills, skiing skills and putting it all together. The goal would be to finish at the range. 

The Basic Officials course is the first step in a progression leading to an International Referee and then to a Technical Delegate. This is Level 1, and the goal of USBA is to develop a number of Level 2 Officials to run higher level—Regional and National—races. At National events, there is normally a Technical Delegate [TD] heading up the Officials group and overseeing the races. 

We are considering Sunday, the 6th of November as our first choice of dates. Other, less desirable dates would be Saturday the 19th or Sunday the 20th. We are anticipating a cost of $10 per family to cover printing costs. 

So, please let me know by Friday if you are interested, whether in just the am or at both sessions, and which date works the best for you. We need to get a handle on numbers for finding a meeting site. 

Thanks!

Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon

Ticks and Alpha Gal allergy

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Good Morning!

A couple of weeks ago I finally got in to see an allergist regarding some pretty severe hives [periodic skin rash and blistering—a immune system reaction]. I was pretty negative for almost all the 40 + things she checked for—except for Alpha Gal. This is a carbohydrate contained in red meat. Primarily beef. It would come on around 10:00 in the evening. As the allergist explained, most food allergies like those related to peanuts etc will show up right after eating. Some, like this, have to be broken down by the body first—so show up 2-4 hrs after eating that food. 

Looking up the allergy online, it seems it is connected to tick bites—{???] and specifically the Lone Star tick. Now we don’t have those in MN, although I do recall being bit in Colorado some years ago. But, my daughter Kirsti who is a reporter for MPR recalled an article they had some time ago, which covered some who had the allergy in Northern MN. And the online info indicated that an “unnamed” tick might be responsible in the North Central states.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/01/12/tick-triggered-meat-allergy-northern-minnesota

So along with Lymes and 2 or 3 other related diseases caused by bites from the deer tick or as they prefer to call it: the Black Legged Tick, there is a newer problem. 

Lymes will cause some severe fever/chills and general illness and unless treated, can cause some long-term health problems. This Alpha Gal allergy can also cause some severe issues—they issued me an epipen. 

Now most of the 1000+ tick bites I have probably had in a lifetime of outdoor activities have been from the brown or dog tick..common in June in our area. The deer ticks are also out then—much smaller and very hard to check for. And, deer ticks are also back around in the fall..so be careful if you have been out and about!! 

And if you experience the fever/chills, get checked asap for Lymes or the other more common problems; and if, perchance, you get an allergic reaction when eating animal meat—see an allergist. Fish and poultry apparently do not contain the alpha gal sugar.
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon

USBA Jr. Criteria Update & World U. Games Info

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Good News!! 

In addition to the Y & Jr World Championships, USBA will be selecting some athletes from Anchorage Trials to go to the Open European Jr Championships and the Jr IBU cup races. This is a great opportunity for those who are near the top of the local races, as we have historically placed many MN athletes on the YJr World team!! This will go below that to give more athletes the possibility of participating in International Biathlon Competition!!

Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon

2023-Jr-CupJOECH-Criteria-1Download
Jr.-IBU_-JOECH-explanation-letterDownload

Guard Biathlon Camp 26-28 AUG 2022

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Guard_26-28_Aug_22_CampDownload
Minnesota_Biathlon_Liability_WaiverDownload

Here is the schedule for the Guard Biathlon Camp at Camp Ripley, MN on the above dates.

From our perspective, I think the Sat/Sunday training/races are the most important. However, if someone wants to come on Friday pm for the Combo training at 2:00 pm, I can come down and coach. 

Please let me know if you plan to attend, and if so, which days.

wmeyer@nisswa.net

We do need to submit names and numbers to Derek before the camp, so please respond to me by Wed, 24 AUG. 

Thanks! 
Bill Meyer, Coach