23.01.2012 | NUMBER 100 IN ANTHOLZ! The 100th podium finish is at last in the bag for us Austrian athletes. We've had to wait for a long time this season for it to happen, and the joy yesterday in Antlitz was tremendous. For me personally, it was another week of highs and lows as far as sport is concerned. Cancelling the mass start race was a difficult decision for me but at the moment I need a long time to get my strength back after each competition and it was the right decision for the relay in any case. The unbelievably good Italian cuisine in the “Dolomite Family Resort" was a small consolation! The late comeback of my pal, Tobi, was great news. To come back after such a long time away from World Cup racing and then to achieve a top performance as early as the 2nd race was really impressive! Now I will spend a week on regenerative training sessions, and try to shake off my chronic cold which is still weakening me a bit. Best wishes. I am sticking at it!! Sam 12.01.2012 | NOVE MESTO Sorry I haven't written anything for ages. Recently I have been feeling a little “down" ;)! After a 5 hours drive from Oberhof, we got to Nove Mesto on Monday for the World Championship Premiere. In the individual race today, everything went pretty well and I am happy with coming 6th. This result was also important for the World Championship in Ruhpolding. Unfortunately, I'm not yet running at 100%; I still have chronic after-effects of my illness last November that are making life in the Loipe somewhat more difficult than usual at the moment. Then, sometimes there are really bad days like in Oberhof, but then there are also really good ones like today, thank goodness! I just hope that it gets better from now on and that I can continue to fight my way forward! Sam 18.12.2011 | LANGLAUF-SUIT! The bad news first…Sadly, the langlauf suit isn’t going to be ready in 2011, but in January it should be out in January. Sorry for the wait! Right, now to yesterday’s pursuit. It was a great feeling to have raced for the “big points” again. I was really happy with 6th place and it’s exactly the motivational push I needed for the Christmas break. I’ll take 3 days now to regenerate and then start with my preparation for the coming weeks. At the moment we’ve got ideal conditions for training in Hochfilzen. I’d also like to say a thank you to Thomas Abfalter and his team around Reinhard Großegger for the great conditions over the last couple of weeks. All the best, Sam 15.12.2011 | New sponsor: LiteXpress! As some of you will have seen, perhaps, since the sprint race, I haven't been racing "topless" anymore! Although it may admittedly be a bit late, I have now found a new sponsor, LightXpress. These lighting professionals from Coesfeld manufacture LED lighting systems and not only support me and Daniel Graf, but another athlete too. You can see what they offer, such as torches and head torches, at www.litexpress.de. As far as my 14th place today goes, the only thing I've got to say is that at the moment every miss is a miss too many and I'm working hard to ensure every shot, is a hit. If I look back on the events of last weekend though, I feel good that I'm back "on track" again. Back on Saturday, Sam 05.12.2011 | HOCHFILZEN! After failing in the sprint race, where I didn't perform well at all on the icy piste, yesterday I gave a top ten performance, going from 38th to 19th place. For the first time in 3 weeks I now have the feeling that my legs are “useful" again. Although 15th, 38th, and 19th are not the best positions in the world, they are something on which I can build. We're starting with the sprint races on Friday in Hochfilzen, and on Saturday and Sunday it's the pursuit and the relay. I'm now going to regenerate my energies as best as possible and exploit to the full the advantages of having a local world cup, like local food, my own bed, infra red sauna and physiotherapy support. Tuesday (6th Dec) evening is obviously reserved though, because, as we all know: “St. Nicholas is a good man, and you can't thank him enough:)..." Hope to be in contact again after Friday and I can only promise that I will do my best ! Sam 01.12.2011 | ÖSUND! I knew before the race that the track here was well known for being one of the most difficult, but I hadn't reckoned with the hardest point being the run up to the finish. Anyway, it's over now, and at the moment I'm quite OK with coming 15th. I must still have more in my reserves when it comes to the track, and I hope I'll be able to draw on them soon. Today I'm going to put up my feet a bit, and do a few "slow motion" circuits in the stadium. See you, Sam 17.11.2011 | A COLD! Hi everyone, Sorry you haven’t heard from me in the last few days. Unfortunately, in the night before the planned journey to Vuokatti, the “devil’s bug” hit me and I couldn’t go on the trip. After a week of drinking tea, reading a Jo Nesbö crime novel and plenty of time on my couch, I’ll be ready to start my training routine again tomorrow. The roller skis that I’d packed up for the winter will be used again! I am presuming that next Monday I’ll be going to Östersund, to snow; I’ve been wanting that for so long! Best wishes, Sam 10.11.2011 | AWAY WE GO! We're off into the white splendour, or rather to the white stripe! From the 10th November we will be training on Finnish April snow! At the moment the best prepared track in central Europe is to be found in Vuokatti. The Finns have conjured up a 4 km long stretch from their store of spring snow, and with temperatures around 0°, it seems certain that we will be able to train on a white base. Whether we will be able to put on one or two test races too remains yet to be seen, but if it does prove to be possible, you will of course be able to see the results here! As far as I'm concerned, I need now to make sure I pack enough socks and a good shoe dryer, and then nothing can go wrong! I'll be back in touch once I have reached the snow. Sam