Forerunner 310XT vs RS300X
- At June 05, 2011
- By Insane Polygons
- In Biathlon, Fitness
1
Its time I get myself a proper heart rate monitor after the cheapo version died on me a few months ago. After looking through all options, I think it boils down to these 2 choices- its either a Garmin Forerunner 310XT or a Polar RS300X.
Out of all the available choices, these are the only heart rate monitors that allows the user to measure their heart rate while swimming which is a good thing for biathlon training. I am not particularly partial to either design. In fact I find most heart rate monitors to be quite lacking in this department. The only design that I find appealing is the Forerunner 610 which however is not waterproof.
Both comes with GPS, ability to sync with your computer, speed/ distance monitor- the usual stuff. I think the biggest difference is probably the batteries. The garmin being a rechargeable type while the polar requires you to bring the watch to service center to get its batteries changed on a yearly basis.
Choices, choices…
Biathlon 2010
- At March 15, 2010
- By Insane Polygons
- In Biathlon
0
Its finally over. Overall results was better than last year, but ranking is worse. Swam faster and ran slower. To be fair though, flag off time was also later than last year, leading to a later run where the weather is hotter and more humid. At least last year it rained before the event, so I was able to run faster in the cooler weather.
2009
Swim: 0:35:24 Run:0:55:07 Overall: 1:30:30
2010
Swim: 0:33:36 Run:0:56:07 Overall: 1:29:43
I am pissed, definitely could have ran faster. I actually clocked a faster timing for my training runs.
Biathlon Training
- At January 11, 2010
- By Insane Polygons
- In Biathlon, Fitness
0
As far as warm-up training goes- I would consider last week to be pretty successful. Started with 14 laps in the pool on Tuesday night, went up to 24 on Friday and eventually increased it to 26 laps on Saturday.
So begins the actual training this week.
- Mon- Weight training, 8km run.
- Tues- 30 laps- endurance training.
- Wed- Weight training, 4km speed run.
- Thurs- Rest.
- Fri- 30 laps, 8km run.
- Sat- Pool HIIT 6-8 sets.
- Sun- Rest.
Training Woes
- At January 06, 2010
- By Insane Polygons
- In Biathlon, Fitness
0
Its the time of the year- the time to start training for the annual Singapore Biathlon. After not doing any long distance swimming for at least half a year, I tried last night only to have to give up after 14 laps because my right calf muscle was cramping up.
Looks like this is going to be harder than I expected.
Singapore Biathlon 2009
- At March 08, 2009
- By Insane Polygons
- In Biathlon, Fitness
1
After a few months of preparation and training, Singapore Biathlon 2009, organized by SAFRA held at East Coast Park was at last here. In all there was over 2,200 contestants, though I also saw a lot of empty transition slots at the transition area. Doubtless there was probably quite a few who dropped out due to the weather.
By the time of my flag off, dark clouds was gathering over the horizon and it started to rain. This was the first time I swam in the sea in more than 10 years and it took awhile to get used to it. The sea was quite choppy because of the rain.
The first 500m was probably the worst because of the crowd. It was hard enough to swim in the choppy sea without people grabbing at your arms and legs. It was hard to do any streamlining, since even stretching your arms or legs was guaranteed to hit someone somewhere. There was a few moments where I found myself dog paddling because there was just no space to swim in. It was only after swimming quite some distance from the start point did the crowd eventually thin itself out and I was able to streamline my strokes. Unlike most of the other contestants, I was using the breaststroke instead of freestyle. For some strange reason, I just swim faster using the breaststroke.
Good thing about using the breaststroke is that it easier to swim in a straight line and you don’t have to break stride trying to re-orientate yourself. Still it was quite a challenge to swim in the sea and my calves almost cramped up on me the first 2 steps I took on the sand after coming to the shore.
Quickly changing into my running gear, I was off for the 10km leg of the race. By now, the rain had stopped, thankfully it was still dark and cloudy and wasn’t too hot or sunny to run. The first 6km was relative easy as I settled into a comfortable pace and stride. After that, the fatigue was starting to show as my stride started to get slower and shorter. Unlike the first 6 km where I overtook my people, this time I was being overtaken. But by the time I hit the 9km mark, the though of finishing the race gave me another shot of adrenaline as I was able to speed up again. I sprinted the last 400m to the finish line.
Though this is the first biathlon I’ve participated, I wasn’t the least bit nervous before the race. Since I wasn’t aiming to finish in some record time or hopping to come in the top 10 or something, there wasn’t much pressure and I was for the most part, swimming and running at a comfortable pace. Anyway it was a fun experience and I look forward to next year’s biathlon.
Since I started training for the biathlon, I lost another 4 kilos. Not a bad way to lose weight and improve your fitness.
p.s. results are out- rank 278 out of 1256. 1.5km swim- 35.24 min. 10km run- 55.07 min. Total time- 1.30.30 min.