Biathlon Training

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.

1. Mon- Weight training, 8km run.
2. Tues- 30 laps- endurance training.
3. Wed- Weight training, 4km speed run.
4. Thurs- Rest.
5. Fri- 30 laps, 8km run.
6. Sat- Pool HIIT 6-8 sets.
7. Sun- Rest.

Training Woes

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

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.