July 28th, 2008
I’m excited about having this blog on FasterSkier.com. I can finally give you an insight into what biathlon training is all about and how it is split between physical training and shooting. Writing here will also get me to reflect on my training to evaluate how it is progressing.
Sundays are usually when I try to organize my week. Not the training; that’s already done for me. This week midterms coincided with my intensity week. I had to figure out exactly when I was going to finish this paper, do research for that presentation, and study for a physics exam. It’s important that I get this planned ahead of time because I know that once the intensity sessions start I’m going to be both physically and mentally fatigued and I need to squeeze in the schoolwork when my mind is fresh. It’s important not to get overwhelmed by poor planning because stress is by far the biggest antagonist of training.
My training week starts Tuesday morning with impulse strength on skate skis and then heads to the weight room for general strength. Last Tuesday afternoon I had what is arguably my hardest workout of the year: two blocks totaling twelve minutes each of 15-second on/15-second off hill bounding. My coaches decided after looking at VO2max testing data that the areas in which I need the most work are levels 4 and 5. By the time two minutes had passed, I was well into level 4. This is a really tough mental workout for me. Not only is twelve minutes at close to max heart rate pretty grueling but it takes every bit of mental coercion to start bounding again after stopping every fifteen seconds. Every successive time I’ve done this workout this year I find it easier to stay mentally focused as well as maintain some semblance of technique to the end, not to mention that my recovery rate has dramatically increased. The very next morning I was up early to do four-minute double-pole and no-pole intervals up a continuous 7.5% grade just outside of Hanover. I was still feeling pretty fresh after this workout and hoped that similar speedy recoveries would accompany me through the rest of the four-week period, which promises to include some heavy volume combined with intensity.
As there isn’t a real biathlon range near Hanover I leave campus every Friday after class and drive to Jericho, Vermont to use the Ethan Allen biathlon facility, a well-maintained 30-point range and roller loop. The weekend is the only time when I’m able to do combos (skiing or running combined with shooting) so I usually have several interval sessions concentrated over these three days. This week I put my training of the last three months to the test with a sprint time trial (7.5km with two shooting stages) on Saturday and a pursuit-format time trial (12.5km with four shooting stages) on Sunday. Saturday I made the awful mistake of neglecting to make corrections when the strong winds present during zero died down. Learning to read wind flags takes lots of practice. Last year we played a game called the “windage game” where we looked at pictures of potential wind flags (sometimes the near and far ones not even pointing in the same direction) and estimated how many clicks it would take to compensate. Saturday afternoon was devoted to a recovery run and lots of shooting drills. There are plenty of shooting drills to choose from but some of my favorites are single shot drills, partner relay competitions, and shooting prone targets from standing. The goal is to be able to shoot tight groups with a low heart rate because the groups will inevitably widen when you’re doing intervals or racing. There are so many fundamentals of shooting that I usually keep I list of what I’ve learned each day so I know what to focus on next time I go to the range.
