Biathlon for everybody?

It seems impossible, it sounds incredible but it's true. In Poland everyone can become a biathlete for one day. This day finally happened on the 21st of February, when Polish National Championships of Amateurs and Masters were held by Jamrozowa Polana at The Center of Polish Biathlon in Duszniki- Zdrój. I participated in this great event and now it's time for posting a short review.

During two days of the Championships were organized two races: sprint (7,5 km for men, 4,5 km for ladies, two times shooting in prone position) and pursuit (5,6 km, three times shooting in prone position). I was competing on Saturday, in sprint competition. To participate, I needn't have any experience in shooting on biathlon range. Many people took advantage of it. On start were also masters, who ended careers years ago. I knew from the begining I won't be able to fight with them, especially without any skill in shooting. At least the course wasn't difficult. Skiing trails around Jamrozowa Polana are rolling and dynamic. I described it in this post. As you can see, I skied the long tarmac loop three times during the race. The snow conditions seemed to be in good shape. I thought that not using any wax would be better than trying figure something out, what can totally ruin my skiing. Secondly, I took part just for fun and didn't feel any pressure for a result. I'm sure, that there were many people who came with the same goals. Before start we had a short meeting to give us the instruction how to use a rifle. I started early, with bib 3.

Soon at the first loop it turned out, that the snow on further parts of the course isn't as firm as I thought. My unprepared skis were like sticked to this. Fortunately it was only few meters. My biggest fear before the race was a steep uphill in the middle of the loop. It was difficult to keep the right pace. I have also never taken part in any race and it may be one of the reasons why I didn't know how hard I should go. First shooting was literally my first shooting ever. Obviously the quick instruction meeting wasn't enough for me to get used to a rifle. I ended with 4 penalty loops, even though targets were as big as for standing position. During skiing my penalties I noticed that some of the participants (masters) with higher numbers were overtaking me. They were skiing really fast and certainly shooting better than me. 

Second loop was painful for my legs. I was keeping up the pace and overtaking some of the ladies. Surprisingly, they were cheering me on. The rest of this loop I skied alone. Second shooting was better. I missed only 2 targets. After quick visit on penalty loops I headed out for my last 2,5 km. I was caught in the middle by someone on his earlier loop. I struggled on the last uphill but I accelerated all the way to the finish line. It was a strange feeling not to have sore legs after this effort. I believe I'll be better next time. After the race I could watch other athletes starting. 

A fromer Polish biathlete- Lukas Witek is finishing his race.

Joanna Badacz (0+0) won ladies' race. Dorota Zuberska (0+3) was 2nd and Agnieszka Uznańska (1+2) 3rd. They were all former biathletes.

The men's race was won by Waldemar Poręba (1+0) followed by Lukas Witek (2+1) and Dariusz Mazurkiewicz (1+1). 

I ended up on 18th place. I'm happy with this result and I know that I did my best. Maybe I could shoot better. Aside, it was for me the first race ever. Many contestants were in the same situation. The fact that I was the youngest man on start was for me also beneficial. In total, 40 participants finished the sprint (6 women and 34 men). As I mentioned before I didn't start next day in pursuit. In general, such events organized by Jamrozowa Polana are an unique opportunity to challenge yourself. I have never heard about any other possible way to try shooting with biathlon rifle. The National Championships of Amateurs and Masters were also supported by Polish Biathlon Association, which provided prizes. Some of them were given away in a raffle after the race.

Increasing number of participants in every next competition shows that biathlon become more popular. Duszniki- Zdrój is the only place, where people can try it. Next opportunity to participate is summer biathlon on roller skis. Are you going to join in?

Polish biathlon center- Jamrozowa Polana

Few days ago I visited with my friends a biathlon center in Duszniki- Zdrój. You may know this location as a place of the IBU Cup and upcoming Biathlon European Championships. There are skiing and roller skiing trails. It seams to be perfect for training for pros and amateurs as well. Summer is a good time to explore places like this. There are less athletes than in winter. As we arrived I realized how wrong I was...

Shooting range in Jamrozowa Polana (Duszniki- Zdrój)

Weather was good for training, especially compared to last rainy days. That's why we saw a bunch of biathletes on the shooting range. As we had heard, before our arrival was so many athletes that all 30 places were used for shooting training. I think it's amazing. They left before we started our trip. Probably they had a break between morning and afternoon sessions. It was great for us. We had the entire object at our disposal. However before we took our roller skis, I visited PR-SPORT. This shop sells (as the only one in Poland) One Way Sport products. I couldn't restrain myself and bought a thermo drinking belt by OW.

Then we started our training on roller skis. The course isn't easy. There are two loops to choose from. Both begin on the stadium and follow through the bridge. We were a little surprised as we saw the downhill from the bridge. It's really steep. Probably you can't see it in the picture below.

Then the track goes in the forest. We must pass a small uphill up to the intersection. We could choose one of the loops, 2,5 km length or 1,4 km. There are more skiing trails without tarmac, which are groomed in winter. 

  

We took left turn and chose the 2,5 km loop. This one contains a lot of steep uphills and downhills. Less experienced skiers may have there some problems.

After short descent we go up immediately...

... and then even more up. This uphill reminds me a part of the most difficult cycling climbs, like Monte Zoncolan.

This is the most difficult downhill of the loop. You gain a lot of speed at the beginning and then you have to turn right.

After this steep descent you'll manage to lose all the speed going up this hill.

This hill was the last one on the big loop. As we passed it, we could relax a little bit during an easy descent to the stadium.

Here is a look at the small loop. Both meet again next to the stadium.

The stadium was empty. We was taking a look at the shooting range every time as we passed them. Everyone noticed an inscription: "Centrum polskiego biathlonu", which means "The center of Polish biathlon". Then also quick look at the grand stands and we could feel like Martin Fourcade during World Cup race. Sometimes we was doing one or two penalty loops, and afterwards taking another lap. We liked the small 1,4 km course. It was very dynamic and demanding. I think I made a huge effort during this 1,5 hour roller skiing session. After our training biathletes returned for afternoon training session. In team were youth and children. It's great to see that Polish biathlon still have a future ahead. Thanks to this place young athletes have opportunity to achieve results like recent gold medal of Krystyna Guzik (Pałka) at IBU Summer Biathlon World Championships in Tyumen. Of course not only a place for training counts, but it's a significant part of success. Now I know, why this place has been called "The center of Polish biathlon". And even today I'm sure, that I'll come back to Jamrozowa Polana in upcoming winter season.

A scandal in July's sunshine

It's a little bit difficult to write all these posts in July. Even on my polish site texts don't appear as often as they used to. Actually, summer time is better for training than for writing. For example last week I had a workout every day. First time after long brake I did everything perfectly. I was rollskiing, cycling, running and doing some strength sessions. Believe or not, there's nothing better than long training in perfect sunshine with breathtaking views. Today I have a day off. Not exactly, because it's good time to write something.

Meanwhile there's of course so many competitions to watch in TV. Tour de France and World Cup in Brazil are really interesting in last days. However in biathlon's world we have a serious issue. I mean changes in Olympics' blood screening procedures. IBU decided to discontinue blood testing as part of antidoping efforts at all future Olympic Games. Instead, blood tests will be running by International Olympic Comitee (IOC), practically by WADA. I'm not going to explain all details of this decision because for me it's very unclear and my reaction is called WTF in this case. This decision was made by Anders Besseberg, the president of IBU. In my opinion, biathlon will regret this. The data about every biathlete is in possession of IBU. So, the process of screening at Olympic Games will last more time than before. IOC would get biological data on demand after all. But in fact, it gives an opportunity for cheating. I don't judge, but I really don't want to see "a young Russian talent, never known before" winning OG and then being caught on doping. Results must be adjusted then and nobody remember the "actual = clean" winner. A good justice and screening system don't allow to exist situations like this one. But now IBU's changes are entering the wrong path. What's more, one of the reason of this decision was a lack of communication between Anders Besseberg and the IBU’s Vice President for Medical Issues- Dr. Jim Carrabre. Carrabre strongly disagrees with changes. The two men are running against one another for the presidency of the IBU. The doping case will be certainly a main issue in this competition. By the way, I thought that biathlon is non- political and now I'm disappointed. Why the conflict between two men are more important than sport? I don't understand it...

How to create your own training plan?

Summer is the most difficult and challenging part of the year for every amateur XC- skier. Snow had melted completely on most tracks and you don't know what to do with your free time. Let me help you. This is the best moment to think about next winter and get well prepared for the upcoming season. I recommend you to create your own training plan. It isn't as hard, as it seems. Ideally you won't be only prepare yourself for the season, but also improve your performance and work on disadvantages. That's why it's so important to know exactly what you need in your plan.

As a XC- skier you are able to select one from many activities matching your training. Still remember, that your plan should be focused on skiing. To become better skier, meet some important principles. These practical fundamentals established by XCzone.com can help you:

• Consistency- is the most important factor in training which determines physical fitness, skill and ultimately performance. In real terms, this means leading an active lifestyle and doing the cardio-muscular workouts, ideally every day.
• Specificity- that means choosing activities or exercises which most closely match your sport. If your main goal is a ski race then you have to ski lots (or rollski if it's impossible). Unfortunately you won't become as good of a skier by biking, swimming or lifting weights. Of course you have many options, but you have to be focused on skiing. That's why pro- racers went on glaciers in the summer. 
• Periodicity- in training you should provide yourself the variance in volume, intensity and recovery which will improve your fitness. Most people incorrectly train medium-well all the time. What you need to do is mix it up by one day going further or faster (intervals). Alternate between hard and easy days, whilst ensuring plenty of active recovery.
• Progressive loading- gradually increases the difficulty of workouts over time. Challenge your body to improve and adapt to the load in hours or intensity.

Photo credit: Skistar Trysil / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Beyond that you should define, how much time you can spend for workouts. An optimal periodicity for an amateur is three days of exercises per week in summer and skiing two days weekly during winter. According to XCzone, you'll be prepared for 10 km race, if you practise in this way. Intermediate skiers should train weekly 5 days while preparing for a season and ski 4 days per week in winter. Pro- skiers usually practise 6 days a week in summer and in winter they ski 5 times per week besides racing. In addition there isn't only one type of activity in one day. For example Noah Hoffman was on the training camp with the rest of national XC and biathlon team in Bend, where he was doing multiple drills on snow every day and also working out at the gym etc.

As I mentioned before, there are some activities matched to XC- skiing. Training plan should include general activities, such as mountain and road biking, running, swimming, strength training and specific activities, such as rollskiing and imitation. Maybe I'll manage to write some more words about every activity.

Of course this post is only a base for creating a training plan. We've learned fundamentals, which are very helpful, if you want to prepare yourself for upcoming season. Still there left some questions, which I'll write about in next posts.