1.4 litre engine
Yay! I did my first biathlon last sunday.
It was the Tribob Singapore Sprint Series Biathlon. 750m swim, 5k run.
For those of you familar with Triathlon distances, thats short right? Yep! So I thought....
Yes, I've been training - quite consistantly. But when it came to the race, all hell broke loose. I had done about a 30 minute warm up, including swimming and running. And I thought I was quite relaxed...
The swim - my first time in a mass start! In water that I could not see through. There were about 100 others starting at the same time. Though i know that there could only be at max 6 people around me - 2 directly in front, 2 right by my side, and another 2-3 behind, i really felt like I could not swim around them to get ahead! I think i know how fish feel like now when they swim in a school - only that they are more familar with this feeling..;)
So on with it. As I went through the swim, it did feel like everybody was just overtaking me. I just couldn't get engaged in the correct gear to swim. I also could not gauge my speed. So I think i ended up just cruising. When I wanted to sprint ahead a little, I just could not find the pace. I was really like a cat in water - not knowing what to do - even with all the swim training I've done.
The swim consisted of 2 straights. 1st - 400m, then run up the beach for a u-turn, and then back in the water for another 350m. The first 400m felt forever. The next 350m, not too bad. I kinda got the hang of it a bit more, speeded up a little, but don't think it was enough.
In the end my timing for the swim
18m 06.931s. 73rd position overall out of 330 people.
The Transition
Bob the announcer kept encouraging people not to wear socks for the 5k run. I had never run without socks before. After much consideration, I decided not to. Lesson: bring short socks next time! Long socks take forever to put on.
Transition timing: 1m 03.982s. Position 139 overall.
The Run
I did get a blister from not wearing socks. Its funny how I got it. The inside sole of my left shoe slid forward. And so, my big toe was caught in a wierd position, rubbing against either the sole or the shoe. I endured.
By the time it came to the run, I was almost exhausted from the 750m swim. The run was a drag. I just had no energy. I looked at my HRM, and could tell that my Heart rate was almost at max capacity. I tried to relax during the run, but the heart rate just wouldn't drop!
Run timing: 27m 46.487s. Position 182.
Overall Age group position: 37 out of 97.
Overall position: 113 out of 330.
Post race
I must have spent 2 hours staring at my heart rate monitor data - though it only told me 1 thing. I heart was pumping at 95% of my max heart rate for most of the race.
After reading a Paul Allen article about base training, I realise that I have not built up my base. I was only racing at the only way my heart knew - at max heart rate. This actually caused me not to be able to pull out to go faster during the race at all, as my heart had no additional RPMs left!
So today, I did my first base run. it must have been the slowest run I've done for a while. average pace: 7m30s/km !! Max heart rate I was allowed : 149. Beyond that, I had to slow down and keep it there. Run time: 15 min warm up, 45 min run, 5 min cool down. Total distance: 8km. Though it was slow, i did work out a good sweat.
I am looking forward to building a bigger engine for the Osim Singapore Triathlon in July.
It was the Tribob Singapore Sprint Series Biathlon. 750m swim, 5k run.
For those of you familar with Triathlon distances, thats short right? Yep! So I thought....
Yes, I've been training - quite consistantly. But when it came to the race, all hell broke loose. I had done about a 30 minute warm up, including swimming and running. And I thought I was quite relaxed...
The swim - my first time in a mass start! In water that I could not see through. There were about 100 others starting at the same time. Though i know that there could only be at max 6 people around me - 2 directly in front, 2 right by my side, and another 2-3 behind, i really felt like I could not swim around them to get ahead! I think i know how fish feel like now when they swim in a school - only that they are more familar with this feeling..;)
So on with it. As I went through the swim, it did feel like everybody was just overtaking me. I just couldn't get engaged in the correct gear to swim. I also could not gauge my speed. So I think i ended up just cruising. When I wanted to sprint ahead a little, I just could not find the pace. I was really like a cat in water - not knowing what to do - even with all the swim training I've done.
The swim consisted of 2 straights. 1st - 400m, then run up the beach for a u-turn, and then back in the water for another 350m. The first 400m felt forever. The next 350m, not too bad. I kinda got the hang of it a bit more, speeded up a little, but don't think it was enough.
In the end my timing for the swim
18m 06.931s. 73rd position overall out of 330 people.
The Transition
Bob the announcer kept encouraging people not to wear socks for the 5k run. I had never run without socks before. After much consideration, I decided not to. Lesson: bring short socks next time! Long socks take forever to put on.
Transition timing: 1m 03.982s. Position 139 overall.
The Run
I did get a blister from not wearing socks. Its funny how I got it. The inside sole of my left shoe slid forward. And so, my big toe was caught in a wierd position, rubbing against either the sole or the shoe. I endured.
By the time it came to the run, I was almost exhausted from the 750m swim. The run was a drag. I just had no energy. I looked at my HRM, and could tell that my Heart rate was almost at max capacity. I tried to relax during the run, but the heart rate just wouldn't drop!
Run timing: 27m 46.487s. Position 182.
Overall Age group position: 37 out of 97.
Overall position: 113 out of 330.
Post race
I must have spent 2 hours staring at my heart rate monitor data - though it only told me 1 thing. I heart was pumping at 95% of my max heart rate for most of the race.
After reading a Paul Allen article about base training, I realise that I have not built up my base. I was only racing at the only way my heart knew - at max heart rate. This actually caused me not to be able to pull out to go faster during the race at all, as my heart had no additional RPMs left!
So today, I did my first base run. it must have been the slowest run I've done for a while. average pace: 7m30s/km !! Max heart rate I was allowed : 149. Beyond that, I had to slow down and keep it there. Run time: 15 min warm up, 45 min run, 5 min cool down. Total distance: 8km. Though it was slow, i did work out a good sweat.
I am looking forward to building a bigger engine for the Osim Singapore Triathlon in July.