Hey Jay,

Thanks for the heads up about the race in PA. I rented a car and went
down. Had an absolute blast. Race organizers are real sweethearts and
the scene was a lot of fun.

Can't wait to do my next one (and get a gun and practice so I can I
don't have to run so many penalty loops...).

Take care,
g

--- In biathlonnorthamerica@yahoogroups.com, "Jay Bender" <jay@...> wrote:
>
> I'll throw my two cents in here
>
> Kevin is right. Find yourself a club and start going to summer
races. There is a whole schedule of summer races, many are probably
near you. Check out the listing here:
> http://www.wabiathlon.org/schedules/2008-summer-nationals.htm (this
is really just a listing of where and when summer races are in the US
this season)
> There is a race next weekend, probably near you.... April 19th..
info here:
> http://www.pabiathlon.org/Test.site/Current%20Pages/Events.htm
>
> Biathlon is perfect for you.... as it is a very techy sport.
Lots of things to think about, fiddle with, track, etc. One thing to
remember...it is a race. Whether you race competitively or
recreationally (just for fun), the idea is to have a good time. For
some that just means being out there doing it and interacting with a
bunch of great people. For others it means improving steadily and
moving up the finish order (in addition to interacting with great
people). To do well in winter, you really need to do it in summer,
too. Keep stats on your workouts, and your shooting practice
sessions. Get in shape, if you're not now. You will find, summer or
winter, it takes a good bit of cardiovascular fitness. The fitter you
are, the easier you can run/ski and stay in the lead.... coming in to
shoot while still in control. My problem has always been that I have
to run as hard as I can to stay with the front guys, and my shooting
would suffer as a result. If I'd been in better shape, I'd be able to
stay with them without taking my heart rate into the stratosphere.
>
> So, crank up your heart rate monitor, download your workouts to
your computer, set yourself up a training plan (short answer: do
70-80% of your workouts at BE "Basic Endurance", which means lots of
long, slow distance. The remaining 20-30% can be tempo and
speed-work.) If those terms don't mean much to you, subscribe to
Runner's World magazine, or you can read a bunch on the web about
training.
>
> Jay
> in WA State
> (Everyone, it is always good to identify WHERE you are when you
post here. People will be in a much better position to answer your
questions or direct you to events, etc.)
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>