Transforming the impossible into the possible with Biathlon

There are many obstacles in Biathlon, but people wouldn't take part in this sport if it wasn't immensely fun and rewarding, right?  Someone has asked me to write about pursuing Biathlon in "non-Nordic" countries, and so this post is about just that.

Some obstacles one might encounter on the road to Biathlon Bliss are:

• Lack of money (no help for that, really)
• Lack of snow
• Lack of shooting facilities
• Lack of experienced coaches
• Lack of racing venues
• Lack of support from friends and family

If you are from Norway, you might not be familiar with many of these obstacles.  However, for people in other parts of the world, you might be all to familiar with the list above.  I wish I could say that there was a hotline you could call to solve Biathlon-related dilemmas.  I myself have been looking for this number with little success.  However, I will try to tackle the above problems.

Lack of Snow and racing venues

You might run into a problem with access to snow if you are from Greece, Spain, or other hot countries.  While Biathlon is mostly perceived as a multi-discipline sport taking place on snow, the reality is that there are different variations of Biathlon.  At its basic level, Biathlon is a sport in which one tackles a short course that challenges the body.  This is followed by a physical and mental transition in the range where one must calm one's mind and shoot five targets at a distance of 50 metres.  That's it.

If there is no snow, a Biathlon race with running, mountain biking, or roller skiing is very possible.  As well, one can easily train for Biathlon without snow. In fact, many professional Biathletes give their bodies and minds a break by pursuing other sports, such as cycling, hiking, and sailing.  While you cannot really develop technical ski skills on a bicycle, you can certainly develop your cardiovascular endurance.

To train for Biathlon, focus on developing your cardiovascular ability.  Join local running groups or cycling groups.  This will help relieve potential tedium of training, and will also add structure to your training.  Who knows, when people find out you are training for a Biathlon they might become interested too!

Regularly participating in cardiovascular activities is half the battle, and anything you do will help you with this wonderful sport.  If you are serious about Biathlon, I would highly recommend obtaining a pair of roller skis.  Roller skis are essentially thin pieces of metal with wheels on either end and regular ski bindings attached to them.  You can clip into these with your cross country boots, and use ski poles with special roller ski tips to ski on pavement.  A great example of roller skiing can be found here.  I will write a separate post on roller skiing, but for now the number one thing I can emphasize is safety!  You want to get stronger during the off season, not injured!  Pick a road that is flat to start with, smooth, and with little or no cars on it.  Get the hang of the skating motion.  Practice turning and stopping.  It doesn't matter if the road you choose is short - just make sure to get used to roller skiing before going anywhere near roads with cars, or many pedestrians.

Shooting Facilities

Finding a facility to shoot is possibly the biggest obstacle to training for Biathlon.  You must shoot.  It is essential.  Ideally you are practising dry firing several times a week, but on top of this it is important to shoot on paper to see where your bullets are going!  Hopefully you will have access to a range, but chances are it won't be a Biathlon range.  In fact, I practice at a regular gun club and use paper targets pinned to wooden stands.  If you live in Canada, you can order paper Biathlon targets from Biathlon Canada here.  Heck, they might even ship these targets outside of the country if you live elsewhere.  Here is another link for a 50 metre target.

If you have access to a gun club, see if they have a precision rifle group there.  Marksmanship is mostly the same across different shooting disciplines, at least more than you'd think.  Principles such as developing a good position, a consistent sight picture, breath control, and trigger squeeze are fundamental to all shooting sports.  If you can practise any kind of rifle shooting, this will help you with Biathlon.  Of course, the more Biathlon-specific shooting you can do the better.  Most gun clubs I've encountered have been very receptive to the sport of Biathlon and are quite supportive.  In fact, some gun clubs even offer funding for members to go to shooting competitions.  All of this is worth investigating.  Remember, just because you cannot shoot on a metal Biathlon target with a Biathlon Club does NOT mean all is lost.  It just means you have to be creative.

Lack of Coaches

Lack of experienced coaches or Biathletes can be a real problem.  How can you possible learn about something without a teacher?  I actually had this problem too.  I was unhappy with the people teaching me and so I thought - if I cannot find a coach, I will become one!  Consequently I became a certified NCCP (Canadian National Coaching Certification Program) level 2 Biathlon coach.  Taking coaching courses might not be available to you.

What I would recommend is to practice as many of the aspects of Biathlon as possible.  This means developing a solid foundation of muscular strength, good cardiovascular ability, and hopefully some good shooting habits.  If you can bring a solid foundation of fitness and marksmanship to a race, you will do better than you think.

Invariably, you just might need to travel to get access to good coaching.  This past weekend I travelled almost 9 hours from Vancouver Island to Mazama, Washington in order to participate in a training camp taught by members of the US national Biathlon team.  The importance of knowledge should not be underestimated, and so if you can at all travel in order to get access to training, I would recommend it.  During these coaching sessions or training camps, take pictures, videos, notes, and ask lots of questions.  The information you gain during these sessions must sustain you during your solo training sessions.

If you have access to a cross country ski coach, you should definitely take lessons!  The importance of cross country technique should also not be underestimated.  If you find yourself somewhere in the winter taking a skate ski lesson, you should also ask the instructor to demonstrate good Nordic ski walking technique as well so you can develop this technique during summer months.

No, you might not be able to find a Biathlon coach, but if you have access to a shooting instructor and a cross country ski coach, you are doing very well indeed.  Remember, you might not be training in the ideal circumstances, but you probably have access to more than you think you do.  I live in Victoria, BC.  Here, there is no snow, no coaches, nothing!  I have had to take coaching courses, search the Internet for information, and teach myself a lot of what I know about training.  I want you to spend your time training, not searching the Internet for hours and hours!  So, if you have any questions, please write to me and I will try to save you some time.

Lack of Support

Different people are in to different things.  Often, people are reluctant to support things they know little of.  Unfortunately, Biathlon is not very popular outside of Europe and Russia, and so chances are your friends and family won't know too much about this sport.  In fact, when they find out you want to buy a rifle, they might become downright critical of your endeavour.  This was in fact my experience.  Be patient.

You have chosen Biathlon because it is exciting, inspiring, challenging, and unlike any other sport.  Show your enthusiasm and help to demystify Biathlon!  This sport is not about violence, but about physical strength, endurance, and control over your mind in high pressure situations.  Shooting is portrayed in a very negative light in movies, and consequently most people do not think highly of shooting sports.  However, you can help them to see that not all shooting is about violence, but about developing a calm, focused mind.  In our hectic lives where multi-tasking is practically a necessity, we do very little things that demand that we focus very intensely on one thing for a span of time. Biathlon will help you develop this ability.

Be patient with people and try to understand where they are coming from.  If you share your sincere enthusiasm and your knowledge of this sport, the critics of Biathlon might just come around to realise that this is in fact a great sport.  Make sure to tell your friends and family that there are more injuries in ping pong than in all other Olympic shooting events combined!  Biathlon is a safe sport that takes place in a controlled environment.  The only people who die are the fans who die of happiness when they see their favourite athletes come across the finish line first!  I was just in the Czech Republic in February for the World Championships and I never saw a friendlier group of fans.  Football (soccer) has violent fans, and hockey (at least the NHL) is far more violent than Biathlon will ever hope to be.  Make sure to bring up these points when talking to friends and family.  Biathlon isn't about violence; it's about discipline.  And hey, it's also about having a great time!  Now if you'll excuse me I need to get out for a roller ski session in the park across the street.

Even the pros resort to  roller skiing in the off season.
This is one of the most important forms of training for people
involved in Nordic sports.

Who needs snow? Summer Biathlon mountain bike race at our range on
Mt Washington, Vancouver Island.