Biathlon Training Effects and Processes free essay sample

Strengths and WeaknessesPage 2 C: Training DiaryPage 4 D: Justification of ProgrammePage 5 E: Programme ModificationsPage 6 F: EvaluationPage 7 G: AppendicesPage 8 H: BibliographyPage 9 Introduction The Biathlon is generally any sporting event made up of two disciplines. In our case this term, the two different sports are swimming and running. The swim is conducted first in a length of 300 metres in a 50 metre Olympic pool and the run is followed as 8 laps of approximately 375 metres around a course totalling to 3 kilometres of running. Thus, our biathlon is; a 300m swim followed with a 3km run. This event is timed and also accounts for the switch-up athletes have to perform, from swimmers into appropriate clothes for the run while drying themselves off quickly in the process. This can be a crucial part in the event as precious time can be lost, resulting in a slower overall time. I have extensive experiences with this event as I have completed many swim/run biathlons along with my swimming training throughout the past few years. I also participated in the Year 11 biathlon term last year, breaking a school record and achieving a high practical assessment mark. This term I set myself the chief goal to break that record again through a training programme I designed in conjunction with my swimming coach and my teacher. This was done by identifying my strengths and weaknesses to formulate a personalised action plan to achieve the goals I aimed for and with that, a training diary was implemented to record everything I was doing. The purpose of this assignment is to evaluate my original performance, to design and justify my training programme in relation to the processes and effects of training and exercising, and to explain and clarify why the programme helped improve my performance in the biathlon. Strengths and Weaknesses As a biathlete it is important to identify strengths and more importantly, weaknesses. There is a lot I can improve on, whether it is technique, endurance or speed. Some of my main strength and weakness can be observed in Figure 1 below: Figure 1: Strengths and weaknesses in relation to biathlon Strengths |Weaknesses | |Good swimmer |Small parts of my Swimming technique | |Good runner |Large parts of my Running technique | |Good endurance |Running speed and endurance | |Relatively fit |Overall leg strength | It is evident that there are many things to improve on such as my swimming and running technique which can be modified with the help of my teacher and swimming coach. My running speed and endurance definitely need a work on along with my leg strength. By working on my weaknesses and hopefully improving my overall time, I can accomplish the goals I have set out to achieve. I designed a personalised action plan to assist with achieving my targets. This action plan should guide me through what I need to include in my training programme. My action plan along with my goals are emphasized in Figure 2. Figure 2: Personalised action plan Goal |Action Plan | |Beat my record of 16:30 with a personal best |Improve on all my main weaknesses | |Run the 3km of the Biathlon under 11:30 |Improve on all my running weaknesses | The goals I set myself should be S. M. A. R. T goals. S. M. A. R. T goals can be summed up as shown in Figure 3, as they have to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant (Realistic) and Time Bound. My goals as seen in Figure 2 meet all of these requirements: they are both specific, measurable by time, and quite achievable while being realistic. Genera lly there are three main types of goals, outcome, performance and process goals. Outcome goals rely on the results of other performers, while Performance goals focus on individual performance whereas Process goals focus on technique. My goals both do not focus or rely on any other competitors and can be classified as Performance goals. Although my goals do not focus on technique, the action plan I need to take, does. Technique is always a vital part of a Biathlon, in the run and the swim, and should always be taken into consideration. Figure 3: Goal setting Therefore through these strengths, weaknesses, goals and the coinciding action plan, a Training Diary can be designed to hopefully produce an improvement in my end-of-term Biathlon performance. Training Diary Figure 4 and Figure 5 portray the 4 week training cycle in a table format that will prepare me for the final biathlon event. Day |Week 1 |Week 2 |Week 3 |Week 4 | |Thursday PM |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: | | |Distance, 5km |Distance, 6km |Distance, 5km |Distance, 4. 6km | |Friday AM |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: | | |Sprints, 4. 6km |Sprints, 4. 5 km |Sprints, 4. 6km |Sprints, 3. 4km | |Friday PM |Recovery Interval: |Recovery Interval: |Recovery Interval: |Recovery Interval: | | |Sprints, 5km |Sprints, 4. 2km |Sprints, 5km |Sprints, 3. km | |Saturday AM |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: | | |Distance, 7km |Distance, 7. 3km |Distance, 8km |Distance, 4. 7km | |Monday AM |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: | | |Sprints, 5. 8km |Sprints, 5km |Sprints, 5. 3km |Sprints, 4. 9km | |Monday PM |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: | | |Distance, 6km |Distance, 6. km |Distance, 6km |Distance, 5. 7km | |Tuesday AM |Recovery Interval: |Recovery Interval: |Recovery Interval: |Recovery Interval: | | |Distance, 4. 8km |Distance, 5. 7km |Distance, 4. 8km |Distance, 4. 1km | |Tuesday PM |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: | | |Distance, 6. 3km |Distance, 6. 4km |Distance, 6. km |Distance, 3km | |Wednesday AM |Recovery Interval: |Recovery Interval: |Recovery Interval: |Recovery Interval: | | |Distance, 6km |Distance, 5km |Distance, 6km |Sprints, 3. 4km | |Wednesday PM |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: |Recovery Taper: | | |Sprints, 4km |Sprints, 4. 3km |Sprints, 4km |Pre-Race, 1. 5km | Figure 4: The swimming training at my swimming club that I will undertake throughout the 4 weeks. Day |Week 1 |Week 2 |Week 3 |Week 4 | |Thursday (SCHOOL RUN) |Practice Biathlon |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: |Intensive Interval: | | |Time Trial |200m sprints |200m sprints |200m sprints | |Friday AM (CLUB RUN) |Continuous: |Continuous: |Continuous: |Continuous: | | |Time Trial, 3km |Time Trial, 3km |Time Trial, 3km |Time Trial, 2km | |Tuesday AM (CLUB RUN) |Con tinuous: |Continuous: |Continuous: |Continuous: | | |Time Trial, 3km |Time Trial, 3km |Time Trial, 3km |Time Trial, 2. km | |Wednesday (SCHOOL RUN) |Continuous: |Continuous: |Continuous: |Continuous: | | |Time Trial, 3km |Time Trial, 3km |Time Trial, 3km |Taper Jog, 2km | Figure 5: The running training and practice biathlon training that I will undertake at my swimming club and school throughout the 4 weeks. Each individual training session in detail can be viewed in the Appendices, on page 8. Justification of Programme The training cycle is designed to achieve an overall improvement in my swimming and running performance, through technique and endurance. Recall that my goals were to beat my record of 16:30 with a personal best and complete the 3km run section of the Biathlon under 11:30. These could be accomplished through improving my weaknesses, in different areas while using my strengths to my advantage to achieve the best possible result. The training programme is based on many base training principles in order to achieve the greatest outcome. Specificity was used to guide the development of the training program by finding the fitness components and energy systems required to reach my goals. The majority of my swimming and running training was working on Speed, Aerobic Fitness and Cardiovascular Fitness components while using the Anaerobic and Aerobic energy systems. The Progressive overload principle is also evident in my training program with increases in swimming intensity, kick set repetitions, time it took to run 3km and repetitions of the 200m sprints (see Appendices) spanning over the 4 week training cycle. Other slightly less important principles included are; frequency, duration, intensity and measurable progress. All this might convey that accomplishing my goals will be simple to achieve, but we have to take into consideration the principle of diminishing returns. It is the tendency for a continuing application of effort or skill toward a goal to decline in effectiveness after a certain level has been achieved. This principle applies strongly to me, as I have reached that certain level and my consistent effort is producing less improvement. â€Å"I thought the race could be won in the last kilometres. Every hill I ran in training I ran to gain an extra step in the final race. † Paul Tergat (Dr. Alan Goldberg, Sport Quotes) The quote above was spoken by Paul Tergat after outsprinting defending champion Hendrick Ramaala to win the New York Marathon by less than a second, the closest margin of victory in the race’s history. This amplifies that really there are no limits to performance; with hard work any goal is possible, and the effort always shows in the end. The goal should always stick to the principle of S. M. A. R. T goals though, with special account for diminishing returns. To achieve the first goal of completing the Biathlon in under 16:30 I need to improve overall in all my weaknesses. Referring back to Figure 1 it is evident what I need to develop on. First my improvement in my swimming stroke was incorporated into my swimming schedule (see Figure 4), through many sessions dedicated to recovery intervals which are practically technique sessions. In these sessions I worked on my hand entry and breathing with my coach to create a more efficient stroke. Next my running technique needed a large improvement in many areas. This was done through consulting sessions with a running tutor at my swimming club. I had been reaching out with my feet while running which results in more movement within my joints. Less motion through the joint means less ‘wear and tear’ and improved efficiency during my run. I had also been hunching my shoulders over, possibly restricting my breathing passage, allowing less oxygen to get to my working muscles. I integrated these technique changes into my running at my school and swimming club (see Figure 5). To improve my running speed and endurance I included many intensive interval sprints and continuous running time trials in my training programme (see Figure 5). To improve my overall leg work I incorporated the running training with kick workouts in the pool. These kick sets were included in all swimming sessions with increasing intensity and repetitions over the 4 training weeks. This is based on the principle of progressive overload which means that if an athlete wishes to improve, then they must train at a greater intensity that their current capacity (Amezdroz, 2004 : 315). To achieve the second goal of running under 11:30 in my Biathlon I needed to improve on my running weaknesses and leg work. This is already conveyed above in the technique changes made, in the intensive and continuous running training and in the kick sets in the pool. If I accomplish this, and run under 11:30 in the 3km, naturally it should make the first goal of completing the Biathlon under 16:30, a lot easier. Programme Modifications Originally for the training in week 4 (the last week) there was just the usual intensive training with an increasing emphasis on leg work (see Figure 4). This was modified in the closing days of week 3 due to a Burning Thigh Pain known as Meralgia Paresthetica. It could possibly have been a major problem in the final Baithlon if I had not decided to reduce the training intensity in the latter week. The intensity and distance in the swimming and running were drastically dropped in an attempt to reduce any further pain conflicting with my training. A small recovery taper swim and run were substituted on the Wednesday to help recover from any lactic acid build up due to the anaerobic system training and to ensure I peak correctly. This is all evident in Figure 4. A note would be that I didn’t fully recover from the thigh pain in time which probably inhibited my final performance. This is unfortunate because it doesn’t display the full potential of my training programme and what I can produce. In my running, I had been reaching out with my feet and landing on my heels. Thus creating movement within my hip joint area which compressed a nerve (see Figure 6). This supports a reason why my running technique was generally bad, if I had not altered it in this training programme, it could have been worse. Thus, it is vital to train with correct technique to reduce ‘running’ the risk of injury. Figure 6: Burning Thigh Pain Evaluation My training efforts were by and large varied, due to a lack in motivation, especially in self-motivation to run. Overall I put a solid effort in, with a few sessions losing that consistency in effort due to tiredness and possibly mental fatigue. This could be expected due to such an intensive training programme. The complete training cycle was completed with success though, with a drop in intensity in the last week due to various reasons discussed in the Programme Modification section. As a result, did my training programme accomplish my goals? In week 5 was when the final Biathlon was performed, occurring straight after my training cycle finished. I was tapered and in my peak for optimal performance (ignoring injury), and completed the Biathlon in a time of 15:41. 67. This is almost a whole minute faster than my previous time of 16:30 which was my personal best and record. In the 300m swim I swam a time of 3:35 and in the 3km run, ran a time of 11:04. This ticks off the first and second goal as completed. My training programme played a major part in this achievement, along with a big effort in the final performance. The anaerobic and aerobic system training paid off with the emphases on Speed, Aerobic Fitness and Cardiovascular Fitness. The individual training and cross-training with swimming and running showed in the final Biathlon. The work on technique and leg work, helped keep me efficient in my performance in many different aspects while building leg muscle in order to increase the Power and Speed components. If I was to recommend improvements that could be made to my training programme, then it would be to possibly incorporate gym and land training into the cycle, taking the place of some running or swimming sessions. This helps build muscle and the essential core of your body. Also a decrease in the number of training session could be dropped in week 4 along with the intensity to assist in reaching optimal recovery for the final event. Although this part is up to the individual athlete, because different bodies have different peaking and tapering time periods. As a conclusion my Training Programme that I have designed was a success for me and can be a success for many other athletes who want to improve in their Biathlon. I accomplished my goals that I set out to achieve, and improved my overall Biathlon performance with a personal best and a record. Appendices 1. Swimming: Each individual training session was different to promote variety (a training principle) because swimming can become boring after a while. Each session though, followed the same pattern; a warm up, a kick set, the main set and a swim down. They each covered distances depending on the type of main set. This is measured in kilometres. All the sessions are interval training, as each part of the session is based on time intervals. There are two types of interval training; intensive and recovery. Intensive interval means shorter rest intervals and recovery means longer rest intervals. The main set is either a Sprint or a Distance set. A sprint set means a shorter distance with the focus on speed and power; while a distance set means a longer distance with a focus on aerobic and cardiovascular fitness. These sessions were only measurable by distance and thus I have recorded the distance in km for each session in Figure 4. 2. Running: Sessions were substantially different to reflect variety and were held in different sceneries performing different, but similar exercises. There were two types of training: Intensive interval 200m sprints and Continuous training for 3km. These were both measured by time and maximum amount of reps. The intensive interval training consisted of 200m sprints continuously with 1 minute rest between each 200. The runner keeps going until they begin to lose pace and consistency. Then the amount of repetitions was recorded. My results were as follows; Week 1 No run (Practice Biathlon instead) Week 2 8 repetitions Week 3 9 repetitions Week 4 10 repetitions Thus there was an increase in the amount of repetitions I could complete over the four weeks. This relates back to the principle of Progressive Overload. Next there was the continuous training with the 3km run. This was a time trial and is measured by time; the results are shown below. Week 1 15:36, 15:07, 14:36 Week 2 14:38, 13:45, 13:43 Week 3 12:53, 12:34, 12:02 Week 4 Recovery week (Taper run) As evident above, the times decrease throughout the first 3 weeks down to a time of 12:02. Here, the progressive overload principle is also applied, as the time it takes to complete the 3km decreases. These results gave me a good indication of where I was at, and how much more work needed done to reach my target goals. Bibliography Internet Sources †¢ Dr. Alan Goldberg, Sport Quotes, https://www. competitivedge. om/quote-2202 (used 23/03/13) †¢ OrthoInfo, Burning Thigh Pain, http://orthoinfo. aaos. org/topic. cfm? topic=a00340 (used 24/03/13) †¢ Wikipedia, Progressive Overload, http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Progressive_overload (used 24/03/13) †¢ Elizabeth Quinn, Specificity, http://sportsmedicine. about. com/od/glos sary/g/Specificity_def. htm (used 27/03/13) Books †¢ Amezdroz, Queensland Senior Physical Education, Macmillan Education, 2004 †¢ Goldberg, This Is Your Brain On Sports, Dog Ear Publishing, 2011 Biathlon Training Effects and Processes By _______ Year 12 HPE Semester 1, 2013 Due Date: 29/03/13 1