Photos courtesy of Tekko 

Last Saturday was my first Olympic Biathlon attempt. Organised by NIE and RunningLab, it was considered to be a very small-scale event as there’re not even a hundred participants in the Men’s Category. The weather didn’t look good at all, and it rained heavily just before my wave started. Fortunately, it was just a passing shower and my wave start was delayed only by about 15 minutes.

It was 2 laps of 750m in the open water, followed by a 10km run along Ecp. I can’t explain why, but I enjoy swimming in the sea so much more than in the pool. I also felt that I could swim more effortlessly in the sea. Perhaps it is the salt level that causes more buoyancy?

Anyway, since I was using breast-stroke, I got over-taken by most participants, including majority of the female swimmers who started 5 minutes after my wave. But that didn’t matter, as I really enjoyed the swimming.

Out of the water after my 2nd lap, I put on my socks and shoes for my 10km run. It was tiring as I’ve not done any brick training prior to this race. However, my objective was just to complete, so I went easy at a steady pace. I was to run 2 loops before reaching the finishing point. Personally, I felt it would’ve been better if they planned just a loop. The run turned out to be shorter than 10km, but I’m glad that was the case. I’ve got a valid reason to run less than 10km!

All in all, a fairly low publicity event, but it did help me gain confidence in joining next year’s Singapore Biathlon next year. And with this race in hand, I can skip the 30-lap time trial next year! Enjoyable race.

Towards the finishing point! 

Position: 54/65 (Men’s Cat)

Swim Time: 0:36:44

Transition Time: 0:02:18

Run Time: 0:55:32

Total Time: 1: 34: 33