{"id":2235,"date":"2016-12-16T15:11:30","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T20:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biathlon.nyssranordic.org\/?p=2235"},"modified":"2016-12-16T15:11:30","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T20:11:30","slug":"beginners-guide-to-biathlon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biathlon.nyssranordic.org\/?p=2235","title":{"rendered":"Beginners Guide To Biathlon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Been thinking about trying biathlon but not sure how to get started?\u00a0 Here\u2019s a quick list of tips to get you through your first race with a smile on your face.\u00a0 (FYI \u2013 First race is in Old Forge on January 1 \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skireg.com\/new-years-resolution-day-biathlon-qualifier\">Register now!<\/a>)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Find a race<\/span> \u2013 almost all of the races in NY are setup to welcome newcomers to the sport so find one close to you. They\u2019ll provide basic rifle safety &amp; biathlon instruction the morning of the event, use of a rifle &amp; ammo during the race, and lots of encouragement along the way.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Register<\/span> \u2013 Most events have an online system for pre-registering for the race.\u00a0 By signing up you are mentally committing yourself to the event but it also gives the race organizer an idea of how many people to expect.\u00a0 Typically you can sign up ahead of time and pay once you arrive at the race venue.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Clothing<\/span> \u2013 You\u2019ll see many of the experienced biathletes in their fancy racing suits but it certainly is not needed to give this a try.\u00a0 You will want an outfit that is a bit breathable and comfortable to ski in.\u00a0 Add in some easily removable warm clothing as you\u2019ll be standing around outside for periods of time for instruction &amp; you\u2019ll get cold quickly once you stop moving.\u00a0 Be prepared for cold\/snow\/rain\/wind\/sun\/ice and you\u2019re all set.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Equipment \u00a0<\/span>&#8211; You will need to provide your own ski equipment (some venues will have rental equipment available \u2013 check ahead of time).<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Distances<\/span> \u2013 Most events are in the 5km to 10km range with some races having a designated \u2018try-it\u2019 loop which is friendlier to the beginner.\u00a0 Remember that this will be broken up into 3 loops with 2 shoot stops in-between.\u00a0 While there will be a few fast skiers there are more weekend-warrior types that make up these events.\u00a0 As long as you feel confident in being able to ski the distance you will be able to make it through the event.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Questions<\/span> \u2013 Ask them.\u00a0 Ahead of time, before the race, during the race, after the race.\u00a0 There are too many rules &amp; tips to pass along in a quick orientation session so if you\u2019re not sure of something just ask.\u00a0 We\u2019ve all been there and you\u2019ll find that the biathlon community is friendly &amp; eager to help out.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Expectations<\/span> \u2013 Make sure you have the right mind-set coming in and you\u2019ll have a fun day.\u00a0 You\u2019re not going to hit every target, you\u2019ll probably trip over your ski poles \u00a0and then end up going the wrong direction until a race official turns you around.\u00a0 Roll with the punches and just try to learn as much as possible in your first biathlon.\u00a0 It takes awhile to get the hang of things so just make sure you listen to the instructions &amp; try your best.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Just remember that the race organizers have three priorities for their competitors \u2013 Safety, Safety, &amp; Fun.\u00a0 They\u2019d rather you had a miserable time as long as it guarantees that the event is held in a safe manner so be sure to pay attention during the rifle safety &amp; orientation clinic along with any other instructions before &amp; during the race.\u00a0 After that have a great time \u2013 you\u2019ll learn to love the penalty loop!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Been thinking about trying biathlon but not sure how to get started?\u00a0 Here\u2019s a quick list of tips to get you through your first race with a smile on your face.\u00a0 (FYI \u2013 First race is in Old Forge on January 1 \u2013 Register now!) Find a race \u2013 almost all of the races in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biathlon.nyssranordic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biathlon.nyssranordic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biathlon.nyssranordic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biathlon.nyssranordic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biathlon.nyssranordic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2235"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/biathlon.nyssranordic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2236,"href":"https:\/\/biathlon.nyssranordic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2235\/revisions\/2236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biathlon.nyssranordic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biathlon.nyssranordic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biathlon.nyssranordic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}