SAC Daniel Sinclair - Training Diary 13 January 2012

Today was the last race of this hard week of non-stop racing.  Today’s race was the 4 x 7.5km relay and everyone was feeling a bit heavy legged from the start, with Matt being ill this morning I stepped in for the 3^rd leg of the race.  I was supposed to do the first leg for another team so the coach could compare Luke and myself on the mass start.

So on to the race and it was another cold day so not much ski prep to do.  Luke was on the first leg and got off to a good start and coming into the range 2^nd, his first shoot was a bit of a different story, he missed two targets and skied off without using his spare relay rounds which would have been a time penalty if we all hadn’t shouted to him, so he skied back and hit the remaining targets, this set us back to around 4^th position.  He started to look a bit tired on his 2^nd loop and hit only 3 in stand with relay rounds this time.  After his 3^rd loop he came in for the changeover 2^nd due to 3^rd position going the wrong way on his last loop :/

Carls turn to shine and he got off to a very high tempo start with the REME (Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers) close behind in 3^rd, coming into the range he had kept his position and getting down on the mat before REME.  He hit four using his 3 relay rounds, but the REME hit all 5 in one go and took 2^nd place, whilst 1 LSR (Logistical Support Regiment) where well in front in 1^st.  So with Carl doing one penalty loop, a bit of a gap formed and 28 Engineer Regiment had also slipped through putting us in 4^th position.  On his 2^nd loop he got caught up in a bit of traffic and had to take an awkward route up a hill, which caused him to catch his ski on a tree and fall into deep snow.  His second shoot he hit 3 and there was no change to any positions.  He was looking really tired on his third loop especially on the last straight which is expected.

Onto me and I took a steady start after talking to Luke about his leg, after the first straight I was a bit worried as my legs where heavy straight away, I kept a steady pace and coming into the range I managed to clear all my prone targets using only one spare round, this slipped us back into 3^rd with 28 REGT having to do 4 penalty loops, so I stepped up the pace a little and coming into my 2^nd shoot I could see the REME team, again I clear all of my targets using all of my spares this time. The last loop my legs where really heavy and I just kept in my head to attack the hills, on the finishing straight I couldn’t hold my technique very well but give it everything.

Now onto Coach, and as an ex GBR Biathlete he was up against another National Biathlete who got a bit of a head start for the REME so the battle was on for 2^nd place.  Looking really strong all the way round the first loop he came into the range with the REME just in front, both hit all their targets and were looking strong, it was getting close coming into the second shoot with REME on the point first again, it was all on this shoot.  REME set off first but had missed 3 and he headed into the penalty loop, coach had the ball in his court and managed to hit all his targets.  The REME came out of the loop about 50m behind us, so coach had to hold him off for the last loop the longest of them all, still looking strong and skiing very well he held them off and even pulled away finishing with 30 seconds to spare, a great team result of 2^nd and a great way to finish off the Divisional Championships.