Do I need a gun…?
Before I started to work as a Swimming and Triathlon Coach at I Love Supersport Dubai I was working for a multinational company.
I have been doing sports by that time since many years and most of my colleagues recognized me as the sporty lady from the Sales and Marketing Department.
One day I had a coffee at our pantry and a guy from IT Department was keep looking at me till he had enough courage to start talking to me.
So, you had a gun. – He said.
No, not really. – I replied. And I started to think about why he is asking me that. Then he continued.
But you do sports, right? At this moment I immediately understood where his confusion was coming from.
Yes, I do triathlon. Then I explained to him what is the difference between the winter sport biathlon (cross-country skiing and rifle shooting) and our endurance sport triathlon, so he happily understood why I don’t owe any guns.
Variaty of sports are wide and I am sure it is not clear for many what kind of multisport and combined sports have been developed and offering us challenges in different environment.
Multisports are the combination of different sports, mostly aerobic activities and your time starts at the beginning of the first leg and finishes once you completed the last leg of the race. It requires rapid switch from one discipline to another.
Winner is who is doing the entire race within the shortest time.
For example: triathlon, aquathlon, biathlon…
Combined sports are combination of different events, not necessarily aerobic sports only. Each event is organized separately, races can take more days and the winner is calculated by certain point system.
For example: modern pentathlon, decathlon…
The most popular summer multisports are listed as below, mentioning the different sports included and written in order of challenge.
TRIATHLON: swimming, cycling, running (see winter version also.)
Super League format offers different order of the disciplines but still triathlon based.
EQUILATERAL TRIATHLON: triathlon in which each leg would take an approximately equal time.
DUATHLON: running, cycling, running.
Important that duathlon contains two times transition and you need to run after the cycling again.
AQUATHLON: swimming, running (two-stage race only.)
BIATHLE: running, swimming, running.
SWIMRUN: Multiple swim and run (without transition zone.)
You need to finish as you have started. Swimming with a running shoes and paddles and pull buoys are allowed to and you need to carry them with yourself during the running as well.
AQUABIKE: swimming, cycling (two-stage race only.)
CROSS TRIATHLON: swimming, mountain biking, trail running.
CROSS DUATHLON: mountain biking, trail running (usually two-stage race only.)
QUADRATHLON: swimming, kayaking, cycling, running (see winter version also.)
BIATHLON: cross-country skiing, rifle shooting (you need a gun.)
INDOOR TRIATHLON: pool swimming, cycling on stationary bike, running on treadmill.
ROWATHLON: indoor rowing, cycling (can be on stationary bike), running (can be on treadmill.)
WINTER TRIATHLON: running, mountain biking, cross-country skiing. (sometimes speed-skating.)
WINTER QUADRATHLON: mountain biking, running, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing or snowshoe running (Snowshoe is a form of hiking with a larger special shoe to avoid sinking in the snow.)
PENTATHLON: one of the ancient sports from the history of the ancient Olympic Games in Greece. Combination of 5 different sports, most likely running, jumping, wrestling, discus throwing and javelin throwing. Organized for men only and one day event eventhough the race was finished by late night.
MODERN PENTATHLON: combination of 5 different sports: swimming, fencing, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting and cross country running. Organized for both gender.
DECATHLON: combination of 10 different events of athletics, organized within two days for men only.
HEPTATHLON: combination of 7 different events of athletics, organized within two days for women only.
Now you can see that how the number of variations of triathlon based events and other endurance sports are giving you endless opportunities to choose your next race which fits to your level of skills, interest and actual fitness.
Choose carefully, be aware of what you need to do and most likely you will not need to have a gun there.
Good luck and see you on the battlefield.