Adventure racing is often described as
the sport that shows you "what you're made of." The phrase
doesn't make its full impact until you've been out there, cold, hungry,
hurting and exhausted, yet somehow push through.
Participants want that extra challenge,
something more to show for their commitment to fitness than another
middle-of-the-pack finish.
A sport in which the fittest individuals
don't necessarily win, adventure racing requires outdoor savvy and
incredible mental perseverance. Since speed isn't the most important
factor, adventure racing needs a fitness program tailored to its mores.
Before starting to train, athletes should
have a solid aerobic base. The general rule of thumb is three to six
months of consistent training.
TRAINING GUIDELINES
A typical race includes four disciplines
— mountain biking, trekking, kayaking and climbing over inhospitable
terrain. Races often have mystery challenges, such as abseiling,
orienteering, Kloofing, Traverse, swimming, knot tying, rock wall climbing
etc.
- Learn about the specific race.
What gear is needed? Are certifications mandatory? Longer races often
require some certifications, while shorter races sometimes do not.
Nevertheless, certifications certainly give you a distinct advantage.
Speak with people who have
participated in the particular race. If possible, volunteer at it the
year beforehand.
- Establish goals. In such a
challenging sport, finishing is a victory in and of itself. Highly
competitive and experienced teams might shoot for a top-five finish.
- Choose teammates based on common
goals, fitness and skill levels. Your team won't work if someone
expects to win and others just want to finish and have fun. Nor will
it succeed if someone moves two minutes slower per mile than everyone
else.
- Train in a team. Training with
potential teammates will reveal workable and unworkable differences.
This will also provide the opportunity to practice team strategy and
decision-making.
- Appoint a navigator and leader.
In order to keep moving, successful teams have a pre-selected leader
and navigator. Among other things, the leader ensures time is used
effectively in places it is often wasted, such as checkpoints, where
unplanned breaks often occur.
The navigator is responsible for
knowing where the team is, has been and is going. Other team members
should keep tabs on this as well since racing demands, like physical
exertion and sleep deprivation, may cause the navigator to make a
mistake.
- Train the disciplines. Most
races involve running/hiking, mountain biking, kayaking and climbing.
Therefore, spend as much time as possible practicing these activities.
In-line skating, rappelling, swimming and horseback riding may also be
included in training. Lessons are recommended for activities you are
unfamiliar with.
- Train wearing a pack, since a
pack creates unique fatigue and balance issues. During a race, all
your gear, food and water is on your back — that's about 10 Kg's.
Sometimes you carry your pack throughout the entire race, sometimes
through one discipline.
- Plan multi-discipline, multi-hour
outings. Do a brick workout — a session of one discipline
immediately followed by another (e.g., one hour of biking followed by
two hours of hiking) — once a week. Once a month, go on a weekend
outing for a multi-discipline team practice of 4 to 6 continuous
hours.
Plan your route and navigate on a
topographical map. These outings will help determine your team's pace
in each discipline and emulate race conditions, from sleep deprivation
to nocturnal navigation. Pack and use gear and food as you would while
racing.
- Train at night. Since most
races require some nocturnal mountain biking and hiking, nocturnal
training should be part of your monthly multi-discipline, multi-hour
outing.
Simulate race conditions by hiking,
then biking, for a two- to six-hour session. To practice navigational
skills, plan a route that splits off the initial trail. However, if
you're not experienced with nocturnal travel, start by doing one of
your weekly workouts at night.
- Learn how to pack. Five extra
Kg's is a big deal after 48 hours. Ask yourself: What gear do I really
need? What extras should I take? Make sure you have everything on the
required equipment list, duct tape wrapped around your trekking poles
(to tape your feet if necessary and for other surprises), a watch,
water, food, extra flashlight batteries and skin lube for chafing.
Resist much else.
- Learn how to eat. "During
a race," says Tucson-based Robert Miner, who races every six
weeks, "sometimes how fast you process food [is important].
You're burning 600 to 1,000 calories an hour but can only process
300."
Try different things, such as having
a hydration bladder full of water and one of a sports drink. Sip
throughout the race and strive for a 3:1 water to sports drink ratio
in order to maintain electrolyte balance. PowerBars are good, but
bring other solid foods for variety. Anything compact, nutritionally
and calorically dense is good.
- Train navigational skills. Your
team's navigational skills will enable or disable your ability to
finish the race. You can be the fastest team, but if you don't know
where you are and need to go, you won't have a successful race.
Joining an orienteering club can help
you learn navigational skills. Participate in all their meets and a
24-hour rogaine — a long-distance foot race in which you use a map
and compass to find as many checkpoints as possible. You can never
know too much about navigation.
- Build strength, power, speed and
endurance. Strength-training exercises should closely replicate
actual movements. Dips, step-ups, standing hip extensions, push-ups
and pull-ups are excellent examples. Do an interval and tempo session
each week to build speed and power. Aerobic and brick workouts build
endurance.
- Recover. Immediately after the
race, eat protein and carbohydrates in a ratio of 1:4 for best
glycogen refueling, similar to how you would after a long, arduous
workout. Two hours later, eat again.
Feeling overwhelmed? Consider joining
the mid-week or weekend training sessions. If you run or hike two or
three times a week (with a pack), bike once or twice each week and
gets in some paddling should be able to finish.
Good Luck!
|