One of my friends have conscripted me to race with him in an adventure race… so, me not knowing anything about this, decided to ask…
Does anyone have any good web references for putting togeather a training plan for adventure racing? what general aspects should I be looking to incorporate into my training to best prepare for an adventure race? (long steady state rides??? runs?)
Any tips/advice is welcome!
Thanks
If you’re doing tri training already, say averaging 6-10hrs/week, then unless this adventure race is a 24hr+ variety, I wouldn’t worry about it. You may want to do some sport-specific training i.e.: mtb biking, kayaking, whatever they have in the race. Oh yeah and get your orienteering skills sharpened up. I did a 6hr race last fall on minimal training (i.e.: no mtn biking, no kayaking, only usual swim.bike.run stuff) and did just fine, 3rd place even, mostly on string running/hiking and orienteering.
As for links try: http://www.mindovermountain.com/ and http://www.sea2summit.com/training.asp.
Try to figure out how to navigate w/ a map and compass. I’ve been given a photocopied hand drawn map before w/ the start and finish points marked and not much else. Practice at least some in the other sports, be it kayaking, mt biking, rappelling and climbing (do these w/ someone who knows how to tie knots and knows what they are doing), hiking w/ a heavy pack, carrying logs etc. We used to meet at 2am w/ our packs go riking (combo of hiking and running) for 4-5 hours then scramble straight up the peaks in the tucson mtns to go rappelling for an hour, then rike back to the car. Do your normal tri training 4-5 days per week then do the stuff you’ve not done before about 3-4 times per week. Do one or two 12 hr days incorporating 4 or 5 different activities and your set for a 24hr event.
Definetly do some, as Brian put it, riking. Running with a pack on changes everything. If you don’t pratice it will hurt.
David,
It kind of depends on how long the race is. I’ve raced up to 24hrs and all I can say is RIDE, RIDE RIDE!
The cycling will benifit you in the later stages of the race. I rode 5-6 days a week, paddled at least once a week and ran as much as I could. I would run once a week with a friend (5-6 miles on the road) and I would do a modified brick one day a week. I would ride 40 on the road, paddle for 1.5 hours and then do about 1-1.5 hours on foot with a pack. These sessions would usually last about 5 hours with breaks between disciplines for feeding.
You can modify (Of course) depending on your team mates and how fast they/you are planning on going.
Hope that helps
Have a look at www.sleepmonsters.co.uk - there’s a load of good training articles, advice and links on there.
Cheers
Paul
What type of race is it? I just did a 24 hr on around 10 hrs training/wk and was comfortable. The key is to get used to lowering your pace and building the leg strength necessary to carry a pack and handle the hills. You are rarely running alot during the trekking section. More like a fast walk or a very slow jog. You’ll wear yourself out unnecessarily trying to run with a 20-25 lb pack on your back.
Spend some time practicing the technical aspects of your race. The kayaking/canoeing, navigation and climbing are all portions that can kill you if you don’t know what you’re doing.
In order to better answer yer question, we need to know what sort of AR you are planning on doing.
If it’s a “sprint” (usually last from 3-6 hrs), then if you are reasonably fit from Tri or other endurance training, you can probably just show up and hope for the best. That’s what these races are for, is to give newbies a chance to try them in a relatively easy manner.
If you are doing a longer 12hr or 24hr race, then you very much need to have NAV/orienteering skills wired, or don’t even bother showing up.
Doesn’t matter how fit you are - if you are running or biking or trekking fast, **in the wrong directon. **
If your teammate(s) is/are good at this, then you don’t necessarily need to be yourself, but it is very helpful for everybody to have at least some basic knowledge of this crucial skill. Buy a copy of How to be Expert with Map and Compass, and read and practice it.
Find out what sorta events are part of the race you are doing, and practice them. Trail running and mtb’ing are both givens. Run with a pack on (as has been mentioned before). If you are doing it right, you shouldn’t have more than maybe 15 lbs of pack weight, even for a 24hr race, so practice with less and build up to that. For a sprint race all you need is a Camelbak MULE or similar. For longer races you can’t go wrong with a Salomon AR pack, they totally rule.
Make sure that ALL or your teammates have ALL of the skills necessary to complete ALL of the events. 2 years ago, my team (sans me, I was out that year due to new Daddyhood) finished the entire Balance Bar NY 24 hr AR, and all they had to do was rappel off of the Intrepid into the Hudson river, then climb back up, and they were done. This was after 19 hours of racing, and they were the 1st place all-male team at that time. HOWEVER, my one teammate froze up; he had told us he knew how to rappel, but apparently he was exaggerating more than a tad. He didn’t do the rap, and they got DQ’d and finished with an unofficial result.
Do not let this happen to you.
Oh, and if you have a teammate who is slower on the bike, or run, then it’s a good idea to develop and use a towing system.
Aside from running with a pack…I’d PLAN on doing some longer workouts with your teammates to learn more about their styles. Many of races “blow up” simply b/c personalities don’t mixed after 12 or so hours together…coupled with a few problems.
Talk through scenarios, assign “roles” and discuss strengths/weaknesses.
What Smitty said.
Knowing yer teammates, their strengths and weaknesses, etc is key.
Also, you want to all be in it for the same thing. And on the same page. You don’t want one person just out for a fun day, and another who wants to go balls-out to podium - nobody will be happy that way.
Shit happens, mistakes will be made, and you need to get over that stuff during the race, and keep moving forward together. I think ARing is much more about team dynamics & strategy (and of course - navigation). Fitness is almost secondary.