Running
Running/trekking is usually the easiest leg for novice adventure racers. Everyone can run.
When training for the Women’s Adventure Race, running flat and a few hills, keeping your running sessions up to 30-40 minutes long, would be a great idea.
Try to control your pace, so you do not go ‘flat out from the start and then can’t maintain this pace for the whole duration of training.
Some short interval sessions can make your running faster but do not forget to dedicate enough time to warm up and cool down, in addition to ‘main’ part of the session. Also stretching compliments running, allowing your muscles to recover quicker after every running session.
Gradually build volume of exercises, try to be consistent over the week, short regular training sessions are much more effective than irregular monster work outs that would kill you for the next few days after.
Where to run-everywhere, just get out and run. For adventure races running off-road or rough trails usually is the biggest issue as often if you are used to running bitumen or any other smooth surface, only some rocks, roots, ditches, losing ground, steep uphills and downhills will get a little bit confusing and slow you down. Nothing but practice will help. Watch out from the beginning, make sure you are wearing off-road shoes that would protect you from sliding and help to minimize risk of twisting an ankle.
How often and how long to run
Start from 2-3 times per week (one running day/day off running), making it enjoyable for your body and your mind. It might hurt from the start but as your muscles and joints get stronger it gets better.
How long: midweek sessions that start from 40 minutes would already be beneficial. As you get stronger try to extend them to an hour or so. Longer sessions up to 2 -2,5 hours would prepare you for quite advanced events.
Street Orienteering events are the best way to get the most of short running sessions - to practice your navigation skills and running fitness.
Navigation
This intimidating word ‘orienteering or navigation’. It might be confusing from the start, when you first get this sheet of paper with some strange symbols, especially in our age of GPS’s.
Navigation is quite important for all events where you’re dealing with a map. It doesn’t matter how fast you are if you’re running/riding/paddling a wrong way.
It often looks really hard from the beginning, but as you are getting even very little practice, things start to make sense and navigation looks like real fun – to find your way in between check points as a first step, to find the fastest way in between check points is the second step.
It is still a good idea to try to learn some basics by yourself. However, the good news here is that for the Women’s Adventure Race you do not need to be an amazing navigator. Everyone who can read street directory will be able to complete the course and find all checkpoints.
If you want to get really good
Get some topographical , orienteering or even street (melways) maps of your nearby area. Go to this area and try to find your way using this map. Set up some ‘virtual’ check points (some road or trail junctions) and try to get there with the map. Do it on foot, on bike, so that you can practice navigation on both. It is easier to start on foot and later add some riding with the map as well.
Learn what all symbols on a map mean (this is usually displayed on the legend in the corner of the map), for example, how road, path, bush, buildings etc. are drawn on the map. Find out what the scale of each map is (scale is what distance on the ground is covered in one centimeter of the map), so that you can understand how far from point to point on a map it is in reality. Get yourself a compass and attend some street-orienteering events, this would give you a perfect running- orienteering practice.
Remember that everyone is making mistakes, even best of us, so do not be afraid to get lost, you will find yourself and will actually enjoy it later on. Practice makes perfect.
Mountain biking
There is something about grabbing a mountain bike - a perfect off-road machine and heading out onto the trail. This aspect of our sport is getting more and more popular as there are not much room left for road riders, and people are starting to realize that in addition to the perfect workout you’re getting the flow of the trail, the beauty of a nature, the thrill of riding a rough terrain and fantastic social environment, as all mountain bikers are a bunch of extremely friendly people.
It doesn’t take much to be able to ride a mountain bike but it does require some skill and training to be able to be competitive and ride technical trails. It’s more fun when you’re doing it better. This is like a circular motion-more you train-better you are at it-more you are enjoying it.
First of all, you obviously need a bike. If you want to cut costs you can have some second-hand one from some riders who are constantly upgrading their fleets. As soon as you get a taste of it, you will want to upgrade yours as well.
Hardtails vs dual suspension, 26, 27 or 29 inch
Mountain bikes come in several different styles (we are talking about those suitable for adventure racing)- full suspension or hardtale – both can be 26-inch, 27 or 29 inches wheels. There are a lot of talk about what is better and more suitable; the bottom line here- different bikes are made for different terrain, hardtails are lighter than full suspension (and cheaper). 29 inches (29er) are going easier through the rough terrain but worse on sharp cornering. 29er is more expensive than 26er, full suspension is more expensive than hardtail. Generally, the mountain biking part of adventure races is relatively easy from a technical point of view. The 27-inch bikes are designed to accommodate the advantages of 26 and 29er. Additionally, the height of the rider should be taken into account, for a small person it is harder to ride 29.
The other things worth investing in: a helmet and padded shorts (if you are just riding), for adventure race triathlon shorts, works perfectly. Gloves keep your hands on the grips better, sunglasses is a great idea too- bugs and sun wouldn’t bother you during your rides. Hydration system or a couple of bottles on your bike- make sure you drink plenty of water. After some time in a saddle, you can consider getting clip pedals, they increase your pedalling efficiency and give you more control over the bike on a rough trail.
Mountain biking requires aerobic capacity, technical skills and strength. The same training principle as in all other sports should be applied here- gradually increase the volume and intensity of exercises and the difficulty of the terrain. Start on some paths and 4wd trails; then as you build your confidence, step up to easy single tracks, keep up the great work and start riding more difficult routes!
Join mountain biking groups and squad training. You will learn from other people and you will enjoy the social environment.
If you want to master your riding skills
- Look well ahead on the trail.
- Make a quick decision when you pick up a line.
- You ride where you look (your wheels follow your eyes).
- Apply a can-do attitude to obstacles (but do not jump over the levels of difficulty, if you just starting do not expect you can ride everything, it takes a bit of time to learn)
- Relax your arms but hold your grips tight.
- Change your gears in advance of approaching uphills.
- On cornering, apply your weight through the seat and the pedals; set your speed- approach the corner with the right speed so that you do not need to brake heavily when entering the corner.
- Exit the corner fast, enter slow.
- Put weight in front but keep seated while climbing.
- Momentum is your best friend riding slopes and passing obstacles.
Kayaking
Most people find kayaking is the hardest adventure racing discipline. First of all, because you need a kayak and going kayaking is much more complicated than to go running for example. The good news here- there is a very little section of kayaking during Women’s Adventure Race, kayaks, paddles and PFDs are provided; crafts are stable and very easy to steer so even if you have never paddled before you will be able to do it and actually enjoy the kayaking section of the race.
Of course, prior the race, training will build your confidence. In the adventure racing clinic you will get some coaching from one of the best Victorian kayakers, if you are unable to attend our training session you can get one-on-one coaching where you will be taught all basics within an hour or so.
Kayaking is a great way for building your flexibility and upper body strength- core strength, shoulders and arm strength with reduced risk of wear-and-tear on joints and tissues as it is a low impact activity.
Joining a kayaking club or squad is the best way to train especially from the beginning – the more experienced paddlers will give you some necessary instruction and you will be able to borrow some kayaking gear to start with.
If you decide to go it on your own then consider the following aspects
-Safety. Water even if it is flat can be dangerous. Make sure with the kayak you’re got a good personal flotation device, take your phone with you in some waterproof bag or box.
- Right gear. It is worthwhile to try before buy - rent something for a week or two to get an idea of what you actually want. Get a beginner-level craft and a good paddle- it is more expensive but will allow you to get a much more enjoyable experience. Surf skis or sit-on-top kayaks are safer especially in an open water environment as if you fall in you can get back onto your craft (it is much harder to get back into a sit-in kayak).
- Kayaking is based on skills, appropriate muscle group strength and overall a good level of cardiovascular fitness. These are three areas to work on to become a good paddler.
For most people with some sporting background, the most critical is to obtain the necessary level of skills- the right paddling technique and then work on strength as general fitness is what you already have from other sports and your cross-training will be very useful here.
The same as with all other sports- the more you do it, the better you’re getting in it.
The action plan
Get some basics from someone who really knows what they are doing, join a club or squad, get an idea about different skis and kayaks, get your own or find a source of borrowing it (squad or club), and put more effort into the development of technique, implements more of strength work. From the beginning, 3 sessions per week would be the most beneficial but even one paddling session per week is much better than nothing.