Bill, Warren and Elaine have done some team Adventure Races over the past few years.

I’ve managed to avoid joining them.

Dundurn Navigation Marathon 2007 set – flickr – Warren Long

But it seems I’ve made a commitment to start-up with a bunch of newbies (mostly gymnastics coaches) from Idaho. We’re already pencilling-in a “sprint” for 2008.

A sprint is often 4 disciplines: mountain biking, trekking, kayaking and climbing over a total of 12-30 miles over inhospitable terrain. Races may include mystery challenges, such as archery, orienteering, Cauldron Crawl, Tyrolean Traverse, swimming, knot tying, rock wall climbing and puzzles.

It’s a bit intimidating looking at the recommended training regime:

Many of your races will start out with a run that turns into a hike or scramble, so you’d better be ready on all counts. Hiking and running muscles are very different, so you need to train both — and practicing scrambling (on as many different types of terrain as you can find, including wet, slippery stuff) is the key to gaining that competitive advantage on the roadies.

Training:

• For a race of 12 hours or less, you should follow a half marathon training plan, but do most of your runs on trails, if possible.
• For a race of more than 12 hours, you should follow a full marathon training plan and use the same guidelines.
• Start doing hill repeats (i.e. four to six sets of 80 percent effort on a hill that takes three to four minutes to run) and interval training (two-three-four-five minutes “on” with an equal amount of rest in the “off” phase) twice per week in the final month of training leading up to the race.

Tips:

• Race and train in trail running shoes versus regular road running shoes. (Better grip, more stability, fewer stone bruises and fewer blisters.)
• Practice running/hiking with a 10-15 pound pack several times before your race, both for the strength benefits and the knowledge of your equipment (i.e. how are you going to get to your water? Food? Where is the most efficient place to store required gear for easy access? Does the pack grate you like cheese on your neck, back, arms?) …

GOD! It goes on and on: Paddling, Navigation, Mountain Biking, Climbing: Active.com – Adventure racing 101: A quick-start guide

Bottom line:

8 Essential Elements of Human Synergy

T Total commitment
E Empathy and awareness of teammates
A Adversity management
M Mutual respect
W “We” versus “I” thinking
O Ownership of the project
R Relinquishment of ego
K Kinetic leadership

Looks like FUN, at least.

source – flickr