Mandie: "What order do
the one-day race events typically go in - bike, run, kayak/canoe?"
Answer: "The thing that puts the adventure in adventure racing is the fact that there is no typical order of events. Most racecourses are designed around the location and environment in which they are taking place. Unlike a triathlon, the course designer has the freedom to put the events in any order they wish. You can usually narrow it down a bit by figuring out where the race starts.
If the starting point is not near water, you can guess that it will either be bike, or run. If the kayak/canoe section is first, the start will usually be on a lake or large body of water. In my experience, I have not seen a race start on a river. This would probably be too dangerous with all the boats piling up on each other. The race directors will not usually disclose the order of the events, the racecourse, or even what the first event is. In most cases you will find out when you go register on site at the race location. Why do you ask this question? Are you trying to figure out how to train?"
“
The bottom line here is teamwork.”
Mandie: "Well, since you ask, I and two others are training for our first-ever mini adventure race - the Jolly Lama Adventure Race in Northern New Jersey. It consists of a 5-8 mile run, and 10-15 mile mountain bike and a 1-3 mile canoe. We've been training since June and I feel pretty good. Our weakest point I would have to say is running, but two of us are very strong bikers. Any other words of wisdom/advise? Thanks so much for your thoughtful response!!"
A: "I looked into it a bit more, and here are some specifics for the Jolly Lama. Expect the longer distances listed. For instance 5-8 miles, expect the 8 miles. Be prepared for a portage. You can use some nylon webbing or cords for a sling around the shoulders to carry the canoes. (Or kayaks) Be prepared for orienteering. Be prepared to do some brief sections of hike-a-bike. There could be some short sections with steep hills, add some hills in your training. And finally, be ready for more total distance than you expect. With everything all tolled up you may end up completing 30 miles or more."
Mandie: "I can't tell you how helpful you have been!! It's kind of hard
for a first-timer because the race descriptions can be SO vague, and they
are so intentionally. What kind of "challenges" do they usually throw
into these things? Things like orienteering, hike-a-bike, carrying the
canoe, etc? At this point it's not the mileage I'm concerned about - it's
all the other little stuff they don't tell you. How about food and drink?
How would you suggest carrying water - camel packs, water bottles, etc?
Or do you just re-hydrate at the transition station? With regards to training,
I'd love to hear anything you've got (which could fill a book, I'm sure)."
A: "The challenges that you can expect for this race will be similar to the ones you might find in a Hi-Tec race. Those challenges change all the time, and usually involve teamwork. They could have you climb rope walls, or other obstacles, or do other things like the teeter totter that was in the last Hi-Tec. I didn't see it, but they described it as having to balance it without touching the ground, and passing some material from one side to the other. The bottom line here is teamwork. The best thing you could do to prepare your team for this would be to go find a book on team building, usually they have some games in there for teams to do. It won't be the same activities, but it may help the team to work together. Unfortunately I don't have any games developed yet. Maybe I will work on that someday.
What do you use for food and water when you train? When you run 8 miles, do you carry any water? food? In this kind of race I would probably recommend simple things like bars and goos. If you normally use drink mixes, then use them, otherwise, I think water is fine. Find out what works for you in training; that is what you should use for the race. As for training, I have to know where you are now, how much time you have to spend for each day, etc."
I gave some advice on training, but it seemed like Mandie had a pretty good handle on that. It wasn't long and she was off and racing with her team. I asked her to give me some of her thoughts about the things she learned. I wanted to know which topics helped her, and which topics she wished she would have known.
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