TEAMMATES & TEAMWORK TIPS
|
| |
TEAM GOALS |
| |
When it comes to team selection, first ask yourself what your goals are for the race. The most
important criteria for building a team is finding teammates with the same goals. If you are hoping
to cross the finish line with a smile on your face no matter what your ranking, then your teammates
should want the same thing. If you are hoping to reach the top ten or to win, then you will be looking
for different teammates.
|
| |
TAKE CARE OF YOUR TEAMMATES |
| |
Take care of your teammates during the race. If one person is struggling to keep up then tow them, take weight
from them, slow down or stop to rest. I love it when teams blow past us in a race and I see one of their
racers barely hanging on with nobody helping them. Truth is, I know we'll catch them soon enough when
their teammate hits the wall or just outright quits. Trust me... I've seen it MANY times. It's
not about ego - it's always about the team. Offer help and accept help as often as you can during a
race. That's what it takes to be successful.
|
| |
COMMUNICATE |
| |
Communication is a vital aspect of teamwork. It is important that all members of the team are aware
of how their teammates are feeling, especially if someone is not feeling well or is starting to get a
blister. Many race-ending problems are avoidable if they are communicated before they become a crisis.
|
| |
1 TO 10 - HOW ARE YOU FEELING? |
| |
My team frequently asks each other "1 to 10, How are you feeling?". If most are 8s
and one is a 5, we figure out how we can help our teammate - tow them, take weight from them or carry their pack.
If everyone is at 4 or 5, we slow the pace before we burn ourselves out of the race. These are long
races and we need to last until the end. If everyone is feeling like an 8 or more, the question is "why
aren't we going faster?" and we pick up the pace.
|
| |
TRANSITION AREA TACTICS |
| |
Practice your transitions before the race. The time you just gained by blasting up that hill can
quickly be lost in transition. It could be because a team member is not organized or because
responsibilities were not communicated before getting to the TA. If your navigator is studying the
maps in the TA, who is refilling their water bladder or preparing their paddling gear?
|
TRAINING TIPS
|
| |
TRAIN WITH A PACK |
| |
Train with a pack as often as you can. Keep it light to start, then add weighted items as you get fitter
and accustomed to the heavier pack. This will strengthen your back so you are ready for the extra weight
from food, water and the gear you'll be carrying during the race.
|
| |
WEATHER SCHMEATHER |
| |
Adventure races aren't "weather permitting" so neither should your training be. Cold? Windy?
Raining? The training goes on. You're going to have to race in those weather conditions, so you
might as well prepare for it.
|
NAVIGATION
|
| |
GET TRAINING |
| |
Navigation can make or break an adventure race for you and your team, so it's worth investing some time
and money in an adventure racing navigation course. Check out
our Navigation Clinic which we offer every May. Missed
it? Give us a shout and we'll do our best to set one up for you or direct you to another navigation course.
|
| |
CHECK OUT YOUR LOCAL ORIENTEERING CLUB |
| |
While adventure race navigation is very different from orienteering navigation, orienteering is a great way
to get experience with a map and compass and to get your brain thinking like a navigator. To find an Ontario
club near you, check Orienteering Ontario.
|
| |
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE |
| |
Once you have the basics, pick up a topographical map from a map store and head out locally with your teammates
to get some experience. Always practice with at least one other person and be sure to tell someone when you
expect to be back. This rule applies to even the most experienced navigators!
|
| |
NAVIGATION - MATH & PACING |
| |
In your training, try to get a feel for figuring out what your team's pace is. A steady walk on road
or trail is probably 4 - 6kph; Bushwhacking can easily slow you to 1 - 3kph, sometimes even just 1/2kph.
Practice keeping a steady pace between two points that you can find the distance between on the map and
time how long it takes you to travel between those two points. Put your old math skills to work (distance
divided by time) to find the average pace speed you were travelling.
|
| |
NAVIGATION - LEARN TO LOVE MATH II |
| |
Whenever you leave a point that you are 100% sure of, start your watch timer. Have an idea of your
team's pace and frequently do the math (time x pace estimate) to give yourself an idea of how far your team
has travelled from the last 100%-sure point. Knowing how far you have (and HAVEN'T) gone can help
you a tonne when you're trying to figure out if this is the creek or trail you're looking for. And
don't forget the old adventure racing adage: If you think you missed it, you probably haven't gone
far enough yet.
|
GEAR & EQUIPMENT
|
| |
BREAK IT IN |
| |
Never, never, NEVER use brand new gear, socks or shoes in a race. Prepare your gear and clothing well
in advance so that you can break it all in during your training.
|
| |
TWO BLADES ARE BETTER THAN ONE |
| |
While most races provide regular paddles with the canoes, most teams choose to bring their own kayak-style
paddles, ideally paddles that break down into two to five pieces (in some races you may have to carry your
paddle before or after a paddling section). A double-bladed paddle means you almost always have your
paddle in the water and pushing your canoe forwards, significantly increasing your paddling speed.
|
| |
BIKING & TREKKING TOW SYSTEMS |
| |
When a teammate is injured, ill or just slower in a discipline, towing them can be a huge boost to them with
minimal strain on the tower. For a trek/run tow, attach a carabiner to each end of a piece of elastic
tubing. To tow, attach one carabiner to the back of the tower's pack and the other end to the chest strap
of the towee's pack. For a picture of the bike tow system my team uses, click here.
|
RACE FOOD TIPS
|
| |
FOOD BASICS |
| |
One of the keys to maintaining your energy throughout a 24+ hour adventure race is to eat
constantly. When I race, I try to consume 250 calories every hour. To develop the right race
eating habits, my team set a watch timer to go off every hour throughout our first two races, and when
that alarm went off, everyone had to eat a "race meal". (see below for race meal ideas)
|
| |
PACKING YOUR RACE FOOD |
| |
When I race, I pack 8-hour food bags, each in a big ziploc freezer bag, packing enough food bags
for the duration of the race. That way, in transition areas I can quickly grab one or two food bags,
depending on how long our team anticipates us taking to get to the next TA. In each 8-hour bag, I pack
ten race meals. My ten race meals in each pack might be: 1) Energy Gel; 2) Nutritel Bar;
3) Snack-size ziploc of Bits & Bites; 4) Ziploc of chips; 5) Ziploc of Gummies; 6) Fruit Bar;
7) Cheese Mini-Ritz Bits; 8) Boost shake; 9) a second energy gel; 10) Ziploc of Fuzzy Peaches.
|
| |
MIKE'S RACE FOOD |
| |
Some of my favourite foods out on the race course are: Ensure shakes (which I depend heavily on),
Pretzels, Energy to Go fruit bars, energy gels, peppermint paddies, Peanut M & M's, and Nutritel
Bars, along with a tube of Salt & Vinegar Pringles waiting in transition areas for me.
|
| |
SHANE'S RACE FOOD |
| |
Similar to Jay, I'll pack eight or six hour food packs, depending on the length of the race. My food bags
will usually include: Chocolate-Caramel Nutritel Bar (like power bars, but way better), beef/venison/goose jerky,
gummy bears/swedish berries, an Ensure shake, Bits & Bites (lots of salt), fruit bar, fig bar, Mini Ritz
Bits with cheese, and an Oatmeal-to-Go bar. In TAs, I like to have cold meat lover's pizza slices, apples,
carrots and cookies waiting for me.
|
