The     Ten golden rules of Adventure Racing

Be Consistent – A moderate amount of training on a consistent basis will lay the foundation for good performances. There is no point training so hard for 2 weeks that you then need to take 2 weeks off to recover. If you can complete 90% of your program consistently over a long period of time you will be much better prepared than if the effort varies wildly.

Be Technically proficient – Adventure racing involves many different skills, trail running, Mountain Biking, kayaking, rope skills. The more comfortable you are with the skills the more enjoyable they will be and the quicker you and your team will be able to make your way through technical courses

Learn how to navigate – One of the essential elements to most Adventure races is the orienteering component. It should go without saying that there is no point being the fastest team in the world if you aren’t heading in the right direction. Even if you aren’t the lead navigator on your team it is a great skill to have and if your navigator ends up with the sleep monster or injured then it is great to have a back up option within the team. It can also help to have more than one opinion when deciding on a tricky route or marking routes prior to a race

Be organised – Logistics play a big part in every race and also in planning your training around everyday life. Be organised and have a plan. This will help you make the best use of your time and when it comes to the races the more organised you are the less likely you are to forget that vital piece of equipment and the more sleep you will get the night before the race once you have organised everything for the start.

Have definitive goals – You have to know what you are aiming to achieve in order to get there. If you are planning a trip in the car you always know where your final destination is, imagine if you just got in the car and started driving without any clue as to where you are heading – this is what a team or an athlete is like who doesn’t know what they want to achieve. All of your goals are stepping stones to what you want to achieve so you have to continually assess and readjust them to keep them relevant.

I like to break goals into 3 categories

Your dream – where do you ultimately want to end up – long term 2-5 years

Medium term – Where do you want to see yourself in 8 – 14 months time, major race focus, set your goals based on your performance and things you can control – not just focused on the position you would like to finish in

Short term – Goals that are just out of reach but that you can strive to achieve every day. You need to reset these goals every few weeks. These goals can be as simple as completing all of your training sessions for the week or focusing on a specific skill. These goals can take between 1 day and 1-2 months to achieve.

Be objective – When you are analysing your performances or assessing your goals it is critical that you are objective when you are doing it. It is easy to get emotional about an outcome, especially if it hasn’t been what you were expecting. Ask why did this happen, what could I have done better, could I have controlled the situation better, what can I learn from this outcome and how can I make sure the result is better in the future. This is also a very handy skill to have if you make a mistake in a race. You need to be able to analyse the problem, work out a solution and move on as quickly as possible. It doesn’t do you or the team any good to let your or anyone else’s emotions effect the progress of the team

Work out your strategy – Sit down as a team and discuss how you think you will get the best performance out of the team, things to think about include; sleep strategy – how much, how often, how fast do you want to start, do you want to try and stay with the fastest teams or do you want to stick solely to our own plan, is there an advantage to be with other teams in a certain section or a disadvantage in others? Remember when you are tired the fastest way might not be straight over the hill like when you’re fresh. Also discuss things like food, support crews if required and what expectations you all have of each other during training and the race.

Plan your seasons – It is impossible to be in your best form 365 days of the year. Plan your year and look for times when you can take it easier and plan the races you want to be peaking for. Especially after long expedition races you will find it can take months, not weeks to fully recover. Recognise when the body is asking for some more recovery and don’t force yourself back into hard training to quickly – this is almost always what causes injuries, sickness and loss of motivation. Remember to increase the training load gradually when starting back from a break.

Gear – Make sure you have the right gear and that it is in good working order. Little details can make big differences, especially when you are tired. Make sure things like carabineers have a mechanism which is easy to operate with one hand. You have a good lighting system for trekking and biking. Also make sure things like your jackets are waterproof and have a good hood, good gloves that are warm, ideally when wet and that you can still use your fingers effectively with them on for things like undoing zips, opening food wrappers etc. If you navigate a good clear waterproof map case and a good map board for on the bike.

Be prepared for the unexpected and never give up – Adventure racing is always full of surprises, always be prepared for the unexpected  and be open to different ways of doing things. If I’ve learnt anything over the years of Adventure racing that if it’s ever going to rain in the desert it will be during an Adventure race. The first thing I ever pack is my down jacket even if we are going somewhere hot. Have back up plans and gear if possible and always err on the side of caution. Remember if you are lost and having trouble there is every chance that other teams are struggling as well. Most teams who don’t finish races don’t finish simply because they gave up because they got into a situation they thought was hopeless when the reality is even the winning teams often have similar experiences – the difference is they are just prepared to work through the issues and never give up.