Tips

Adventure racing tips to help you train and compete at your very best.

Runner’s World Guide to Adventure Racing

Ian Adamson’s definitive guide to adventure racing walks you through everything that you need to know to compete in races at your very best.

Topics covered include teamwork, navigation, sleep techniques and lessons on endurance. If you’re getting serious about adventure racing, this is a must read.

About $15 at Amazon

Listed in: Gear, Tips | No Comments

Let the USOF Help you Brush Up Your Orienteering Skills

At the very heart of adventure racing lies orienteering. In a race, regardless of what discipline you’re doing its almost a certainty that orienteering is involved.

For those looking to brush up their orienteering skills be sure to give the US Orienteering Federation a visit, especially their events page which has a ton of upcoming orienteering races in all kinds of disciplines (run, canoe, ski, etc).

Listed in: Tips | No Comments

Avoiding Cramps During Races

legs Keeping leg cramps at bay during an adventure race can be the difference between a fun race and a not so fun race, or possibly even the difference between winning or losing.

So how do you keep cramps away? A few steps to take:

  1. Train for the Race – If you don’t train properly then you’re not going to be ready for the grind that adventure races can be.
  2. Drink, Drink, Drink – You need to replenish your fluids constantly during a race. Drink frequently and deliberately. Its easy to forget to drink when you’re caught up in a race.
  3. Stretch – Make sure you’re loose at the start line and stretch during the race if you feel your self tightening up.
  4. Replenish Electrolytes – Massively increase your odds of avoiding cramps by keeping electrolytes high in your body. Gatorade will help some, but electrolyte capsules such as Hammer Endurolytes will do 10x better for you.

Happy racing & keep those cramps away!

Listed in: Tips | No Comments

Wear Gaiters, Your Ankles & Feet Will Thank You

gaitersFor first time and even experienced racers, its strongly suggest that you wear gaiters for as least the trekking portion of an adventure race. If you’re not familiar with gaiters, they’re basically just a wraparound material that covers your ankles and keeps debris out of your shoes.

Wearing gaiters not only keeps pebbles, dirt and twigs out of your shoes but also provide some nice ankle coverage in case you encounter any raspberry bushes, sawgrass or other sharp plants during your race.

For adventure racing we suggest the Mountain Hardwear Trail gaiter, it’s relatively inexpensive and has a low profile so it’ll protect you without impacting your speed in any way.

Listed in: Tips | No Comments