Adventure Racing Training

goalie2

Have signed up to the WAR in Glendalough on April 14. Is there any specific training programs for adventure racing I should follow?

GoHardOrGoHome

goalie2 wrote: »

Have signed up to the WAR in Glendalough on April 14. Is there any specific training programs for adventure racing I should follow?

I don't know what level you're at but if you're a beginner you should be trying to get 3 runs and 1 cycle in per week. The Spink run is tough so you need to be able to hike the steps and then run around the upper lake. Cycle to the kayak is pretty okay, kayak is short and pretty easy. The next cycle is super tough (to a non-cyclist like me) and you may be walking (lots of people do). Second run is tough because you're tired! Last cycle is okay but if you're tired could be tough.

I didn't actually do it last year and I know there was a run at the end which finished a lot of people off.

Make sure that you've done some hills in running and cycling before the day.

If you're fairly fit already then you should look to do the IMRA runs to get you used to the hills IMRA and get on that bike!

Make sure you have a road bike. It will make the day so much easier. If you don't have one borrow one.

nerraw1111

Similar training plans to triathlon. Just decent run sessions and bike sessions.

Depends on the race but races in Wicklow usually favour strong bikers. Easy to lose any gains you might've made on the runs. I'd say that goes for most Irish races but more so for those in Wicklow.

Plus from an enjoyment point of view, it can be miserable grinding up a hill watching others breeze past you. Your enjoyment of a race will be infinitely improved if you can enjoy the bike section.

Plenty of bike training on the hills tho.

For running, from what I've seen, most new to running on hills struggle on descents. Most races, the downhill are a bit technical. So practice that. A good descent can get you a lot of time. Hill repeats would greatly improve your race day performance over a couple of months as well.

Not a clue about kayaking. The consensus is that the water sections are generally too short to matter. But easy to lose a few minutes due to crap technique. depends if you think it's worth training for such little gains.

goalie2

Thanks for all the replies. Hard to find good hills in the midlands (Athlone) but will need to get hold of one soon. I cycle to work twice a week (14k each day) run twice during the week and a long run on weekends to build the fitness levels up. I guess during one of my weekly runs this is where I should try and find a hill run and the other night do a good hard and fast pace run.

goalie2

When you say hill repeats is it good practise to run up a hill and then practise descenting the other side and vice versa maybe 5 to 10 ten times?

kickbox1

Hi guys, sorry to butt in on the conversation but i have completed 3 full marathons, 3 halfs along with a couple of 10k. I also competed in the "sea 2 summit" last November and would love to do more adventure races. Can't swim (something i aim to put right this year). I am going to enter the harlequin in march and aim to do gaelforce this year, with long term plans to complete a half iron man. Struggling with my running since before cork marathon last year (ran a pb 3.50) before crashing in dublin with a horrible 4.17. So not super fast by any standards especially on this site (was embarrased about posting times). Looking for any advice e could offer me in terms of races or training. Thanks

Peterx

goalie2 wrote: »

Have signed up to the WAR in Glendalough on April 14. Is there any specific training programs for adventure racing I should follow?

Specific training for irish one day races would include;

hill climbing ability (both on foot and road biking)
Aerobic endurance (maintain a "hardish" effort for 4~6 hours)
Working out your nutritional needs for the time the race will take you
Visualising how you want the race to go, where to push, where to maintain.

You don't need to be able to swim and you barely need to be able to kayak.

Ideally you will reach a fitness and ability level whereby you can't really decide if the running or the biking is harder in your chosen race. Anyone that says the biking is harder should concentrate on the biking and ditto for anyone who thinks the second run is harder, they need to work on their running.

For me I find a 4 hour hilly cycle on the Saturday and a long easy paced hillrun on the Sunday are great training in Jan/Feb. Into March/April and ideally you'll start to go IMRA hillruns and possibly join a running club for their Tuesday night interval sessions.

4 weeks, 3 weeks and 2 weeks before the race you might do your long Saturday effort on some of the biking and running stages of the race to practice transitioning from biking to running and back again. ( this is all in the ideal world!!! )

To decide if you are a runner or a cyclist you could do the spink run followed by the cycle to Djouce on the Saturday (skipping the kayaking detour). On the sunday do the cycle to Djouce followed by the Djouce run. After those two days you might have a better idea of which is harder for you. Dunno if that helps?