ADVENTURE RACING WITH
TEAM
NUTRITION
Putting adventures into training for adventure races by Phil White Training is like an adventure race: its about having adventures. Thus training for us has become creative, motivating and challenging. Training also needs to be specific to the race we are training for, but this article is about adventures. Adventure racing is a team sport that involves kayaking, biking, and running/ walking around an unmarked course which is revealed to competitors just before the start. Often there are additional activities, such as coasteering (running/walking, climbing and swimming around the coast), caving, rafting, or an abseil. Races mainly range in length from 6 hours to 10 days. The kayak stages are from 30 minutes to 6 hours long. The double kayaks generally used range from very stable, heavy and slow to a bit less stable, not quite so heavy, and potentially faster. In the rough, paddling a stable heavy slow kayak is quicker than swimming beside a faster one, as many teams in the 2005 ARC found out. There is always a compromise between speed and stability, though with practice, even a fast kayak can become comfortable in most conditions. Kayaking is done on the sea or lakes (often rough), in estuaries (which can have more mud than water), and rivers up to grade two (downstream or sometimes up). Portages may be unavoidable, or can make good short cuts. Training adventures start with an idea that excites us; a challenge, a place to head for, or a reward (or all three). Maps are our inspiration. Not just topo maps, but marine charts (go to Milford mall for a coffee at a table with marine charts) and park maps that show camping areas and facilities. Then a bit of research and some planning are needed to make it work safely. Based on a rough average of 10 km per hour, we can calculate how far we will get in a training session of x hours, what food, drink and gear to take. Most adventures happen close to home, in our case, Auckland’s North Shore. But there is still the rest of the country to explore. A training challenge for us in an adventure racing double kayak can mean a number of things. Paddling a specific distance or length of time, such as
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around Rangitoto, Motutapu, and Rakino in a morning. Or seeing improvements in speed by doing time trials around Lake Pupuke. Battling into strong easterly headwinds and through waves to improve our confidence and strength, and trying to surf gracefully (for the spectators) into a beach. Navigating a course in the dark or sometimes in the early morning fog is particularly valuable practice for paddling by compass setting. A place to aim for might be a new place to explore, though the weather and tides can make an old place different. The Hauraki Gulf is full of islands to circumnavigate. One of our favourites is Tiritiri Matangi; in addition to running amongst rare birds such as takehe, it is great for snorkelling. Snorkling is a good way to get comfortable in the water among rocks and swells, similar to the coasteering section of some adventure races where a wetsuit and fins can be used. Also a dive to a cray pot has been included in one race. Another is Rangitoto; it is possible to paddle across, run to the top and get back before work, during daylight saving anyway. For longer trips, visit Auckland’s coastal regional parks and DoC campgrounds, such as Mahurangi, Tawharanui, Motutapu, Tawhitokino, or Tapapakanga. Some of these can only be accessed by sea, so are never crowded. Exploring an estuary is good for strength work because of the shallow water, and safe in bad weather (e.g. Okura, Mahurangi, Waiuku, or Raglan Harbour). Or we might aim for a coffee shop (Puhoi, Riverhead, and Albany - hang on, they are all pubs! How about Whitford or Clevedon then?) Besides achieving the adventure, the reward might be surfing all the way home after paddling hard into an easterly, watching the sun or moon rise, meeting friends for a barbeque at the beach (they might drive you and the kayak home), hot pools on the Waikato River, or the shore of Lake Tarawera, and that coffee shop again (has someone written an article on what coffee shops can be accessed by water?). Unplanned rewards might be dolphins, orcas or sharks for company, or surfing behind a gin palace (but most of them don’t go slow enough). With a little imagination, it is very easy to put together a training adventure that combines kayaking with a trek, run or cycle. So get out there and find yourself an adventure!