California Adventure Racing Association

As athletes, the best way to stay fit is to not get injured.   But injuries are an unfortunate part of training and racing.  And what is interesting to me is that they seem to happen more frequently in May, June, and July (mid-season). 

So why do athletes get injured during the racing season?

As a coach of 10 years and a life-long athlete, I have trained and observed athletes and have concluded the following.

Inadequate foundation – Every year, athletes need to put in the foundation hours/miles to start their training and racing season.  Usually, this is a 2 – 3 month period of low intensity/high volume (hours or miles).   Foundation training is a critical break-in period for your muscles, joints, and cardio system.  Unfortunately, athletes often do not have time to put in foundation training or they train too intensely during this time.

Lack of recovery – High volume training, high intensity training or racing place a great stress on the body.  Recovering from these workouts and races are critical to staying healthy throughout the year.   If you are training, make sure to vary your workout intensity on a week to week basis.  Also,  a 4 – 6 week workout cycle should include one recovery week. 

Excessive high intensity training -  Healthy athletes often increase their training intensity until they are either completely exhausted or injured.  This is not an ideal training method.   High intensity training is a great way to get fitness, but it needs to be planned, regulated, and include sufficient recovery.

Combined high intensity training with racing – Most of us will spend the first 4-6 months of the year getting ready for the racing season.  We arrive to the first race with a significant volume of training as well as high intensity training.  Now, we also add the stress of racing.  This combination is often too much and leads to a mid-season injury.

So what can you do to stay healthy?

1. Prioritize the foundation training. Spend the necessary time to get ready for the rest of the season.
2. Recovery is critical.  Workouts break down muscles, recovery heals and builds muscles.
3. Taper your workouts before your races.  This is good for recovery as well as lowering stress before a race

Grip Training for Adventure Racers
by Brandon Nugent

It's hard to imagine an adventure race where you don't use your hands.  The only instance you can safely tuck away those mitts is during the trekking section.  Even then, you may be using poles to help navigate the terrain and distribute weight.  So how do you go about training those hands and forearms to handle the demands of a long race of non-stop hand to handlebar, hand to paddle, hand to rope kind of activity?