Starting team lots of questions

[NHClimber]

I have decided to start a 4 person team for midlength races. I have never raced myself but have been wanting to for some time. I would greatly appreciate anyones input on just about every topic (all tips welcome). Does anyone have any advice for team member selection and training regiments? Thanks

[Dave]

I have decided to start a 4 person team for midlength races. I have never raced myself but have been wanting to for some time. I would greatly appreciate anyones input on just about every topic (all tips welcome). Does anyone have any advice for team member selection and training regiments? Thanks

Great that you're going to start racing!

Tips, hmmm, let's see... Try to get as much experience in each of the "disciplines" as you can -- mountain biking, trekking, paddling, and especially navigation. A local orienteering meet can provide very good practice for the type of navigation required on an adventure race.

Don't worry too much about time in the first races -- just race to finish. You'll learn a heck of a lot in just the first race or two about which areas you need to work on, and which areas you've got the skills for.

With adventure racing, it takes a heck of a lot of training to pick up, say, your running speed by 20% ... or your paddling speed by 15%. But you can save WHOPPING amounts of time by being efficient in your transition areas. And by making "good" navigational decisions (you'll know after an hour or two in a race, backtracking, where the "bad" decisions were!). So before the races, mentally plan out things that you can do to speed up the transitions (where to pack things, what to take, what to eat, etc). And mentally map out the general area you'll be in so that you have a better chance of picking the best route.

Don't forget to eat and hydrate as well. Since AR's are often endurance events more than anything, there's a good chance of getting into trouble by forgetting to take on food or water ... and if you forget, sometimes the resulting nausea, etc, makes it even harder to get food down when you really need it.

Those are just some ideas!

Good luck!

Dave