TRAIN FOR PAIN XPD STYLE

Sure, you can push through that muscular burn that registers when your every fibre is flooded with lactate, and yes, you can push through your mental threshold by getting acclimatised to what they call the ‘pain room’. But there’s no training for the moment you go to grab your paddle and grab a crocodile’s head instead. Or for getting stung by one of the world’s most poisonous bushes, something so painful that it’s preferable to smother yourself with highly caustic hydrochloric acid that burns your skin off .

“Yes, it’s fair to say that the sport of expedition racing is the toughest endurance event in the world and competitors universally agreed that the 2010 Cairns edition of the XPD was the toughest race they’d ever done.”

That was what competitors faced at the end of day two of the XPD; a five to ten day adventure race pitting some of the toughest athletes in the world, in teams of four, against more than 700km of brutalisation, including that stinging forest.

Don’t believe me? Log on to www.youtube.com/GeocentricOutdoors and cringe as you watch footage (Episode One from about 10:30) of grown men and women cry like babies in an asylum. They’re in absolute agony at a checkpoint station shortly after the stinging tree episode – and remember, at that point they still had five days and 500km of the race to endure.

Yes, it’s fair to say that the sport of expedition racing is the toughest endurance event in the world and competitors universally agreed that the 2010 Cairns edition of the XPD was the toughest race they’d ever done. That makes it the toughest ever edition of the toughest ever sport. Ouch.

XPD is one of nine events in the Adventure Racing World Series, which culminates in the Adventure Race World Championships (ARWC). In 2011 the XPD, to be hosted in the wilds of Tasmania, will also double as the ARWC.

It’s a prestigious event that will see several Australian and New Zealand teams in the mix, one of which, team Blackheart.com.au, will be in the hunt given they comprehensively won the Cairns edition in 2010.

“XPD Cairns was without a doubt one of the toughest every held,” says team member Rob Preston, one of Australia’s top adventure racers who was also in the team that won XPD in 2008.

“There were several very long stages that required you to carry heaps of gear and food which made it pretty hard going. The long river paddle was super draining because you forever had to climb out and drag the boat over rocks when it got stuck, and then fight off freshwater crocs. At one stage I reached for my paddle and grabbed the head of one.” And the stinging trees? “I still have tingles on my arms nearly six months later.”

While Rob admits there’s not much you can do to prepare for stinging trees and crocs, there’s plenty you can do to prepare your body for the sheer physicality and endurance aspects of a race like XPD, although he admits to an uneven regime.

“I don’t stick to a strict training program because I have a variable lifestyle and find it hard to be regimented,” he says. “I tend to train more by feeling – I have a good idea of where I’m at physically, and what I need to do for the next race. Typically I would only train 10–14 hours a week because I’d rather be underdone and fresh, rather than broken down and injured.”

The constant pounding on the body over such a prolonged timeframe is what spells an end to many adventure racer’s attempts.“Get your body used to off road racing by training off road,” says Rob. “Ankle and knee problems are common, particularly in long races where racers underestimate the impact 24 hours of rough off road trekking can have on the body.”

Rob points out that in this year’s XPD, it was the conditioning of his body to racing over uneven terrain that proved a major factor in their win.

“The 70km trek across the isolated Chillagoe Station was the most memorable section for me. Th is is where our team showed we were better prepared than our competition because we reached the end with our bodies still in good shape.”

Adventure races are by their very nature multi discipline events where competitors need to have honed both their skills and their bodies to handle running, mountain biking, paddling, ropework, and swimming legs. So what to concentrate on when training?

“I get most of my fitness from running, but I find it translates very well to the bike,” says Rob. “Depending on my training phase, the amount of kayak training I do can vary greatly. When I’m travelling a lot for races, the paddling drops. But at the moment I’m building up for the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge, which has 130km of paddling over two days so I’ve been fitting in as much as possible.”

Within each discipline there are a number of factors to concentrate on, too.

“For running I concentrate on hills training for strength, and do most training off -road. For cycling I combine mountain biking and road cycling, as they both add diff erent dimensions. It’s important to get your technical mountain bike skills to a good level because it can save you a lot of energy if you handle a bike well.”

Technique is, according to Rob, just as important as specific fitness. “You can be the greatest athlete, but if you can’t handle a mountain bike, or paddle in rough oceans, you won’t succeed in adventure racing,” he says. “Gain as much information about each race as possible [sometimes hard when races like the XPD only reveal the course within 24 hours of race start] and plan training sessions to improve the skills you’re weakest in.”

Navigation is one skill that Rob – an Australian orienteering and rogaining champion – says many teams fall down on. “It doesn’t matter if you’re the fittest, toughest brute out there. If you’re lost you’re going to waste a lot of time.”

That doesn’t mean navigation responsibility should fall on a single team member, either. “What happens when they get tired?” Rob points out. “Because they will. It’s always good to have others to share the responsibility, so head to a local orienteering race to get some pointers, or at least get training in map and compass skills.”

Some factors in successfully finishing, let alone winning, have nothing to do with training. A key strategic element in long form expedition races like the XPD is sleep – when to take it and even if to take it at all. Many

“Ankle and knee problems are common, particularly in long races where racers underestimate the impact 24 hours of rough off road trekking can have on the body.”

events now have mandatory sleep stops to eliminate the dangers of combining extreme exhaustion with activities like abseiling and kayaking. But Rob reckons that there is no point in ‘training’ for sleep deprivation. “Don’t be too worried about it in longer races – what the body can do is amazing when pushing the limits. It’ll cope.”

More important he says, is choosing the right tough nut to be alongside you, noting that emotions play a huge part in adventure racing and hissy fits brought on by extreme pressure, lumped atop maxedout levels of exhaustion, are not uncommon. And they can lead to total team meltdown.

“The difference between having a terrific experience or a terrible one can often come down to communicating effectively before and during the race.”

“Try to find team mates of similar abilities and goals. Make sure you are honest when talking about your abilities as there have been many teams fall apart when the ‘Ironman legend’ they found on the internet isn’t quite what they made themselves out to be.”

“The difference between having a terrific experience or a terrible one can oft en come down to communicating effectively before and during the race. Set some goals before the race, and talk honestly about your experience, fitness level, aims and fears. When you’re tired it become much harder to communicate so try to remember this and be sensitive towards your team mates before barking abuse at them.

“When presented with a difficult decision, try to come to a consensus. Many teams set the goal of finishing the race as friends, which is a great way of thinking.”

And what about dealing with those crocs?

“No worries, no crocs in Tassie,” says Rob who, along with his Blackheart.com.au team, is eyeing off an Adventure Racing World Championship win on home soil.

He can leave the hydrochloric acid at home, too.

More information?

www.sleepmonsters.com.au is a great resource.
www.adventurerace.com.au lists all national races.