TREKKING
How do you get in shape for trekking covering 50-90 miles with a pack and then be prepared to either mountain bike, kayak or climb ropes. It can be daunting. I used advice from Bill Lovelace to conquer 100,000 foot of elevation gain at Primal Quest Montana. His advice has athletes toeing the line at the toughest endurance events in the world.
So in your opinion if you don't have a Stairmaster, what is the next best workout ?
If you don't have a SM and are running 30-50 miles per week, stadium stairs and hikes with packs will suffice. I have been doing the SM 5 days a week (M-F) for the last 7 1/2 years. Prior to that I was doing a 20 mile run every Saturday (80 to 120 miles a week) for about 10 years. The very bottom line is you will need to be able to carry a heavy pack for days and days.
I would rotate them as much as possible so you don't get bored. One thing that is always a help is try have different training partners for different things so you always have someone 'fresh' to push you.
How do you prepare for the downhils?
In my experience, there is very little you can do to prepare for down hills other than doing them a lot...hill work, running or hiking helps. The problem is most of us race a lot harder than we train, because of the time or distance or just sheer adrenalin, so it is difficult to ever fully prepare.
Do you think all training should be done on hills- bike and run included. In other words is it beneficial to be doing runs or rides if they are flat or is preferable to always ride/run on a hilly course?
If you do a flat run, do it fast...make it a speed work out. I would say do as many hill workouts as possible.....I have yet to do a long race on a flat course....one of the best (my opinion) workouts for adventure racing is the stair master...it simulates hiking.....the first order of business is strength that will last for days and days.
How long are the legs of each race?
Tough question to answer.......in Eco in the first race we had three horses and five people and we had to 'run' 44 miles taking turns on the horses. One trek leg lasted two full days in the desert...don't know how far it was......in the second Eco, the first leg was an 84 mile (21 hours) canoe paddle...the last leg was a 36 hour kayak paddle...one race had an 86 mile (all one section) mountain bike leg.
In Patagonia, I think the first trek leg lasted 3 full days where you didn't see any crew...we had a total elevation gain in that race of over 50,00 vertical feet....the best way to sum them up, is every leg is incredibly long........you measure the distances in days.......
Tapering:
It isn't often that I suggest watching how much you do...but when building, it's best to try to hold to a 10% increase in time or distance each week and then plateau (hold the time/distance for a week or so) that every few weeks.
Do you have questions about trekking?
TRAINING RESOURCES I HAVE USED
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