It’s never to early to prepare for the most scenic yet brutal 5 mile race in California, maybe in the West Coast. That’s right, it’s the Bridgeport, CA 5 mile race.  The field is small and chances of snagging a podium placement is high.

If you’ve never been to Bridgeport, or Twin Lakes, just south of town, you owe it to yourself to check this out.  Perfect start to celebrate Independence  Day!

Here are some stats:

• Sign-up here: Coleville Boosters
• Race Start: 8am
• Elevation: 7000
• Terrain: rolling, half-paved
• Course: Run around a natural lake - Lower Twin

Awards run in age group, male/female, and overall. Awards ceremony is at the Bridgeport Courthouse immediately following the parade.

The 2008 Outdoor Adventure Fitness Challenge is ramping up for the Los Gatos and Mill Valley areas. Myself, along with Michelle Van Otten and Jerry Nista will be leading and coaching workouts 5 days a week from May 5th to June 13th. It’s the perfect opportunity to get you and your body out of the comfort zone and into a life changing, body changing experience. Check us out at http://6weekstoresults.com/

It’s race day, everything is dialed in. Everyone is healthy; you’re peaked to race your best. The sky starts hailing.

You are on a training ride. You’re meeting all your ride goals, all the right zones at all the right times. You get a flat.

Mid race, you have been pushing a hard pace, towing other teammates, or not needing a tow. Everyone on your team is flying, there’s a team behind you, close on your heels. Your bowels kick in, and nature is not asking questions.

The question Mr. Trebek is, “how do you respond to this?”

Adventure racing brings plenty of opportunities to contemplate (or not) difficult situations. Some teams and racers don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the hail. They simply respond. “Jackets ON”. And they roll. Other racers might stop and curse the gods because damn it, it’s hailed for three friggin races in a row, and we’re tired of it!

Technical issues are a guarantee. Someone on your team is going to get a flat, break a spoke, break a chain, or something else of critical value. Training and preparation are your best weapons here. Learn how long it takes you to change a tire or fix a part, and be able to provide a time estimate if not for yourself, then for your team. Knowing in advance how long of a break people will have while the part gets fixed is helpful. It’s also a perfect time to review your route choice. Another thing to consider - if someone on your team is more skilled at fixing things (i.e. faster, less prone to mistakes) make them the designated team gear head. Play to your strengths.

Bowels and racing are unfortunately going to be at odds with each other more often than not. Sometimes there’s simply nothing you can do but roll with it. You certainly can’t get mad at your teammate for having to stop while teams are passing you- even if they’ve already gone three times in the last hour. If anything you need to keep an eye on your teammate. There might be an actual problem that isn’t simply IBS. Most of the time it’s not a big deal, just an unscheduled pit stop. At this point your team could decide that serenading said teammate while they’re doing their business could hurry things along. This does not work with everyone. Use caution. Laughing at your teammate during ‘business’ time is also not recommended.

The key thing to remember is that we race because there’s something extraordinary about being in a race that you set the course on. We all have to get from point A to point B, it’s how we get there, and how we respond to the difficult stuff that makes all the difference.

Happy racing!

-Brandon

Yoga is an excellent way to improve flexibility and your overall range of motion. For triathletes, runners, adventure racers, yoga is one of the best preventative methods for overuse injuries.

Check out this resource for yoga poses:

One of the best ways to recover from a hard race or training effort, or to prepare in the form of a taper, is to do some kind of mild activity that promotes circulation, and is somewhere near an hour of effort.

Contrasted to simply doing nothing low intensity exercise can help in recovery efforts.  Increasing blood circulation, heating of the muscular tissues are two methods that low intensity exercise helps the recovery process.

Example workouts might include the following:

• Swim workout - 45-60 minutes of easy lap swimming
• Cycling - 60 minutes of flat to rolling hills kept at low zone value (zone 1 to 2 if you follow heart zones), level 3-5 if you do RPE (scale 1 to 10)
• Rowing
• Hiking (not a lot of hills, and not too much in the pack!)
• Kayaking

I’ve intentionally left out running as I do not consider any run a recovery workout.  The pounding experienced in a run is enough to undo, or prevent the kind of recovery you’re looking for.  It’s not to say you can’t get recovery in a 3 mile run if you normally run 10, it’s just that for a lot of us, running is not something everyone can recover from as quickly from as say a 15 mile bike ride.

The best times to incorporate an active recovery workout?

• Taper time
• 1 to 2 days after a triathlon, marathon, or adventure race
• Near the end of a periodized phase (6-8 weeks into an intensive training program)
• When you feel the signs of burnout

Hopefully this helps you in your training plan decisions.

Happy training!

-Coach B