​Thirty-two teams will line up at the start of the inaugural Endless Mountains Adventure Race next week, a Demonstration Race in the 2022 Adventure Racing World Series season. The field, the largest among North American ARWS events this year, represents a wide swath of the US adventure racing community, with a few international racers on the line as well.
 
At the pointy end, expect to see the veterans of Bones Adventure Racing and Bend Racing mixing it up for the top of the podium. The Bones roster includes Roy Malone; Chad Spence, fresh off Expedition Croatia; Charles Triponez; and Mari Chandler, who recently raced with Team Vidaraid for the win at Expedition Oregon. On Bend Racing, Jason and Chelsey Magness are joined by Lebn Lovejoy and Lars Bukkhave. Lovejoy and Bukkhave both retired early from Expedition Oregon last month and are likely hungry for redemption. Chelsey Magness, meanwhile, recently won the WEMBO 24-hour mountain biking world championship.
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Other teams to watch include Untamed New England, with Erik Grimm, Michelle Hobson, Dave Lamb, and Jason Urckfitz; No Complaints, with Sara Dallman, Shawn Lemaster, Eric Olsen, and Doug Ritzert; and Rootstock Racing, with Andy Bacon, Michael Dickey, Kristin Eddy, and Mark Lattanzi. These three teams bring with them strong navigational chops, and they are capable of racing fast and strategically. They are also familiar with the challenging Pennsylvania terrain and the technical navigation emblematic of Rootstock Racing events.
 
Finally, keep an eye on Strong Machine Adventure Racing. Lead navigator Glen Lewis cut his AR teeth in the PA woods, and the team has been training hard and racing well in preparation for this event. 
 
In the all-male division, Rival Racing and Team Deviate look to push the pace early, and Adventure Enablers and Chaos Required both have the legs and the mapwork to vie for the podium. Rival Racing is new to multiday adventure racing, but the team has a strong athletic pedigree and they have been asking all the right questions leading up to the 2022 Endless Mountains. Team member Jason Glenn was born and raised in Clarion, PA, host site for the race.
 
Kevin Poirier and Mike Garrison of Team Deviate, meanwhile, are coming off a fifth-place finish at Expedition Oregon (with Urckfitz of Untamed New England). Both are well trained and experienced at the multi-day distance. This is Garrison’s second of three ARWS events this summer.
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​Pushing them will be Team Wildlings, a collection of seasoned expedition racers with strong biking legs and excellent map skills. The team includes former pro soccer player Kathy Hoverman and former pro canoe racer Brenda Carlson-Brown. Their grit, combined with Shelley Johannesen’s training base – fresh off Expedition Oregon (with Lattanzi from Team Rootstock Racing) and a multi-week hiking trip in Tibet – and Barbara Niess-May’s navigational prowess make them a team to watch.
 
The all-women’s field is rounded out with Masters in Age Only. Diana Driscoll has twenty years of adventure racing experience – largely in Pennsylvania – to draw from during the event, and Donna Boots has racked up more endurance events in her short career than many racers will in a lifetime. Joining them is Megan Moir, new to expedition racing but eager to work with her teammates to get through the course together. Moir’s secret weapon is Biltong, a South African jerky sure to fuel her through five days in the PA Wilds.
 
The 2022 Endless Mountains Adventure Race begins Monday, June 20 at 10:00am EST. For more information and link to live tracking, visit the race website. During race week, follow along on facebook and instagram.

In our final edition of the Expedition Playbook, we cover the ever-elusive topic of nutrition – or, to be more precise, race-day(s) nutrition.
 
If we’re being honest, we thought about sidestepping nutrition entirely. Perhaps more than any other topic we’ve discussed in this series, race nutrition is probably the most varied and personal issue in our sport. Talk to ten racers, and you’ll find ten different strategies for fueling during an event.
 
That said, keeping yourself fueled and hydrated is directly linked to your ability to reach the finish line and meet your race goals, and we would be remiss not to unpack it just a bit.
 
Let’s begin with what you won’t find here:

1. General nutrition tips for an active/athlete lifestyle. Here, we will only focus on fueling during an event.
2. A straightforward fueling how-to. Simply put, there is no one way to fuel during an adventure race. Rather, we’ll be offering a general rundown of various fueling philosophies, with some broad suggestions for planning your in-race nutrition strategy.

Talk to a room of adventure racers, and – broadly defined – you’ll generally find four, sometimes overlapping, approaches to race nutrition.
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1. Daily diet: Racers who follow this approach typically eat the same types of food in a race that they eat in their daily lives. For some folks, this means following a vegan, paleo, or gluten-free diet. For others, it means maintaining a “clean” whole-food approach to race fueling. You can hear Wilo Nater from Team Onyx talk about this philosophy on this episode of the Dark Zone Podcast. Then there are those who flip this idea on its head and integrate “race foods” into their daily lives, an approach made famous by the indomitable Mari Chandler.
2. Flexitarian: Here, racers distinguish between their day-to-day fueling and their race-day strategy. Often, this means a relatively clean approach to daily diet, with race-day fueling based on whatever looks good at the grocery store before the race. For others, it means a balance between performance foods (gels, bars, etc…) and real food (anything ranging from PB&J to jerky to boiled potatoes to Oreos). We know of one team that endured eight days of racing in Patagonia on confectioners’ sugar, macadamia nuts, and spicy jerky, because it was light, calorically dense, and largely free, thanks to their sponsors that season. Spoiler alert: it didn’t go well.
3. Eat your Calories: In this approach, racers will distinguish between fuel (calorie intake) and hydration (water and electrolytes). The thinking here is that your gut will only handle so much, and it’s better to think about this intake in two separate spheres. Jen Segger, the official coach of the Endless Mountains Adventure Race, subscribes to this strategy.
4. Drink your Calories: Racers who choose this approach aim to limit the amount of food they need to take in and instead rely on liquid calories for steady energy and efficient fueling. Bend Racing is one of the most vocal proponents for such a strategy, subsisting largely on their “secret” four-hour fuel and reserving food for fun treats. We once had a teammate who took a similar tact with Hammer Nutrition, adding 800 calories of Perpetuem to a single bike bottle. It proved to be a lifeline for nursing a team member out of a sour stomach and unhappy gut.

While there are endless approaches to race nutrition, we find that there are some tried-and-true strategies that reach across almost all teams. Here they are, in no particular order:

• Know, roughly speaking, how many calories you need to keep yourself going. For some racers, this will be 150 calories per hour; for others, it's 300-400. We find that most racers aim for roughly 200 calories per hour – and rarely sustain that for the duration of a long event. The better you’re able to meet your nutrition goals, however, the better your body will hold up and the less your performance will suffer.
• When you’re planning for your leg-by-leg nutrition, work as a team to honestly assess how long you expect to be out, and then make sure that you have enough fuel to get you through. There will inevitably be developments you didn’t plan for. At some point, things will likely go sideways. You may find yourself passing around the last bag of animal crackers – or worse, the last packet of Listerine strips – to keep yourselves going until the next TA. But the more you can plan in advance, the better chance you have of being prepared.
• Train your stomach to be race-ready. Think of nutrition as a fourth (fifth? sixth?) discipline of adventure racing. Practice your nutrition in training so that you can execute during the race without surprises.
• Eat early and eat often. Set a watch to go off every thirty or sixty minutes, and eat something every time it chimes. Don’t fall into the trap of getting behind on calories. We find that the best way to keep your stomach from turning is to make sure it always has something in it.
• Think about race nutrition holistically, especially in expedition racing. What tastes good on Day 1 will likely sound terrible on Day 4. When you’re packing your food, account for variation across legs, not just within.

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• Share! An oldest truism in AR is that you’ll want to eat whatever your teammate pulls out of their pack. As long as you have enough collective calories for the stage, spreading the love will keep everyone happy and fueled.
• Fueling hygiene: Extended periods of continuous eating and drinking can do a number on your mouth and tongue, and over time it can really impair your ability to eat comfortably - or eat at all. Make sure to rinse your mouth out with water regularly. Pack a tooth brush and toothpaste for TA. Bring single-use toothbrushes like Colgate Wisps with you on a long leg. The more deliberate you are about keeping your mouth clean, the easier it will be to take in calories as the race goes on.
• Finally, and most importantly, know your body. Know what will keep you going and what you’ll be able to get down when things are beginning to go south. Know what you'll want (or be able) to eat in hot temps versus cold. Know what will go down easily and what will turn your stomach. Know what food will make you happy on Day 4 and what you’ll end up tossing in the trash can after the fifth time you stuff it back into your pack and dig for something else.

 
And that’s a wrap for the Endless Mountains Expedition Playbook. Train race, prep smart, recover well, and we’ll see you in the woods!

​A decade ago, few adventure racers had ever seen a packraft, and many had not even heard about the sport that traces its roots back to Alaskan backcountry exploration and the famous Alaskan Mountain Wilderness Classic. In the ensuing years, the sport has taken off and is now commonplace in many expedition-length events in the US. Even shorter events are beginning to integrate packrafting into their courses. Along the way, there has emerged a cottage industry around the sport, with multiple companies producing great boats to match different price points and many outfitters offering rental service to racers and adventurers alike.

​Unlike other equipment, investing in a raft can be intimidating: compared to bikes, headlamps, or other standard items found in a gear closet, it can be hard to test out packrafts or even get your hands and eyes on them to assess them before laying down the credit card. In this edition of the Expedition Playbook, we aim to offer guidance on some of the basics, but we will not be dissecting nuances like seats, materials, gear storage, and inflators (manual and electronic; yes, there are electronic inflators teams are using).
 
For more information on some of these details and more (including DIY options), check out this article. And as always, ask around. Many experienced racers have invested in boats at this point, and most have experience with different brands. Online reviews can be helpful, but beware: many packrafters are not racing with their boats, so what might work for the average rafter might not translate well to AR and racing.
 
Before we dive in: one elephant in the room: WHICH raft should we buy? We will save specific recommendations for the end of the article, but here are some considerations worth exploring.

Perhaps the number one question that comes up for the new packrafter is: how much money do I need to invest in this equipment?
 
It’s a fair question, and even cheaper packrafts can carry a degree of sticker shock, as they will still run you at least several hundred dollars. Some considerations:

• Goals. If you are a competitive adventure racer or looking to be competitive, you really need to invest in a high-end raft. It’s true, you may be able to “make up for it” on other stages, but keep in mind that top racers are really good at all disciplines. If they are able to complete a rafting stage several hours faster than you because of the speed of their boats – and they all have top-end boats – you are not likely to make that up on other stages boats.
• Comfort. Even experienced teams who aren’t necessarily competing for a pointy-end finish are typically paddling in higher-end boats. These boats tend to be lighter, and they are faster and more efficient in the water. This means less overall wear and tear, both when you are paddling the boat and when you are hauling it overland. And the less energy you need to expend hauling a large brick or trying to keep a glorified innertube heading in the right direction, the more energy you’ll have for later in the race.
• Durability. Top-line boats tend to be constructed with more durable materials and can weather the wear and tear of a race better. Especially if you will be paddling in moving water and are likely to encounter rocks or debris, a higher-end boat is more likely to reach the far TA intact.

So… what about the cheaper boats? Are you saying I have to shell out four figures for a boat?
 
Not necessarily. Consider the following, and if you can check off these boxes, then you might be fine with a more affordable option.
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Two further considerations as you decide whether and how to invest in rafts.
 
First: many seasoned racers started their packrafting careers in more affordable boats, convincing themselves (and being convinced online) that there isn’t much difference between lower-end and higher-end brands. Often, these racers ended up reinvesting in new rafts within one or two races, after seeing how different they actually perform on the water. If you have plenty of disposable income, maybe this isn’t a big deal, but investing in a $500 boat only to go out and buy an $800-1000+ boat within a year or two is a bummer.
 
Second: Especially in day-long events, you’ll see some teams invest in what literally might be a pool toy. Odds are good that this isn’t what race directors had in mind when they were designing the packraft section of their race. If it happens to be a relatively superficial and short section, you may be able to get away with a $40 beach raft from Amazon, but more likely than not, your experience probably won’t end well.
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Of course, all races are different, and unless you really are a gear junkie, you probably aren’t going to invest in multiple rafts for different conditions (though many experienced racers do, over the course of several years). Some additional general considerations:

• MOST races, short and long, avoid throwing racers into truly difficult paddling conditions when designing packrafting legs. You are unlikely to see Class IV whitewater in a packraft. In fact, most RDs won’t send you into Class III rapids, and many only utilize flat water or relatively tame moving water.* Keep in mind, even relatively beginner or intermediate water can be challenging and pose a lethal threat to an inexperienced, cold, or tired racer.
• Because MOST rafting tends to be staged in relatively accessible conditions, experienced teams and paddlers will often employ double rafts because they are faster. And they always are faster on flat water or gentle rivers that are deep enough and don’t require much maneuvering.
• Teams tend to split on the importance of spray decks. Again, every once in a while, you may find yourself in conditions where they are beneficial. But more often, they are not necessary and just add weight and set-up time. If you elect to leave them home, you should be prepared to be wetter and colder, and potentially to dump your boat once in a while. But if racing is the goal, you should be okay without them in most events.*
• Finally, consider non-racing interests. Will you be rafting recreationally? In what seasons do you plan to paddle? Will you be alone, or with a friend, family member, teammate, or pet? In what conditions? Make sure you do your homework as different rafts really are designed for different circumstances.

​*Expedition Oregon is the clear exception to these norms. The race often includes more technical paddling. It’s safe to assume that teams you should be more prepared for this race than most, and if there is ever a time to consider extra gear like spray decks, it’s here.

​If you have considerable paddling experience, transitioning to a packraft may be relatively straight forward. They will handle differently than kayaks and canoes, but you will likely be able to adjust using your experience quickly enough.
 
Even then, it is valuable to seek out instruction and guidance from experienced packrafters. And if you are jumping into packrafting without much paddling experience, you absolutely should consider some training. In the Northeast, Eric Caravella recently started Packrafting Adventures. Training like this is invaluable, and Eric is offering discounted rates to registrants of a number of adventure races that are including packrafting in 2022, including the Endless Mountains. Reach out to us or to Eric for details.
 
While packrafting is still a fledgling discipline under the American Canoe Association, a growing number of instructors often are able to set up courses for teams or small groups if there are no available classes.

​OK. “Just tell me what to buy,” you say.
 
We’ll begin at the beginning: the history of adventure racing, in the USA at least, has long been intertwined with Alpacka Raft. For over a decade Alpacka dominated the packrafting industry. There were a few other companies offering more affordable options that some swore performed nearly as well. They didn’t. In these boats racers often encounted torn-out bottoms, ripped seams, poor tracking, and heavier weights (while still being more damage-prone). In short, no one could hang with Alpacka.
 
In recent years, however, a number of new and exciting options have hit the market, which has opened up all sorts of new, and more complicated, decisions for adventurers. In 2022, you will see a more diverse array of packrafts at any given race, even among the more competitive and experienced teams. For one summary of some of the recognized brands, check out the relevant section in this article.

At Rootstock Racing, we are excited about our new partnership with Microrafting USA. MRS packrafts have cemented themselves as a go-to raft on the international racing scene; many elite racers in the South Pacific, Asia, and Europe rate these as their top choice for both racing and adventuring. Their Barracuda model, in particular, has emerged as a perfect boat for adventure racers. Fast, sleek, and roomy (by packraft standards) this tandem boat has risen to the top of the packraft market. For racers looking for the perfect expedition race tandem, MRS offers two versions of the Barracuda – a standard model and one with a spraydeck option.

​As new partners with MRS, we will be updating this page with a link to an official review of the Barracuda once we are able to launch it for its maiden voyage. By all existing accounts, though, this boat is unrivaled by any other model currently on the market.
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​As always, start where you are. If you only plan to raft once a year, perhaps renting a higher-end boat is a better investment than purchasing a lower-end one. Packrafting Adventures and Back Country Packrafts are both great options for rentals. If you see yourself rafting more regularly, think about your needs, interests, and how much you want to invest.
 
Financial considerations aside, know that packrafting is not quite as straightforward as it seems. It takes time to figure out how to pack efficiently, how to inflate and deflate the boats quickly, how to stow your gear once you hit the water, and how to share a small boat if paddling a tandem. The boat will handle differently, especially in whitewater, from your standard canoe or kayak. Showing up to a race without any experience will likely result in a fair degree of frustration.

Adventure racing legend, friend, and teammate Mark Lattanzi wrote an excellent book on the topic of navigation. Go read it.
 
Rather than do a deep dive on technicalities of navigation, here are some general reflections on big questions and strategies to consider as a navigator and as a team.
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​Navigation tends to be “easier” in multi-day races, in that there are fewer CPs and most of them tend to be relatively easy to find. Shorter adventure races typically include a fair bit of micro-nav or even challenging orienteering. You might be looking for a checkpoint every fifteen minutes in a short race. In an expedition race, you might travel for fifteen hours between checkpoints. The challenge often is more in the route finding than the precision, as there are often different options to traverse these long distances.

​The hardest navigation tends to be on foot. Bike and paddle sections are often relatively straightforward in an expedition race. As is true in a shorter race, trekking tends to offer more advanced, off-trail navigation opportunities.

​This is an impossible to answer question: should one person try to navigate the entire race, or should the team divide up the load? This really comes down to your team strengths and goals. Consider this flow chart in creating your navigational strategy:

Some general considerations, regardless of which strategy you take:

• Some lead navigators find that they stay more mentally engaged – and consequently more awake – than their teammates later in the race. But when the navigational focus ends and the team finds themselves on a long, relatively mindless ride or paddle on Day 4, they tend to crash mentally (and sometimes literally). Our theory is that navigation requires substantial mental energy output over the course of the race. This means that when the navigator is focused on the maps, they’re more engaged and awake, but when they don’t have that stimulation, they may a price for it. Whereas other team members may experience a steady ebb and flow of energy over the course of the event, a navigator’s ability to stay sharp and stay awake is contingent on, well, having navigation to do.  
• For this reason, the rest of the team needs to look out for the navigator. Know their signs of fatigue and try to catch them before the team finds itself two ridgelines over from the checkpoint because sleepmonsters distracted the navigator from the details on the map.
• Likewise, for navigators: don’t let ego get in the way. If you are navving and the team stops you to point out that you seem to be having harder time making decisions and staying on course, or perhaps to tell you that you are making uncharacteristic mistakes, you need to be able to step back and admit this to yourself. Either get some sleep or pass the maps off to someone else on the team.
• If you have two sets of maps, USE THEM. If the lead navigator becomes impaired, or if you set out with the plan to rotate nav duties, it can make a big difference if the back-up nav or tagging-in navigator has been paying attention to maps. There is often a learning curve that comes with navigating in a new location on new maps. Trying to take over the maps on night three can be even worse than letting a tired primary navigator continue to bobble.​

If sleep strategy is the fifth discipline of expedition racing, transitioning is the sixth. For some teams, it may also be the most important. Consider the following:
 
Let’s say your race has seven transition areas (FYI, many expedition races have several more TAs than that). A savvy, experienced team may be able to average 15-30 minutes in any given TA – let’s call it 20 minutes for the sake of easy math. Some may be even faster, especially early in the race (and excluding sleep strategy). This team will spend 140 minutes in transition over the course of the race.
 
Now, a less experienced team rolls into their first transition. They are exhausted and hungry. They haven’t fine-tuned their strategy or honed their bike breakdown. It’s not uncommon for a team like this to spend 2 hours or more sorting and swapping out gear, changing shoes, refueling, changing clothes, and repacking. Compound that over seven TAs and that’s 840 minutes – 14 hours of race time, more than half a day. In a race with shorter stages and more TAs, it’s not unheard of for less experienced teams to spend 18-24 hours in transition.
 
These lost hours can dash podium hopes for pointy-end races. They can derail full-course dreams for mid-pack teams. They can cause teams to miss time cutoffs, and they may be the difference between officially finishing and not.
 
TAing is a skill that top teams work at tirelessly and endlessly. Adventure racing is all about efficiency, and efficient TAs mean “found” time to spend on the course.

​So, how do you get there?
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​Sometime before race week, you will likely receive a race planner or schematic from the RD. These planners are always a bit different, but at a minimum they tend to provide teams with distance estimates and time estimates for each leg of the race. They will typically offer the order of stages and disciplines, and many will provide specific details that help with planning, strategizing, and packing. Such details may include what amenities are available at specific TAs and what bins, boxes, or bags you will receive.
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In a sense, the race has begun once these planners are distributed, and experienced teams will spend hours and hours working individually and as a team to prepare for the race at home: coordinating gear, planning for food and transitions, and organizing TA bags and bins. Obviously, you won’t have all the information you will need, but you can do a considerable amount of prep work, saving you time and energy during registration and in those precious hours on site before the race begins.
 
This effort can be compounding. The hours spent at home studying that schematic and applying what you can to gear, food, and clothing prep will translate to better preparation, less stress, more sleep, and fewer mistakes at race HQ before the start. You will then have more time and peace to adapt as you learn more of what to expect from the event. And the next thing you know, you are hours and hours ahead of other teams who didn’t do this important work.

When examining pre-race schematics, take note of the following:

• Distance and time estimates. Do they provide full-course options and short-course options? Be aware that one of the most common mistakes newer racers make is overestimating their abilities. You may be well trained, you may have experience in a lot of other sports and outdoor escapades, but nothing is like AR. Very few teams are able to walk into their first race, especially an expedition, and come close to achieving the advertised fast times. All but a few will assuredly end up on some version of a short course. Know that “Fast/Full Course” estimates typically are founded on the following assumptions:
  • They are based on the performance of the best teams likely to show up to a race. Typically, at a multi-day race, this means the top teams in the world. These teams are the best for a reason. Recognize that even many podium-contending teams look at those fast times and add a couple hours… or more.
  • Fast times assume clean navigation and no issues. They don’t take into account navigation errors, injury, mechanical issues, team dynamics, illness, the time you might spend sleeping, and sleep-deprivation-induced sluggishness.
  • They also don’t take into account weather conditions, which can and do blow up time estimates.
  • RDs cannot predict how any team’s performance may change over the course of multiple days. It’s hard enough when trying to predict for fresh teams on day one. Most RDs’ fast estimates not only assume a clean performance on a given section and pleasant weather; they also assume fresh bodies and minds.

good opportunity to practice that old adage, KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
 
Big zip-locks are your friend. Being able to see what’s in your bags can increase efficiency and reduce the need to use precious mental energy, sorting through which bags to grab on Day 4.
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If you have done well planning, organizing, and packing your bins and bags, the real key to race-week execution is in communication with your teammates. Use the last thirty minutes of each leg to talk about the upcoming TA. What stage are you going to embark on? What gear will you need? What food needs resupplying?
 
As you come into TA, you should consider the following tasks, depending on what the next stage might be.

• Signing In and Out? Do you need to check in? Do you need to punch a physical flag? Make one team member responsible for this job – both as you enter the TA and as you depart.
• Bikes. Are you breaking down bikes? Building bikes? Loading bikes on a truck? What gear can your leave with your bikes? Any repairs you need to address? Lights on? Lights off?
• Paddling. Assemble paddles, make sure you have the proper safety gear, etc. If you have to portage, how are you setting up for that? Which teammates are paddling together?
• Gear. Are there any unique gear requirements? Perhaps you need to bring sleeping gear. Maybe you need climbing helmets and harnesses or you want your poles for a long trek.
• Body Maintenance. Any hot spots, blisters, or other issues that need basic attention? Any more significant injuries that you should run by a medic if one is available). Re-apply lube, take care of bad chafing, apply sunscreen, do a tick check, rewrap a turned ankle, etc.
• Shoes and Clothes. Is this an opportunity for fresh clothes and shoes? If you’re soaking wet and the sun is out, take advantage of this to help reduce chafing and infection. That said, if it’s pouring, maybe a full change of clothes isn’t worth it. Do you need to carry extra shoes with you for an embedded foot section? Should you bring a puffball or extra warm gear on the next stage?
• Food. Resupply food. Drop your trash from the last stage if you’re able. Do you have the time and resources for hot meals? Should someone go check out that local pizza shop next to the TA and place an order while everyone else works on bikes?
• Maps. If you have stored maps in TA bins or bikes boxes and need to swap, do so. Be careful though: while it’s a great idea to break maps up and minimize weight (a full set of expedition race maps can add pounds to your pack), many teams, including the best in the world, have made the mistake of mixing up maps. It’s demoralizing to realize that the maps you packed in your bike box are, in fact, for a paddling stage later in the race.
• Sleep. As discussed in our sleep article, consider whether bedding down in the TA is the best option for you team. If it is, have a plan. Ideally, everyone can attend to their business, prep what they need for the next stage, eat, drink, take care of their feet, and then crawl into a sleeping bag for some quality or emergency sleep. If someone is in bad shape, that may not be reasonable. Consider sending them to sleep immediately (ideally with some food in their bellies!) and have the other teammates complete the TA chores. Make sure those staying up longer have ample time to sleep as well; don’t shortchange them.
• Stay Positive. Know that the single hardest part of expedition racing is keeping everyone going mentally. When you stop – whether it is to sleep, take a break, eat, attend to an illness, or simply TA – it’s not uncommon for someone on the team to confront the AR demons, taunting them to drop out. When you are in TA, it’s much easier to entertain dropping out. On our team, more often than not, the tears, the deepest doubts, and the hardest questions come out in TA rather than out in the woods or on the trail; there is a release that comes when you crawl into TA after a particularly hard stage or experience. Support each other, stay focused, and get back out there. Getting on your way usually helps the storm clouds pass.

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​Finally, as much as we privilege efficiency, there are times when TAs should serve as a legitimate break. Sometimes, you need to slow things down and do some quality work preserving a teammate’s mental or physical health to be able to continue. This is the razor edge of adventure racing: balancing the desire to maximize every minute and keep things moving and the need – sometimes – to slow it down or even stop, knowing that a couple extra hours of preservation might translate to hours gained later on the course or a more realistic chance to finish, or even win, the race.

Let’s face it: adventure racing does not make for pretty feet. Even in day-long races, you’re spending significant time on your feet, and even when you aren’t, you’re likely feeling the effects of the grime and wet you’ve subjected them to. In a multi-day race, the soreness, the blisters, and the abrasions will be compounded.
 
So, what can you do about it?

(Note: we're going to refrain from photos in this one!)
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​First, spend time on your feet. This means more than just getting out for long runs. Hit the trails with a pack. Add some weight. Mimic the gear, food, and water you will haul during the race and toughen those feet up.
 
Second, do a little bit of learning. Read, watch videos, and familiarize yourself with first aid items and strategies to treat blisters, manage infections, and bandage wounds. It’s not a bad idea to practice blister bandaging and experimenting with dressings to see what works and what actually stays on when you get out in the woods. Youtube is a great place to learn different techniques.
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Experienced adventure racers rely on a few crucial items aimed at taking care of their feet during the race.

• Shoes. This should go without saying, but find shoes that work for you.
  • You will want shoes that are reasonably light but sturdy enough to hold up under unforgiving conditions. Few shoes are designed with the wet, dirty, off-trail conditions of an expedition race in mind. Do your homework. Ask around. See what works for others and then try them yourself – before your race.
    • Be aware the ultralight shoes that may get shredded when you’re bushwhacking off trail.
    • Consider a shoe with a protective toebox.
  • The most important thing you can do is to make sure that you find the right shoe for your feet and then test them out with some long sessions and see how your body responds. Some racers prefer the ultra-padded soles of Hokas, while others are more comfortable in the ultra-stable Salomons. Some like a shoe that hugs their feet; others want a wide toebox so that they can move around. There is no one right shoe, but there is likely a right shoe for you.
  • Buy big. If you are new to ultra-endurance events, be prepared that your feet will likely swell. The shoe that is comfortable but snug on Day 1 may be so tight that it causes painful blisters on Day 4. Many adventure racers buy a half size up, or even a full size. You may also consider bringing a bigger pair for the second half of the race.
  • On that note, bring extras. As we discussed in our Expedition Playbook entry on gear, if you are able to pack extra shoes, do so. Being able to mix things up helps your feet. New or fresh shoes may relieve rubbing and will give your feet a break from day-old grit and grime.
• Lubricant. There are a number of excellent lubricants out there that all will help keep your skin healthier during the race. Find lube that holds up well in wet conditions and ideally provides lasting protection. Some lubes offer antibacterial protection. Some are designed with more natural ingredients. Some will last longer. Some may stain your clothing. Once again, experiment. Try it on a long hike; try it in wet conditions. Train with it and see how your feet feel and respond in gnarly conditions.
• Insoles. Consider inserts if your feet need some extra support. You might consult with a podiatrist for specific recommendations here.
• Trekking Poles. While they may not immediately relate to your feet, using trekking poles can relieve your feet of some of the inevitable pounding and wear and tear. This might translate to more efficient travel later in the race and might make the difference between a team being able to shuffle and jog versus hobbling along.
• Socks. Here again, personal preference is key. Some folks like thicker and more cushioned socks. Others prefer something thinner. Experiment. You may get by with a certain sock in shorter events or in training. But what happens when you spend 10-20 hours on your feet… or longer?

​

​Before the race begins, make sure you store lube for all stages of the event. It’s a good idea to keep bigger tubes in bins, bags, and boxes that will be available in transition areas. You will also want to make sure at least one member of the team is carrying lube on the course in case (when) you need to stop to address foot issues.

Once out on the course:

• Listen to your body. Your feet will be sore, no question. Tylenol, shifting weight around the team, and avoiding pavement may provide some relief. Make sure that you’re tuned into what you’re feeling and take proactive measures to address it before it moves from inconvenient to emergent.
• To that end, identify hot spots as early as possible. The classic mistake that so many people make is to gut it out. Sure, if you are a mile away from the end of the final foot section, put your head down and get to the finish line. Otherwise, stop and address the issue. A few minutes to clean feet, change socks, reapply lube, or manage an oncoming blister is absolutely worth it. If you’re stubborn (and we’ve all been there), you may throw away hours of time later in the race when your feet are too ravaged to move efficiently. That isn’t a nav mistake or a bonk that you can recover from; badly blistered feet won’t heal during the race, and even the toughest competitors may succumb to bad feet if the blisters are bad enough or infected.
• Be prepared to treat blisters or wounds. Make sure you have a small foot-care kit, and know how to use it. Here are some crucial items to have at your disposal, though there are various different approaches to blister management.
  • Needle/safety pin. You may need to drain a blister; make sure to sterilize your needle first. Draining the blister in a controlled environment can prevent it from tearing or ripping on its own, a situation that can make you more susceptible to infection or create significant pain. Pop the blister with a sterilized needle early if that hot spot starts to bubble and gently drain it of fluids. It can help to poke two holes in the blister to facilitate drainage.
  • Clean the wound. If you have some fresh water, rinse off your feet. Then use antiseptic wipes (go for iodine wipes; alcohol wipes will work, but they have been shown to kill tissue).
  • Then you will want to apply some antibiotic ointment. This is crucial to help prevent an infection that might set in before you reach the finish line and can clear your feet properly.
  • Covering the blister site can be tricky. Some people use moleskin. Others prefer dressings specifically designed for blisters. Sturdy band-aids also work. The key is something that will stay secure and protect the site. Again, make sure there is ointment in there. Not only will this fight infection, but it adds a nice layer of lubricant to prevent further rubbing. You may want to consider using some athletic tape or wrap to more fully secure the dressing.
  • Finally, apply Tincture of Benzoin. Tincture can help secure a bandage to your skin and is valuable in helping with blister dressings.

​Up until this point, this Expedition Playbook series has focused largely on training and preparation. Today, we’re going to pivot to in-race considerations. The next several articles will tackle selected topics related to the actual experience, strategy, skills, and approaches that will come up after you and your team cross the start line.
 
First up: Sleep Strategy.
 
Multiple nights of continuous racing is, perhaps, the single biggest difference between shorter day-long events and expedition racing. The sleep deprivation piles up, and past three days, racing straight through really isn’t an option. Even in a 72-hour event, most teams will sleep a bit. Past three days, however, sleep strategy really becomes its own discipline. And it’s an important one.
 
How your team approaches sleep can radically impact your experience and race. Extreme sleep deprivation also adds risk to the event, so safety comes into play. Sleepy racers have a harder time navigating effectively. Exhaustion can breed a false sense of reality, and teams can throw away tens of hours of productive racing to inefficiency, wasted time, mistakes, and more. Tempers fray and sometimes break, and for some teams, bad sleep strategy can become an insurmountable obstacle, preventing individuals or teams from reaching the finish line.
 
At the same time, expedition races are massive undertakings, so there is a constant sense of pressure to GO, GO, GO! Many believe that stopping to sleep means they will run out of time. Those looking to compete against other teams – versus the course – worry that they will fall too far behind. While some of this may, at times, be true, there are a number of myths out there about sleeping…or not sleeping…in an expedition race that deserve your team’s attention prior to confronting sleepmonsters on a dark, rainy night. And with some exceptions, effective and well-timed sleep management will most likely lead to a more enjoyable and successful experience and often times a better finish.
​

​We do actually, and many of us try to sleep very deliberately!
 
In races under 48 hours, most experienced racers try to go wire to wire without any shuteye; if you want to compete, you likely won’t be able to afford much if any sleep.
 
Past that 48-hour range, however, most teams start to work sleep into their race strategy. For a three-day race, that may just be a few hours on night two. In races of four days are more, most of the top teams in the world are sleeping two, three, even four hours almost every night once they hit night two.
 
This may not sound like a lot for a sport that runs continuously over several days, but compared to many teams who measure successful sleep in minutes vs. hours, that’s a full night sleep!

Years ago, in the midst of a five-day race (location and teammates shall remain anonymous), we were digging into night two. The team was exhausted, a cold rain was falling, and we were setting off on a leg that we knew would offer us no reprieve. It was the kind of situation that any experienced team knows can end in disaster.

​In that unnamed five-day race, another teammate scoffed.
 
“We aren’t out here to sleep in a hotel,” they said.
 
We then “slept” on a cold concrete bus platform two blocks away, shivering for an hour or two…
 
We know adventure racers enter the woods to test themselves against the elements. We also know that a long, cold, dark bike stage will always be more enjoyable if it follows a couple hours of sleeping in a comfortable and warm spot.

Time and again, the more rested teams take advantage of the rest of the field’s fatigued states as multi-day races wear on. Where you sleep really can make a huge difference.

Some other considerations on this point:

• When pre-race planning, try to project where you will be during the nights. Are there towns? Houses? Structures? Campgrounds? Other potential legitimate shelter? Barns, trailers, containers, bathrooms? Try to identify possible target sites that roughly match up with your time projections and route, knowing you will surely need to adapt at some point.
• Plan for warmth. In 2015, we competed in the incredible Expedition Alaska. It was the last time we competed in an expedition race without some sort of ground insulation. Few races require this equipment, but what a difference it can make. As always, we all want to cut weight, but this addition to our packs has made a big difference for sleeping comfort and efficiency. We carry an ultrathin and light foam pad. It folds right up and weighs a few ounces. And it works well enough to keep us considerably warmer when sleeping. If you have spent enough time in the outdoors, you likely know that hypothermia can strike on a warm summer day… or night. Some studies suggest that more people succumb to it during the summer than the winter, because they enter the wilderness less prepared for the variable conditions. A wet sleep on uninsulated ground during a lukewarm summer night can and will suck warmth right out of your body. Stay there long enough, and your race is over.
• When you can, sleep at night. It’s not always possible, but even when you’re sleep deprived, your team will likely collectively sleep better in the dark than daylight. Circadian Rhythms and all. Sleep science is an enormous rabbit hole, especially when combined with REM Cycles, that raises all sorts of interesting questions about the ideal time and length to sleep. We’ll leave the heavy research to you, but know that natural sleep (quiet, dark, measured blocks of time) is way more effective than unnatural sleep (high noon, no shade, traffic going by) at helping you maximize your rest and positively impact your performance and overall experience.

​There are times when a quick nap IS enough, but anyone who has studied sleep or who has experienced sleep deprivation knows that fifteen minutes here and there might be enough to keep the train inching along, but it’s almost never enough to get that train cruising for a sustained period of time. It’s appropriate when you just need to get to the end of the leg and the wheels are coming off, but it should not replace more legitimate sleep.
 
Let’s take the legendary Kiwis from Avaya/Seagate as an example. They tend to race through night one, but they then settle into banking sleep most nights, if not every night, thereafter. Often a couple or even several hours of sleep at a time. Their race resume speaks for itself.
​

​​Sometimes they are! But often they are not. True, you may have the luxury of better access to sleeping gear (tents and sleeping bags if you don’t have to carry them on course, inflatable sleeping pads, inflatable pillows, etc.) and you will be near your gear bins, so extra food and clothes will be available.

​Sleeping out of TA comes with different challenges (mostly related to what gear you have with you to sleep comfortably and where you will decide to physically lie down), but most experienced teams avoid TAs if there are other options. For other options, review Myth 2!
​

Like anything with AR, there is no right way to approach sleep strategy. The reality is, your team will experience highs and lows with sleep, regardless of how well you plan it out ahead of time. One teammate will be asleep on their feet and the others will be wired. Two people will bank some good sleep on night two, but the rest of the team will toss and turn and “wake up” more tired than when they laid down. You will make a bad decision or be forced into an unplanned sleep that isn’t restorative or productive. You will need to be flexible and adapt, knowing that the best laid plans may be immediately ruined by a navigation error that delays you by several hours, disrupting your entire plan for multiple nights of sleep.
 
Still, planning and strategy can go a long way. Talk as a team and approach sleep as the fifth discipline of expedition racing after running, biking, paddling, and navigation. We’ll leave you with some final nuts and bolts to toss around as you plan for this added challenge:

• Earplugs and eye masks (or buffs) help light sleepers, especially during a daytime sleep.
• Caffeine helps. But it shouldn’t replace sleep in a true expedition race.
• Set multiple alarms. One likely won’t be enough.
• Consider your gear before sleeping, especially if sleeping in a TA. It usually makes sense to have everything ready BEFORE you sleep. Afterwards, you will likely be a mess. Easier to get things ready before sleeping and then just wake and go. And even that is harder than it sounds.
• Eat and drink before sleeping. A lot. Give your body a chance to use that fuel to better repair itself. You’ll still be exhausted, even after a few hours of sleep. Don’t deplete yourself, too.
• Get dry. This may not be possible, but try to find a dry location and get into dry clothes.
• Insulate. Dry clothes. Fleeces. Rain gear. Space blankets and emergency bags. Sleeping bags. Whatever you can do. If you don’t have a ground pad, is there any way you can get off the cold ground? Remember, even in warm weather, the ground will drain the heat from your body. Hypothermia sets in when your body temp falls below 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Even in the summer, the ground is reliably colder than that.
• It’s basic, but sleep at night. Not only because of all the scientific reasons to do so, but also because night is the hardest time for racing. Navigation is harder, technical travel is slower, there is less to look at and engage you, and darkness will wreak havoc on your mind. Burning three hours of good daylight to sleep is not efficient.
• When you can, elevate your feet when you’re sleeping. More on foot care in our next edition, but sleeping with your feet up can do wonders for inflammation!

​For new expedition racers, bike boxes can freeze you in your tracks, especially if the race you're eyeing requires standard dimensions from the Adventure Racing World Series. Unfortunately, you can’t walk into a local bike shop and buy one, and this is one thing Amazon likely won’t stock…we don't think …actually, it looks like they sometimes do, but as of this writing, they aren't available...we digress...
 
Walk around a transition area or peek into the back of the RDs' U-Haul at most expedition races and you will find a real hodgepodge of bike boxes. Most notably, you will see that many, perhaps most, are, in fact, hand made. So, where does one begin?!

​At one time, Crateworks fabricated a bike box that met ARWS dimensions. As of now, they seem to have stopped production on those boxes. Those boxes were not cheap, and they typically didn't seem to hold up as well as some of the better built DIY boxes -- not because the quality of the boxes was poor, but because their ability to break down meant that there were more moving parts, which caused more wear over time than with some firmer less flexible boxes.

Still, you didn’t have to put time and labor into building the box yourself, and they were designed to break down, fold flat, and store easily. If you don’t mind spending a bit more, then an option like this is an easy solution.
 
The team from Rogue Adventures in Australia offers a list, which they update periodically, of outfitters currently producing bike boxes. Keep in mind you likely will pay for the box and shipping. 

​​OK, so you are going to go it yourself. Here’s what you need to know:
 
DIMENSIONS. As noted above, plan to build your bike box to ARWS dimensions: 140cm X 80cm X 30cm. All ARWS events will use these standard dimensions. If you err on one side of the measurement, go small.
 
MATERIALS. You are looking for corrugated sheets of plastic. Some call this coroplast, others corflute. You can typically buy this in 5mm or 6mm sheets. We have used 6mm for our boxes, with good results. They are a bit sturdier, stand up better when traveling, protect your equipment to a higher degree, and have a long shelf life. We built ours eight years ago, and we haven’t had to do any repair work. Getting your hands on such sheets is the real trick as they can be hard to find. We have had luck at a local sign shop like this, which has stocked sheets of coroplast or has been able to order them, and we have ordered two 5x10-foot sheets per box.
 
You will also need a heavy-duty bonding agent that will work on plastic surfaces, and you will need something to secure sheets together. We have used rivets and washers, which have worked well for us. They don’t weigh as much as other hardware, and with proper washers, they have held up without needing to be replaced. That said, you will need to invest in a rivet gun. We know other racers have had success with their own fastening systems. Ask around.
 
You will need some basic tools: X-acto knife, a tool designed specifically for cutting coroplast (you can live without it, but it makes some of the cutting much easier and cleaner), a drill, a rivet gun (if using rivets), or other tools if using a different fastening system.
 
Finally: when cutting the plastic sheets, consider the surface you are cutting on. Make sure it is a surface that can be marred by the X-acto blade, or use some cardboard to protect the floor. You will also need some heavy weight to help allow the adhesive to set. Finally, make sure you have plenty of time. You will likely need a fair bit of it to complete the project, including multiple time blocks to apply the adhesive and let it dry. Don't wait until race week!

​Design
​
Before reinventing the wheel, the previously mentioned article by Rogue Adventure presents a great design with terrific instructions and is worth consideration.

Some racers have made clamshell style boxes. These boxes take more effort to design and build, but they open up nicely, and such boxes allow easier access to whatever is packed in the box. Ease of access can really make life seem so much easier on day four of an expedition race!
 
Our preferred model, however, is a simple variation of Rogue’s box. Check out the more detailed “blueprint” above for details. We prefer it for a few reasons:

• It only requires two pieces of coroplast. You want to find the 5x10 sheets to make this work easily, but if you can land those, you can keep it to two sheets. You will essentially cut two halves of a box and connect them together. You can also use smaller sheets of corrugated plastic, but you will likely have to purchase more than two sheets and will probably pay more per square foot.
• Because the box is only two sheets, it is quite sturdy. There are fewer open/bonded seams to seal and fail. As noted earlier, our boxes are approaching a decade of use, and we have yet to do any repair work on them.
• Our boxes do not rely on heavy duty straps and do not include wheels. We have never had need for either, and the simpler the box, the lighter it is, meaning more weight allowance for bikes and gear when flying to and racing in an event with weight restrictions.
• When folding seams, use a board, or something straight to help make the seam. If you fold the plastic poorly, you can weaken the structure. Folding “with the grain” is relatively easy. Folding “against” it is harder, and there is an increased chance of a bad fold. For some of the longer folds, it can be useful to fold with a partner.
• On that note, when cementing, riveting, and generally working to construct the box (once you have measured, cut, drilled holes for rivets or other hardware, and prepared the box to build), it can help to work with a partner.
• It probably is overkill, but in the blueprint, you might note “holes”. The bottom and end caps of the box are double-sided. We cut holes out of the interior sheet of plastic. It might seem inconsequential, but we estimate it saved us a pound or two by doing so. That’s one more pound of food or an extra dry shirt or two for that low moment in the race. Every little bit counts!
• Install the heavy duty Velcro on the inside-top flap.
• Consider your grips for carrying. Some install ropes or other handles. No problem with that, but if you haven’t figured out our approach: we don’t want to add weight to the box if possible. We cut hand-wide slots on the end caps, and we also have cut slots on the sides. Grips on the ends are great if carrying the box with a partner or if you are taller than a hobbit (alas, we are not). Cutting holds on the sides allows one person to carry a box on their own.

 
None of this is to say these boxes are perfect or that you shouldn’t consider alternatives, but we like simple! As always, network: ask other racers what they use, what they have built, and why. What has worked well, what hasn't? Check out some different styles. Mix and match what works for you and what you like from various approaches.

In the end, you probably won’t save much in building it on your own, so consider whether it’s worth the time and effort. Just make sure you invest your money and/or time in something that seems durable. The worst is acquiring or building a flimsy bike box that either breaks down during the race or needs to be replaced or rebuilt a year or two later, and even worse than that is the weak box that doesn't do it's primary job: protecting your bike from damage during transportation.