Wild Women AR Skills Clinic

Noosa Heads   

14th & 15^th June 2014

Day 1   Saturday          Paddle Navigation + Mtb skills + Social

7.00am            Paddle Navigation Session on Noosa River…Learn the art of paddle navigation as you make your way around the beautiful Noosa River.  We will also give you helpful hints on steering and paddle co-ordination. Plastic sit-on-top boats, PFD’s and paddles provided...but BYO if you wish.

10.30am           Coffee/snacks at Café le Monde…Enjoy coffee and snacks whilst chatting with us about all aspects of the sport….Gear suggestions, nutrition requirements, training techniques…..we are there to answer all of your questions.

12 noon            Mtb Skills …Get on your mountain bikes and take a scenic ride along Noosa’s brilliant bike-path network out to our local forestry trails.  Here we will take you through some basic mtb skills and put them to the test on some of the technical trails…. Then ride back to Noosa to refresh for dinner.

5.00pm             Drinks and Dinner at the Reef Hotel…  Relax and unwind after a big day at the Reef Hotel for dinner and drinks J

Day 2   Sunday            Map Preparation and Planning + Bike and Foot Navigation Session + Lunch

7.00am            Map Preparation and Planning…Sit down at a local Café for a coffee and some serious map work.  We will take you through the procedures of planning your route for the event….tips on which ways are better, and why…..and of course, the all-important art of contacting J

9.00am             Bike & Foot Navigation Session… Now it’s your turn.  After driving out to the start location, you will set off on your bikes finding check-points and making your way on the trails..  Just like a real AR, you will have pre-marked your route…. On arrival at the ‘TA’, you will leave the bikes and embark on a foot navigation session finding the pre-marked checkpoints before meeting back at the bikes….and navigating your way back to the start. Then it will be time for a well-earned rest and debrief. J

           

1.00pm             Lunch and De-brief

Cost

Non Tri Adventure Members $100 per person - Tri Adventure Members $50 per person - This includes all activities + use of kayak and gear for paddle sessions (NB: food & drinks not included)

Join Tri Adventure and save 50% on clinics, attend social sessions for free, and get our weekly newsletter update, receive special discounts from our supporters including Area 51, Ay-Up Lights, Endura, RACV Resort, Go Ride a Wave, Ridgeline Adventures, Skirts Sports Australia, and Venture Cycles.

BYO all your adventure Gear (Including mini first aid kit)

MTB & MTB Equipment incl. compass (map board would be beneficial if you have one) Pack sufficient to carry shoes for foot nav and food/drink during sessions

Hydration/nutrition for all sessions

Paddle Craft & Paddling Equipment will be provided if you don’t wish to bring your own

Bookings Essential – Register your interest by Monday 2^nd June 2014

Email triadventure@optusnet.com.au for registration & further details

Forms & payment due Tuesday 10^th June 2014 

Part 2 - Skill Related Fitness and Adventure Racing

To follow on form Part 1....As mentioned during training, many athletes just tend to focus on the traditional disciplines of adventure racing, so why not consider incorporating some of these additional activities into your sessions just for a bit of fun or use these in recovery sessions from time to time throughout the season. You just never know when you might need these skills along with your navigation practice!

There are 11 Components of fitness which can be divided into two areas:- Part 1 outlined Health Related Fitness  including Body Composition, Cardio-respiratory Fitness, Flexibility, Muscular Endurance, Muscular Strength.

This section focuses on  and Skill Related Fitness - Agility, Balance, Co-ordination, Power, Reaction Time, Speed) 

Skill Related Fitness 

Skill related fitness components are the components of fitness that we can use to get that edge over our competitors, or when combined with health related fitness components improve our performance or enable us to be efficient at the disciplines and skills of adventure racing.  Most of these can complement functional strength activities and can be incorporated into existing sessions.

Speed 

This can be developed through HITT training (High Intensity Interval Training) and has its place in adventure racing. You should try to include at least one speed session per week, but this does not have to be across each discipline. Speed work can be included when doing drills technique work and should have long periods of rest in between intervals to allow for optimal recovery. Participating in short adventure races are also great for developing speed as you only spend a small amount of time on each discipline, thus maximizing your speed.

Power 

Explosive strength, a combination of strength and speed. Incorporating activities that are dynamic and explosive helps to improve power.  You develop this naturally when mountain biking (as when you need that little bust of energy to get through a technical short, sharp climb) , running (coasteering/rock hopping is a form of plyometrics) and  paddling (paddling out through a breaking wave, explosive starts from a stationary position) and can be incorporated into skills /technique sessions (jumping, skipping, hopping, bounding using body weight / extra resistance)

Balance 

The key to good technique in all disciplines – running, mountain biking and paddling and is achieved through developing good core strength and functional strength. Resistance activities that use your own body weight and require your body to move through a range of motions whilst moving from conditions of more stability to less stability help you to recruit your core first and then secondary stability muscles, improving technique and balance. 

Co-ordination 

Another key to good form and technique in the disciplines of Adventure Racing, as without this you will lose power, and momentum and end up using far more energy than you really need to. Drills can be practiced on the bike, paddling as well as running, and should be incorporated into your weekly sessions, whether they be during a warm up or at the end of a session. Vision has a lot to do with co-ordination as well, so making sure you are looking in the right place at the right time is always a handy tip!

Agility & Reaction Time

In adventure racing this is the ability to change direction quickly and make quick decisions fast and take evasive action. We develop these skills naturally running off track, mountain biking  technical single track, and paddling in moving water, climbing and  rock hopping . We learn to react and adapt to the conditions we are faced with, so breaking the skills down and testing yourself in challenging environments is a great way to improve agility and reaction time and will ultimately improve performance.

So the bottom line is you don’t have to spend hours in a gym getting fit for adventure racing. By getting out and being adventurous with your training you can develop all areas of fitness, and be prepared for anything that may be thrown at you. So if you don’t do adventure racing already, what a great way to develop your fitness and the bonus is that you are in fresh air, using your own energy to power equipment you are using, you experience beautiful locations and your training becomes a journey and not a chore!