Self Assessment

So, to begin, I have to acquire that that I lack. What skills or disciplines do I lack? What equipment do I lack? Is my level of fitness sufficient (henceforth, fitness is inclusive of GPP and mettle)? Do I have a team? One way to determine this would be to dive in and attend an event, “assessment”, as it were. But, I’d be wasting me entrance fee and probably, damaging my mettle, with such an approach.

I know nothing about ropes and I have none of the equipment. I’m not much of a runner nor do I enjoy it -- though I used to.

Otherwise, I’m not too bad off. I’ve both a bike and a boat. My bike is broken and old, but adequate, too, I need to practice bike repair, so that, is a virtuous cycle, yet, the parts cost. My boat could stand some pimping, but, as it is it is adequate, and I’m comfortable in it. I’ve done a lot of open water paddling and little bit of white-water up to class lll rapids, solo and tandem. I have skis and poles but no boots or bindings. I have snowshoes and I’ve experience with both. I have basic first aid and CPR training and that is probably adequate – for anything serious the event organizers are going to intervene anyway. I’m above average at reading a map, but, my compass skills are not sufficient for these kinds of events, and particularly not at night. My fitness is above average, but, it isn’t specific to some of the disciplines. That hasn’t really been a problem in my experience. Perhaps for events less than 8 hours my fitness is adequate. I know this from weekend backpacking and canoeing trips. Too, I’ve other friends and family members that might also have an interest. From a comment on the blog, I’ve got a team, though I’m not sure M wants to hold himself back by partnering with me. Because I already camp and boat I’ve much of the required gear and clothes, so, that is just a matter of fine tuning the kit.

Preliminary research shows that stealing from the Triathlete makes sense. Indeed one article indicates that for an Endurance event, training plans between an Olympic or half-Ironman are about right. Oddly, boating is the step-child of training, with just enough for basic familiarization being represented in AR training plans. Weird -- perhaps an opportunity for me since boating is a love.

Currently, I'm training 5-9 hours per week. My emphasis in the last couple of years has been GPP with a strength emphasis. Half-Iron-man training programs call for 7-10 hours per week of training. So, I have the time, it is rather a matter of focusing the training. Now, given my experience with weekend canoeing and backpacking trips, I know the training I've been doing is more than adequate for these activities, distances roughly 10 miles per day, but, only a single discipline. Too, my "core" strength has served me well, so, I want to keep a couple GPP workouts, and several "core" routines per week. Otherwise most plans call for 2 discipline workouts per week, i.e. 2 bike, 2 run, 2 swim. Swimming isn't a regular discipline, but, it is a really valuable exercise, so, perhaps 1 a week: so, 2 bike, 2 run, 1 swim, 1-2 paddle. If I add 2 GPP workouts, and finish the run and swim with 15 minute "core" circuits, I'm at 8 hours. In the fall and winter running might look like snowshoeing or skiing and perhaps for winter events, switching a bike ride for a run would be a better balance.

Green Mountain AR Association offers 2 events per year: Bitter Pill in early August, and Frigid Infliction, in late February. It is important, I think, to identify events in order to build the periodization of the training cycles. Plus, I'm not sure I want to afford lots and lots of entry fees, and travel expenses, at least right out of the box. However, it is worth the energy to locate local sprint events and use them as workouts and a way to gain experience. For a start:

Pineland Farms Winter Triathlon & 5K snowshoe race, Sunday, March 07, 2010

East Grand Adventure Race (5th season), Saturday, May 08, 2010

The Great Adventure Challenge Saturday, August 20th, 2011