AR Lessons to Live by...

There are plenty of techniques and strategies that we find and utilize based on other people's experience or recommendation. There are many more we discover on our own. Below is the beginnings of a knowledge base of sorts for Kaizen's AR pursuits. Its lofty goal is to include the techniques and tactics we know to work, the activities we need to work on as a team and those little gems of knowledge we pick up along the way.

Plotting and Document Management

· Link up all supplemental maps/auxiliary information with their larger counterparts in advance.

· Get as much map work done as early as possible, preferably in the day time but most importantly when mental clarity is high.

· One teammate reads out coordinates while another plots.

· Mark Checkpoints with a single black dot in permanent marker. Next, highlight a larger sphere around the dot to make it easy to quickly find without hiding map detail.

· Double check every plotted point (with a different set of eyes when conditions allow).

· Read aloud, all descriptions of points at time of plotting. Designate a person to keep/produce these descriptions.

· When folding a map, clearly mark North on each subsection that will be visible through the map case.

· Bring all maps and compass every step of the way.

Navigation and route choice

· Double check control descriptions and race pamphlets to identify mandatory or off limits paths/areas.

· Keep the speed of the surface in mind when choosing a route. Shorter is not always faster.

· Pay close attention to elevation profiles when choosing a route. Read elevation notation to ensure what you perceive as down is actually down.

· Clearly mark the chosen route with a highlighter.

· Jot down the names of roads and trails (primary route and landmarks/backstops) so they will be clearly visible through the map case

· After determining a route, write down the distance and/or estimated time between turns or major landmarks.

Time estimation & pacing

· Biking on pavement : flat 20 km/hr, down (max) 40 km/hr, up (moderate) 15 km/hr

· Biking on gravel FR : flat 16 km/hr, down (max) 30 km/hr, up (moderate) 10 km/hr

· Know how many paces are in 100 meters on different surfaces (road/trail/open woods/thick vegetation) with basic effects of (up/down/flat).

· Know how fast we paddle on flat-water with a (reasonably) loaded boat. (4 km/hr with a boat ridiculously loaded)

· Know how fast we river board in flat-water. (1-2 km/hr)

· Practice eyeballing how fast a river is flowing.

Paddling

· Keep map and compass available & visible.

· All paddlers shall keep food and water within easy access.

· A bladder is preferable to a water bottle because you can drink hands free. Hydration is super important since you are usually under direct sun.

· Practice staying found on a river.

· Practice proper stroke technique, cadence, efficiency, paddling as a team.

· The Bow paddler's responsibilities are to generate the most forward power, set the pace for the team by establishing a rhythmic cadence, consistently switching sides after a predetermined number of strokes (if single bladed paddles) and communicating about bad rocks and likely good routes. This is the second most ideal position to navigate from.

· The middle paddler strokes on the opposite side as the bow paddler, keeps the stroke tight to the side of the canoe to provide forward power without generate too much turning force and to distribute fuel/water as needed. This is the most ideal position to navigate from.

· The Stern paddler's responsibilities are to keep the boat straight while generating forward power, guide the boat down the river choosing the most efficient course as possible and to help keep the forward paddlers focused.

River boarding

· Practice keeping fins underwater while kicking. This is all about finesse.

· Wear knee pads and possibly shin guards

Transitions

· Navigator:

1. Change clothes/equipment first
2. Distribute tasks such as refilling water/preparing or moving equipment second
3. Then do any map work so the rest of the team doesn't feel like they are just waiting for you to change and pack.

· Practice Transitions and ensure every item of gear has an unchanging designated place in my pack.

· These are not rest stops but rather the most important place to work through. If you need to rest, do it on the trail as a team.

· "Beware the chair", meaning to avoid sitting or lying down during transitions if at all possible.


Fueling

· No effort is more efficient or important than doing what ever we have to do to ensure we are properly fueled.

· Keep food accessible at all times.

· Jesse's Food Preferences:

o Ditch the Tuna for a more efficient caloric to weight ratio. Ditch the Flat bread. Ditch the trail mix. Potato sticks are awesome, salty and full of carbs. Try out cold pizza on a training run and see how it sits (sounded great at 2am).o Keep good mix of Raisins, Granola Bars, Sweet & Salty bars, Clif bars, Gu, Shot blocks and PB crackers.

Hydrating

· Be militant about hydrating. No effort is more efficient than doing what ever we have to do to ensure we are properly hydrated.

· Identify water sources as early as possible. Sometimes it's the last creek you will see for several hours. Some times it's a McDonalds.

· Have water treatment tablets and electrolytes easily accessible.

· Replace standard water bottles with ones that can be drunk from without unscrewing the lid. (Bike style bottles are good, or ones with straws)

Team Roles and versatility

· Designate one person to keep the race passport at all times.

· Know where everyone else's food, water containers, electrolytes and water treatment tablets are stored so they can be accessed and replenished when one teammate is busy with a task and another is ready to go.

· At least two people should be able to provide bearings and shoot/maintain an azimuth.

Spy v/s Spy Tactics

· Help teams and individuals in trouble but there's no need to help them beat us.

· Diversionary tactics pay dividends.

· Anytime a teammate invokes our team name, special meaning is intended and attention should be paid. When a CP is found, discretely notify teammates by saying "Kaizen, did you find it?", "Kaizen, come on, let's re-plot the point." or some such thing.

· When moving towards a teammate who has located a Checkpoint, either dim/hide lights or behave as if you are still looking for the point.

· Once a CP is punched, quickly move away and act as though you are on still on the hunt. Once a safe distance is attained, book it straight to the next nav point.

· Never look around to determine the proximity of other teams when standing near a CP or critical trail intersection, especially at night. This will only give away our position.

Team interaction and morale

· There is always a task to be done to further our team goal. An idle teammate should be looking for that task.

· If a teammate voices a doubt about something, take the time to double check it (current location, direction of travel, trail choice, CP description, actions of other teams, gut feelings, …anything)

· Keeping in touch with our teammates physical and mental well being is a high priority. The map is useless without a team to traverse it.

· Be honest and candid when asked about mental/physical condition or fueling/hydrating.

· Positive reinforcement is contagious and so is complaining.

· Humor breathes life into a team; Sarcasm attacks self confidence and trust.

· Negative thoughts are best kept in the cage of the brain where they were born.

· Use your teammates to talk your way out of Negative Town but don't specifically name your demons out loud or risk poisoning the collective well of team morale.

Assistance

· Always place the speed/efficiency of the team before personal pride or ego.

· Offer help when you think a teammate needs it and you have the energy/fortitude to provide it.

· Do not refuse help (ever) when it is offered. This includes a tow, transferring a load, a push, anything.

· When being towed or helped, your single most important responsibility is to focus on recovery & refueling so it is not a lost effort.

· Be humble and know that you will likely be returning the favor in a few hours.

· If you know you are out of the game physically or mentally, say so. Everyone will at some point in the race go through this. Sometimes nothing can be done but more often than not, the team will likely be able to help reel you back in.

Mantras that have worked

· A team is only as fast as its leader. (Corporate seminar)

· A winner always wants the ball (Nav) when the game's on the line. (Gene Hackman from "The Replacements")

· In endurance events, there are many walls and many other sides to those walls. (Geoff Sidoli)

· I have never been so tired that I could not take one more step. (John Pressley)

· You can't miss fast enough to win a gun fight. (Crusty old timer at shooting match)

Rational for deciding to continue racing

Note: I still feel we made the right decision by pulling out of UntamedVA08 and have no regrets about the DNF, However, a half a day before we came to that particular choice, we were toying with the idea of dropping after having been short-coursed due to receiving inaccurate information from a race volunteer. That took the wind out of all of our sails in the worst way and it is times like that when we need the following perspectives...

· I know that here and now in this moment we feel completely justified in withdrawing, and that any sane person would completely agree with us should they know the full extent of the situation, but at the end of the day it will be much easier to explain to our friends/family/coworkers that we went on to unofficially race the full duration but just missed a time cutoff than to explain why we quit because we just didn't see the point.

· The feeling of a warm shower, a hot meal and a soft bed will be gone in a few hours. The sense of accomplishment from having seen this through will last a life time.