What’s an Adventure Race?
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Most people who know me, know I’m a huge advocate of outdoor adventures! I love dirt biking, mountain biking, hiking, backpacking, camping, kayaking, and snowboarding. Other than strength training, I prefer to get my exercise in outdoors whenever possible. I’m also very competitive, having trained in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu for years and before that, American-style Kickboxing. So when I first learned of expedition racing at a New Year’s party at my Marine neighbors, my curiosity was definitely peaked.
I’ve always been a sprinter, I’m fast and explosive, so I excelled in martial arts and things not involving long distances. Marathons and even half-marathons don’t appeal to me because of the distance running. I’d certainly heard of adventure racing and environmental racing, but that meant running on trails instead of concrete, so still not my cup of tea. But I never knew expedition racing (adventure racing lasting more than 12 hours) could include trekking, mountain biking, paddling, climbing, and whitewater rafting, all while navigating through it as a team with a map and compass. Now that sounded interesting!
Meet Jacob
Jacob – Former Marine turned Adventure Racer
Jacob Milius is the U.S. Marine turned engineering technician that explained the nature of adventure and expedition racing, and he will be competing in his first race this June. That’s when I got the idea to do a series on Jacob’s training in preparation for the race. Jacob does his training with co-workers over the course of his work day, training on his lunch and break times. That allows him to make the most of his time and he’s even able to shower on site before going back to work. The race, titled the Nomad, is a 48 hour adventure race that will take place in Colorado and consists of the following 4 legs:
1) Leg 1 – Whitewater rafting consisting of 30-40 miles of class II-V rapids
2) Leg 2 – Mountain biking over 30-60 miles of mountain on single track and gravel trails
3) Leg 3 – Biking and trekking over 30-60 miles in the Colorado back country
4) Leg 4 – Bike to the finish consisting of 10-25 more miles
So check back next week to see what Jacob is up to! We’ll be capturing photos and video of Jacob’s training progression. He is a walking model of how to live life to the optimum!
Melissa
OptimumCondition.com
(619) 252-4993
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