Even with a successful race at Raid the Rock, there were a few things that we could improve on. Some of them you may have gleaned from the race recap. As we look forward to spring race season, we’re keeping in mind three takeaways from 2024 Raid the Rock.

Get Clear on the Gear

Given that checking the mandatory gear list was the first item on our post Adventure Racing Series: Best Prep for a Successful 8-Hour Race, we could have done better assembling our gear. There were a handful of items on the gear list that we only had one of instead of the required two for our two-person team. We only had one compass, one knife, and a couple things missing from our first aid kit. While the second compass seems odd since you’re never supposed to be further than 100 feet apart from your teammates, I do understand the requirement in the name of safety.

That led to a scramble Friday night pre-race to find and buy the mandatory gear we were lacking. There’s nothing like trying to figure out what stores nearby will have a compass and knife. We were fortunate to have enough time to get the items and come back before the pre-race meeting.

Mind the Trekking Grind

I thought I had a pretty good plan for the trekking leg. But getting only three checkpoints in 2 hours 15 minutes was a disappointment to us. I blame myself for not setting us up with optimal route planning. When strategizing for this leg, I should have placed more emphasis on the terrain and elevation changes around each of the potential checkpoints.

My route choice included going up toward Chinquapin Mountain for a single checkpoint. This was the steepest area of the trekking leg. The checkpoint we targeted was at an elevation over 1,100 feet. All other checkpoints on the trekking leg ranged between an elevation of 600 to 850 feet. Elevation changes are always going to be present when trekking in mountains, but we could have avoided the most challenging, steepest terrain with a smarter route selection.

Train for the Terrain

As I alluded to in our race recap, biking the forest roads in the Ouachita Mountains was a killer. It quickly became apparent that we were underprepared to handle hill climbs. We did more hike-a-bike than what was ideal.

We should have tailored our training to better prepare for climbs. Our outdoor training rides were generally on the flatter side. Mixing in interval training and hill repeat training on the local hills we do have would’ve helped us prepare. Now that it’s winter, we are spending more time on the indoor trainer doing workouts at higher resistance levels.

From what we’ve read about the upcoming Shenandoah Epic, we’re going to need all the hill training we can get to prepare for that race.