Adventure sports have seized the interest of the world. According to the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) 189 million outdoor enthusiasts in the U.S. were involved in adventure sports and travel in 1998. Millions of Americans are heading outside for fitness, self-discovery, and a closer connection to the environment, and many are creating a lifestyle out of it. Adventure racing is a new multi-discipline sport that requires individual will, endurance, survival skills, outdoor savvy, and teamwork to be successful. The duration of adventure races varies from one-day races to two-week expeditions requiring both day and night navigation through harsh and challenging terrain. The sport requires the athlete be versed in a variety of outdoor sports, have individual drive and the highest team skills. In The Complete Guide to Adventure Racing, you'll learn: the best techniques for biking, paddling, and climbing, gear selection, proper use, and preparation, navigation and orienteering essentials, tips on nutrition, hydration and health, team strategy and logistics, a comprehensive listing of schools, races from around the world and much more.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Don Mann has over 20 years (1,000+ races) worth of competitive racing experience, and was once ranked 38th in the world as a triathlete. He is a retired Navy SEAL and is President and founder of Odyssey Adventure Racing. He currently resides in Virginia Beach, VA. Kara Schaad is an experienced adventure racer and the former fitness columnist for the Health Section of the Chicago Sun-Times. Her work also has been published in TravelSport and Windy City Sports magazines.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Destined to be a Classic,
This review is from: The Complete Guide to Adventure Racing (Paperback)
This book is destined to be an AR classic! No doubt in my mind. While Don Mann and Kara Schaad are the principle authors, their decision to incorporate the wisdom, advice and lessons learned by themselves, other racers, and support people from the racing community that makes this book a gem. Kudos to getfitnow and Hatherleigh Press ! They have presented another smart, graphically designed book (check out Stew Smith's "Max Fitness" for another example). The book is nicely sized, uses gray charts for emphasis, key points are bullet listed, concepts are bolded, and both black and white and color photographs are sprinkled throughout. This book proves adventure racing is a compressed expression of human experience and that it is all about what the human spirit is capable of in adversity. A metaphor for life.Chapters are thematically structured. No stone is unturned for the beginner or experienced racer. In retrospect this book is extraordinarily ambitious in scope and depth. Don and Kara do not fall short of these checkpoints. Everything -and I mean EVERYTHING- is covered, from clothes, navigation, trekking, paddling, biking, climbing, horses, etc. If it can happen in a race, Don and Kara cover it. The writing is intelligent as it is balanced: technical discussions include practical application of concepts and principles. Don, Kara, and numerous contributors avoid technical jabberwocky where possible by illustrating their advice in each of their thematic chapters. The two chapters that I found most technical were mountain biking and climbing; and it is deservedly technical. It is the symmetry, however, between information and implementation that makes this book a solid winner. The book calls itself a primer but that is not accurate. A primer teaches you basics, like grammar. This book shows you the language after grammar. For example, the "Getting in Gear" chapter, will give you a gear list and reasons on why to pack X, Y, and Z. Anecdotes "from the field" in the same chapter from experienced racers will illustrate techniques and often, some hard-earned lessons on why you pack that X, Y and Z. Concept reinforced by Application. Theory is supported by Experience.. Anecdotes from racers supplement the expert guidance and tips in each chapter. Racers explain how using a concept that Don and Kara explained earlier in the chapter saved them time and averted injury. They also are honest when they violate key principles and paid dearly with lost time, frustration, and injuries. There is a purpose to everything that is explained in clear, concise language. These racers are real people not super-humans. All the anecdotes from racers throughout the chapters deliver high and low points from real races. Don and Kara have done the readers a service by collecting years of experience from these racers. Racers feel strong, wimpy, irritated, and triumphant in a race. Want motivation: read any one of the essays by Angelinka Castaneda and I guarantee you that she will set your attitude straight. She is gutsy, humorous, and heroic. These anecdotes also assist readers in learning about the many Adventure Races that have cropped up all over the US and abroad. Special mention should be made of the contributions made by medical staff and support people. Read some of their anecdotes and you realize the behind the scenes are as hard as front line action in a race. Where do Don and Kara exceed my expectations? It is in chapters, like "Nuts and Bolts" where you learn training trips to prepare for an Adventure Race. It is in chapters, like "Nutrition and Hydration" where you learn what types of food you eat. What makes this book real? Any one of the real race scenarios: afraid to carry extra water for hydration because you're too macho about weight constraints? Read Don's brief description of dehydration at the X-Games in Baja and avoid paying the price. This isn't Survivor! You'll learn and be glad that bears are poor sighted Winnie the Poohs that can really ruin your day. You'll also learn more than you'll ever want to know about creepy crawly things. Don is tough, but you'll see that an ill-placed hand on an electric caterpillar humbled the retired SEAL. He is also honest about his mistakes (over-training). All these racers in this book have done it all and the reader benefits from their mistakes and relishes their victories, while understanding that it is solid principles and techniques outlined by Don and Kara and other contributors that make the impossible seem approachable. This gem of a book puts all that knowledge and experience at your fingertips. It is up to you to put your body beyond that last 10% of your perceived barriers. An elite few do it all the time by working hard and smart. As I said earlier, this book is destined to be a classic. I expect to see updates and future editions.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not just for Adventure Racers,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Complete Guide to Adventure Racing (Paperback)
The Complete Guide to Adventure Racing by Don Mann and Kara Schaad is destined to become the definitive work on adventure racing. I am not an adventure racer myself, but I am a runner and mountain biker with aspirations to do an adventure race one day soon. I have found this work to be not only informative, but inspiring as well. I especially enjoyed reading the articles by top adventure racers, tips from experts in everyfield of adventure racing and the personal stories of those who have fulfilled their dreams of extreme challenges. The book is well written and the photography and illustrations are first class. Don and Kara have assembled advice and instructions from the best multi-sport athletes in the world. I have read every book ever written about adventure racing and this is, by far, the most informative. I consider it an invaluable addition to my "library" of sports and fitness literature. If you have ever competed in an adventure race, simply have a dream of someday pushing the limits of your physical boundaries, or you just want to read interesting stories of those who have, The Complete Guide to Adventure Racing is a "must read".
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Largely disappointing,
By Ubique (Tx) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Complete Guide to Adventure Racing (Paperback)
firstly this reviewer is a racer and has quite some experience in the various disciplines of AR (adventure racing) so bear that in mind.
The book is quite well laid out covering most things you might expect in AR. The exciting glossy cover belies the lower quality paper and pictures used within- no smart glossies inside, rather some average b/w photos. The information inside is fine but can largely be found elsewhere with a quick google search. Still a good repository of information. If you are looking for some guidance re AR equipment, training, techniques, tips and have not looed for the same on the web, this will be a useful book, if you have looked then it is something to have on the bookshelf. It is not of sufficient quality to have out on the coffee table as a conversation piece! My 2cents.
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