Hollie Woodhouse is a Kiwi adventurer based in Christchurch. She has raced in her fair share of events from trail running and mountain biking, to multisport and triathlons. The races she is most proud of include the Kathmandu Coast to Coast in New Zealand, the Marathon des Sables in Morocco and the Jungle Ultra in Peru. Hollie shares her words of wisdom about getting into the world of multi-sport racing.
COULD MULTI-SPORT RACING BE YOUR NEXT CHALLENGE?
You might come from a running, kayaking, or cycling background and have been competing in events over the past few years. Sooner or later, with a desire to keep pushing the boundaries and climbing the adventure ladder, you find yourself thinking: "What's next?" Sound familiar? For many, the transition into multi-sport is an obvious choice, but what does this mean? Hours of training? Goodbye social life and Friday night drinks, and hello countless hours running, biking and kayaking? It doesn’t have to be this way at all, but it does pay to be prepared. Here are a few tips I've learned along the way, to help you take the plunge.
DON’T EXPECT MIRACLES
If you’re training across three different disciplines, don’t expect to be a gun at all of them (but if you are, awesome!). I try and spread my training evenly over the week, while also juggling the day job, family and friends and life too. With limited hours, it’s important to train smart, and if I feel one discipline needs more work, then I’ll focus on that until I feel I have brought it up to speed. If you miss a training day, don’t try to overcompensate and push too hard. Take it as a learning curve and show up for the next one.
BUILD ENDURANCE
Multi-sport races are about lasting the distance. Yes, being fast is helpful, but most races take hours, so making sure you train for this aspect of multi-sport competitions is key. The best way I find is to do back-to-back sessions, generally at the weekend when I have more time, allowing the body to get used to changing between running and biking, or biking and kayaking, etc. It’s also a great way to practice your transitions and play around with new gear and nutrition. Speaking of which...
NUTRITION IS KEY
You can’t expect the motor to keep running if it's sitting on empty. I find I can get away without too much food for the first few hours, but once I’ve passed this, my body will let me know if I haven’t been fueling it correctly from the start. It’s not all about the latest gels and bars; in fact, I recommend keeping it as natural as possible. While there are certainly times when a glucose hit is exactly what’s needed, a healthy and balanced diet that is packed full of diverse vegetables and grains will go a long way in fuelling your progress. Make sure it works for you, and avoid trying new things on race day.
ENJOY IT
If you’re a weekend warrior like me, competing in multi-sport races is a passion, born out of a love for sport and adventure, and the desire to test how far you can push yourself. While at times it feels like there’s a tad too much of Type 2 fun, the joy and satisfaction of testing your boundaries and completing something you didn’t think was possible makes it well and truly worth all the hard work and sacrifices along the way. Taking on your first multi-sport race can feel like you couldn’t possibly do anything bigger. But if you head into it in the right frame of mind and as prepared as you can be, it can’t be anything but the most rewarding experience. And like me, you’ll return home after the race, after the adrenaline has worn off, and find yourself Googling the next one.