Training for the Teva Games, part II

In one month, I will be at the Teva Mountain Games to compete in the GNC Ultimate Mountain Challenge, a multisport event with a 10K footrace, a crosscountry mountain biking leg, a road-biking hill climb event, and a timed kayak paddle. The event — link here: tevamountaingames.com/umc — takes place over two days, and each athlete’s times and scores are added up at the end for a cumulative total to determine who wins.

Over the years, I have competed in dozens of events, from sprints to a 10-day adventure race through the deserts of Utah. For training, in general, I am unusual in that most of my preparation for a big event involves a string of smaller events and/or activities like mountain bike races, orienteering meets, XC skiing, and local adventure races.

Two base activities keep me fit and active year-round. Those would be bike commuting and running, which are daily rituals. I also run at least one marathon a year, and I have to stay in shape for that. Keeps me honest.

In pain: Regenold (in blue) at Mile 24 of the Twin Cities Marathon

This is all a long way to say that I have no formal training program. I don’t belong to a gym. To me, “training” is not usually work and targeted preparation for an event; it is just my lifestyle. Over the past two months, my “training” has included:

• March 10: Mountain Climb in Boulder, Colo. (9,000-foot hike-up while on a business trip)


• March 20 – 22: Downhill Skiing weekend (Lutsen, Minn.)


• March 28: Orienteering Meet; sprint race


• March 31: Trail Running night; 8 miles


• April 4: Long-distance Road Bike Ride (~60 miles)


• April 7: Orienteering night run; 7 miles


• April 14: Orienteering night run; 6 miles


• April 18: Ragnarok Bike Race; 105 miles


• April 22: Hash House Harriers run (New York City; 6 miles)


• April 29: Krav Maga self-defense class


• May 2: Orienteering Meet; long-distance race (4th place!)


• May 5: Training Road Run; ~10 miles

Intersperse these activities and events with nightly runs or commutes around town on my bike, and I should be pretty good to go in June. Now if I could just find my way into a kayak more often to prepare for that down-river sprint. . .