On April 2, in the early-spring woods of Black River State Forest in central Wisconsin, I suited up at 10a.m. and with a partner ran about 22 miles up and down hills, through trees, across a swamp, and down about 15 miles of trails. It was an epic day, a 5+ hour run that felt harder than a marathon. The venue was the Badger Rogaine Race, a long-distance orienteering event for which my race partner, Andrei Karpoff, and I had trained for on and off for months.

On the run during an adventure race

The niche activity of "wilderness running," which is most often seen in orienteering and adventure racing events, is something I've come to hold as my athletic calling card. The combination of bushwhacking and wilderness navigation mixed with stints of trail running suits my aerobic-oriented personality and fulfills the requisite "adventure quotient" I need when getting out. At the Badger event last weekend, Karpoff and I took first place, edging out a dozen other squads. We finished muddy and tired, with wet feet and sore legs. But we were happy with our finish after a tough day.

For anyone motivated to try it, here are a few tips I've learned from the field. These points apply most to orienteering, rogaining (an offshoot sport of orienteering), and adventure racing, though don't be afraid to bank the knowledge for climbing, backpacking, and other fast-and-light pursuits. Or, if you're like me, you'll get outside and into the mountains or woods to train and go fast on difficult "wilderness run" adventures just for fun.

1. Get Your Feet Wet

The short story is. . . in the woods and off-trail, your feet are bound to get wet. Learn to live with it. In wilderness running, your feet are often wet much of the time, with snow, swamps, trail puddles, or stream crossings soaking over your shoes sometimes within the first minutes of a race or training session. My solution? I use Hydropel or other foot lubes to avoid chafing and to keep my feet from soaking in too much water. ("Pruney" feet are bad, as blisters can easily bloom when your feet get wrinkly.) I wear lightweight shoes that drain water and do not retain moisture in the uppers. Waterproof shoes like Gore-Tex trail runners rarely work in the anarchy of a wilderness run. Feet find a way to get wet, it's almost a rule.

Navigating on the run in an orienteering race

2. Vegetative Barriers

Almost nothing slows a runner more than thick vegetation. On a choose-your-own-adventure course where you follow a map to checkpoints or across geographic features try and read the land and follow the least-thick areas. Stay on high ground. Advice? Look for ridgelines and animal trails. Avoid river bottoms. Swamps? Avoid at all costs. Best practices for any particular area will require specific knowledge of area topography and its flora. Know the land before you run or race if you can, or at least take a fast lesson learning along the way.

3. Navigation

People write books on wilderness navigation and orienteering. But the big picture is this: Understand your map, and understand -- at all times! -- where you are on that map. Don't run blindly into a valley thinking you'll figure it out along the way. Look for big topographic features to guide you. Use "backstops," like a river that you'll eventually hit if your trajectory is west, as example. I put my thumb on the map as a place marker to where I am. I move my thumb along the route as I run, glancing quick every so often to the page to move my thumb and reconfirm my place in the land.

4. Eat!

Caloric requirements increase in the woods. You're no longer running on a road or smooth trail. Wilderness can demand full-body participation, including climbing over logs, hopping talus, ascending cliffs, crawling in the underbrush when it gets too thick. . . . With all the extra output, your body needs more fuel. I stay hydrated and try to eat 200 to 300 calories an hour, including sweet and salty items. Energy gel can get you only so far.

Climbing a rock wall to obtain a checkpoint

5. Clothing

No activity on the planet is as hard on clothing as orienteering or wilderness runs. Thorns tear. Mud and sap stain. Swamp water seeps in. Your body sweats, and your clothes stink. You may swim, run, crawl, and climb in the clothes to traverse a piece of land. I often look like a hobo by the end of a race, shredded pants and a dirty shirt to match. All this is to say. . . wear old clothes, not your fancy new athletic tights, and bank on the durable side of apparel when you can. Axis Gear out of Canada and other orienteering clothing companies make clothing that stands up better than most. I often wear old tights I don't care about shredding. Or I wear nylon pants from Rail Riders, which are stout trousers that are not the greatest for running, but at least they can stand up to the thorns.

--Stephen Regenold is founder of GearJunkie.com.

Climb Mount Everest 20 times and Suunto might make a watch for you. That's the case with a new mountain watch made in honor of Apa Sherpa, one of the world's foremost high-altitude mountaineers and a frequent visitor to the highest point on the planet.

The watch, which costs a hefty $399, is from Suunto's Core line. Its official name is the Suunto Core Extreme Edition Everest, and along with the serious title comes some bonafide serious mountain tools. The watch has an altimeter, a barometer (with storm alarm and weather-trend indicator), digital compass, date and alarm functions, and stored sunrise/sunset times for more than 400 places around the world where you might wake up early to climb a peak.

Suunto Core Extreme Edition Everest

For the past four months, I have put Apa Sherpa's namesake timepiece to the test. Although I did not climb the Big One even once (Apa has summited 20 times!), the watch accompanied me to Patagonia for a week-long endurance race as well as on several lesser adventures in the mountains and woods of the USA.

Overall, the Suunto watch has been bomber. After months of use, its glass face and striking orange dial look like new. The rubber strap and watch body are unmarred despite climbs, treks, kayaking sessions, wilderness swims, and hundreds of miles on the bike.

Indeed, the watch has been an essential wilderness tool for me. In the field, the altimeter and time/alarm functions get most use in my adventures. The altimeter is easy to use and works flawlessly. With this model, Suunto has graciously upgraded its alarm function, adding a multi-tone beeping that roused me from deep sleep.

The large operation buttons on the watch body are easy to push. Too easy in fact: When your wrist is bent on a bike handle grip or while climbing, the watch tilts and can contact your arm, accidently pressing in the main function button on the side. But Suunto has a quick cure with its lock function, which is triggered by pressing and holding one of the buttons for a few seconds.

Photo: (c) Suunto
Apa Sherpa

Overall, the Mount Everest watch has served me well -- in the mountains as well as for everyday use and for training. It does not have GPS features or a heart-rate monitor like other high-end watches at this price. But Suunto offers a solid tool with the Everest watch. Its battery lasts for months. The case and overall build is durable and should hold up for years.

Bonus: In another nod to the Sherpa behind this watch, Suunto promises to donate a portion of the proceeds to the Apa Sherpa Foundation, which supports the education of the children living in the remote village near the base camp of Mount Everest.

--Stephen Regenold

Photo: (C) Icebreaker
Merino sheep and Icebreaker Girl

When you get a free minute today, click on over to Icebreaker.com, the home of the New Zealand-based maker of merino wool base layers and clothing, and take a gander through the odd and mystical display of lux wool apparel and fairytale scenes. It is a strange land, a place of sheep and pricey clothes, sweeping landscape imagery, skinny super-model types, and ram-headed men. Yes, look long enough at the site and you might find yourself asking something along the lines of . . . "Is that a man-goat mating with a nymph?"

Indeed, Icebreaker's theme and design is unlike anything else in the outdoors world. There's not much hiking or camping or climbing going on. Instead, the strange, beautiful photo illustrations conjure an artiness and an ethereal vibe. Cues seem to be taken not from ski slopes and national parks but from fashion photography, the Brothers Grimm and Salvador Dali.

Photo: (C) Icebreaker
Icebreaker art

The weird world of Icebreaker, I discovered this winter, extends to reality, too. This past January, in a yurt hut down a snowy trail in the Wasatch Mountains, I joined a group of Icebreaker workers for a gourmet dinner in the woods. It was a press meeting, with a few journalists invited to an intimate gathering with food made on the spot and, appropriately, New Zealand wine. Civilized, no doubt. But it was not long before things got strange. . . .

I'll spare some of the details, but will say that there was a backpack hydration bladder filled with alcohol. There was a sheep inoculator gun, its tip accosting dinner attendees with squirts from the aforementioned backpack into open mouths. I was force-fed an apparent New Zealand delicacy, Pineapple Lumps, which tasted like Styrofoam mixed with sugar and chalk.

Photo: (C) Icebreaker
Ram Man and Icebreaker Girl

This is all to say we had a fabulous time with Icebreaker this winter. I am a fan of the company and its clothing line, not to mention its mold-breaking way of doing things, from the graphic design to products like wool lingerie that doubles as active wear. Check out the company if you have not before. Its products are pricey but top-end -- great for activity outdoors and everyday wear. Don't believe me? Go to Icebreaker.com. The ram-headed men and the naked girls with sheep ears will tell you so.

--Stephen Regenold