How good of a mountain biker are you now?

Xterra - C race
Ironman - A race

10-12 weeks apart. You won't even be in IM specific training in June.

I’ve began to mt bike last year. My endurance is great but I know I have much to learn on”technical trails.” Last year I did my best to get to the trails once every two weeks. This was to break up the indoor trainer monotony. Since doing that I’ve really began to enjoy the trails. Although, I’ve got a ton to learn I’m sure.

Most XTERRA courses are not very technical (compared to true XC courses), so you don't need to be hugely skilled to get along ok. If you can pre ride the race course a few times, that will help.

As for training for both, I have done that for years, and usually do one MTB ride per week in the weeks leading up to my XTERRA race on technical trails to focus purely on the skill side (the power and endurance is dealt with in my normal training).

What XTERRA are you planning to race?

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I'm doing the exact same thing. XTerra Oak Mtn in May, IM Chatt in Sept. I'm looking at 2019 as 2 half seasons, with a decent mid season break right after XTerra. First half is focused on short course speed, with obvious focus on trail run and mtn bike. Second half focus shifts to long distance road training.

The event is Xterra Illinois Wild. It’s actually 30-40 miles down the road, so I can ride the course anytime. Thanks for the insight.

As I remember that race was mildly technical for an Xterra course.

If you are that close, go and ride it 3 or 4 times in the weeks leading up to the race. The run was more across grass/road/paved trail than most other Xterra races I've done. That's not to say it wasn't challenging.

I had a good time at that race in 2011, it was on my schedule last season but I just wasn't recovered enough from Triple T to compete.

Maybe in 2019...

I did this last season, with an Xterra in June and a 70.3 "A race" in late August. I bought a new mtn bike in early Spring and tried to ride once a week leading up to the Xterra. I wasn't new to mtn biking but hadn't put much focus on it recently so my technical skills were pretty weak and the course was reasonably technical for an Xterra. I wish I had ridden a little more (maybe 2x/week) as I gave up a solid 10-15 minutes to the FOP riders because I was tentative in the technical spots. In hindsight I would've done two 90 minute rides per week in addition to my normal swim/run training and a couple road rides.

Xterra is a blast and next season it will probably be my "A" race, so I'll definitely be riding the mtn bike more and trying to close the gap. Have fun!

Thanks for the reply. Which Xterrarace did you do?

Xterra French River in MA.

https://mramultisport.com/...xterra-french-river/

I loved the race at French River. It was my first mountain bike ride in 25 years and I did not find it too technical. The racers were awesome and I just let anyone behind me get by whenever I could.

I thought the bike course was an absolute blast, not overly technical but more so than I had recalled from doing the short course race a few years ago. Looking forward to giving it another go this summer!

I coach my Xterra peeps to train road cycling for fitnesss and trails for technical. Once you are done with Xterra race, switch to full time road cycling.
Trail running is excellent pre-IM season prep so that would work great to get ready in June and then roll into IM training.

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Ryan
http://www.SetThePaceTriathlon.com
http://www.TriathlonTrainingDaddy.com
I got plans - https://www.trainingpeaks.com/...dotcom#trainingplans

I'd agree. the more time you can spend on the actual race course, the better. Not only do you get an idea of what it would be like race day, but you'll have the lines down pat.

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http://www.SpeedyLizard.com

I try to mtb once a week to keep skills fresh and practice the terrain specific power demands of mtb climbing: tempo/threshold with lots of 5-30sec max efforts mixed in. Youre screwed if the course needs this and you dont have it (most xterra prob dont)