Not sure how many folks here train for Xterra, but I got hooked at a race this summer and am looking to do some more races next year, with a goal of doing Tahoe at the end of September. (Just so you don’t think I’m crazy, I already qualified this year but have another commitment the same day). I’m wondering what races, other than off-road tris, really help to reinforce and bolster your off-road performance. I’m looking to set up my 2007 season and am wondering whether a Half IM will do more harm than good. Off-road tris seem so anaerobic, is it better just to focus on shorter distance anaerobic stuff? I’d love to hear from your personal experience what seems to have worked for you.
A little about me, I did my first half this year, completed it about average for my age group, but I’m definitely better at shorter distances. And though hills are my weakness on my road bike, on a mtb I seem to be better than average on hills for some strange reason (maybe short and steep works better for me? or maybe it’s that I just need a granny gear).
One of the athletes I coached inthe past did a season of Xterra racing as well as a 1/2 ironman or two. The strength that you build in the 1/2 will easily translate to the strength needed in Xterra, particularly the run. Make sure that you do some higher intensity stuff as you get closer to the xterra races just to shock the system a little bit. So, and earlier season 1/2 followed by a couple of weeks of recovery and then 6-8 weeks of shorter anaerobic stuff would probably work well.
Tahoe is a good road rider course in that there is a “nice” long climb followed by a loop that is basically flat before another bit of climbing and a good downhill. So, for that one, some good solid extended climbing that is a combination of high and low cadence will help. If you don’t have a long climb, spend some time on the trainer.
I’m wondering what races, other than off-road tris, really help to reinforce and bolster your off-road performance.
In all seriousness, race in a weekly MTB series. Basically turn yourself into an XC mountain biker, not a triathlete who knows how to mountain bike.
If you take that mentality you will quickly develop the skills, and especially the explosive power and anaerobic fitness, required to dominate the mountain biek portion. There is a HUGE difference between the quality of riders at a mountain bike race (even a weekight series) and the people riding mountain bikes at off-road triathlons.
Once you get into mtb racing, and as your skills and fitness level improve, you will understand that it is the single biggest way to get faster for off-road triathlons.
I have an extensive MTB background and I did an offroad du a little while ago. I couldn’t believe how bad alot of the wannbe MTBers were in that race, it was kind of funny passing by them with relative ease…
Tex’s advice is very sound - the halfs will give you the solid base and strength needed at XTERRA so don’t hesitate to delve in. If you can give yourself 6-8 weeks between the Half and a key Xterra it’ll allow for enough time to sharpen the point on your fitness with some more intensity. When it comes down to it a 1.5k, 30k, 10k XTERRA is on hell of a lot harder than an Oly distance tri so the training should be deeper.
I’m honored to coach several XTERRA athletes including Kalyn English and we’ve had the greatest success with a priority of Endurance and strength.
Xterra Championship level races are pretty long. I’m new to the event myself, and you are right, it’s not the same as a standard Oly distance effort in terms of time/endurance. I think the goal should be gaining solid Endurance fitness however you can, then sharpen your MTB skills and big climb granny gear strength. Then go and have fun. It will reignite the excitement the veteran triathletes had when they first got in to Tris.
i raced one last year, EX2 rocky gap in MD. it was awesome, great group of people and atmosphere. i will spend most of next year off road. i hadnt considered an early half, i was going to do more olympic speedwork type training, maybe ill do eagle man as a base building exercise.
Thanks for all the great tips. I had to ask because it’s Eagleman registration time and I need to figure out whether or not to do this race. Sounds like it’s a go. Having done a 24 hour race as a relay team member, I noticed that mtb races seem waaaaay harder than Xterra, but my experience there tells me my skills have a way to go before I can consider racing. I am hoping to attend a weekend mtb camp next year as well as just freaking riding a lot to improve. I’m doing the 24 hour race again next year in August - my team of triathletes is aiming to do better than the 13th (out of 15) place in 2006. (Which is rather impressive considering that 1 team member road a no suspension bike, 2 members shared a bike, and the total extent of our mtb training for the event was that two of us went to an mtb park for an hour and a half the week before! We were a juggernaut of incompetence if ever there was one.)
But yeah, I got bitten by the Xterra bug pretty hard at my race. What a great atmosphere! And, at least at this particular race, a ton of swag! Who doesn’t like playing in the dirt for a few hours?
1/2 and Xterra is a good combo. Like others said, work on your hill climbing and explosive power which is often needed to make passes on narrow xterra courses. Ride your mtn bike a lot. Even if the xterra courses are relatively tame the better you get the faster you can go on free speed downhill or rocky sections. Ride with people better than you technically. I can’t believe how much faster I’ve gotten riding with my friends who normally ride free ride bikes. Hit a nice 2 hour hill then downhill section yesterday prepping for Maui. It was awesome and one friend even provided entertainment with two, and one being pretty damn spectacular crashes;)
Tahoe is pretty non technical though and the hills are pretty much all long and gradual. The flume trail is a bit narrow so you need to be comfortable holding our line at speed.
Some good advice on this thread. Also don’t forget about the swim – you don’t want to have to pass all of the average and/or below average swimmers to get to the fast bikers. Especially if there is a lot of singletrack in the beginning of the race…
Being in the top half of the swim will make it a lot easier to work your way up to the front on the bike if that’s your goal. Spoken by one who wasn’t “focused” on the swim for Xterra Germany and got hammered by a swim course at least 600m too long. Thank you RD!
There are way more than 2, most of us are just lurkers though. There are atleast 3 Xterra pros, Tex, myself and Jim Vance on here. So if you have course questions we have probably done the courses.
MTB bike race, then MTB bike race and for fun MTB bike race. Gotta ride with the best MTB’ers to get faster. I did the prov series (4 of 6 races) and even won one (in AG) and second at Prov’s championship. As a first year Xterra guy and second year of MTB’ing regularly, i have noticed a huge diff from last year in my skills. So get out and ride with those better than you.
Do a few adventure races, they are great for Exterra training. I do at least one every season to keep my racing unpredictible. A few hours in the Kayak, several hours on the MTB and a few hours of cross country orienteering.
Check out seventh wave productions in Tahoe or the folks at Shooting Star Adventures in San Jose, CA. We are spoiled here in Northern CA, we have at least ten races to choose from within 200 miles of San Francisco every summer.