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Xterra

John SchneiderJohn Schneider
in General Training Discussions

All:

I'm planning on doing my first xterra on 7/14/2012 at Vail Colorado

Race Distances

1 mile swim

15.5 mtn bike

5.75 Trail Run

I've read that xterra's are HIM efforts, time wise.  I live in Denver, but Vail is about 3K elev higher plus there's the elevation on the course.  Would anyone recommend that I train on a HIM schedule as opposed to a SC schedule.  I would rather be overprepared than under prepared.

Thanks in advance, John Schneider

Comments

  • morpheusmorpheus
    Can't help ya, but I'll be watching this cuz I think I'm going to do my first one next year, May 2013, down in Pelham, Alabama.

    good luck, keep us updated on the adjustments you may make. I'm especially interested to see the balance between Pain Cave Power Session vs Road rides vs Trail riding.

    I use a crank based PM, so will be training watts on road bike, but will ride the off road stuff without power info.

    Have a great time!
  • Al TruscottAl Truscott

     @ John - I did a TON of Xterra races 2001-08, including Maui each of those years. Your question seems to be, how should I use training to get ready for the Xterra US Mountain Champs @ Beaver Creek this summer? Xterra and HIM/IM are almost different sports, like the difference between downhill and XC skiing. EN training for HIM and IM emphasizes developing the ability to sustain a steady power output and pace effort, no matter the conditions - wind, hills, etc. But Mtn Bike riding/racing emphasizes bursts of anaerobic madness followed by white knuckle descents; there's no value to steady pacing, but a high value to strong legs and stout courage. The connection to HIM seems to be this: depending on your biking skills, the bike leg is 1.5-2.5 hours long, and certainly tires you out as much as an HIM bike. And then the runs often have big hills and significant terrain changes. So the run, though usually 10K long, often FEELS like an HIM run.

    Unless you're an experienced Mtn bike racer, I think using either the SC or HIM EN plan would not be sufficient preparation. The Beaver Creek bike course looks like it goes up @ a 10% grade for the first 4 miles, then shoots down, followed by a lot of cross country (endless short ups and downs, I suspect.) The only way to get ready for that is to go out and ride your mtn bike on similar roads/trails. Inlcude a run of 30 minutes starting out uphill for a mile on a trail after an intense bike effort at least once a week.

    If you are confident in your mountain biking, then I think the SC plan would make more sense than the HIM, with its emphasis on intensity. Use hills for both FTP efforts on the bike and hill intervals for the IP runs.

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