Challenges of XTERRA Racing
The challenges of XTERRA racing and training offer the athlete a great opportunity to test themselves. Issues of quality training and recovery, environmental factors for the swim, bike and run, goal setting and staying focus add to the challenges.
Quality First
Training always must serve a purpose. The coach should know what the purpose of each workout is. The quality of each training session is key. A coach can ask, is the athlete adapting to the workouts and coming out of them stronger than they were before? You want the athlete to adapt to the training stimulus and improve performance.
Quality recovery is equally important. This allows the continuation of quality training and helps prevent injury and overtraining. Recovery is even more individualized than the quality workout. Response to exercise is a complex situation with many variables. Identifying your athlete's ability to adapt to training stress and the amount of recovery they need is a true art form.
How XTERRA challenges Quality Training/Recovery
In XTERRA training, recovery from quality training not only includes heart and lungs, but because of the stresses of off-road training, a neuromuscular recovery. A lot has to do with the level of the athlete. An athlete who has never done mountain biking will require more time to recover especially in the upper body area than an experienced mountain biker. Also, because of the hilly terrain, the use of intervals in XTERRA training is more prevalent. Interval recovery takes longer by its high lactate building structure. Frequency of training devoted to an XTERRA environment is another factor. Many real life situations complicate the ability of an athlete to engage in off-road training situations which complicates specificity of training and recovery.
Swim/Run Training Challenges
Athletes usually swim in colder water than they are accustomed to during XTERRA racing. This is especially true at high altitude courses. It's a matter of getting used to being cold, so wearing a wetsuit helps. The athlete should try to train in cold water just to experience the different breathing patterns. If pool training is all you can do, it's best to start some pool sessions going out immediately at race pace. This replicates more what will happen in competition. The body will handle the first rush and settle into race pace more efficiently. Prior to a race, a good warm-up before the swim is really important to do the quick start. The athlete should practice this in training.
Run training is different because the racer has stability issues such as avoiding tripping and falling. This complicates training and makes it difficult. Working on ankle/knee stability and core strength to prepare for the uneven surfaces are additional training considerations.
Time on the Off-road Challenges
A triathlete can go down to the local Y and jump on a treadmill or exercise bike and jump in the pool to get in a reasonable training session. But for XTERRA training, this compact training convenience is not as effective as quality time spent in actual off-road situations. There is a trade off between on-road/in the gym vs. off-road. Three bike rides a week and 90 percent of running should be ideally devoted to off-road. I live in Colorado Springs which makes this fairly easy. The swim is more difficult. It is best to train in an open water environment such as a lake. If at all possible, the athlete should try to find this environment once or twice a month. If this is not feasible, it would be advantageous to get in the water the day before the race for 10-20 minutes to prepare your body for the next morning. If you can't do that, at least swim in the water on race morning to warm-up and get your blood flowing.
Goal Setting Challenges
Because the triathlete is exposed to environmental challenges of off-road training and competition, goal setting by its very nature is more difficult in maintaining a good motivational attitude toward racing success. Some tricks I use include establishing a finish under a specific time. My goal on the bike is to pass as many people as possible and stay in front of them. In the water, it is as simple as just getting through it and doing a quick transition. Because of the many hills, it is not going to be how fast you can go, but if you can run every hill without walking in the run. Running is the biggest challenge because of the rigors of the mountain bike. You come off wobbly. I tell myself, "One foot in front of the other. Try to gain a feeling of strong, fast and light." If you keep at it, you'll soon experience the sensation of stronger/faster/lighter.
Time goals aren't always the easiest. There are more variables that complicate. For example, the ability to do well on the mountain bike and pass a lot of people may be difficult because much of the course may be single track. The athlete must keep everything relative beyond the stopwatch. Knowing the course before you race can help, but you should realize that everything is changing. Because of the ever changing environment during the race the athlete is constantly adapting to and dealing with these changes.
Focus Challenges
To achieve your goals and finish without problems, staying focused is critical in XTERRA racing as well as in training. During the swim, focus is accomplished by figuring out a breathing pattern and trying to maintain good from and technique. Are you going to breathe every two strokes or three strokes? Another is to spot and stay in visual contact with buoys.
On the bike you need to look down the trail at upcoming obstacles. This is done by focusing on someone ahead or looking for rocks, roots, drops and tight turns. Look in the direction you want the bike to go. If you are trying to avoid something and you look at it, you're going to hit it.
The athlete begins the run fatigued and needs to focus on picking up their feet with quick, light steps. By staying focused, dealing with the environment and staying with quality training, racing XTERRA can be a rewarding and fun experience.
For More Information Please contact Denny!
Train Well! Triathlete / T3 Coach
