By Melanie McQuaid
April 7, 2007 -- Ouch!
That is all I was thinking after this season’s first mountain bike race. I am always amazed at how much race pace hurts after a winter of relatively comfortable sub-threshold base training. This year I spent more time working on my running so most of my efforts were concentrated on run form and mileage, with far less work on the bike. Needless to say, my first bike race of the year was painful. But, as Borat would say, “I LIKE!” It’s so great to pummel the you-know-what out of yourself in an effort to get better.
I think it’s pretty common for triathletes to do a lot of 5 or 10k road races to work on their run speed in a triathlon. It’s probably less common for triathletes to try cycling races. For those of us who race XTERRA, mountain bike racing is key to success. Even the road triathletes in the audience could benefit from a little off-road racing.
Non-drafting triathlon essentially becomes a three-part time trial. There are usually stretches in the race where you end up alone and are required to set your own pace. Unless you’re competing in ITU-format racing, chances are you’re trying to piece together the fastest swim/bike/run that you can (ITU races are often dictated by the pace of the pack and not an individual). Therefore, a fast bike split will always be a good weapon to have in your back pocket at most races.
You can train to have a fast bike split but racing seems to help you find that next gear that you can’t reach during training. I like to describe bike racing as an exercise in suffering. There is nothing like the tunnel vision you experience when you glue yourself to someone’s back wheel and stare at it while you allow your body to enter extraordinary levels of pain. If you can do this to yourself in a bike race, finding an appropriate speed in a triathlon feels effortless.
For mountain bike racers, a race will force you to ride single track at a pace that is very hard to mimic in training. Riding with your heart rate at 200 bpm versus riding with it at 160 bpm is an entirely different proposition. There are not only cardiovascular benefits to racing, but your skill will improve by forcing yourself to negotiate tricky terrain at threshold.
I personally like to mix some mountain bike races and some road races into the yearly calendar as part of a training block. For instance, instead of just doing more race-specific intervals this spring I decided to race more frequently. I’m planning on doing a number of the spring national series mountain bike races. That way I can continue to do running intervals to build my run form toward Temecula and let the racing take care of the cycling-specific fitness. Right now, it hurts, but I’m confident it will pay off at the start of the XTERRA season.
Starting with some club races in your area will save you from buying a cycling license. Adding these race experiences will not only help your triathlon fitness, it will also help you find new training partners. I love my weekend off-road rides with the mountain bike boys and I think those rides help me build the skill and strength required for racing. In cycling, categories are based on experience and not just on age category, so you will not have to go race the Cat 1 guys on your first go-around.
So check out the local race calendar and jump in a race. Chances are there will be a few triathletes already there working on their skills and fitness. Later in the season, you can give each other a smile as you ride past the rest of the field.
Based in Victoria, Canada, Melanie McQuaid is a three-time defending XTERRA world champion. For more information about McQuaid, please visit www.racergirl.com