First, thanks for the great site! The amazing amount of info here is a huge reason why I'm preparing to do Xterra next season.

Mel, I've done 4 years of road tris and am ready to add Xterra to my fun. Sites like yours and Xterra shows on TV (and the old races they used to have on their web site) were big motivators for me. Other than riding and training on a mountain bike (just got my first one yesterday) what would you recommend for someone with triathlon experience but little to no MTB or Xterra racing experience? I'm hoping to do a couple of east coast races and then Xterra Richmond.

Thanks in advance.

Congrats on getting started! I think that is great, and there is no end to the awesome experiences you are going to have as an Xterra athlete.

Given that this will be your first year of Xterra, I would recommend riding your mountain bike a lot over the offseason. Technical skills are likely to be your weakness, and the races at Xterras tend to have longer bike legs than you are used to, so putting in some volume would be wise. Get used to your mountain bike, ride it alot, and the bike leg will become your favorite.

Swimming and running at Xterras are like normal triathlons, except you run with much more tired legs. Do some run training right after riding, and you will get used to the feeling.

Hope that helps! Good luck with the off season training!

When you say they have longer bike legs than I'm used to, do you mean in relation to mountain biking? I've raced several 1/2 Ironmans and ride 60-70 mile rides on the weekends fairly regularly. I also do at least one brick workout per week even if it's only a 20 mile bike and 3 mile run on a day short of time. My trail running is minimal so I know I have to get used to that again. As far as racing shoes, would it be an advantage or disadvantage to race in trail running shoes? Or a good pair of lightweight trainers/racing flats?
The bike leg in road tris has always been my favorite, and I'm sure that it will stay that way in Xterra. Thanks again for everything. I'll be pulling for you at Hawaii.

I always guess that people are coming from Olympic distance, so if you are comfortable at a half iron distance, obviously 3h is not that big a deal. The difference is the mtb is not a steady sub threshold effort like a half, it is much harder, so the volume required to ride that speed is about the same as that for the half iron distance.

I think the training you are doing sounds good. Bricks are good, long rides are good, and making sure some of your long rides are on your mountainbike would be wise.

I run in a lightweight trainer or racing flat for all the races. The only time that didn't work was last year's worlds, where you needed work boots on the downhill. Most of the time a heavier flat would be good, because you are running on rocks. I use the Saucony Fastwitch Endurance or the Azura for nearly all the races.

Ciao!