My first round of Race Prep is in the books. Each rounds consists of the following:

• Vo2 Interval Day
• Endurance Day
• Recovery Day
• LT Interval Day
• Endurance Day
• Recovery Day
• Optional Additional Recovery Day if needed.

My first round began last Wednesday with 4 sets of 3-minutes at 315 watts on the trainer followed by 3 minutes at 5:20 pace on the treadmill followed by 3 min recovery. Thursday was a 3 hour climbing road ride followed by a one hour hilly trail run all at endurance pace. Recovery days consist of easy ride, easy swim, and weights. Saturday was a killer LT interval with the men of EPC (minus Hairy J as he was camping with his girlfriend). The five us hit rounds of 30 minutes hard on the mountain bike followed by 20 minutes hard on the run. It was hot and we pushed each other hard. Sunday I was toast and decided to take an early recovery day with a light spin on the mountain bike with Kathy as she prepares for her first off-road tri this week. Oh yeah, and I’ve been swimming everyday, hard masters swims on the non-recovery days and lighter solo swims on the recovery days. Last week I did 16k in the pool. Big time for me!

This week is more of the same with a bit of a twist. Vo2, endurance, LT, recovery, recovery, race. The race is a local off-road tri to keep the race-day fitness in check. We’ll see how it goes. I’m feeling so strong in the pool right now. It’s exciting to be seeing and feeling the improvements. Let’s keep the momentum going!

On a fun note, I got a new pair of the 2010 Pearl Izumi Tri Shoes a couple weeks back. They gave them a fit-overhaul, tightening up the toe-box and improveing the overall fit. I must say well done. These shoes are sick. Incredibly light, plenty of stiff and super fast in transition!

Nice shoes!

CW

There are more XTERRA USA and Worlds training plans up on Training Peaks for your downloading convenience. We have added a Peak Plan for both USA and World Champs, as well as Peak Plans for either USA or Worlds. These plans are designed for the athlete who is confident in their base and build up training, but wanting to execute the perfect taper and peak in the final weeks leading up to the big events. These plans will take you from well-trained and fatigued to fast, fresh and race-ready on race day to get the most form from your hard training efforts. Included in the plans are my infamous PW’s (Peak Workouts), when to schedule tune-up races, and how to taper and gain freshness with recovery workouts. Check out the previews on Training Peaks and feel free to fire questions my way. Happy training!

CW

Three-fifths of my way through my recovery block. Friday last week through Tuesday this week, is low-key recovery time from my previous big three weeks of base. Staying active, but dropping volume and keeping intensity in there with a tough masters session on Saturday morning at DU and a local sprint tri on Sunday to test the legs. Today I’m taking off from formal training and only including a casual spin on my commuter bike to run some errands around town and tomorrow a light swim and weight training session.

The Rattlesnake Sprint Tri on Sunday was a return to road racing for me. I forgot how difficult the bike is on the road. It’s all-out all the time. No recovering on the downhills, it’s drop it in the big gears and hammer the downhills. Anyway, the race went well. I managed the 3rd quickest swim split of the day, the fastest bike split (by several minutes), and the fastest run split (17:13 5k, 5:35 avg mi). Felt pretty solid considering the last three weeks of training. I finished the race in 55 minutes and change, just shy of 6 minutes ahead of second place!

My Race Machine!

Also of note, this race was Kathy’s first tri of her budding tri career. She is a natural talent finishing 10th overall out of 346 women, 4th in age-group (toughest of the race) and 1st place in the “Newbie” category for those racing their first tri. Her race was done in 1:12 including an 18.5 mph bike split on a road bike and a 20:57 run split (6:46 miles). Not bad at all for a first time effort and only 3 months of bike riding experience! She is stoked, and I have a feeling we’ll be doing a few more road tri’s before the summer is over.

My Other Race Machine!

After I finish up my recovery days, it’s time to ramp up the intensity heading into the Race Prep Phase. Plenty of bike-run intervals and continued swimming.

CW

Busy, busy, busy. I’m wrapping up the 3-week base block of Operation Ogden III. Big volume and speed work has been the focus. Here are the stats for the 3-weeks: