And now for something completely different.....Cranky Monkey 6hr MTB Race and Xterra

The Ramblings of an Endurance Junkie is probably apt right about now as this weekend I line up for my first mountain bike race of the year and my first MTB race since 2003....a lot has changed in those 12 years since I was racing all over the UK in the dirt! We moved to the USA, took up triathlon and didn't touch the trails until picking up 'cross again in 2012.

So it looks like the two worlds have collided for 2015. I am venturing into Xterra triathlons (off-road triathlons) so why not sign up for the Cranky Monkey 6hr MTB endurance race as a training race on the local trails.  It should be a lot of fun, the weather looks good, the trails have dried up and I have some pretty good fitness right now. I'm not sure if it is 6hr MTB fitness but it is fitness.

I have managed to get onto the trails a few times since actually getting my Specialized Stumpjumper in January, in amongst the rain and snow! Yes I was a little rusty but the last ride this past week was a bit better in terms of flow....I'm sure that over the course of 6hrs the feel for the trails will come back as you learn the track.

Race Flyer for Cranky Monkey 6hr

So what does this mean for 2015 and the triathlon season? It's bit of a diversion to hit the Xterra Series with the season goal to qualify for Nationals in Ogden, Utah (Sept, 2015). A long shot would be to qualify for Worlds at the Eastern Championships race at Richmond in June (only 2 or 3 spots in my age group available at the race), that might be a goal for another year! Let's see what the first few races teach me :-

My 2015 Xterra race schedule will be something like this:

April 26th - Xterra Jersey Devil, Barnegat, NJ
June 14th - Xterra East Championships, Richmond, VA
July 12th - Xterra Ex2, Rocky Gap, MD
August 2nd - Xterra Appalachia, Penns Run, PA
Sept 19th - Xterra Nationals, Ogden, UT

Should be a fun season!

January 2015: Training Ramblings.....Consistency is the Key

With the cross season over and Winter settling in, there isn't a lot to report from the month of January. For me it is really about getting some consistent training logged especially building the run and swim up again after a hiatus during the Fall. My biking fitness was high coming off the cross season so the plan was to maintain on the bike and build the rest so that come the early Spring I am in some kind of shape to race triathlons.

In late January Sarah and I got away for some Sun, Sea and Sand in Aruba for a week...as always it was great to relax and get away from everything, it's a plus that you can run in shorts and t-shirt in 85 degree weather and swim in the outside pool!

One Happy Island.....Aruba 2015!

Building on December I logged a steady 10hrs running and all at a steady pace, no intervals or anything as of yet just plain old base building to get ready for some harder stuff in February and beyond.  The swim grew a little...it's easy to grow from nothing, so even the 2.5hrs in January is a start. February needs to be better!

Good news on the bike was that my January FTP test came out at 308w (95% of 324w) and my Vo2 tested at 355w (for 5mins). These are both all-time highs which goes to prove that cyclocross and quality hours rather than just volume can work.....now is the time to maintain that and build as the Spring approaches.

I have also been looking at the racing calendar for 2015 and trying to figure out some races that would be fun to do.  It is all still up in the air right now but I have signed up for two races: Cranky Monkey 6hr MTB race on March 28th, which is local at Rosaryville State Park and then the Xterra East Championship in Richmond in mid-June.

Not quite as warm as Aruba.....MTBing at Rosaryville State Park

There will definitely be a mix of road and off-road triathlon's this season, riding the MTB will be great skills work for cyclocross in the Fall and it's just plain fun to run and ride off-road.

What I am Drinking This Month:
1562 Roastery: Nicaragua Jose Francisco (peach, almond, creamy, cantaloupe)

January Total: 540.24mile/40hrs 18mins/ 2620 TSS
Swim: 4.84m/ 2hrs 33mins/ 176 TSS
Bike: 456m/ 26hrs 10mins/ 1599.2 TSS
Run: 79.4m/  9hrs 55mins/ 724.8 TSS
Strength: 1hr 40mins/ 120 TSS