[4212darren]

I've been toying with the idea of doing a Triathalon but don't have a Tri bike and and don't really want to buy one but the Xterra series seems to use Mountain bikes which is right up my alley. I can run, bike and with a little work I could brush up on my swimming so I'm almost there. The one I saw was 1.5 km swim(10 times further than I've ever swam before) 30 km bike and 10 km trail run. Anyone try an event like this?

 

[Stosh (Canada)]

I've been toying with the idea of doing a Triathalon but don't have a Tri bike and and don't really want to buy one but the Xterra series seems to use Mountain bikes which is right up my alley. I can run, bike and with a little work I could brush up on my swimming so I'm almost there. The one I saw was 1.5 km swim(10 times further than I've ever swam before) 30 km bike and 10 km trail run. Anyone try an event like this?

There may be a sprint or Try-a-Tri course (1/2 distances). We have a couple of off road Tri's around here, some even swap the swim portion for a canoe section. Adventure races without the navigation.

Anyway I hope to do a least two off road Tris this year.

Good Luck

Stosh (Canada)

PS: Have you looked into training yet? Wait till you get to BRICKS. Bike a while, jump off the bike and run. You will be wondering what happened to your Sunday mornings when you start doing Bricks for Sh!ts and Giggles. (Excuse the Canadian Euphuism).
Get enough Bricks in and you may wonder where your waist went too.

 

[Poncharelli]

Right before I saw your post, I was checking the dates for the Ogden Utah Xterra. It's like twenty minutes away from my house.

I will probably do the sprint event. Take the distances you posted and cut them in half; that's the sprint event. I'll be a first timer as well.

Looking at the finishing times, top finishers completed the course around 2 hrs. The top placing guys were expert/pro MTBers doing it for fun (their first times).

I'm putting it on my race calendar.

 

[jdub_760]

I competed in quite a few Xterra events last year:

Arizona Xtreme Desert Triathlon - Xterra points series
Big Blue Offroad Tri - Xterra points series
Xterra West champs - Temecula, CA
Xterra East Champs - Richmond, VA
Snow Valley Off road tri - Xterra points series
Xterra Nationals - Tahoe
Xterra Worlds - Maui

I will be doing the same races this year (hopefully i can qualify for natls/worlds again).

They are a blast. If you are concerned about the distance to being a little to long I would reccomend checking out the points series races. They have varying distances and are a still a good time.

Whatever event you choose I am sure you won't be disappointed. The vibe at Xterra races is killer.

 

[Rideon]

XTerra rocks.

I did Xterra for 5 years, and recently switched to endurance and XC racing. I still love off-road tri though. The vibe is just like a mountain bike race. Friendly competition I'd call it.

The training is awesome too. The physical balance is really good with the 3 different sports. In fact, I still train like a triathlete most of the year because I think the variety is better for the body and mind. It's alot easier to squeeze in a run when your pressed for time or traveling. When the weather is bad, you can always find a pool or a treadmill. The bike can be difficult at times in the Midwest.

Your biking will suffer if you choose to focus on tri though. The reward is that you will become better at tri's.

 

[Destroy]

<newb looks around> What are 'Bricks'?

 

[Rideon]

Bike/Run workouts. Ride x amt of time...immediately get off the bike and run x amt of time. This trains the legs to adapt to the transition. You do actually get used to the feeling.

Some might even call swim/bike workouts "bricks."