1st Mountain Bike Race

My first Mountain Bike race is in the bag and it came with a win. Last weekend I originally planned on doing the Xterra Crystal Cove 17k trail race, but when I went to register Friday, it was sold out! Good thing I had a plan B -Racers and Chasers had a MTB only class going on up at the Cahuilla Creek in conjunction with their Octane race. Let's just say their weren't many people in the race, but a win is a win! The course had 2 sections, with the first section going up some very steep soft sand as part of the motocross course then it turned into single track the rest of the way. I was glad it was 90% single track, because I feel that is my weakness on the MTB. There were a lot of technical sections and a lot of steep climbs that really helped me with my MTB skills -which I feel still have a long way to go. One thing I'm starting to figure out on the mountain bike is, it's a lot different then the road bike as far as fitness goes. There are a lot of quick/hard bursts and less long sustained efforts like you would get on a road bike.  I feel like my fitness on the road is pretty high, but off road I have a lot of work to do to get where I want to be for Xterra next year. Amy and the kids came out and jumped in the bouncy, while I was suffering on the course. Of course we forgot the camera, but Amy managed to snap a few shots with her phone.

The day before on Saturday, I went for a 9.5 mile tempo run. I hadn't done a longer tempo run in months (IT Band) and I was curious on how I was going to feel. The goal was to keep my heart rate just under 170. The course I picked out was pretty diverse- lots of dirt and a few hills and I actually had a lot of fun rocking out to the new Kings of Leon and knocking out 7:15 pace. My average heart rate ended up being 162 and I felt really relaxed and strong.
Data from the run:

As I write this I decided to call off tonight's track workout. I'm sick like everyone else it seems like and I want to get better in time for this weekend. Racers and Chasers is having another MTB race down in San Dieguito. I ride a lot of this course already, so I'm very familiar and am excited to race my again.

What do all of you do when you are sick? Do you train through it? Go easy? Take days off? When I ran competitively, my coaches rule of thumb was always: If the sickness is below your head (ie. chest cough, sore throat, flu) don't run, if it's just a head cold--run through it. I guess I'll just listen to that advice for now, cause I'm coughing up crap. Lame. Hopefully I can bag this sickness in time for the weekend.

Till next week---