MTB Race News took self-described regular guy, Brian Hester, and dropped him into a serious training program with 19 Sports in Park City, Utah, to see if they could take him from zero to hero. Join us and watch Brian's progress throughout the season.
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Brian putting it together on the St. George rock
Brian:
Last weekend was not only the season opener for the Utah XC season in St. George - it was also my first XC race in four years. I had a full 6 weeks of training with 19 Sports under my belt and high hopes for a solid race. Despite my long hiatus, I felt great. The weather was perfect and the fields were large. I couldn’t wait to get started.
My trainer laid out a warm up regimen for the race that consisted of 20 minutes easy, 5 x 1 minute on 1 minute off intervals at a hard pace, then 10 minutes at a moderate pace. It seemed a little too hard for a warm up but I’m trying to follow the plan as closely as possible. Feeling completely warmed up and ready to race, I got on line for the start.
First the Pros took off at what looked to be a blistering pace. I was briefly happy to not be in that group. Next up were 20 to 29 experts and one minute later my group (30 to 39 experts) started the 1/4- mile sprint to the singletrack. My warm up really paid off here as I easily sat in 5th as we hit the trail.
It was not until the first climb that I realized that my fitness was good… but not as good as everyone else’s. Riders were easily overtaking me going up and I would get a few back on the downhills and tricky fast flats. It was the same for all three laps. My goal was to finish in 1:40:00 and I ended up at 1:34:25. Not bad, I thought, until I saw the results. My time was good for 26th place out of 36 riders in my class. Suck!!!
On Monday, I resumed my training schedule. Time and effort on the bike will be increasing over the next month so hopefully I can improve my speed and endurance before the next race. Stay tuned!
Brian:
Last weekend was not only the season opener for the Utah XC season in St. George - it was also my first XC race in four years. I had a full 6 weeks of training with 19 Sports under my belt and high hopes for a solid race. Despite my long hiatus, I felt great. The weather was perfect and the fields were large. I couldn’t wait to get started.
My trainer laid out a warm up regimen for the race that consisted of 20 minutes easy, 5 x 1 minute on 1 minute off intervals at a hard pace, then 10 minutes at a moderate pace. It seemed a little too hard for a warm up but I’m trying to follow the plan as closely as possible. Feeling completely warmed up and ready to race, I got on line for the start.
The regular guy gets ready for the race
First the Pros took off at what looked to be a blistering pace. I was briefly happy to not be in that group. Next up were 20 to 29 experts and one minute later my group (30 to 39 experts) started the 1/4- mile sprint to the singletrack. My warm up really paid off here as I easily sat in 5th as we hit the trail.
It was not until the first climb that I realized that my fitness was good… but not as good as everyone else’s. Riders were easily overtaking me going up and I would get a few back on the downhills and tricky fast flats. It was the same for all three laps. My goal was to finish in 1:40:00 and I ended up at 1:34:25. Not bad, I thought, until I saw the results. My time was good for 26th place out of 36 riders in my class. Suck!!!
On Monday, I resumed my training schedule. Time and effort on the bike will be increasing over the next month so hopefully I can improve my speed and endurance before the next race. Stay tuned!
