One system, three phases
XC racing isn't one kind of fitness — it's an engine, plus the top end to use it, plus the sharpness to use it on the day. Each phase has one job, and the phases stack in order: Base in the off-season or early season, Build next, and In-Season to peak for your target XC races.
Phase 1 · Off-season / early season
Build the engine everything else sits on. Base is built on Zone 1–2 endurance volume — the aerobic foundation that lets you absorb harder work later and still be strong in the last lap.
Phase 2 · The build
Convert the base into race fitness. Intensity rises and narrows toward what XC racing actually demands — sustained threshold efforts and VO2max work over climbs.
Phase 3 · Race season
Peak for your target races and hold it through the calendar. Training now mirrors race day itself — the efforts get shorter, sharper and more specific while fitness is maintained between races.
Pick your level
The phases are the same system at every level — what changes is load: weekly hours, intensity and how sharp the top-end work gets. Choose by your experience and by the hours you can repeat every week, not by your biggest week ever.
New to structured training
For riders new to structured XC training or new to racing. Foundation volume, pacing skills and the strength habit — with fully structured workouts so every session has a clear target.
Established racer
For racers with a season or more behind them who are building real race fitness. More intensity and more race-specific work, at a load that still fits a working life.
Chasing podiums
For experienced racers racing for results. The highest load and the sharpest top-end work in each phase — built for riders whose limiter is no longer fitness basics, but race-day execution.
Not sure? Start one level down rather than one up — the system only works if you can repeat the weeks. Or skip the guesswork with 1-on-1 coaching, where Drew sets the level and adjusts it as the season unfolds.
How these plans are built
01
Load steps up deliberately — phase to phase across Base → Build → In-Season, and week to week inside each phase. More volume first, then more intensity, then race-specific work — so fitness keeps building instead of plateauing, and you arrive at your races at your sharpest.
02
Every phase is built around your target races. Training starts broad in Base and gets more specific as race day approaches — Build and In-Season sharpen the exact efforts XC racing is decided by: the hard start, VO2max surges over climbs, and repeated attacks late in the race.
03
Progressive strength work runs alongside the riding in every phase — not as an optional extra. It builds the durability and repeatable power XC racing demands on climbs, starts and technical singletrack, and it is scheduled in the same calendar as your rides.
Every ride in every plan is a structured workout with power and heart rate targets that syncs to your head unit. The interval, the target and the recovery are on your screen, on the trail. A power meter gives the most precise targets, but every workout also works on heart rate alone — a power meter is not required.
Plans are delivered through TrainingPeaks: buy your phase and level, apply it so it ends where you need it to, and follow the calendar. A free TrainingPeaks account is enough to follow a purchased plan.
See the XC catalog →The catalog
Three phases × three levels, all live on TrainingPeaks at the same $79 price. Most riders buy the phase they're entering now and the next phase when they're ready — or run the full Base → Build → In-Season sequence across a season.
$79
Get it in the XC catalog →$79
Get it in the XC catalog →$79
Get it in the XC catalog →$79
Get it in the XC catalog →$79
Get it in the XC catalog →$79
Get it in the XC catalog →$79
Get it in the XC catalog →$79
Get it in the XC catalog →$79
Get it in the XC catalog →Your coach
Coach Drew Edsall is a Castle Rock, Colorado mountain bike & gravel coach with Dirt Camp Racing who still races both Pro and Masters. These plans are written from current race craft — the starts, surges and late-race efforts in the In-Season work are the ones he races himself.
2026 & 2022 — the same discipline these plans train you for.
Pro Open XCO winner, 2026 — plus the Puerto Rico Masters XCO win in 2026.
His coached athletes include State Champions, 15 National Champions and a World Champion, with hundreds of podiums at local and national events.
A store plan gives you the system. One-on-one coaching gives you the system built around your A-races and adjusted as life and racing actually happen — annual plan, strength included, and race-day pacing and fueling worked out together.
Questions
They are three phases of one system, ridden in order. Base builds your aerobic engine on Zone 1–2 endurance volume. Build adds threshold and VO2max work on top of that base. In-Season sharpens race-specific intensity — hard starts, climbing surges and late-race attacks — while holding fitness through your race calendar so you peak for your target XC races.
Choose by experience and by the weekly hours you can repeat, week after week. Beginner is for riders new to structured XC training or racing. Intermediate is for established racers building race fitness. Competitive is for experienced racers chasing podiums, with the highest load and sharpest top-end work in each phase. Every level is $79.
Yes — in every phase and at every level. Each plan includes progressive strength work alongside the riding, building the durability and repeatable power XC racing demands on starts, climbs and technical singletrack. It is integrated into the same TrainingPeaks calendar, not a separate add-on.
Hours step up with level and phase: Beginner carries the lightest weekly load, Intermediate sits in the middle, and Competitive carries the most. Pick the level whose hours you can honestly repeat every week — consistency across Base, Build and In-Season beats one big week followed by missed sessions.
Work backwards from your A-race. Place the In-Season plan so it ends on your target race, run Build immediately before it, and run Base before that in the off-season or early season. Ridden in that order — Base, then Build, then In-Season — the system progressively overloads and gets more race-specific until intensity matches race day itself.
Plans are delivered through TrainingPeaks, and a free account is enough to follow a purchased plan. Workouts are structured with power and heart rate targets that sync to your head unit — a power meter is ideal, but heart rate alone works for every workout.
Start with the phase you're in
Base to build the engine, Build to raise the ceiling, In-Season to be sharp when it counts — $79 a phase, structured workouts and strength included throughout.