I was looking forward to the Blankets Creek Duathlon for months because I knew signing up for the race would force me to get out ride my bike more. I was only able to pre-ride parts of the course two days before the race and even though Blankets Creek is a local trail, the pre-ride was my first time riding the infamous Van Michael Trail. For those who aren’t familiar, the VMT goes up and down and up some more and is one of the most challenge trails at Blankets Creek. I was hoping for rewarding downhill but most of the descents were rocky or slowed down by switchbacks… or both.

On race day I had to push aside thoughts of wishing I had trained more and all the other shoulda/coulda/woulda’s that entered my mind. There were a lot of serious competitors among the 260+ racers, but the majority of mountain bikers I met were there to finish and have fun. All the chatting and meeting other racers, especially the women, before the race was a great way to calm my nerves.

Any remaining nervous energy got burned off during the initial trail run. The duathlon started with a 5-mile trail run on the Dwelling Loop, and being a runner and former marathoner, I definitely preferred running before biking. After the first mile and a half I realized my heart rate was way up after I nearly tripped on a root. I was passing folks on the singletrack and feeling the pressure of other runners behind me so I decided to settle in with a few other ladies that were going about the same pace I was. Soon after, over my left shoulder I heard, “C’mon, you’re not satisfied.” She was right – in the back of my mind I was saving my legs for the Van Michael Trail, but it takes more than 5 miles of running to wear me out. So I gladly let the woman by and stuck to her like glue the rest of the way.

The running pace was perfect, a little faster than I would have run if I were running alone. We even caught up to my new friend, Cathi, an experienced ultra-marathoner. At that moment I started thinking negative thoughts, “I need to slow down, I’m going way to fast, Cathi should be running circles around me!” But I decided to make my move. I felt a little guilty about trading places with Cathi but I wanted to run as if I was only there to run the 5 mile trail run; I’d worry about the biking part later. I was so glad to be reminded early on that racing is often more of a mental challenge than a physical one. I finished the run in 44:16 and was one of the first 5 women into the transition area.

I hurried through the transition, gulped down a Gu and a bottle of Accelerade, switched shoes, slapped on my helmet and hydration pack and bolted back onto the trail with my heart rate still approaching maximum velocity. I had 12 miles on the bike to look forward to so it helped to think about it in pieces. First up, ~4 miles on the Van Michael Trail.

It took a while to get into the groove of climbing and I became frustrated when riders in front would stop in the middle of the climbs, forcing me and others following to do the same. This happened a lot on the VMT and I suppose it’s partly my fault for following too closely.

At one point I tried to pass a group of bike-hikers on the left side when I found myself out of space and momentum. I tumbled about 15 feet down a cliff still clipped into my bike like a fly on flypaper. I picked up some scrapes on my shoulders and legs but the worst part of the fall was one of my calves cramped up. Fortunately a couple of nice gents fished me and my bike out of the brush. I think I was cursing out loud by now so I hope they didnt take offense – I really did appreciate the help!

I stretched my leg out and pushed my bike up the rest of the hill and for a few minutes thought, what a waste, I might as well take my sweet time riding now. I was sooooooo mad! Then I thought to use all that anger to my advantage, so I pedaled like a mad woman. I was having crazy thoughts now. I wanted to blast down that stretch with the ropes (pictured above), but fortunately there were some folks from the race crew there telling the riders to take it easy.

By the time I got onto the next section of trail, known as the Dwelling Loop, I was still mad. Dwelling looks a lot different on a bike than on foot. You don’t notice the little rocks as much so it’s actually a pretty fast ride, at least for the first mile. Everyone seemed to be spaced out better on Dwelling and whenever I found myself alone, I pedaled harder to catch the next rider and make up time. Before I knew it, I was back with some of the racers I had seen before my crash.

We turned onto South Loop and the pace slowed a bit. South Loop is not like any of the other Blankets Creek trails, and of course this is the section I left out of my pre-ride. There was a lot of narrow, twisty singletrack through pine trees. Not knowing what else was ahead, I just told myself there’s less than two miles left so it’s time to ride until I puke.

When I saw an opportunity to pass the female rider that I had been behind for the last several miles, I bolted past only to come around the corner to a slow granny gear climb. I fell again going up a short technical section because I was distracted by a rider sitting by the side of the trail. What was he doing there? Did he puke? Am I going to puke here? I was totally embarrassed as I was passed back just seconds after getting in front of the woman. I hung onto the woman as long as I could, wondering if I could out-sprint her when we made it back to the doubletrack.

Before I knew it I could hear the race crew and spectators through the pine trees and I knew we were coming out of South Loop. I was over-anxious and started frantically mashing the pedals and, doh! my handlebars clipped a tree. Down I went for a third time and in front of so many people!

I finished strong knowing I ran and rode my hardest. My final time was 2 hours 11 minutes, and I was shocked to win my age category (the woman I was chasing ended up being in a different age group) and I finish 5th overall in the women’s race!

It’s two days later and I’m still a little sore from the crash, but certain I’ll do another dirty duathlon. A big kudos to Lisa Randall and SORBA Woodstock for putting on an awesome event. See you at the Rope Mill Duathlon!

photo by Nils Nilson, xterraphotos.com

On October 25 the Xterra Triathlon World Championships took place in Maui, HI with 550 racers from 22 countries around the world. The World Champs is the culmination of the 100 race off-road triathlon series that takes place around the world each year and from what I’ve read the competition is pretty fierce. We’ve all heard of the Ironman Triathlon and this is sorta the off-road equivalent.

Then again, the Xterra Triathlon isn’t nearly as long as the Ironman. Here’s how the two stack up:

2009 course map

Sure, technical riding, steep climbs, choppy waters, and running over uneven terrain will take a bit more out of you than a smooth Ironman course but in the end, the Xterra is a much shorter race. Strange, in my opinion, since multi-stage, 24-hour, and 100-mile mountain bike races are becoming more and more popular among pros and amateurs alike. The upshot is that even mortals should be able to finish the Xterra with a reasonable amount of training.

The prize money for Xterra is pretty big ($105,000 total purse) and more than 75 pro athletes turned up at this year’s event. Eneko Llanos of Spain took the men’s title while Julie Dibens took the women’s; it was the 3rd win for each racer. If you also like to swim and run off road, add this one to your race calendar for next year!

photo: 10K trail running race on the 1996 Olympic MTB course, sponsored by Dirty Spokes

A lot of people ask me why I run so much – usually 3-4 days a week – and I always tell them it’s to make me a better mountain biker. The truth is my schedule doesn’t always allow me to get the time I need in the saddle and running is a pretty good way to build and maintain endurance for mountain biking.

Over the past few years I’ve been getting into trail running and I gotta say it’s about as close as you can get to mountain biking without the wheels. At a recent MTB trail work day one of the volunteer leaders mentioned that trail runners and mountain bikers typically travel trails at the same speed (on average) which I never thought about before. Of course mountain bikers do the passing on the descents while the trail runners can often pass mountain bikers going up

When I lived in North Carolina there were a ton of trails near my house but very few of them allowed mountain bikes. Instead of hiking to explore the local trails (slow and boring) I ran ‘em. I even found that after trail running a local MTB trail I knew the trail much better than if I had only biked there. That knowledge came in handy the next time I was out on my bike as I was bombing through familiar turns and bouncing over rocks and roots that I knew like the back of my hand. Trail running is also a good MTB substitute on days when the trails are too wet for riding.

Many of the mountain bikers I know got into the sport because of bone or joint problems that prevented them from other forms of exercise like running. Mountain biking is certainly low impact but it turns out trail running is pretty low impact as well. By avoiding the pavement and sticking to soft dirt, trail runners minimize much of the pounding associated with road running. If you’ve had to stop running due to joint issues you may want to try a short jog at the local MTB trail to see if that works for you.

For those who haven’t tried trail running before, here’s a good chance to give it a go: August 22 is National Trail Running Day. Hit up trailrunningday.org to find an event near you or head over to SeriousRunning.com (one of our sister sites) to find and review running trails. While trail running will never compare to mountain biking for me, it’s definitely a good way to stay in shape and a fun way to explore trails closed to bikes.