I swore I would NEVER do a du

but today I did my first one. It was not supposed to be a duathlon. Xterra Versailles was supposed to be 2 weeks ago, rain postponed it by a week, when again torrential rains postponed it again. Those rains were so heavy the river and lake flooded, and the surrounding farm land runoff made the lake unsafe for swimming. I had already paid my entry fee, and in the xterra regional points series competition, I had to do 3 races, and had not planned very well this year, and as of today, with only 3 weeks left in the season, I had only 1 of 3 races. So, du it was!

This was a new course for xterra, and these trails are unbelievably fun (bike), and hard (the run). Unfortunately, the 2 postponements cut into the turnout, and it was a very small field, although those who showed up were some of the top racers in the region, so it would be a tough race to win, especially without a swim. Despite all the whining I do about hard swim workouts, I still count on getting a few minutes lead on the other girls. Starting with a 2.5 mile trail run, with 3 creek crossings (6inches deep and between 10 and 20 feet wide), and a good uphill and steep down, Bev was going to come out with a lead of a few minutes, instead of me having a lead of a few minutes. Bev is amazing, 50-54ag, many time national and world xterra champ in her AG, she regularly beats younger girls and finishes top 3 overall even at big regional races. So, the race starts and I have no idea how hard to run, because I was unsure how my legs would respond on a second run if I ran too hard on the first run. Before the race, a show of hands of participants showed those who have done a du, thought the du is much harder than a tri, and the RD cautioned good pacing at the start. SO, I went with the conservative approach.

Coming into t1 side by side with Ellen, Bev was already on her bike just near the trailhead. This mtb trail is a sweet trail. It starts with a long climb, then a few miles of twists and turns, before dumping onto the spectacular new Cliffside trail. They litterally cut the trail out of a cliffside, with some nice off camber trail, and a longgggggggggggggggggggg dropoff, there is no looking down the side, or you are over the cliff for sure. The best feature of the trail is a crossing over a rock ledge that is part of a waterfall that spans 10 feet of width, and falls down the cliffside into the creek. ANd I rode it without stopping! SWEET! Half way through the trail I went around Ellen and put a minute on her by t2. That was a good ride for me. Normally all of my xterra mtb's are very stressful. I come out of the water first, and have a bajillion fast men mtb riders who I have to make way for them all to pass. S T R E S S! This ride was so different. All of those guys ran faster than me. So I had no one behind me! ok, one guy did pass me on the bike, but I actually got to pass about 6 or 7 other men! Sweet, this was such a fun ride for me, I was so relaxed. There is one long sweeping stretch of trail that is a couple of miles above the river, and the trails gradually drops in elevation, and has very few turns, so it was bombs away time! And I just smiled the whole way.




photo is of the waterfall crossing



Coming into t2, Bev was hitting the start of the run trail as I was heading in, so I knew it would require a herculean run, up steep 200 ft elevation climbs, and down steep descents. Maybe she overdid it on the first run, and I didn't? I knew I couldn't slow down, Ellen was coming into t2, and I was heading out. The temps were heating up, hot and humid, and the first steep hill did not disappoint. I slogged my way up, and rolled through the early aid station with some water over the head and gatorade down the hatch. Down the first big steep, and up the steepest, longest hill is the start of the first loop, of the sort of figure 8 looped course. I was panting harder than a dog, and recovered a few minutes on some flatter stuff on the ridge top, in time for some rollers. Back up a biggie to what was the 2way traffic stretch, but the arrows confused me, and no one ther for traffic direction, and I followed the arrow to the left, instead of going straight, after standing there hesitating, some hikers said, there, the arrow goes that way,. So I dive down the steep hill, and back up the next one, before I realized this was the start of that first loop again! I made a wrong turn! ACKKKKKKKKKKKK! and added three quarters of a mile, plus 2 monster hills from ridge to ravine, and I was pissed. I ran so hard up the second hill, I puked at the top, and knew Ellen had gone by. And with just under 2 miles left, and the effort I just made, I was not going to catch Ellen, let alone Bev. The last 2 mile is the reverse of the first run of the du, so I got to splash through the creeks again - the Avi Stoltz were awesome! ANd I plodded the last mile to the finish. I guess I should have run hard all the way to the line, but I was so disappointed with myself,and I knew there was no one who was going to catch me from behind, I got the points for the AG points series race, and settled for third palce overall. Sounds good, but the race was so small, it seems anything other than a win is a bit lackluster. But when Bev is the competition, I can handle getting beat by her. And Ellen is a sweetie, and having friends beat you is that much easier to take. Maybe I should be more competitive, but I do this for fun, and even doing a du instead of a tri, I had a ton of fun out there today!

Next race, xterra Logansport next Saturday! Yep, 2 in a row, not ideal, and Logansport is not my favorite race. But I need one more race for the points, so off I go up to Middle-of-nowhere-flatland, IN. The best part of the Logansport race is that it is the BEST swim venue on the state. Swim in a limestone querry, you can see in nice clear water, which is quite a contrast to the typical muddy midwestern lake swim.

Now, I'm sitting on the sofa, Max (our newest addition to the family - adopted golden retriever, as of 2 hours ago!) is laying next to me, Sam is at my feet, Daisy on her bed, Junior in his spot, and everyone is content.