Wendy Grave's XTERRA Report...

Here's my race report for Xterra: I badly wanted to do Xterra Black Diamond last year but it didn't fit into my training schedule. This year, even though I'm training for Ironman Arizona, and have repeatedly been told by my training partner that I'm not allowed to get injured, I signed up for Xterra. Yes, I realized that I had no experience racing mountain bikes, nor for that matter, am I even very skilled on a mountain bike. But I really enjoy it. And I love trail running. And it sounded like a good old, get down in the mud and get dirty kind of fun race. Besides, I think I was the only woman on our team that was planning to do it solo. And who doesn't love to be different and take on a new challenge?

Despite my training partner's fears, I didn't get injured at Xterra. Nope, instead I got injured during karate two weeks prior to Xterra. I broke my right foot in a karate incident (the guy's hip bone was stronger than my foot bone - go figure). So, my doctor puts me in a boot and tells me I can bike and swim but I can't run for 3-4 weeks. So . . . . what option does that leave me but to do Xterra as a relay? In comes my husband, Dave to the rescue, graciously agreeing to do the 6.2 mile trail run. So, I'm back in the race, even if I don't get to do it in its entirety.

Sunday morning we show up at Lake Sawyer. We run into Eric from The Balanced Athlete who takes one look at my boot and says "You're not racing, are you? Did you doctor know you meant "mountain biking" and "xterra racing" when you asked if you could "bike"?" Hmmm . . . details. Whatever. And Eric was not the only one to comment on the boot - I had many odd looks and comments from other racers and teammates as well. Whatever. Dave and I go set up in transition. Then . . . Toby announces the lake is 86 degrees and wetsuits aren't allowed. WHAT!!!! No wetsuit? No pull buoy? What am I to do? Is it too late to go back to bed? Can I kick with a broken foot? Will I drown? I try to calm down, reminding myself that I have been swimming once a week without my pull buoy or any other flotation devices. I can do this. It may be slow, it may be ugly, but I can do this. So, I walk to the edge of the water, take off my boot and join the other athletes for the swim. And I swam respectably. As a matter of fact, I did rather well. Not lightning fast, but very respectable. By the way, despite the advertising on the Xterra website, the RTBers onthe island did NOT look disgruntled. They were actually quite cheerful and encouraging. I especially appreciated seeing Cheryl's friendly face as I made my way across the island.

Once I finished the swim I took full advantage of the volunteers helping swimmers onto the shore (what with broken foot and all). I started to run to transition when my husband appeared at my side reminding me I wasn't allowed to run. So . . . I had to walk to transition. Seriously?! Walk? That is not an easy thing to do when people cheering you on saying "great job". I felt lame, but I guess I was! Into transition, I grabbed my helmet, shoes and bike (it's a pretty quick transition when you don't have to take off a wetsuit!) and head back out. I didn't get too far before I realized my saddle was way too low. I figured, if I'm going to be taking this ride easy, I might as well take the time to adjust the saddle. That was a smart move. Off I went again . . . slowly.

Did I mention how technical the bike was? Holy cannoli! I spent a lot of time putting my foot down and walking sections of the route (over logs, up hills). I had to be careful not to fall or put too much stress on my foot. Of course, the foot that I always clip out with was my broken one. And I think I ran through the stream with my bike (LOVE the photo of me carrying my bike!) - (oops, did I say that out loud? No, Caitlin, I did not run! ) So I had an internal fight over whether to do both laps or not. Was I a quitter if I didn't finish or was I being smart and keeping the bigger picture in mind. Why risk further injury when Xterra wasn't even a my big race? The important race of the year is of course Ironman.

After going back and forth, and spending a lot of time in the bushes letting other much faster riders pass me, I finally came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth injuring myself further just to save my stupid pride. So after the first lap, I returned to the transition area with a DNF. I stopped before crossing the mat and yelled at my husband to "Go, go, go Dave"! and he started the run. I then spent the next 54 minutes visiting with teammates and other athletes while watching the first athletes cross the finish line.

I have to say, Xterra athletes are my new idols. There is no other sport that could be harder. The pure physicality of the bike portion was unbelievable. And they were flying by me as if I was standing still (well . . . much of the time I was, but still). It was amazing. I am in awe and wish I could be that cool. I think the highlight of my day was when one of the top athletes passed me and said "There's some hardcore chick out here with a broken foot . . . oh wait, that's you!". Anyways, I digress. My husband finished the run in 54 minutes. He was tired and he was as torn up as the bike riders were. Apparently there was a log on the run which they had to clamber over, twice. He had no problems on the first loop. On the second . . . apparently he didn't quite make it and landed on his side/knee along the tree. He now has tree rash. That's a new one for me. Hmm . . .

So, to recap: With all the difficulties, pain, scrapes, wetsuitless swimming . . . we still had an AMAZING time! Thanks to Toby, Patty and Kathy for all their hard work. Thanks to all the wonderful volunteers. I loved seeing my fellow teammates and having them cheer me on. It was a wonderful event. Maybe next year I'll be brave enough to try it again . . . but I may need to get a few tattoos first! Who's with me?!!! Thanks, Wendy Graves