Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to episode 541 of the Grit to Greatness Endurance podcast. We are your hosts, coaches April Spilde and Kristen Overton, or Coach K.O., as we lovingly call her. We are on a mission to help endurance athletes train smarter, race stronger, and build the grit it takes to achieve greatness. And we are taking over the mic tonight. It's ladies' night. We're getting gritty. How are you, K.O.?
Speaker: I am. I am awesome. I'm so excited to talk about XTERRA tonight. So yeah it is ladies night. We are taking over and we're talking all things XTERRA. So this is the dirtier, slightly hairier and more unhinged stepsister to Iron Man. and we're going to have some fun tonight.
Speaker: Yeah. Lots of hair, lots of dirt. Maybe a little blood, sweat, and tears. A little blood, sweat, and tears. Yep. I can't wait to break it down with you. We're definitely going to pull the curtain back on what makes off-road triathlons like Xterra so much fun.
Speaker: And I'm so happy that I get to do this with UKO. We do want to send send a special shout-out to our co-host, our host extraordinaire, I should say, Rich, who is – graduating or who is celebrating the graduation. I'll say it's a parental graduation too. here There we go. It is definitely his his daughter Lauren is graduating and they are in Omaha. So we're just sending them all of our love.
Speaker: All right. So we have a couple of announcements. First up, we are going to give special shout outs to our G2G athletes. Yeah, we have an amazing athlete, Kristen Keen, who was part of the relay of the 70.3 Gulf Coast this past weekend.
Speaker: And she she did the swim portion and she is six months pregnant. And she got she got her and and that baby in her wetsuit and she crushed it. So congratulations, Kristen, you are a rock star.
Speaker: Total rock star. I love seeing the photos of her like holding her baby. and so and this is so such a big win for her and her family. So congrats, Kristen, we are proud of you. We also want to give special shout outs to Lauren Brown, Coach Lauren and my athlete Kevin Cole. They are both racing Chattanooga 70.3.
Speaker: Chatty, as we lovingly call it. And we know they're going to bring the heat and represent G2G well. Lauren is already settled in Her bike looks great. She's carb loading as we speak.
Speaker: She's ready to rock and roll, that's for sure. yeah And, you know, we'd be remiss if we did not give you a shout out, April, because you are currently sitting in Alabama right now waiting to crush your North American XTERRA championship race this weekend. So part of the reason we're we're doing all things XTERRA tonight. So go get after and get started.
Speaker: Definitely get gritty April. You're gonna you're gonna kill it. Excited to see how you do. Yeah, thank you, KO. I had, and we'll talk more about it, but i travel went extremely well. The bike, got that all prep today, had a great preview of the course today. And you know, my coming down from elevation to sea level and being in humidity, I'm in love right now.
Speaker: Right? You like actually have a little moisture in your skin, right? Yeah, I reverse aged. Right? it's it's It's unbelievable. It is. It feels so good. I slept really well last night. I think my heart rate my heart beat lowered by four or five beats just because it's not working as hard at L.A. Yeah. You get a few extra red blood cells in you. yes you're You're primed for this race for sure. Topped off, yes. Yeah.
Speaker: And that leads perfectly into our discussion tonight. We are talking all things Xterra Triathlon and how to prepare for off-road. Here's how tonight is going to go. Part one, KO and I are going to take turns answering some questions to break it down. What is Xterra? How do you prepare for it? What makes it different? And basically getting you ready for your first Xterra race.
Speaker: Then in part two, KO is going to flip the script and put me in the proverbial hot seat about Xterra North American Championships, which I am racing on Sunday. So when you hear this, I will still be waiting to race. So send me all the good vibes that you can. It's going to be a doozy, KO.
Speaker: you You're going to be ready for it, but we will. We will. you know Always good vibes going going to you and and everybody else racing this weekend for sure. All right, April. So, you know, let's let's set this table. Let us know what what is Xterra Triathlon and how is it different from, you know, what we're always talking about and in our regular road triathlons. And, you know you know, obviously we know what a triathlon is, swim, bike, run, but what what makes Xterra different?
Speaker: Yeah, when we first mentioned it, it's like the ugly stepsister to Iron Man. It is exactly that. it's I want you to imagine the dirtiest, smelliest, knock-tooth.
Speaker: No, I'm just kidding. it's It is actually... It is just a whole nother animal all in itself. So it's it's all off road, meaning, for instance, where I'm at right now, it's a lake swim.
Speaker: It's a mountain bike ride and then a trail run. So we're taking everything to the woods, essentially. And Xterra is known for being a global brand. And a lot of their races are outside of the US. So very fortunately, they the last couple of years have hosted their North American Championships here in Alabama. So that's how I fortunately was able to come across it. But most of these are all across the world. And right now this is number four in the World Cup Series. So you have pros here.
Speaker: You have all kinds of athletes here. And it's just a really fun, gnarly way to get into this sport. That's awesome. tell Tell us a little bit about the the distances. You know, I did a little research myself and then all sudden there's like all these different things that you can do. But is there like a standard, especially for the championships?
Speaker: Yes. Great question. So when you think of Ironman, you might think of 70.3 distance or the 140.6. Xterra is its own thing. exterra is its own thing So it it's standard distances, and I'm going to put that in quotes, is usually 30 mountain bike, 18 to 8 to trail run.
Speaker: mountain bike eighteen to twenty three miles and a eight to ten k trail run The terrain makes it much more difficult though.
Speaker: And liken this, it's what this is called when doing this weekend is a full triathlon, which is the 1.5 K swim. It's a 35 K mountain bike and 10 K run. I liken that to a 70.3 and exertion level and time as well, even though it's going to be shorter time than I'm used to doing 70.3. It's the exertion level is, is high.
Speaker: Yeah, I can imagine. I can imagine for sure. That's awesome. That's awesome. Like, how how did XTERRA start? We're like, yeah, no we obviously know that the Iron Man was born, you know, on the on the island of Hawaii and kind of blew up from there. How did XTERRA kind of get its its origin?
Speaker: Well, Hawaii must be an inspirational place because it also started in Maui in 1996 as a way to bring triathlons to the wild. So I think there's some magic in the air over in Hawaii.
Speaker: There must be. Yes. And i can I can also see why that is so appealing because if you've ever... ridden or ran in Hawaii, the trails, it's like this beautiful black soil and super loamy and kind of a mountain biker's dream. So I can absolutely see how this was built there.
Speaker: And one of the great things about Xterra is that it's it's a completely different vibe, KO. It's, and I love Ironman, don't get me wrong, like camaraderie the the competitive spirits, the brand itself is all, its it has a lot of power. But when you go to Xterra, like it's,
Speaker: It's like a big party. but That's that's like definitely like you know what I envision. you know It's like almost like this you know outdoorsy camper's paradise where just like go and you know everything's just kind of chill.
Speaker: And you just go and get get dirty and have fun. you know It is. Yeah. I mean, they have food trucks everywhere. They have a stage. So it's a festival. that's It's like a race. It's built around a festival.
Speaker: So they'll have live performances each night. They'll have their different short track events. Pro and am, and then they'll have the the full triathlon. So like today was the actual kickoff of North American championships with the women's elite short track and the men's elite short track. And then tomorrow they have a super sprint. They have a sprint and Sunday is the full triathlon. So it's, and it's every day is champ packed full of different things. Like they do yoga together in the morning. They'll go out and have coffee together. Like, cause it's, it's not,
Speaker: We're not talking about like 5000 people, right? We're talking maybe i don't even know 500 at the most. And everybody just everybody knows everybody. The announcer, the female version of Mike Riley. She's amazing. and And just yeah, just so much fun.
Speaker: So much fun. That's so much fun. Yeah. I just imagine it is kind of a tight knit group. You know, you just go in and have some fun and, you know, everybody's just like cheering everybody else on. K.O., they even give out free friendship bracelets.
Speaker: That's my kind of, my kind of territory. Let's go. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. I love it. Yeah. All right. came Dust off that mountain bike. Yeah. Come on over. and and my next question might again, percolate some, some FOMO if you will, but who do you think Xterra is for?
Speaker: Cause it can sound a little bit intimidating from the outside. Yeah, for sure. you know, I think it's, you know, just from my angle, When I was young and growing up, you know, i i rode a mountain bike everywhere. in college, I had a mountain bike and, you know, that's all I did. And like road bike was like, you know, that's, that's boring, right?
Speaker: But, but you know, kind of mountain bikers curious about triathlon or, you know, yeah athletes who were like, you know what, I just want to do something a little different or, you know, get back to those roots of like, oh you know, when I was playing around on my mountain bike when I was a kid. and it was some sort of, you know, adventure, you know, trail runners, that want to do something besides just running, you know, just people who want, want that adventure. They want hills and dirt and rattles snakes you rattlesnakes and, you know, tree limbs and whatever else might, might, uh, you know, be an an obstacle in your way.
Speaker: You know, if just thought something a little fun and different. I will tell you, that's what pulled me in. I was ready for something different. I have been traditional triathlon since 2019 and loved it. But I also, you know, I was living in Alaska at the time and decided, like, I really want to do some mountain bike trails out here because this is Alaska. So why not? And soon as I as soon as I ventured out, I was like, I'm never going back.
Speaker: I'm never going back to road, even though I do short course triathlon, road triathlon. It's that's about it for me at this point, Kale. So good. at The short course.
Speaker: Bring it, bring it, baby. i think I think it's great for athletes who love decision-making, who love to read terrain, who absolutely love a little chaos. Xterra absolutely finds you.
Speaker: Also, you know we I talked about intimidating. It is beginner-friendly as well. Like, for instance, tomorrow, the super sprint, it's a great entry point for a lot of people to go off-road.
Speaker: And it's very welcoming. Like even, you know, when you come in from a different state, sometimes it can feel like, oh, I'm an outsider and people see that I have, you know, right now I'm driving a rental car with an Illinois license plate.
Speaker: Shout out to Tony and Julie, but. right yeah Sometimes it can feel like, and out you can feel like an outsider, but not in this crowd, not in this crowd at all. And it's so refreshing.
Speaker: Yeah. That's really That's really great. You know, if say, you know, somebody like myself, who's been a road triathlete for a million years now and just keep, keeps doing it, you know, I'm sitting in the car like, Oh, you know, you know, should i should I test it? Should I do this? Should I test this out? i mean, I've been thinking about it ever since we were going to do this podcast. Like this just sounds like so much fun.
Speaker: like what's what skills would would I need to start building that you know that transition over from Roadtry to Xterra and, you know,
Speaker: what What demands does that have? Great question. i would definitely recommend that you dust off the mountain bike as soon as possible. Have it looked at too. i know there's Mountain bike technology comes along, just like with road bikes, it comes a long way over time and things can get can, uh, can erode or get, a little rust on them if, uh, if not used. So I would definitely get that tuned up and take a look.
Speaker: Then i would focus on your mountain bike handling skills. Doesn't have to be something that you just trying to think how to put it. Like you're not just going out and riding the trail.
Speaker: You can start practicing on a mountain bike in a cul-de-sac. and learning how to, you know, you don't have to do necessarily a a wheelie or manual as they're called, but you can do bunny hops over water bottles. That actually has a really great transferable skill for a lot of different things with rocks and roots.
Speaker: You can start small with a couple of shorter distance trails as well. get If you know or have exposure to some trails in your local area, just getting out and feeling what it's like to have that type of rolling resistance and to know how to power up and over ledges or rocks, knowing how to get through a rock garden.
Speaker: Getting enough momentum and power to maneuver as well as manage your handlebars. I will say, too, i had to learn the hard way just a couple weeks ago that sometimes you don't have enough space between trees to get through without knocking yourself. over it. Hit that handlebar you're going down. Girl, I went head over handlebars.
Speaker: I thought the trail was wide enough because that tree had fallen down and someone one had cut it, which was very kind, but it wasn't enough quite enough room for my handlebars and I just clipped just the slightest clip and I was going pretty fast and thankfully I wasn't on too broken up from it but I was it's scary you are gonna fall yeah there's you know there's some of those things that can can happen will happen if you stay in it long enough and the biggest things are taking it knowing your limits that that's one of the biggest
Speaker: tips that I can give is ride within your limits and know what you're capable of. So don't just go full send down a trail you've never gone down before.
Speaker: Right? Don't yeah rely on YouTube videos of a trail because you the GoPro especially has this weird thing where it does not show.
Speaker: how steep something is. It looks flatter than it is. Yes. So take the time to really do your recon and give yourself space to learn what what it's like and and practice in in your in your cul-de-sac or on a curb learn how to get over curbs you can learn a lot just from riding over speed bumps or curbs on on cement also protective gear is a great great investment you don't have to go too hard on your bank account to get some good elbow pads and knee pads that can save you a lot of honestly pain and grief
Speaker: from from crashing. So, I know I'm kind of going all over the place on that, but it is, that is the number one skill is mountain biking. That's of course where you're gonna spend most of your time. And it's where more than likely you're going to have your biggest, I want you to have prevention there because that's where the injuries usually come in. Yeah. I can imagine, you know that's just the most technical piece of of the race and, you know, you know,
Speaker: In a regular triathlon, yeah, it's sort of same thing. You know, you have to be able to maneuver around certain things and grab water bottles and things like that. But, you know, the trails just puts a whole nother element into what you're doing. So, you know, just kind of dialing it back and, you know, just learning, learning how to navigate terrain and,
Speaker: you know, and and whatever other obstacles that might be in your way without completely trashing yourself. That's such a great point. I want to bring up with that. Learn how to ride with someone and learn how to pass on a single track.
Speaker: learn how to communicate, because those are definitely skills that, you know, in road triathlon, you typically have a lot of shoulder to be able to say, Hey, I'm on your left passing on single track. It's very, very minimal.
Speaker: And if you are caught behind someone and you're not communicating with them and you try to pass them and you you're not clear, that's a crash waiting to happen.
Speaker: So is it mostly single track? Yes, this this race is mostly single track. some Some races are mixture of different types, but this is mostly single track. There is a good portion that has a two-lane fire lane, but that's that that that is my least favorite part of this this race because it's like 30 minutes of just climbing up this fire lane. Try not to blow up. You have the ample room to pass, thankfully. But yeah. Yeah, like I can imagine, you know, from a technical standpoint, it's it's hard to figure out how to pass on a single track. And, you know, if, you know, you have to, I think, you know, everybody has to be communicative and, and you know, not necessarily wanting to to block people and things like that. I'm sure there's rules about that. But
Speaker: Yeah, that's the worst when you are behind someone who doesn't let you pass and they're being. Yeah. Yeah. It's not true good trail etiquette by any means. Yeah, no doubt. I'll just add a couple more things here because it's super important to know. There's a big difference between running off the bike from paved to paved.
Speaker: then running off the bike from trail to trail. So trail running on tired legs. I can't tell you how many times a big because I hadn't developed this skill KO that I fell flat on my face when the first route came up or I couldn't, I would forget to literally pick up my feet up your feet. Yes.
Speaker: And just pancake right onto the, onto the trail. That's not fun. So make sure you practice that you really need to take those off-road or your off the bike runs seriously when you're doing off-road triathlon, because that transition from biking to running is really, is iss that much more difficult because you have all those obstacles.
Speaker: Yeah. And I'm sure, you know, taking that training from, you know, biking and doing off-bike run and making sure you're doing it on a trail versus just going to run it on the road so that, you know, yeah, on the road, you can, you can shuffle your feet a little bit till you get your legs. But when you're navigating tree roots and things like that, you know, you really have to, to have those legs be ready to, to pick up your feet and, and, you know, have that lateral movement and that kind of thing when you're trail running.
Speaker: Wonderfully said. That's kind of why I'm glad we don't do Ironman distance in Xterra because that would be that talk about the harder
Speaker: it's bad enough running a flat marathon, right? Oh my gosh. All right, Kayle, how should someone actually start training for Xterra? Yeah. So, you know, I think, you know, just so we're, we're talking about, you know mountain biking and and trail running and those things, you know, kind of pick, pick that week, weakest length, right. You know, and if you just don't have great bike handling skills, you know really kind of dive into those, those, those little skill sets first, and then kind of build off of that, you know, getting on your mountain bike frequently, you know, getting, getting on that and getting on some trails every week, not just, you know, just the long rides or, or, you know, even short trail rides, you need to get out there and, and practice.
Speaker: so So that's what they say. Practice makes perfect. it's more perfect practice makes perfect. getting on those trails, you know, and add, adding the trail running to just getting out on the road. Like I said, you're on your, your bike and you get off to do an off the bike run, you know, your off the bike run on a trail where you you have to learn what your legs have to do immediately.
Speaker: And then, you know, we don't talk about, we haven't talked about the swim really at this point, but, uh, swim similar to, you know, regular triathlon it's in the open body of water and, you know, you, you gotta get out there in the open water and practice and sites and learn to be around people, that are crawling all over you, you know, and, uh, navigating that, that outdoor open water.
Speaker: So fabulous, fabulous points. A few things that I would like to also layer in here. i want you to prioritize your time on the mountain bike versus miles, right? You heard me say earlier, like this is a 18 mile bike, 23 mile bike.
Speaker: That might not sound like a lot, but in mountain biking vernacular, that's that's a good chunk of time. Yeah. And if you're going five miles an hour,
Speaker: That's a really good chunk of time, right? So practice being on your bike for longer periods of time and especially a skills practice. An hour of skills practice in a parking lot beats a flat gravel grinder any day.
Speaker: And do not, do not show up to race day on race day tires you've never ridden. Okay. I think that is such a valid point because obviously there's different train, there's different types of, of grip tire,
Speaker: you know things are moon dust versus loamy trail versus rocks. Like riding in Colorado is very different than riding in Oak Mountain right now. Oak Mountain is beautiful. like Like some of my favorite dirt in the world.
Speaker: Colorado is trying to kill you. You're literally riding on mountain rocks. That's all, that's all I'm going to say. So yeah, it's dry, dry rocks, gravel, know, there's never a soft landing. Never, yeah never. So for sure, for sure.
Speaker: You know, that, that comment kind of leads into, to one of my questions and talking about gear, right? So, you know, depending on what race you're doing, what train you're doing, you know, do you have to have multiple, you know, different types of tires, depending on, you know, what kind of grip you need, and that sort of thing. And, you know, any other, you know, equipment, like what what do you actually need? What matters the most? And then what, you know, what's kind of a waste of money? you're Like, yeah you know, that's just kind of frosting on the cake, you know, kind of equipment, you know, what are the essentials?
Speaker: Yeah, great. i The first thing that I would recommend is making sure that you get a bike that fits you properly. i know that's kind of a trite information, but with a mountain bike, it it couldn't be more true. And I'll give you and a personal experience with this. So I bought my mountain bike. It's a cross-country mountain bike two years ago. And when I, of course I scheduled a bike fit, but I wanted to ride it right away. Right. So course i didn't get that bike fit scheduled until like a month later.
Speaker: So I was just riding it to what I thought was comfortable, mostly just adjusting the seat height. And when I tell you, Kayo, the difference between the bike that I started with and the bike that fits me now, it's night and day. Even with the right size and everything, what I had with that fit changed how I rode. So for me, it was everything to be able to be able to manage that bike, to, to have that.
Speaker: All right, April. So, uh, you know, your, your tires just got the wheels spinning and, let's talk a little bit about gear and, you know, do you have to have different tires on different terrain, you know, depending on what, what you're racing, what you're training on. And then, you know, there's a lot of noise out there and you know, what, what moves the needle? What, what do you actually need? And what's just a waste of time and money?
Speaker: I definitely think that the tire choice is really important and you should talk with your local bike store or shop or who you trust to give you the down low. If you have some money in your pocket and you want to have extra sets of tires based on the different types of terrain you're riding and racing, I would check out the bike shop to see what they recommend. Right now I have two sets of different tires. I've got more grippy aggressive tires for,
Speaker: different types of terrain right now I've got my racing tires on their fast track specialized love them this specific event the grippier ones I'll usually use on every day so everyone has their personal preference but I definitely think if you have some money in your pocket to spend that's a worthy cause and can make a difference but definitely don't wait till we race day to try them because there's are they are essential and knowing how they operate on wet terrain smooth moon dust rocks like all of that makes a huge difference so Just got to get that feel for it for sure. yeah You need to get that feel for it. I'll tell you this. What does matter if you only have certain things that you can invest in? Absolutely. You've heard this before. Invest in your bike fit. I can't iterate enough here.
Speaker: for mountain bike fit because, and I'll give you a personal example. When I first got my bike, my bike's two years old. Of course, I was super excited to just get out and ride it. I had my bike fit scheduled, but there was about a month in between when I purchased it when the fit was happening. So for that month, I was just riding it with only had make a seat adjustment.
Speaker: And what I tell you, KO, the difference between off the floor and actually getting a fit, it was night and day. Like I ended up going two, three miles per hour faster just based off the fact, yes, I had a fit. So, and then the the my lower back fatigue went completely away. All the things that you can imagine for the benefit of being a better rider came from getting a proper bike fit. So that's step one.
Speaker: A wetsuit, when we think about the swim, a wetsuit that fits in your shoulders so you don't blow up, makes a big difference on the bike. I want you to think about this when you are mountain biking, you are getting thrown into rocks, roots, downhill descents. So if your shoulders are already gassed from a poorly fitting wetsuit and then you try to mountain bike, your handling goes out the window.
Speaker: So you really have to think about these things because your upper body is going to be very fatigued from the jarring nature of a mountain bike ride. So it's not just having power in the water for body strength. It's also, you need it to carry you through what it feels like a thousand reps of bicep curls.
Speaker: Yes. On a mountain bike. Yes. So that goes a long
Speaker: I get that. Yeah. Yeah. Next thing is making sure your trail shoes you've actually trained in technical terrain. Race day is not the day to test your grip. It's not the the day to try out those brand new carbon fiber trail running shoes that you've had in on backorder for several months. You will definitely have to have some type of idea of what those are going to be like on the specific train that you're racing in.
Speaker: I would definitely say the things that don't matter much or is arrow everything. You're not setting power records on a rooted single track. This is not where you do a wind tunnel experiment.
Speaker: That's kind of nice because once you have the bike set up, you don't have to invest so much on what it what it means to be aero. Yeah. So that goes a long way. And of course, when it comes to your nutrition, just like you would in triathlon, find the two or three things that jive well with you and especially with your stomach because your stomach's going to be jumping up and down.
Speaker: It's going to be Jocelyn. I mean, you're going to be horizontal in the water, going vertical, and then you're going be jumping up and down. on Yeah. So I prefer stomachs on a roller coaster. Yeah. I had this great question in our Facebook community about, you know, which, which do you prefer a liquid or or solid nutrition when you're racing? And I was like liquid. Yeah.
Speaker: because solid all the way yeah yeah liquid because i know it will stay down but yeah it won't get jostled the bits but find that one or two things that you enjoy and rehearse with it yeah perfect advice all right let's uh wrap this up with our last question uh before we do a little bit more of part two here real talk what's the biggest mistake you see new xterra athletes make yeah i mean i can imagine it's just you showing up and and not being, you know, trained on the trails, you know, and underbiked, you know, I think that's probably one of the the biggest things. And even to a certain extent on the run and just not having that experience on the, on the trail, on the run.
Speaker: And then, you know, just like you said, kind of going out too hard on the swim, you know, you fatigue your arms where, you know, well, think about that so much on, you know, regular, you know, road triathlon, you know, you're like, I don't care about my arms so much. Because once I get on my bike, I'm an arrow and I'm not, you know, we're just going. We're on the bike, like you said, you have to you're using your life. Yeah, using your muscles to, to you know, bunny hop and do whatever else you have to do.
Speaker: So I can, I can definitely see that. you know, and just, you know, always, you know, it's true for a triathlon in any race. If you neglect your nutrition, you're going to suffer for it. Yeah. So I'm sure that's, that's up there, you know, and, you know, not testing out your gear.
Speaker: You get out there and you have, oh, I got this brand new bike and I got these brand new shoes and I'm going to look so good. and you get out there and you're just suffering because, you didn't test out the gear and and get it all ready to go.
Speaker: Yeah. One additional with that. This is what I've seen people using flat pedals, their entire riding experience. And then they go to clip clipless on a mountain bike.
Speaker: That is dangerous. So I want you to think of Ironman stakes, but up the ante by two. Yeah. Probably more than that. Yeah. Dependent upon which race you're doing and where it is, the stakes are higher for sure. From from the the gear to trail etiquette to the wildlife to... No doubt. Yeah. I guess the...
Speaker: you know You know, you're not only worried about squirrels, but like you said, rattlesnakes. Yeah. yup yeah Who knows? Bear. I just saw some bears today, you know, walking across the parking lot of my office. So can I got to tell you real quick, a little sidebar here.
Speaker: I was out on the Falcon Trail. It was my last one of my last long rides before I came here. There was a gray wolf on the trail. Oh, I am not kidding. Yes.
Speaker: I Peter's like, are sure it wasn't a coyote? And I'm like, babe, this was this is larger than a husky. This is this is a German shepherd. This is a wolf. And thankfully, it was a good fit, probably 25, 30 feet in front kind of trotting up forward on the trail and then when it looked back at me it dove into the into the woods and i was just like oh my god i can't believe i just saw that but yes That's crazy. That's amazing. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. Which i always have to know what you're going to see out there. Yeah. I know it could have eaten me, but I was happy. Yeah. Right. Well, you know, it it was just enough of far away that you're like, this was wonderful. It takes off. We're good. We're good. Now I'm going to Yeah. Time to go now.
Speaker: Yeah, that's that's my last point here is we don't train to fitness solely in Xterra. We have to train to fear. It is really important to put yourself in an uncomfortable situation. And I'm not talking about putting yourself in the jaws of a bear, people.
Speaker: But learning how to do an uncomfortable descent or a sketchy line exercise in training what so when you are actually on course you know how to handle it know how to manage it when you're fatigued especially on the back half of a race like all those things are things that have to be practiced in training that fear aspect is another what it's like ko to get up after after you crashed and dust yourself off and still race like that's and then just get up and keep going yeah yep
Speaker: How to manage that adrenaline. Cause that's something else too. Like your hands shake, you, you feel like you're going to throw up is something that you have to be able to manage that adrenaline hit and then the down spiral of that as well. So, and being able to still stay mentally sharp.
Speaker: Sure. Yeah. Yeah. I can imagine, you know, you're just all revved up and you just kind of take a deep breath and like, okay. got to focus and and get back to it. And then like you said, you know, even you have that adrenaline high and then all sudden you sort of have that. It's like you got the Yeah.
Speaker: Slope and you're like, oh, you know, and you just kind of get back into the rhythm, I'm sure. Well, I could talk about this all day with you. Totally. We might have to have sidebar after the podcast. know. I know. So when you come out and do your first Xterra, we're going to make sure you are fully ready. Right, right. Yeah.
Speaker: let's Let's wrap up our interview with a couple of Q&As about North American Championships specifically this weekend. So I'm going to put myself in the hot seat here, Kayo. Yeah, I love this because I can't i can't wait to hear but what you have to say about the race and and and all the things, you know, XTERRA and the championships.
Speaker: So, you know, it's just a question to you, know, you qualified for this, you know, what, what does it actually mean to, to be on the start line of the North American championships, you know, and and how does it end up being just, you know, different than your regular race on the calendar, you know?
Speaker: Yes. i I, would say first I've been training for this specifically for the last six months, putting in a lot of detailed work to do my best here. And the 40 45,
Speaker: age group here is, man, man, these women pack a punch. It is I would say it's one of the competitive. You have to be in one of the most competitive age groups, I would think. Yes. You know, it's kind of true across the board with racing.
Speaker: So i knew I had to come prepared fully for for this weekend if I want to have a shot at getting a slot to Worlds. So it feels amazing to be here. Like, I've just been pinching myself, you know, when I went over to the expo today to do my preview course preview ride and and just make sure everything was set.
Speaker: it It feels so good to be here, to be in this moment, to know that I've trained very hard for this. And regardless of the outcome, I'm just, I'm unbelievably grateful and stoked for Sunday. Yeah.
Speaker: it's It's so exciting. It's, you know, when when you get to that level and, you know, you know, you've worked hard to to get to where you are now and you can still kind of take that next step. It's just like super exciting. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: So walk me through your your prep and kind of, you know, what went well in your training and your build to get to here. And, you know, do you feel like you left something on the table or do you feel like you just, you know, dialed it in and nailed it?
Speaker: Well, it definitely was very consistent. And I... I did a lot of mountain bike specific work. And well, that's one of the things that I, since I did this race back in 2024, that was one of the focus areas I wanted to have for this build. As far as leaving anything on the table, i just, if I could ride my bike every day and not feel fatigued from it.
Speaker: <unk>ve i've played it really smart. So I feel really good. That's awesome. Well, that's, you know, half the battle is consistency. And if you can stay healthy, you know, that's, that's 90% of it for sure. Yeah.
Speaker: That's awesome. So tell me, what does a successful day look like for you on Sunday? Okay. You know, Love that. What, what would disappoint you? You know?
Speaker: Huh? Okay. Well, a successful day for me would be getting to the start line, feeling just ready to go. Everything is in, and i'm I'm not saying perfect, but feels like I'm locked in and lockstep. Like I got, I got, I just, just shoot the cannon. I'm ready. Yeah. That's a vast difference from the first time I did this race.
Speaker: i I felt the worst nausea that I've ever felt before a race the last time I was here. More nausea than I did my first Ironman, which is just crazy. And i thought I wasn't gonna actually even start because I was almost, I was literally throwing up before.
Speaker: and I think it was just nerves because it's scary. It's scary, unknown territory. Hadn't done Xterra before and this is the one I'm doing. yeah Why not jump right in, right? Oh my God. Yeah. Don't do what I did.
Speaker: yeah talk about good tips here, but yeah right I would say if I can avoid that, which I know I feel very confident at this point, I'm, it won't be the same experience.
Speaker: That would be a huge win for me is just even getting out the gate and just like let her rip. Girl, let's go. And then on the bike, I think my version of success for that is, you know, two, two and a half, two hours in already feeling fatigue. I know that's going to happen, but just not letting myself go to the place of, man, I hate this or this is.
Speaker: I don't want to do this anymore. Any of those, you know, or if they do just let them go and come in and come out, go out. That would be success for me. And then what's what's falling on my face? all year So if you got to that point and you're two and a half, three hours in and you're like, like, I'm starting to have negative thoughts, this is feeling bad. Like what's what's going to bring you back and what's your mantra going to be to be like, OK,
Speaker: Shut that down. Let's go. o you know, I get to do this. Like I, I, I get to be here right now experiencing this moment and I can guarantee there's not a lot of people can say that.
Speaker: I think that's for me the the attitude of gratitude just coming back to like, hey, April, this is unique. This is very special. You get to feel this way. You've earned this feeling. Like those are the things that that comes back to me that really hype me up. I don't even know if I'm going to be able to sleep tonight.
Speaker: Thinking about it. I love that. I love that. It's so true though. You know, just be grateful that you're going you can be out there and amongst all these great people that are doing it with you.
Speaker: It's, it's the best feeling. Thank you for that, Kayo. Thank you. Oh, all right. Wow. Well, like I said, this is going be hard to go to sleep tonight. I got a great way to wind us down. Kay, are you ready for our fun segment?
Speaker: Oh, I'm like super happy. Like, I know that it's titled send it or send help, but I purposely did not look at anything else. So this is going to be completely out of the blue for me. so yeah. I'm ready. Let it rip. Yeah, let it rip. All right. we got to pull that bandaid off. That is correct. Send it or send help. Okay, look, I love this whole dirty, gritty, wild, chaotic Xterra community, but we have to talk because every single Xterra start line is a zoo. And I say that with love. We are not a monolith. We are not one tribe. We are like, hey, 11 tiny subcultures sharing a wetsuit pile in a parking lot at sunrise. all pretending we're chill as hell.
Speaker: So this week, you know, as we're getting ready here, this game is called send it or send help. Kale and i are going to describe different species of Xterra athlete and we have to decide, are we sending it or are we sending help? Kale, are you ready?
Speaker: i am so ready. This is going to be fun. All right, my first athlete here. So you're going to tell me whether or not you would full send or send help. This athlete is the person who finishes a pre-ride and immediately says, honestly, I barely touched the brakes.
Speaker: I think we need to send help. That person's going to be all over the place. yeah that's like That's a madman right there. yes Yeah, that's a total madman. Yeah.
Speaker: Agreed. all right. Number two, the guy with the $12,000 mountain bike who still can't clip in cleanly at the start line. I say send it because this guy is going to barely get past the start line. So everybody else is going to be long gone. And, you know, it'll just be entertainment watching him struggle on his $12,000
Speaker: Send it baby. Yes. This is, this is a lesson in perpetuity right here. Yeah. Okay. All right. The athlete who says I didn't bring nutrition because it's only a few hours.
Speaker: That athletes needs help. Yeah. Send the ambulance. Yeah. Send the nutrition train. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: All right. The full send, the sender who scares everyone in practice rides, but somehow always has a flat by mile five.
Speaker: This is a tough one. I think, I think send it. Yeah. Like, all right, just, you know, maybe this is the time. This is my time to attack. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. like same This is going to be fine. yeah All right. The athlete whose entire race strategy is just vibes, pure vibes.
Speaker: Oh, send it for sure. This is like, yeah, you know, the good vibes always win. Yeah. Rock on. I love that. All right. The person who turns every technical climb into a hike, a bike and somehow still looks emotionally unbothered.
Speaker: I mean, I think, I think you got to send it because this person is so, so chill. Like, this is my favorite person. Right? Yep. Just chill. Like, yep. I'm walking my bike up this thing for a bit.
Speaker: This person has conquered the the world in my mind. Totally. If they're unbothered and they're just doing the thing. Unbreakable. Yep. Oh. Yep. All right. Number seven, the Xterra athlete who owns six hydration packs, four pairs of hand bottles and still asks to borrow electrolytes.
Speaker: Send help.
Speaker: send Send them a nutritionist, I think. Oh my gosh. Yes. They need help. They need help.
Speaker: All right. We've got two more here. The rider who finishes covered head to toe in dust and proudly says, dude, that was so sick. Oh, totally. Send it. Yes.
Speaker: Those are the people you want to be racing with. Those are the surfers of the mountain bike world. Yeah. All right. Final one. The athlete who gets dropped on the bike climb, passes everybody on the trail run and finishes with tree branches stuck in their hat. Send it or full or send help.
Speaker: Oh, I would. This is really funny because it kind of goes to to my my mantra. Like the bike is my strongest event but in a triathlon. And the run is always like the toughest for me. And so, you know I'm cruising along and then all these freaking good runners just come running past me.
Speaker: And it's so frustrating. And this is that person that'd be like, look at you coming back with all the branches in your head and like coming past me.
Speaker: despite despite the spite of this day and I'm going to say send it like that's your that's your wheelhouse so yeah you go get after that run they are the hero of their own story in that moment for sure sure yeah that's it that's send it that's a good one yeah thank you for being such a good sport oh my gosh this is so much fun and uh Yeah, i now I now have to add another bike to my armamentarium.
Speaker: We got her. because We got her, folks. like is it that The mountain bike is long long past dusting off. It don't no longer exists.
Speaker: Sounds like we need to go to the bike shop together. Yeah, yeah. You know, you can never have too many bikes, right? That's right. That's right. I know your significant other agrees. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, maybe. She doesn't need to know. no yeah yes Look at this. one is so Yeah. All Listen, April, have the best race on Sunday. I'm so excited for you. It's going to be fun. And just go go be you and go tackle this thing.
Speaker: Girl, my cheeks are hurting from smiling so much. Thank you. We definitely want to hear from you all. Share your send it or send help answers and be sure to tag at Grit to Greatness Endurance. You'll see this post in our community page on Saturday.
Speaker: If this episode fired you up, send it to a friend who needs a little more dirt, grit and adventure in their life. And if you see me crawling up a climb at North American Championship this weekend, I want you to mind your freaking business.
Speaker: And hand me a gel or a Vespa over to you, KO, for our Vespa read.
Speaker: No doubt. That's amazing. All right, so we got to do shout out to our sponsor, our GetGuardia sponsor, Vespa Power. Vespa Power Endurance helps you tap into steady, clean energy so you can stay strong, focused, and in the zone longer.
Speaker: Vespa is not a fuel, but a metabolic catalyst that shifts your body to use more fat and less glycogen as you as your fuel source. Vespa comes CV25, Junior, and Concentrate. So lots of lots of choices. Less sugar, higher performance, faster recovery. home of Vesta Power Products, optimizing your fat metabolism. but We have a discount code, G2GVespa15, and we have a link attached in the in the podcast.
Speaker: So go and and try out your Vespa. Yes, I'm definitely goingnna be taking my Vespa this weekend too. Hey everyone, thanks for spending time with us today on the Grit to Greatness Endurance Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow us and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and YouTube. It helps us reach more athletes like you.
Speaker: Stay gritty, train smart, and keep chasing greatness. We will see you next week.
