Last Sunday I did my first gravel tour ride ever; the Strade Bianche di Kempen. Today I’ve subscribed for my first off-road duathlon ever; Cross Duathlon de Peel. Ever since I’ve bought a gravel bike, new worlds are opening up.
Maybe you’ve seen it, maybe not, but last year we posted an article on body types; seen from an Ayurvedic (Indian medicine) point of view. In that article I focussed purely on the physical aspects. But there is another side to those three body types – Vata, Pitta, Kapha – as well, and that’s the mental side. I’m a Vata, which means as much as I like everything. Especially diversity.
RELATED: What type of runner are you, according to Ayurveda?
Great trail runners bike
Don’t worry, I’m not going to leave this website and we’re not going to write about gravel biking. Our focus will still be trail and ultra trail running. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to do some other sports as well. And not just fun, but also beneficial. As I told you, lots of trail and ultra runners bike. If you follow Kilian Jornet, Jon Albon on Strava, or Toni Mccann, Katharina Hartmuth and Remi Bonnet on Instagram you’ll see that they spent a lot of time on their bikes.
Well, thanks to my last knee injury, I’m doing that now as well. As I don’t like to bike on the road, I bought a gravel bike. I have to admit, I have a lot of fun riding on it. As a trail runner, I prefer single tracks, but as a gravel biker it’s fun to ride on those wider countryside roads.
Having fun, my Vata mind started to wonder; if you have duathlons and triathlons, do you have off-road duathlons and triathlons; combining swimming, gravel biking and trail running? I’m happy to say, the answer is yes. Not all of them include gravel biking, some include mountain biking, but still …. It’s a yes.
A big puzzle
Thanks to my knee injury I also started to swim again. I always liked that. More than biking. Although, that was before I discovered gravel biking. So, now I try to swim once or twice a week, bike once or twice a week and run four to five times a week. As I also like to do some strength training and yoga, it’s a big puzzle, but I’m up for the challenge.
Katharina Harmuth says she doesn’t run that much in the offseason. Running a lot is too hard on her legs. She trains a lot on the bike, and as the trail and ultra season comes closer, transfers to running. I like to do the same. Run a bit less, but work on my endurance on the bike. But I’m also thinking of other options. What about making my long run, a long training session; combining biking and running? Or what about doing a triathlon in training? It’s good for my endurance, but it will spare my legs.
Strade Bianche
And if I do all this training anyway, why not do a race every now and then? Strade Bianche di Kempen was just a tour ride, not a race, but it was fun. There was a window of 45 minutes in which we could start. So no big crowds, but everybody on her/his own. Or with a friend, if you wanted to ride together. I like those set-ups. Away from the big crowds.
I know, swimming twice a week (if I make it), riding twice a week, won’t make me a good swimmer nor a good biker, but I don’t aim to be good. I think that’s another Vata thing. I’m in it for fun. For the joy of swimming, biking and running. I don’t do it for the performance. Having fun is my price. Well, having fun and making it to the finish line. So let’s see if I can finish my first cross duathlon ever, because there is one little thing that stands in my way. I can’t mountainbike. Luckily I’ve got two months to learn it.
I hope new worlds are opening up for you too, because new is always fun.
Keep on running (and biking a bit, and some swimming).
