XTERRA Czech: One Step Closer
- Kerri-Ann Upham
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
A Different Kind of Race Week
There was something strangely normal about arriving in Prachatice this year.
This was my A race. The race I'd built my season around. The race where I wanted to produce my best performance of the year and, if everything came together, give myself a chance of fighting for the win.
I expected it to feel different.
But we'd been here four times before. We were staying in the same apartment, following the same familiar routines, riding the same roads and walking through the same square. There was no sense of arriving somewhere unknown or having to find our feet. It felt settled.
And I liked that.
Rather than trying to make race week feel bigger than it needed to, I found myself enjoying being there. We had a good week, ticked off our course checks, settled into the usual routine and, most importantly, I felt like I was in good shape.
The nerves were definitely there. They always are when a race matters.
But underneath them was a belief that I could have a really good day.
Trusting the Work
The funny thing was that the build into Czech hadn't given me much reassurance.
Compared with the training blocks before Belgium and Molveno, I hadn't been going as well as I'd wanted. The numbers weren't quite where I'd become used to seeing them, and that was frustrating.
I'd put a huge amount of focus into my swimming too. Five sessions a week, including open-water work, trying to close the gap to the fastest women. Yet I still felt like I was off the pace.
It would have been easy to start changing things.
Instead, I kept reminding myself that I was fatigued. The fitness was there. I just needed to freshen up.
So I kept showing up.
The bike and run were different. Those had improved significantly, and I knew that if I could put myself into the race, I had the tools to make up time later.
That became the mindset going into Czech.
I didn't need everything to be perfect.
I just needed to keep giving myself a chance.
Don't Screw Up the Swim
Race morning came and, for the first time all week, everything suddenly felt very real.
I felt fresh. The taper had done its job and I was ready to race.
The first 100 metres of the swim were all about commitment. I immediately started looking for feet to follow, with one thought running through my head:
Don't screw up the swim.
Last year I'd had a terrible swim and come out of the water almost last. I didn't want to spend another race trying to recover from that.
This time was better.
I held the group to the first turn buoy before getting dropped. From there I had to settle into my own rhythm, accepting that I wasn't going to stay with the pack and instead trying to limit the damage.
I kept reminding myself that last year I'd been almost last out of the water and still managed to finish fourth.
There was a long race ahead.
When I exited the water I was 12th, more than two minutes behind the leader and around 40 seconds behind the group I'd wanted to be in.
As I came into transition I saw Rob and shook my head.
I was disappointed.
But there was nothing left to do about the swim.
It was time to get to work.
Getting Back Into the Race
About a kilometre into the bike we hit the first technical section. I'd practised it several times in training and felt confident riding it, but the traffic meant I had to crawl through.
At the bottom came the first climb.
And almost immediately, the race started changing.
I began picking off riders one by one. Within five kilometres I was up to sixth and suddenly I was riding alone.
My legs didn't feel particularly good.
That was when the negative thoughts started.
This isn't my day.
I'm not going to claw this back.
I'm not going to improve on last year.
Maybe Molveno was a one-off.
I couldn't see the riders ahead, so it was difficult to know whether I was actually making progress. But every time I passed a spectator or one of the other coaches, they would give me a split.
Around 40 seconds.
Again.
And again.
I looked at my power.
The numbers were good.
So I shut the negative thoughts down and kept riding.
When we reached the climb towards the Libin Tower, I finally caught a glimpse of the riders ahead.
For the first time I thought:
I can do this.
But I knew I had to be patient.
As I climbed, I visualised the hill I use for my hill reps at home and used it to squeeze a little more out of myself. Then, on the technical switchbacks descending from the tower, I caught Giulia.
She's a very strong mountain biker, so catching her gave me another little confirmation that the race was coming back to me.
I was still riding alone, but now I was moving forward.
Later in the bike I caught Romy on one of the final climbs. She told me Marta wasn't far ahead.
I was fourth.
Suddenly I had a second wind.
I pushed the climbs, hammered the descents and kept driving the flatter sections, but I still couldn't see Marta.
It wasn't until we reached transition that I finally spotted her.
That unmistakable orange Organicoach tri suit was at the far end of transition.
She was ahead of me, but not by much.
And now I had the run.
One Opportunity
My legs didn't feel great getting off the bike.
They never really do.
I normally give myself a couple of kilometres to ignore how I feel, settle into the course and find my rhythm. This time was no different.
I felt like I was running solidly, and with every step Marta seemed to be getting a little closer.
Halfway up the first climb I caught Emma and moved into third.
I knew I was on for the podium.
More importantly, I could see that Marta wasn't running away from me.
She would extend the gap on the descents, but I could close it on the climbs. I knew immediately where my opportunity was going to come.
Rob told me to go on the climb as I passed him on the descent at the end of the first lap.
But I already knew.
As we approached the long climb for the final time, I squeezed the pace up just a notch.
I didn't attack.
I just kept taking little pieces of the gap away.
Step by step, Marta came closer.
Then I made the pass.
Marta is one of the best XTERRA athletes in the world and one of the strongest runners in the sport, so I knew it wasn't going to be easy to drop her. I was too afraid to look back.
My heart was pounding. My legs were starting to feel the effort.
But I knew I had an opportunity and I had to take it.
Halfway up the climb I finally risked a glance over my shoulder.
I couldn't see her.
I'd broken the elastic.
But I still couldn't relax. Anything can happen in an XTERRA race, so I kept pushing.
When I saw Rob again on the final descent, he shouted:
“You've done it. Enjoy the last bit.”
That was the moment I finally knew.
I eased off just a touch and allowed myself to take it in.
Second place.
At XTERRA Czech.
My favourite race.
Not a One-Off
Molveno had been a breakthrough.
That second place at the European Championships had been a result that changed the way I saw myself as an athlete. It showed me that I could race at the front of these fields.
But there was always a question in the back of my mind.
Was it a one-off?
Czech answered that.
This was my fifth time racing here.
11th.
10th.
10th.
4th.
2nd.
Every year I've come back a little closer.
This year, I had made Czech my biggest goal. The training hadn't always felt perfect, the swim still wasn't where I wanted it to be and there were plenty of moments during the race when I didn't feel like I was having my best day.
But I kept believing.
I kept pushing.
And eventually I found myself racing for second place against one of the strongest runners in XTERRA.
That meant more to me than simply another podium.
It cemented the belief that Molveno wasn't a one-off. I deserve to be at the front of these races. I shouldn't be underestimated. I'm a contender for the top spots.
Of course, I still want to win.
With Alizée racing, I knew first place was going to be incredibly difficult, but I wanted to come to Czech and deliver the best performance I was capable of. I wanted to know that I'd left nothing on the table.
I did that.
And one day, I want that glass trophy.
This year, I got close enough that I could almost touch it.
But not quite.
Perhaps that's what makes me want it even more.
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