Mine was super fun

Definitely was fun. I will try to do some more but they are not as convenient as regular tris.

I can do 10 regular tris within an hour of my house but the nearest Xterra is 2+hours away. The next couple are 4 and 5 hours away.

Same here. I'm in the Midwest between Chicago and Milwaukee and ended up hosting my own off-road duathlon last year. The closest off-road/Xterra style sprint is a couple hours and I don't know of a longer one within 4-5 hour.

Check here, it usually has the regional ones as well as the big races.

http://www.xterraplanet.com/events?action=tribe_list&tribe_paged=1

That (non)link just emphasizes what I wrote. Chicago/Madison/Milwaukee area is basically hosed. The former Dairyland Xterra in Sheboygan was a pretty tough course, but it's been gone the last two years.

Xterra is awesome.

Some thoughts:

Gloves - Yes
Socks - Yes
Camelbak - Yes

More importantly have fun.!.! I did my first this year in NZ and it was great fun.

I do a fair bit of mountain biking and always wear gloves - I find if I don't I get blisters and sore hands. I also always wear socks when mountain biking for mostly the reasons mentioned here. As for a Camelbak I almost always use one. Interestingly I didn't on a small XC duathlon at the weekend and used a bottle. I hated it. I had to drink when on 4wd track and found it awkward. In future for me it'll be Camelbak every time.