Culpeper 2024 (Oly distance).
I’ve waited a week to write this and I want to get all of my
memories of last Saturday down so that I don’t forget!
What a great day and it was so fun to race a new race! I don’t do nearly as many triathlons as I used
to do, and I repeat some of my favorites, so it is a rare treat to get to go to
a new race, experience new roads and venues!
It was an especially nice treat to be able to go with my
friend Rachel last weekend. I drove and
picked her up at 4am, got her bike on and off we went! IT was a quick 1 hour 15
min to Culpeper! I’ve driven by Culpeper so many times on the way to
Charlottesville. It was nice to pull off
of 29 and have a beautiful lake and triathlon within a few miles of the main
road!
Once the sun came up and we could see, it was a beautiful
lake. It was surprisingly a freezing morning and I Hadn’t accounted for this
and was SO FREEZING before the race- big mistake to REMEMBER next time that the
mornings (especially in mountains!) can be cold!!!!
Anyway, we scouted things out, prepped and got ready.
The swim was a rolling start, which really isn’t my
favorite. I’m not sure if it is just
because I got used to years of treading water with my age group, placing myself
where I wanted to be, etc. This just
stresses me out more. THIS YEAR PARTICULARLY!
As they were announcing that there were sharp, jagged rocks at the start and to
get into the swimming position as soon as possible. This really didn’t sit easily with me. When it was our turn to go, Rachel did a shallow
dolphin dive in and I’m still tiptoeing literaly looiing around like ewww
reallllllyy??? And then I am sure it
looked absorbed but I like laid my body down in the water and began
swimming! It was a pitiful start and it
made me feel mentally unready. I get
this thing within the first few minutes of a swim (possibly because I don’t
warm up first… but I don’t’ WANT to warm up!!!) where my legs feel tingly and
like they are tired. I NEVER feel this
in training in the pool. But, it does freak me out slightly and I’m like
wondering if I’m dying from the legs up.
Anyway, I got past that, but it did lead me to some negative thoughts
when it happened, like, “I really don’t know why I do this, I love swimming and
training and doing all the things training- why do I need to do races?” Well, I got out of that way of thinking after
the 2nd buoy when we turned and I was BLIND. The sun was rising and literally the angle made
it so that I could see NOTHING, I had ZERO idea if I was headed into the right
direction. I saw a swimmer in front of
me so I just followed them, praying they could see somehow? Finally I caught
the “shadow” kind of of the next buoy that I was looking for and could go wtowards
something that I knew was in the direction I wanted to head! I was worried about the sprint racers
starting and hoping I could get one loop around my course before they came
in. It all worked out okay and the swim
course didn’t seem too busy. I enjoyed
the 2nd loop much m ore, once I was warmed up, felt more comfortable
in the water, etc. I like swimming In open water, it just sometimes takes me until
the 2nd half of the race to really begin enjoying it??!! I felt like
I was swimming actually quite strong then, although I did get blinded at the
same turn the 2nd time around- once again could see NOTHING at that same
point in the race, but at least this time I just knew to follow feet and the buoy
would appear! Even though I felt like my
swimming was strong, my time really wasn’t, and I think some of it was due to
me not seeing those 2x, and also maybe some of my mental lapses. It is ok, I got out, went into transition,
helmet on, grabbed bike and OFF.
Once I was on my bike- it was a quick downhill into a turn
and immediate uphill. It was super short
distance to get my foot in pedal and be able to secure it, but I did it quick
enough. And the climbing began. So, this was a hilly course, but I will admit
that reading the suggestion that it was “technical and hilly and to preride the
course” made me a bit unaggressive. I was happy to have others biking along with
me, but then again there was a period at the beginning of this race where there
were maybe some people bunched up where I thought: why am I doing this? I just like to go ride my bike and not have
to be passing/ trying to not draft/ etc. I did the first loop and then, knowing
at this point what most of the course was like, I felt a bit happier and less
scared of what the hills may be to come, so was able to get into the groove of
pushing more. I kept trying to stay
hydrated, took a fig newton for calories, and pushed strong, but not overly
aggressive.
There were some absolutely gorgeous points on this course.
One climb looked like it was STRAIGHT up into the sky!! And we were surrounded by
trees but I kept thinking- there is going to be a great view at the top of
this! And there was—beautiful vista of
the blue ridge mountains. Really just
inspires awe and gratitude for being able to be out there on these
courses. And…. Yes, so this may be when
I was like I LOOOOVE TRIATHLONS!
Disregard that I’ve thought multiple times now questioning why I even do
these?!!! I just get on a high and so
appreciative of seeing places that are so beautiful that I wouldn’t have seen!
We got back to T2 and it was an odd downhill right into
transition, but then I was off my bike- quick dropped bike/helmet and got my
run shoes and race belt and was OUT.
As was my mental and written plan for myself: I wanted to go
mile 1 with no judgement. Hopefully I
felt ok but no matter what happened in my body, I wanted to not let it lead to
any stories. And I did this. It was a hilly first mile and my split was 8:22. I thought not too bad for first mile plus
this huge hill. So, I said ok, let it go
a little.7:32 next mile. That felt
really solid and appropriate for mile 2 but I wanted to complete the first loop
before I made any increases. Mile 3 was
7:28. I was really happy with how I
felt, my mindset, and also really liked the course. I think at this point I
knew- be aggressive but smart and you can finish really happy with
yourself. Mile 4 was 7:54 (this was the
big uphill at the beginning repeated).
Mile 5: 7:31- I was really working, but also at a place where I knew I
could keep at it. Mile 6 I said, give more
and attack. 7:17 split (granted, this
has a downhill!!!!) final 1:54 to finish line and I was really happy with how I
felt this race.
Overall, the big takeaway for me was how motivated I felt
after. How much I ENJOYED the fact that
I got up early, did something new, was open to being vulnerable in an event I
didn’t know anything about and just being open to what came in the way of a
great training day! It delivered. It
reminded me of years ago, being out in triathlons in the summer heat and why I
loved them and got so hooked on them!
Loved the motivation.
Did NOT love that I got covid 2 days later. Sigh. I’ll be back at
Culpeper!
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