CULPEPER TRI 2025

 

CULPEPER 2025

This was my 2^nd year doing Culpeper. I was shocked to do it last year for the first time and find that I had been missing such a great race that is only slightly over an hour away, a beautiful course.

This year, my preparation was not very specific at all because I had all eyes on the 70.3PA in June, then recovered from that and got right into my marathon build for end of August.  I did keep some biking and swimming going, but I do feel like I was just trying to ride the coattails of whatever fitness I could hold onto from the PA race.  And I was ok with that! 

My goals going in were: to feel solid in my preparation, strong on race day and to have a safe race. (I do not want any weird things happening before Hawaii).

I went down race morning and got set up uneventfully. They announced that the water temperature was 87 degrees.  I thought they were being sarcastic. Nope.  I actually was super nervous about this because I was worried there would be the possibility of bad water quality, but also that I would get that mushy/melty feeling that I sometimes get in the pool when the pool water is too warm. I’ve never been nervous about the water being too warm! Luckily, when we went off in the water, everyone seemed to string out with their various paces nicely and I never got that feeling of warm water fatigue.  The course did seem “long”—like I just felt like it was taking a long time.  I don’t think that I went off course because it was fairly straightforward and I remained on the buoys all the time, but my gps said it was 1800 m and my time was almost a minute slower than last year, which I was surprised because I actually felt pretty good during it.  That’s ok, it is what it is, I did exactly as I wanted to in this swim portion.

T1- I was nervous and I let it get into my head about the hill after transition, and my new bike shoes.  Long story short, I Had them clipped in as I normally do, but got in my head and just decided to get off my bike and take shoes off/ put them on, etc.  A reminder to trust myself and know that I know myself and could have done this/ to not get caught up in a spiraling thought pattern.

Once I was actually on my bike, I was happy and biking along!  The course is beautiful and I enjoyed the first loop! I did NOT enjoy the 2^nd loop really one single bit.  We were then mixed in with the sprint distance triathletes and there were too many people on these small, windy, twisty roads who were N OT STAYING RIGHT arghhhh.. so I kept yelling on your left… people would not move back in…. I’d have to say it again quickly and since the roads weren’t closed, I knew I shouldn’t cross into other side of the road.  I hated it.  It was unsafe.

I started the run and last year LOVED THE RUN and FELT SO STRONG and steady and oh my… I did not have that experience this year!!!!! The first big hill up just seemed so hard and long and I know last year I mentally had the plan of first mile just settle and so I tried that again. However, things didn’t get better.  It seemed to just get hotter and hotter! I tried every time we were in a bit of shade to let myself use that shade to keep my heart rate and feeling of effort from spiking too high and then in the sun, I reminded myself of how tan I was getting !!!!! There were only water stations on one side of the road, so for a 2 loop course, it really wasn’t adequate and I was trying to get ice water at each station to drink as well as pour over myself. My legs were tired, but it was mostly just the OPPRESSIVE feeling of high heart rate and making sure I didn’t literally cook myself over the line of what would be sustainable to get to the end. I brought a flask of mortal hydration, which I now LOVE, and I was really thankful to have that. I was trying to say good job to everyone out there that I either passed or whoever it seemed needed it- people were walking with calf cramps in a big way, and I imagine a lot of that was due to heat/sweat/electrolytes.

There were no port o pots on the course and everything seemed ok until mile 5.  And then, I Honestly was like… GET TO THE FINISH SOON BC….. you know…. So, I did and I made it… but… I think there could def. be a port o pot added, mercy.

I love the proximity of this race, but I’m honestly not too sure if I would do again because of the danger of the bike course.

The finish line/ after race was great.  They had diet soda which is a huge hit for me.  They had individually wrapped sandwiches and watermelon slices, so I was a fan! Overall, I’m glad I did the race since I’m only doing 2 tri’s this year most likely, and would really love to do it again if I felt confident in the bike safety.