Culpeper International Triathlon Race Report

I didn't really mention it on the blog but this race had me pretty nervous. I have put in a lot of hard work over the past two months but my running was not where I wanted it to be and bricks were pretty nonexistent in my training. I knew I could cover the distances strongly on their own but I was worried about running a 10K after biking for 24 miles. Luckily things turned out alright.

With the race being around 3 hours away my dad and I drove down to Virginia on Friday night and made the very smart decision to head over to the race site to check things out. The website describes both the run and bike courses as being challenging, with both hills and technical turns. I'm terrible at turns on the bike so I wanted to get an idea what I was in for. While driving the course I noted a few turns that looked a little hairy and a few big hills but nothing too scary. I knew I would have my work cut out for me but was so much more relaxed after driving the course.

The morning of the race went pretty smoothly. It was really easy to pickup my packet and get body marked with plenty of time to set up my transition area. Despite the earlier wake up call, I recommend getting to the race site on the early side so you have enough time and don't end up worrying and running around trying to get everything done on time.

Swim (1500 meters)
Before I knew it the race was starting. I was in the third out of five swim waves, meaning I started at 8:08 vs 8:00. I didn't really have a plan for the swim other than to stay with the leaders. When the horn sounded it was pretty chaotic. I've never experienced contact like that in a swim start but it didn't really bother me after so many years of some intense swim meet warm ups. I pretty quickly found myself behind a girl who had on a green cap vs the light blue ones the rest of us were wearing. I tried numerous times to pass her but she cut me off every single damn time so I decided to just hang out on her feet and let her do the work.

She ended up being really good at sighting so instead of looking for the buoys I just made sure I was still behind her. I definitely could have gone harder in the swim but I wanted to save my energy for the rest of the race plus the free sighting was a huge help. Towards the end of the swim the girl started to pick up the pace so I went with her. We pretty much caught up with the other girl in our wave and all finished within seconds of each other.

Swim: 23:58 / 1:35 pace / 1st AG / 5th overall
T1: 1:29

Bike (24 miles)
The bike course started with a pretty steep grassy hill that you had to walk or run your bike up, followed by a descent down the other side of that hill, a sharp right turn, and another steep climb. The beginning and end of the bike course was the hardest but only because it was fairly technical. After the hill I settled onto the bike and started to get to work. It was lightly raining and fairly cool out. My plan for the bike was to ride the first half at whatever felt comfortable and then pick it up for the second half.

There were two decent hills on the course, one towards the beginning and the other towards the end. I was really worried about the first one, only to realize I had already gone up it about 5 miles later (guess I'm getting better at hills!). When my watch got to an hour I looked to see my pace and was shocked to see 17.25. I knew I needed to pull it back a little if I wanted to survive the run but I didn't feel like I was overexerting myself at all. I kept the pace up but took all of the uphills easier.

Before I knew it we were at the final descent back to the park with a really sharp right turn at the bottom of the hill. I was so nervous about this turn all day but just took it slow and did fine. Once dismounting we then had to run our bikes down that grassy hill which was actually pretty challenging to do in bike shoes.

Bike + run up/down a grass hill w/ bike: 1:26:24 / 16.79 mph / 2nd AG / 45th overall
T2: 1:30

Run (6.2 miles)

I knew the run course was hard going into the race and in some ways it was worse than I was expecting but in others it was better. I thought there was one super huge monstrous hill and the beginning of each of the two laps. While nothing was that bad, there were three pretty big hills on each lap. Luckily for each uphill was a pretty sweet downhill. My plan was to go conservative on the first lap and then push with whatever was left on the second lap.

I think I positive split this but I still did so much better than I thought I would. Given my general lack of run training I was hoping to be able to hold sub 9:00. Despite all the hills, I took advantage of the downhills and was not only able to run a much faster 10K than I was expecting but I felt really strong the whole time. There was definitely some bargaining with myself not to walk on the last few hills but I made it through with a run that I am proud of.

Run: 53:15 / 8:35 pace / 2nd AG / 32nd overall

The final ~half mile of the run is slightly downhill in the grass which was certainly not fun but it wasn't too terrible either. I realized about half way through the run that I might be able to go under 2:50 if I really hustled. I didn't set any time goals for this race beforehand since I didn't know just how hard it was. At dinner the night before I did tell my dad that I think on a flat course I could probably go 2:45 so to be even kind of close on a hilly course is amazing to me.

Finish Time: 2:46:34 / 2nd AG / 21st overall

As they always do, Set Up Events put on an outstanding race that I would absolutely recommend. This race showed me I am capable of so much more and I am so excited to see what next year has in store for me. I have one more sprint triathlon on the calendar, although I am thinking about switching to the Olympic distance. I am also contemplating doing another sprint in early September but from here until November 3 the New York City Marathon is what takes priority.

A Little Bit of Triathlon, A Little Bit of Marathoning

My mind has been all over the place lately. I have been absolutely loving triathlon training this summer and know that I want to do bigger things in the years to come. I want to go both faster and longer and really commit to training. I won't be signing up for anything until the winter or spring but I have already started to get an idea of what I want to do and I am SO excited about it. I keep trying to remind myself to focus on the present and not get caught up in figuring out things that are so far away.

I have a race this Saturday and although it's been on my calendar for a few months now I still am having a hard time coming to terms with this. Part of me is really happy about this, mostly because I love racing and can't wait to push myself, while the other part of me is sad that the triathlon season is coming to an end. After the Culpeper International Triathlon this weekend I will be racing the Keystone Sprint Triathlon at the end of August and while I plan on completely racing it, it is not a primary focus for me. I will be going on vacation for a week in the middle of August and it's still up in the air whether I will be able to bring my bike with me.

Then there's the marathon. After this weekend I need to start shifting my focus towards training for the New York City Marathon. It's hard to get on the Internet and not be surrounded by updates from everyone and their dog training for some fall marathon. With a little less than 100 days until New York it's probably time that I added in a bit more running. Because I'm very indecisive with regards to everything, I am both happy and a bit sad heading into marathon training. I am sad to be doing less swimming and biking, mostly biking, and sad that I don't have another 1.5 months to dedicate solely to triathlon training.

But I am also really excited to be training for a fall marathon. I likely won't be running another full marathon for awhile since I want to focus on triathlons and after such an incredible half marathon training cycle this spring I am excited to see what I can pull out in the marathon. I'm not exactly sure why but I've been feeling especially inspired lately and am dreaming up a big goal that I want to chase. I am not content with just training to finish and don't want to do only the bare minimum. I want to push myself because I know that I am capable of it.

Everything's Coming Together

This past week was another big training week for me, with both my longest bike ride ever and my biggest week in terms of overall hours. More impressive than the hours put in is how great each individual workout was. I feel like all of the hard work I've been doing is finally starting to show and I couldn't be happier about it, especially with my next race just around the corner. Here's how the week played out:

Monday: 2800 yd swim

Strength

~19 mile easy bike in the rain with the Gung Ho beginner ride

Tuesday: 2000 yd swim

60 min yoga

7 miles track (15 min w/u, 10 x 400, 15 min w/d)

Wednesday: 3 mile recovery run

15 min abs

Thursday: much appreciated rest day

Friday: 3200 yd swim

Strength

5 mile run with negative splits (9:35, 8:57, 8:44, 8:43, 8:34)

Saturday: 42 miles bike @ 15.8 avg

Sunday: 6.61 mile run with negative splits (9:54, 9:12, 9:07, 8:51, 8:43, 8:31, w/d)

Both Monday and Friday's swims were really strong and huge confidence boosters. I've talked about it before but I have a pretty strained relationship with swimming and am often scared of really pushing myself because I know no matter how hard I train I will never see the speeds I did when I was competing. This week I was able to put these thoughts aside and really make some progress in the pool. I'm also starting to chase some of my former training times, all in good spirit. I know I won't get back to where I was but it's fun to see how close I can get.

My long ride this week was my longest ride ever and was very enjoyable. After last weekend's super hilly ride I chose something a little flatter but with some climbs mixed in. My legs were not feeling any of the hills but felt great on the flats. I was hoping to do this ride a bit faster but my main goal was to keep the pace steady and that's what I did so I'm calling this a success. I also came up on what looked to be a pretty bad biking accident. I couldn't see how bad it was but the guy was rushed off in an ambulance. Really hoping to hear some good news.

This week's runs were the best workouts of the week. While the goal of Tuesday's track workout was more about consistency than speed I was happy to see how easy it felt to hold a sub 9:00 pace the whole time (including warm up & warm down). The real magic happened on Friday and Sunday's runs though. I wasn't expecting much out of either run since most of my runs this summer have been less than stellar. Instead I surprised myself by starting off slow and descending down to 8:30 with relative ease. Strong yet relaxed.

This week certainly left me with a lot of confidence in the work I've been putting in heading into my next race. I'm fairly clueless about what I'll be able to do given the course and the insane humidity in Virginia but I know that I did the work. Could I have done more? Yes, such as longer runs, but I was being cautious with my hip and regardless I did what I could with what I was given. Now it's time to relax and enjoy a lighter week because Saturday is race day!

Another Big Week, Another Big Ride

Things are really ramping up around here! Last week marked my biggest week of training so far with more miles on the bike than I ever expected I would hit this year. Despite a few days of being pretty tired I am absolutely loving the higher volume of training. Oh, and remember how in my last post I mentioned that I had a pretty sluggish ride on Wednesday? Turned out both of my brakes were rubbing which completely explains why I didn't feel that bad but wasn't really going anywhere!

I was glad I figured that out before my long ride on Saturday, which quite frankly was too long. I was planning on doing the same route I did last weekend - 33 miles - but instead ended up doing 40. The added miles wouldn't have been so much of a problem except this route was very hilly. Definitely the hilliest ride I've ever done. I've been trying to do a lot of my rides and runs when it's a bit warmer out so I can get [more] used to the heat since it will likely be nearing 90 degrees during the run portion of my upcoming race.

My boyfriend and I set around early afternoon on Saturday with hopes of not being rained out or blown away by the storms that were on their way. Luckily we only had a few drops of rain but unfortunately we had a pretty strong headwind for the majority of the second half of the ride. Despite the heat, wind, and monster hills this ride rewarded you by taking you alongside a cute and quaint part of the Susquehanna River.

Once we got to the river we took a little break to refuel and enjoy a few minutes on the water before the big 2 mile climb back towards York. The way out wasn't too hilly but we went back a different way that was just unrelenting hills. There were hardly any flat sections on this ride, making my quads pretty trashed by the time we made it back.

Although this ride was a bit more than I was expecting it was something I think I needed to do. I had been doubting my abilities on the bike and was becoming frustrated that I wasn't making any progress with hill climbing. This ride was by no means fast but I was able to do hills that I never would have even attempted had I been on my own.

3875 ft of climbing over 40 miles!

With my next race - Culpeper International Triathlon - a little under two weeks away I am starting to get nervous. I have been putting in a lot of hard work and am excited to see how I do on race day. I am starting to get excited about fall marathon training too, which I am pretty surprised about. Seeing everyone starting training these past few weeks has me motivated to pay extra attention to my runs during these next few weeks of training.

Getting Ready for Triathlon Season

I'm still having a hard time comprehending that the Nike Women's Half Marathon weekend is over already. Part of me wants to jump into training again but part of me just wants to relax. I'm listening to that part of me and enjoying sleeping in and being lazy. I do have some big goals for the rest of the year and if I want to have a shot at achieving them I need to let my body recover properly. I also think I mentally need the break. Finals are starting next week and the last thing I want to worry about is having a hard week of training.

So today is Thursday and I haven't run or exercised at all since the race. I thought about going for a quick shakeout run but chose sleeping instead. I'm not sure if I will get in anything this weekend since I will be working at the Frederick Running Festival and will likely be on my feet almost the whole weekend.

With summer right around the corner, I have been starting to look at which triathlons I want to do. I got a road bike for Christmas and am excited to train on that this year instead of my hybrid. I'm not 100% into the idea of triathlon training right now but I know that will change once I spend some time out on the roads in Pennsylvania. I don't live in the best area in Maryland so I do all of my rides on the trainer until I'm home for the summer.

I mentioned a couple months ago some of the races I was looking at and although I have yet to register for any I am still planning on doing those same races. I will most likely not do an early June triathlon because the ones I found are either too expensive for what I would want to pay for a sprint or are too hilly. I am not a very experienced biker at all and besides being terrible at riding hills I am also terrified of them. I want to have time to work on hills rather than scrambling for the first two weeks I'm home trying to ride every hill I find.

I will be adding in additional races as I discover them or if I just feel like racing, but as of now my triathlon schedule is as follows:

June 24- York YWCA Ladies Y-Tri Sprint Triathlon
August 3- Culpepper International Triathlon
August 25- Keystone State Triathlon

Out of these races Culpepper will be my goal race. Even though it is a little farther away than I was looking for, it looks to be a great race and fits my schedule perfectly. And the other two triathlons are much closer to my house. The first one is barely over two miles away! These races are also more for experience, since I am still such a tri newbie.

Last year I did two triathlons and had two very different experiences at both. My first triathlon was around 2 hours away, was an Olympic distance and was on the hottest day of the year. I ended up walking almost all of the run because it was so hot and I was definitely dehydrated. My second triathlon was 30 minutes from my house, was a sprint, and was a cool day with rain during most of the race. I also had some bike issues and lost close to 10 minutes trying to fix my bike.

I don't know that much about triathlons but I am hoping to make some serious improvements from both training and my racing from last year. Triathlon training will also slightly overlap with fall marathon training once again so that will likely affect my training towards the end of July and August.

Planning Ahead: Summer 2013

In the past few weeks my inbox has been flooded with emails about upcoming races all over the east coast. With the majority of my focus on the Nike Women's Half Marathon in April I haven't given much thought to my race plans for this summer. I knew I wanted to focus on short course triathlons, primarily gaining experience and improving speed. I did sign up for the Keystone State International Triathlon at the end of August a little while ago but that will not be an A race for me as I will be also training for the New York City Marathon then.

Nothing is definite but these are the races I am looking at for the summer:

Assateague Assault Sprint Triathlon (June 3?)

Did I mention ponies roam the beach?!

I would absolutely love to do this triathlon but it is about four hours away. My family goes to the Virginia side of Assateague for vacation every year, which is why I am so drawn to this race. I have never been to the Maryland side but have heard it is very similar. I think this would be a great race to start the season with as it is supposed to be a pretty easy course. There is also a one mile sunset ocean swim the night before that I really want to do.

Mason Dixon Sprint Triathlon (June 2)

From the Keystone State Sprint Triathlon, the same course

If I can't do the Assateague Assault Triathlon I will most likely do this one. It is only 30 minutes from my house and is on the same course as the Keystone State Triathlon, which I did last summer. My only hesitation with this race is the hills. I really struggled with the hills on the bike course and did every ride for six weeks on those hills. I am confident that I am stronger and more capable now but the thought of doing those hills only 2 weeks after school ends makes me unnecessarily anxious.

Doublecreek (June 15)
This is a bike ride that is right near my house that offers 30 mile, 48 mile or 62 mile options. I have wanted to do a supported bike ride for a few years now and think that it would be good practice for me to get used to riding around so many other people. I probably will decide about this one that week based on how things are going. If it fits into training I will do it but I don't want to alter my training for this.

York YWCA Ladies Y-Tri Sprint Triathlon (June 30)

How perfect is this run course?!

I want to do this race mostly because it is about 5 minutes from my house. The swim is in a pool, which I don't like, but it is a cheap and close race that won't take up the entire weekend. The bike is also pretty hilly and will be a good way to measure my progress at climbing. I think doing a triathlon about every four weeks will allow me to practice racing without taking too much out of training.

Steelman Open Water Swim (July 14)
Like Doublecreek this is a very tentative race. Since I quit swimming a few years ago I have wanted to do an open water swim. The swim of both of my triathlons, which were open water, were my favorite parts. The only downside is this race is about two hours away and I'm not sure if I want to drive that far for a race that is not a primary race for me. I'll decide on this as time gets closer.

Millers Mutual Mile (July 17)

I can't get over this sunset from last year's race

I want to do this race because I think it will be fun. I have never raced anything shorter than a 5K and even those I don't do very often. I also really like that this is an evening race. I run considerably faster later in the day and since night races are pretty rare I want to jump at this opportunity. Who knows if I'll even get around to doing this race but I really want to.

Culpeper Olympic Triathlon (August 3)

This is the triathlon I'm looking at being my A race for this summer. It is a little far away (Virginia) but I could stay at my apartment the night before and just drive down early in the morning. I also really like the course. It isn't flat but isn't super hilly either. I also like when this race is. My family normally goes on vacation at the end of July/beginning of August but this year we are going a bit later. This means I can do a triathlon later in the summer without missing a week of training.

These races are all tentative but I am hoping to put at least some of these races on my calendar soon.
Any other races in the MD/PA/NoVa/DC area I should consider? Have you done any of these races?