Culpeper Sprint 2016 Race Report

This is event number five on the 2016 VTS/MTS Series which brings me to be competitive for series points awards at the end of the year. Any events done after this race will either be ignored or may increase my total score as only the five HIGHEST scores are counted. I don’t believe I’ll be in the top five at the end of the year, but knowing that I’m on a very short list of individuals who did complete at least five events is a nice little checkmark for 2016.

Swim

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  I finally got my head out of my… um… negative space and had a decent swim. The swim was located at Mountain Run Lake in Culpeper, VA and I couldn’t ask for better conditions. The wind was low so it didn’t create very much chop, there is no current because it’s a lake, the fog covered the sun so I wasn’t blinded on the last section heading back to the “wiggly man”. My plan was to stay on the outside the other swimmers knowing that it would increase my total swim distance (which it did by 100m), but that is of minor consequence when I was able to stay relaxed and just swim. That is until the last 100 meters, where the International swimmers “joined” with the Sprint swimmers so I had to contend with people on both sides… and I panicked… just a little. But on another positive note, I did not require any assistance from paddle boaters which is major milestone for this year.

  • Training Peaks Swim Data

Bike

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  I couldn’t execute the bike plan as desired as I found a new issue when racing in humidity, my new Rudy Wing 57 helmet has a smoked glass shield that easily fogs over making it impossible to see (somewhat of an issue when my top speed was 41.5 mph)¹. I was lucky to find a 60yo rockstar of an athlete who was about my athletic ability and I followed him for the first 10 miles because I couldn’t see any of the turns or potholes. It wasn’t my best performance on the bike, but I still placed decently among racers.

  • Training Peaks Bike Data

Run

• After the bike I felt good, but as soon as you exited transition you are punched in the face with a grassy hill, rabbit punches to the kidneys with a side street hill, and uppercut to finish you with… another hill. Other racers will agree in that somehow everything was “uphill” until the very end. After the first mile I was afraid to push myself in case there was another hill. I would rather be a little slower than have to walk.
  • Training Peaks Run Data

Post Race

This is the second race that my family was able to attend as Culpeper is less than an hour away from our house. It was nice to have a cheering section while going through transitions, and at the end just before crossing the finish line giving Vader Gavin a quick high five. BTW; of all the VTS/MTS races that I have done this year… hands down this is the best podium prize as you get a bottle of wine from fellow race participant, and owner of Mountain Run Winery, David Foster!

Race Results

Rankings

• Overall: Placed 37th out of 353 (top 10%).
• Gender: Placed 35th out of 215 (top 16%).
• Male 40-44: Placed 6th out of 21 (top 30%; and that excludes the 2nd place overall winners who was in my age group).

Among the Male 40-44 category there were 21 athletes (excluding the one in my age group that was in the overall winners category)

• Swim: Ranked 6th (what?!?!?!?!).
• Bike: Ranked 6th (1st place beat me by 3 minutes and 15 seconds)
• Run: Ranked 6th (1st place beat me by 4 minutes and 55 seconds)

Updated 2016-08-03 (Race Photos)

Splits

Culpeper Sprint	750m Swim	T1	16.9 Mile Bike	T2	5k Run	Total
Goal Times2	19:00	2:00	47:09	2:00	22:07	1:32:16
Actual Times3	17:32	1:27	47:42	1:10	24:48	1:32:37

Footnotes

1. I forgot to mention my pro-tip, don’t forget to take off your Roka Swimskin before you jump on the bike… I bet you will look pretty dumb in pictures. ↩

2. Goal Times were based on Rev3 Montclair results as it was a lake swim with hilly bike and run: 2:32 /100m swim, 21.5 mph ride, 7:08 /mi run. ↩

3. Official Race Results available at VTS/MTS Culpeper Sprint Results page. ↩