Culver Triathlon Race Report
July 8, 2007 Culver, IN
1/4mi swim, hilly 10.5mi bike, 5k hilly golf course run
~83 degrees F, high humidity, sunny, windy

Short version:
C race, in the middle of build phase of training, so tired, so hot
I won!!! The fast women weren’t there!

The rest of it:
The swim was a loop around a pier in a picturesque lake. The swim was barely wetsuit legal (78 degrees) and I wore one. The waves were seeded by registration order, so they were essentially random. The lake was shallow, so people were running out pretty far. I was the first of my wave out of the water. It was an ok swim. I navigated perfectly for the first three-quarters of the swim. Then I put my head down and veered 10m left. I over swam by about 15-20m. I know that’s not much, but it’s significant. I must remember to sight even near the end.
Swim: 6:30 ¼ mile (11/231 Overall, 3/75 women)

T1 was lumped in with the bike split.
I did not have a great t1 for me. I forgot the bodyglide and tripped over my feet trying to get my wetsuit off. I also was a bit slower than usual getting my helmet on since it was my first time wearing my new aero helmet.

I felt ok on the bike. I think it was pretty good considering I’ve been training very hard these last two weeks. It was a hilly lollipop shaped course with plenty wind and turns. I was a lemming and followed another racer the wrong way on a corner. I should have looked for the very light colored pavement markings. The volunteer (who did not point which direction to go) yelled a little late and I had to make a u-turn in a big gear. It was a little frustrating grinding my way back past 5 or 6 people whom I had already passed. The corners were not swept and some were just full of sand and gravel. I came so close to eating it on one corner. I heard my carbon rim hitting the pavement as my back wheel slid out from under me. I have no idea how I managed to stay upright. Needless to say, I braked and went into my drops for the rest of the corners on the course (and there were lots of them) even though I normally would have stayed in my aero bars without braking. I looked at my rim after the race and there is a little nick in the carbon. I know I only averaged 18 mph, but the fastest male only averaged 21.3, so that goes to show how tough the course was.
Bike 34:57 10.5 mi (50/231 Overall, 2/75 women, 18.0mph)

The t2 times were lumped into the run. I think that I had a very efficient t2. The run was Culver Academy’s cross country course. It was entirely on grass and around a very hilly golf course. I think that my run was pretty good considering the course. It was really hot, humid, and sunny by the run. Grass is slow. Some of it was tallish grass with big piles of cut grass.
Run: 22:47 5k (17/231 Overall, 3/75 women, 7:07 pace)

Total time: 1:04:12
17/231 Overall
1/75 Women
1/7 F20-24 (not that it counts anyways)

I had no idea where any of the other women were during the race because none of the top woman were in my wave. I was positively giddy when I looked at the results. I usually look for my name around 5th woman and then I looked up and up and up and there it was on top. I was amazed. I know I really did not have a super race. Between training through the race, a sloppy t1, and my bike mishaps I certainly did not expect to win. When I started competing in triathlons 5 years ago, I told myself that when I won a race overall, I would get myself a tri-bike to go along with my too big 03 Allez Comp with clip-ons. We’ll see. I’m actually not sure I can afford it…

I was impressed with how quickly the results came out even though the race was NOT chip timed. The results were up on the board with splits and everything just as fast as in a chip timed race. Also, glancing through the results, they did not miss a swim split even though many participants were wearing wetsuits.

Results here:
http://www.timingiseverything.com/Races/CVT07.HTM