Atomic Man 2008 a Wrap!

Wow, what an event, huh? First of all, a HUGE thanks goes out to the race organizers (Dina, Jeff, Jarrod) and all of their partners in crime (Wolf, Suzie, Krystal) and everyone else who helped out by volunteering here and there, and especially on race day. It was a small army who had to be organized and so many people stepped up and helped out, and it was a huge success. It really was a very well-run event.

Ooof, I'm still sore, but I don't think I injured anything, which is always a concern with this event, which is probably the most difficult duathlon/triathlon event in the state -- it certainly has the most road running of all multisport races in the state. And, with that bike ride, mid-season legs would have a hard time, but this event comes first...FIRST(!) of all for many of us. Talk about a rude awakening.

I had taken a bit of a break at the end of March/beginning of April after a tough xc ski season, as I was feeling a bit tired and like I needed a summertime break. I couldn't believe then that I would soon be running on the road and racing on my aero bike in the Atomic Man. I had to put together a crash course in season preparation that had me hating life for about 15 days. Come rain or shine (or wind and snow), I had to get out there. It was not so bad at first, but after about day 4, I could barely get out of bed in the morning and felt like glue coursed through my veins.

Eventually, things came around a little, but I developed a little foot pain in the top of my foot that I'm still dealing with. It's not so bad, but I get to enjoy a very nice ice-water plunge with my foot every night to keep it from progressing. Getting up at night to go to the bathroom and walking on hardwood floors is the worst. I swear that I'll need to see a doctor about it, but then it sort-of goes away during the day. I could feel it a bit during the race this past Sunday, especially the second run.

For some reason, the race seemed slow this year. The air was cold and a bit heavy, and it makes it harder to breath easily. I noticed some pretty strong breezes on the bike at times, as cold and warm air mixed on the mesas and the canyon. I know I had to shift gears at least a couple of times because of it. I'm sure it slowed the bike times down quite a bit. I don't know why the run times weren't a little faster...maybe everyone else is suffering from the difficult windy, pollen-filled spring too. It's not easy to train this time of the year when we're having one of these dry, windy springs.

I wasn't at all nervous to race this year. I had the mindset that I wasn't going to stress out with trying to keep up with the fast runners as I have in the past, and paid with pain the rest of the race. This time, I took off steady and just kept it that way until the second time up the hill. That guy who got second last year was there again and he passed me on the way down, as he is a good runner and has a lot smoother and quicker tempo than my heavy plodding style (especially this time of the year). I thought to myself that I could dig deep and stay with him, but I kept to my plan and just ran my own race. I did feel stretched a bit, but it was within reason. Amazingly, he didn't pull away too badly on the hill. All of the xc skiing really makes for strong uphill running and I could definitely feel it.

Again on the downhill, he pulled away, but I narrowed it again on the next uphill, where I began to feel the strain of running a lot harder and longer than my body was used to. Once at the top, it was just damage control to the bike transition. I wasn't sure how I was going to ride on the bike, as I hadn't really done any specific training, just base mileage, going into the event. I quickly felt a relief getting onto the bike. It was natural feeling and I happy to be on my bike.

But, the feeling got a shock when I hit the first big, fast downhill and I got cramps in my calf muscles and my left hamstring. I am accustomed to this in the latter stages of events, but this was happening early and the cool air didn't seem to help matters. I was plagued with the cramps all the way, pretty much, and they moved around. Luckily they were all pretty superficial and I was able to keep pedaling hard if I didn't think about it and concentrated on moving forward as quickly as possible. I adjusted my position on my seat a lot and that also helped.

By the end of the ride, I was looking forward to the last run. That feeling quickly dwindled when I got off my bike (wanting to stop right there!) and went down to put on my shoes and got a cramp in my abdomen and my right leg! I got the first shoe on and had to stand straight up and stretch while loosening the quick lace to get the second one on. Once they were on, I was off (my second transition time suffered a little because of that little episode), but realized I hadn't retightened the loose shoe. I decided not to stop and just had to deal with one shoe that was tight and one that was loose for the entire second run. I had completely forgotten about it until the downhill, where I could feel it again.

The last km of the run was the worst. I just fell apart and wanted to be done in the old finish line spot. I could barely run anymore by the time I hit the uphill to the finish. I was SO relieved to be done. Geeez!

It was a fun, but hard-earned race. Now, I'm excited to do another one, but the little bit of sickness just after the race made me feel like I wasn't going to make it through this tri season.

Again, thanks a lot to the race committee people. That was a huge undertaking and we all REALLY, REALLY appreciate it. I told Dina I would cook every night this week so that she could take a well-deserved break. I don't know how Jeff and Suzie managed to do so much with the kids and both of them doing race promotions/organization work.

See you all at the Sinko-de-Mile...