I raced last weekend. It was my first race of the year, and my 4th multisport race ever.
It was the Atomic Man duathlon, and I competed in the Fat Man (long course) event. That's a 10km run/40km bike/5km run. The out-and-back bike leg featured an 1100ft climb out of a canyon to the bike turnaround, among other small hills. There's also a sprint event called "Little Boy" (4km/15km/4km). Yes, races named after nuclear bombs...
I've done this race twice now, and each time the course has been altered due to special circumstances. Last year the ride through the canyon was cut because of snow (making the ride a 2-loop out-and-back). This year the transition had to be moved because of roadworks. Given the move of the transition, everything was pretty smooth. There was a little confusion about the entry/exit/bypass at transition, but the volunteers were great and sufficiently vocal that I had no problems getting to the right places.
The weather started out perfect: clear skies; cool (but not cold); slight breeze. Then, just before 8:30 we lined up for the start and on the half hour we started running. The first run was a double loop, and we spread out pretty thinly from the start. Not surprising since Fat Man only had 48 racers (Little Boy had 43).
Anyway, for the first half of the run I had a guy running right on my shoulder. I mean serious personal space invasion! Every time I moved, he drifted back to my shoulder. If it wasn't for the seriously laboured breathing I probably wouldn't have cared. Anyway, I made a little ground on him somewhere on the 2nd lap and then got into transition
The transition was pretty smooth, and I think I've learned from having done a few races now. Straight out of the Saucony Hattoris and into my bike shoes, swap hat for helmet, put CO2 pump into jersey pocket, then gloves on and get moving out of T1.
I liked that bike leg. The wind shifted a little and started picking up through my bike ride. The riders who were still heading out as I was heading back would've got more trouble from the wind than I did. Anyway, I was fairly restrained when I started out on the bike. No hammering the hills, and no out-of-the-saddle climbing. I was careful to stay in the saddle and spin as high a gear as was reasonable for the terrain. It all worked out as I made a decent speed (I know that bike course really well) and overtook a three people on my way up the monster climb. By this point I was feeling pretty invincible (with the possible exception of my legs,which I was ignoring), and then I heard a bike behind me. It was shortly followed by a shout of "I should've known that was yours! Beautiful bike.". Cue the other Englishman racing appearing to overtake me - him on his time trial bike, me on my Boardman SLR road bike. That spurred me to work a bit harder, so I didn't lose too much time, but I was still trying to tread the fine line between racing hard and frying my legs for the last run!
The way back was relatively uneventful, but enjoyable, and I rolled back into T2 feeling pretty happy. One quick change later I was running out of transition and realised too late that I still had my CO2 in my tri-top pocket. Still, I had a fast transition and while it was a very real effort to run I got moving at a pace that I was happy with. Mile 1: 7:30ish... Mile 2: 7:30ish... Mile 3: Oh my god was this hill here before?!?!
The end of the run was pretty brutal. My thought process devolved to "Don't walk. Don't walk."
I didn't walk.
Final result:
Despite shooting for a time of 2hrs30 I missed, and had to make do with 2:25:46!
So overall I placed 8th. That was 7th male, as there was a female pro competing who placed 6th. My splits, in case you were interested, were:
10km run - 41:41 (6:43/mile)
40km bike - 1:17:24 (19.22mph)
5km run - 24:27 (7:53/mile)
Transitions were 1:15 (T1) and 59sec (T2). So that was good.
My major gripe for the day isn't even about the race itself. It's about the timing. While the final times and positions seem to match up properly, there are some problems on the results sheet. Two people I know that were racing came in just behind me on the first run. I know this. I saw one of them run into T1 just as I was unracking my bike. The other I didn't see until the finish line. Both are logged as entering T1 before me. I've talked to them - they know they didn't. Even weirder, they both posted very long transition times (2:18 exactly for both) which is unrealistic for those two. Now, my splits match up with my GPS watch so I'm not going to complain too hard. Nor did it affect anyone's placing, but it's annoying to realise that the splits aren't accurate and that's what's preserved for posterity on the internet.
Lessons learned:
1) I didn't run enough before the race.
My weekly long runs were topping out just short of 9 miles. Other run training was hour-long trail runs and occasional bricks or other short (2-3 mile) runs. When the race is a 9-mile run with a hard bike in the middle, that's not enough for a fast effort.
2) I need to train more specifically on the bike.
My bike training is basically me going for a ride and just riding however I feel. I did intervals once. So I've got a new CycleOps Fluid2 trainer and I'll be doing some rides at home. At least one ride a week will be on the trainer and will be following my training plan. I also need to do a threshold test on the bike so I can get a better idea of how hard I can ride without overdoing it.
3) Saucony Hattoris are a phenomenal racing shoe.
I've done a lot of running in my Vibram Fivefingers. I love to run in them. They're a little slow at transition though, and I figured that I'd use my occasional substitute shoe. The Hattoris still have good ground-feel and with the tiny bit extra padding are easier on prolonged, fast downhill stretches. Best of all, they're a hair lighter than the VFF Bikilas! (Now to work out whether I can run sockless in them...)
4)
Overall, I surpassed my expectations and am happy that I'm on track for the big one in September.
Atomic Man was a phenomenal race and I'm happy to have been able to take part. The guys (and gal) that finished ahead of me are all real champs and everyone who got around that course did an amazing job. It's a course with some hills and it's at high altitude. To all Atomic Men and Women... you are athletic studs.
