Aches & Pains

Many of you know (some all too well) how the Conlin family bristles at the notion that racing drivers are not athletes. The demands that driving at speed place on the body simply cannot be compared to driving around on the streets. The g-forces themselves place tremendous strain on various muscles - never mind the struggle to operate the machine itself and the inhospitable environment.

Presented here with an generous dose of humility is an inventory, from bottom to top, of aches and pains 24 hours after our July 9 race:

Ball of right foot - Bruised from throttle: In the flat-out corners, the throttle foot is braced tightly against the pedal to keep from bouncing off.

Side of right foot - Same as above.

Thigh muscles - Sore from keeping the legs from bouncing away from the pedals in the corners.

Hip - Bruised from contact with fiberglass seat in bumpy corners.  (The seat is form-fitting and allows no movement once settled into it.)

Buttocks (really) - Sore from combination of controlling legs and torso.

Abdominal muscles - Sore from keeping the torso upright in the seat in the corners.

Lower back muscles - Sore, same as above.

Ribs - Bruised from impacting the side of the seat as the unsprung kart travels over bumps in corners. This in spite of wearing a protective vest to minimize rib bruising.

Pectoral muscles - Sore from working the steering wheel.  (A kart, because it uses a straight rear axle, by nature wants to continue in the direction it's already going. That, combined with the aggressive camber and caster angles of the steering makes the steering very heavy and requires a substantial amount of effort to turn.)

Shoulders - Sore, same as above.

Tendons, right arm - Strained from working the steering wheel.  This is the injury that concerns me most and has me on Advil for most of race day and sometimes days later.

Biceps - Sore, same as above.

Back of right biceps - Bruised badly from banging against the engine in bumpy corners. We wear a hard elbow pad just for this situation but last Sunday we all had problems keeping it in the proper position.  It was Dana's diagnosis that it has been stretched out by use and heat from the engine.

Right forearm - Sore from working the steering wheel. Because of the position of the engine, placing the right hand at the 3:00 position (as is desirable for racing) is impossible.  Instead we have to hold the wheel at the 9:00 and 12:30 positions.  It is the 12:30 placement that puts the right arm at a strange position and strains the muscles in the forearm.

Wrists - Sore, same as above.

Hands - Muscles sore from gripping the wheel. The death grip is required since because of the aforementioned steering geometry, bumps in the corners try to jerk the wheel out of the driver's hands. During practice after the races last Sunday Tracy purposely worked on relaxing her grip on the straights so that she could uncurl her hands when she got out of the kart.

Neck muscles - Sore from holding the helmeted head on the shoulders against the g-forces in the corners.

Looking at this list, I'm not sure what made me think a 41 year old guy could just jump into an extreme sport like this and not feel the affects age. But age, it appears is only part of the liability as the girls, young, active and athletic (all have been members of their school's track team) suffer many of the same affects. I also concede my otherwise sedentary lifestyle doesn't help and a work out routine certainly would help.  However, a lifestyle in which I don't wake up in the same place more than four nights in a row makes it difficult to develop a regiment. But, I suppose if I'm serious about this venture, I should stop making excuses. Yes, a program is in order.  And starting tomorrow sounds like a great idea.  There's always tomorrow.