September 7, 2012 · 12:59 pm

Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together

This one’s for you Mom…

It’s been several weeks since my last post, in all honesty it’s actually approaching 8 weeks.  I have all the excuses in the bank as to my short lived hiatus, but none of them are quite pertinent (However, all are quite interesting).  They are what they are, and I am back to tell a little tale.

There are hundreds upon thousands of life mantras, and each person has their own that they feel relates to their life.  Many folks will try and impose their metaphorical lyrics on others, some keep them to themselves.  I tend to walk to line on this, and reflect on an introverted basis (which contrasts entirely to my extroverted personality).

However, for the sake of getting back on the wagon and writing again, I wanted to share a metaphor I’ve been putting much thought into the past several weeks.  It’s not a mantra per say, as it’s not something I would whisper to myself when I get a couple lumps from life.

Remember as a kid growing up, putting together a big jigsaw puzzle.  Your first 1,000 piece puzzle seemed like a mountain to climb and could take years to put together.  But your mom or dad said to start off small; to first find the 4 corners, and then work on all the edges and create the frame.  Then start to fill in the rest.

Well the past several weeks I have looked at my life as a puzzle, and am slowly gathering my pieces and putting together the puzzle.  The last post I wrote focused on how much I have grown and progressed in the past 365 days, and at the end I was excited to see what lies ahead in the next 365.

It’s only been a short 2 months, but am already assembling the corner pieces I need to start building my jigsaw.  Now everyone’s life is different, and we all have different goals and desires; so everyone is going to have different puzzle sizes. There is no right or wrong, it is simply you.  That’s what I realized along this journey; and to find something that is lost, you simply have to stop looking.

Over the next 6 months or so, the pieces of my puzzle are going to come together.  I have set them all in motion, and done a lot of planning and work to get to where I am now saying this.  There will be bumps and bruises, and inevitably some of the pieces won’t fit right away; but I’m confident that by next year and the beginning of the Triathlon season, I am going to be a wholly different individual and athlete.

There will be several installments over these next coming months, hopefully each about a puzzle piece.  It’s a very exciting time…as Penny Lane is ‘Almost Famous’ said “It’s All Happening.”

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July 5, 2012 · 1:15 pm

What can you accomplish in 365 Days?

People often say how fast a year can go by, and question where the time went.  Whenever I hear this, I can’t help but think what they did that made the year fly by. 365 days is a lot of time, and if you don’t make everyone count they can disappear pretty quickly.

The past year has been a complete whirlwind for me, and last Saturday morning I was able to clearly see how far I have come.

A year can be a daunting thing to think about, but if you’re able to break it down, it makes life a lot simpler.  It’s astounding to see how much you can grow each and EveryDay, and when you add it all up what you are able to accomplish.

The stage where my progress was measured was the New York Road Runners Queens Sprint Triathlon.  The Queens Sprint is a great race, taking place in Flushing Corona Meadows Park.  It’s a short and easy race; starting off with a 400 meter swim in the Queens Aquatic Center, followed by a 13 mile 2 loop bike course of the park, and finish off with a 5k run.

This race was actually my first ever triathlon last year, and is a solid race for a beginner.  At the time last year, I was just learning about the sport, and didn’t have a clue the profound effect it would have on my life, and the direction it would take me in.  During the race, I swam with both of my arms, I rode on a tandem bike (because I wasn’t able to ride on my own yet), and I ran without a leg brace in significant pain.

Fast forward 365 days later, with a lot of hours logged in the pool developing a 1 arm swim technique, teaching myself how to ride a bike on my own, and run with the help of a prosthetic brace; I found myself at the Queens Sprint Tri again.  I was incredibly excited for this race; because not only is it a fun day, and even though I mentally knew how much I had improved, I wanted to see it on the race stage!

Race day came around and it went incredible.  My overall performance was solid, and reasonably happy with my times. I think my run was a little slow and off my regular pace, but that’s ok.  All in All, I finished in 1:27:46, which is a full 20 minutes faster than my time last year!

I didn’t hit my race goal of sub 1:20, but that’s ok.  This still is my first year of racing, and it’s about making improvements each time and continually bettering yourself.

It’s truly remarkable and exciting to see what you can achieve in a year, and how much you can grow as a person in 365 days.

Just remember, EveryDay counts for something, and if you make the most of each and everyone of them, you will never regret…

I just can’t wait for the next 365 to see what’s in store!! Stay tuned America…

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June 22, 2012 · 2:06 pm

The First Ride Towards The Rest of Your Life

To me, the pinnacle of any young boy’s childhood is the day he unscrews the training wheels off his bike and rides away from the guiding hold of his mom or dad.  With the sun on his back, and the wind at his face– it doesn’t get much better than that.

I don’t remember my first day of school, my first family vacation, or why I chose Coke over Pepsi; but I can remember my first bike that I got as a kid, and learning to ride in my driveway.  I eventually graduated to a mountain bike, and used to tirelessly ride the ‘big hill’ of the neighborhood.  At the time this ‘big hill’ seemed to rival the climbing of the Pyrenees during the Tour and flying down the hill at speeds of what felt like 100 mph.

It was only a short time later when my world would forever be changed. I suffered a stroke in June 1999 at the age of 17. Suddenly riding a bike paled in comparison to the concern for my health, and that same big hill I climbed everyday would become a metaphor for the physical challenges I was about to encounter.

For the many years that ensued, my life went on without purpose.  I was only a young man who was adapting to a new existence; I was not living life, I was surviving it.

Then I came upon the world of disabled sports–specifically paratriathlon.  In the blink of an eye my life turned around again. I completed my first triathlon in the summer of 2011, and quicker than you can strip out of a wetsuit in T1 I found myself at the Jeff and Deni Jacobs Challenged Athletes Center for a CAF paratriathlon camp.

One of those life altering moments happened to me during the course of the camp when I officially took off my training wheels, and was shown that anything is possible in this life.  CAF’s Sr. Director of Programs, Roy Perkins, shares his unique perspective of this monumental occasion:
http://blog.challengedathletes.org/2011/09/why-i-do-this-job/
  Something I’ve yet to admit, and don’t tell this to Roy; but that first turn we took around the corner in the back lot of the Jeff and Deni Center, my eyes were half closed out of sheer fear and excitement…

When I first heard about CAF’s Million Dollar Challenge Ride, I immediately thought where do I sign up.  The fact that I had only been riding a bike on my own for 5 months and that I had yet to go on a ride more than 10 miles; frankly never even crossed my mind. I knew this was my chance and could be the opportunity of a lifetime.

The wheels went into motion on trying to become a part of MDC; I submitted my formal application with all the necessary bio paperwork at the end of February to be considered for an athlete spot in the ride, and it would be a nerve wracking 6 weeks until rider applications were decided on.  I knew I was up against stiff competition to be accepted, given the level of CAF athletes who I have the distinct honor of calling friends and colleagues, who were also applying for the few coveted spots. Then on April 6th, I got the fateful email from Vikki Indermuehle, that I was accepted into the Million Dollar Challenge.  It was around 8pm in New York when I got the email, and I was instantly trying to Macgyver a flashlight to my handlebars and go for a ride.

The magnitude of what I am about to embark on started to sink in when I started telling my friends and family the news—their initial reaction was “What are you nuts? Congratulations Billy, but do you have a screw loose?”

What my friends and family don’t understand is that I will have the opportunity to ride with some amazing athletes who have broken down barrier after barrier and be able to ride down the beautiful coastline of California learning from fellow riders who have accomplished amazing feats in the world of cycling.

MDC will mark almost to the day the 1 year anniversary of getting my first road bike, and what better way to celebrate. This is not just a 620 mile ride from San Francisco to San Diego, it is the start of my endurance racing career.  Now comes the fun part of training: my legs to get to ride 100 miles a day, and this time my eyes will be wide open the whole time.
As my training progresses for MDC, I will post blog updates of my adventures (with hopefully only a few falls) along the way.

You can also read this post on CAF’s web site, along with some other amazing athlete’s stories: http://blog.challengedathletes.org/2012/05/getting-ready-for-the-million-dollar-challenge/

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June 16, 2012 · 2:02 am

5,280 Feet and 2 Tires-The Adventures of the Denver Triathlon

5,280 is the number of feet in one mile; it also coincidentally is the elevation of the city of Denver, CO. My travels, along with the race being the 2nd stop in the USA Paratri Series, brought me out to the beautiful city of Denver; which has always been a favorite of mine, for the 2nd annual Denver Triathlon on June 10th.

The weekend started out with my flight on Thursday night.  Through the utmost generosity of a dear friend of mine, I was going to be housed at her father’s house in Cherry Hills Village, CO; a mere 15 minutes away from downtown Denver and the race site.  I am privileged to have such friends in my life.

Leading up to the race there was much talk and anticipation about how the altitude was going to affect me.  With New York being at the main lobby of sea level, going up and racing a mile high was certainly going to be a challenge.  I spoke with as many people as I could to get their thoughts on it, and the feeling I got from most (if not all) was that it was gonna be a sufferfest; which was perfectly alright with me and right up my alley! I didn’t do it intentionally, but getting to Denver on Thursday night, a full 3 days before race day; really helped my body acclimate to being at that altitude.

Saturday rolled around, which meant all the pre race packet pickup and festivities.  The race was staged at Mile High Stadium; and when I was driving along the highway over there for the 1st time and the Stadium came into view in the background; it was a spectacular sight.

We had our Paratriathlete briefing meeting, which was short and sweet; compared to the drawn out one at CapTex for Nationals.  The Para wave was a small one this race, with only about 20 athletes racing, but was awesome to see some friends from Austin, as well meet a couple new faces I hadn’t before.

Myself and 2 other athletes decided to drive the bike course to get a sense of the route, since from the map we were provided it was a slightly confusing.  As we drove the course, we commented on how flat it was, and made mental notes where we could fly.  Looking back on it, this actually hurt me on race day; as I think it gave me a sense of false confidence that the bike was going to be an easy course; which for me turned out to be anything but.

Race morning came quickly, and was up and at em at 445am packed and on my way to Mile High.  I reached the parking lot and start unloading my gear and bike, and as I took my bike out and put it on the ground I noticed something a triathlete never wants to see on race day; my front tire had popped during the night.  At the time I didn’t know it, but this was the start of a hellish day of bike issues.  I didn’t panic and simply made my way to T1 with a spare tube and proceeded to change my tire.

I’ll get to the rest shortly; but first the Denver Triathlon is a very unique race in that it has 2 separate transition areas.  T2, which we had to setup as soon as we got to the race site was in the parking lot of Mile High Stadium; while T1 was about 2.5 miles away at Sloan’s Lake, where the swim was taking place.  This is obviously a challenge for any triathlete, but more so for PC athletes; given the level of equipment needs and handling during the race.  I’m one of the incredibly lucky ones, who doesn’t have to worry about transferring into a chair; or putting on a leg coming out of the water; but as a novice paratriathlete I knew this was probably going to affect my time.  The separate transitions also meant after setting up T2 we had to ride over to T1 on our bikes.

Back to the tire situation, I kept my cool and changed my tube, pumped my tire up and was ready to go.  However, on the short ride over to T1, my tire started losing air and I could tell I had done something wrong.  I stupidly kept riding on it thinking I could just make it to T1 and address the air pressure there…big mistake.  Only a short way after realizing, my tube popped; and still being a relatively new cyclist I didn’t have the wherewithal to save myself, and went down on my left side. It’s a good thing I fell a lot while teaching myself to ride, cause it was almost common practice to get up, dust off and focus on the pain.

Luckily the Para wave wasn’t going off until 7:40am, since I now had to walk my bike the rest of the way to T1.  Also luckily there was a mechanic on site with spare tubes.  He quickly changed my tire and returned my bike and my tire issues were behind me.  2 flats in a matter of 15 minutes on race morning! Live and Learn…

The swim was in Sloan’s Lake, and was going to be a simple out and back leg.  The countdown started and the gun went off, it’s race time! I dove in and immediately started getting water in my goggles, which is something everyone hates.  I tried to get it out and get a good suction, but just couldn’t do it.  With it only being a 750 meter swim, you don’t really have the time or luxury to turn on your back and adjust your goggles; so I sucked it up and kept moving.  With my struggles in Austin with keeping my line, I wanted to focus on sighting as much as possible and swimming efficiently.  Unfortunately, with water in my goggles and pretty fogged up, this turned out to be very tough.  I turned the buoy marker and made my way back to the shore. I actually came out of the water with a fast time, and was very happy; but still have a lot of things to work on.

I sped through T1 and got to the bike mount area and about to take off when I realized the bike mechanic didn’t put my chain back on after changing my tire! Live and learn again, never trust a mechanic and always double check your bike before the race start…I was able to get the chain on and hopped on my bike and on my way; with frustration coursing through my veins.

The start of the bike was good and I was pushing cadence and speed; right up until we made our way around Mile High Stadium.  This portion of the course got pretty technical with some sharp turns and a lot of bumps in the road; as well a nice little train track crossing to maneuver.  One thing I know I have to work on are my turns, and keeping speed throughout.  I lost so much power going into them, and would have to expend a ton of energy coming out of the turn to get back up to speed.  The bike was not as fun (and easy) as I had anticipated, and was very happy to pull into T2 and be done with it.

If you had told me 3 months ago that during a race I would actually be looking forward to the run, I would have said you’re bananas.  But during this race, I found I couldn’t wait to get running; funny how things are developing.  Races are won on the run, and if I can start to love and enjoy this portion of races; it’ll certainly lead to more finishes on the podium..

The run leg was a simple tour around Mile high Stadium, and then an out and back along a run path, which was narrow and also not PC friendly.  My legs felt surprisingly good, compared to CapTex and given the altitude.  My pace was good, and I ran my fastest 5K to date!

After all is said and done, I came in 1st place in the Tri-3 category and took home the Gold Medal!!  My first one to put up on the trophy case. It was a tough course for me, but an incredible experience. I was very happy with my performance, and made improvements in some areas, and blunders in others; but that’s the point of competing; finding out what works and what doesn’t.

You know what I say…Just keep racing

Next up is a relay with the PHLY Insurance Team for the Philly Triathlon on June 24th.

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June 5, 2012 · 2:12 am

The Unmistakable Sound of Long Island

I’ve grown up in New York for most of my life, save the 4 years I spent at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA; which for all intensive purposes could be considered the tri state area.  Living on the North Shore of Long Island, I grew up on the water.  But for a kid who was only minutes away from the beach; I strangely spent little time in the open water.

The best reason I can come up with for this is I was an athletic kid, and all of the sports I played were on the mainland.  During the summer months, you could find me at some kind of sports camp; baseball, basketball, soccer during the day; and usually fooling around with the kids on the block the rest of the day and into the night.  We rarely made our way down to the waters edge to go swimming, we were too busy trying to act like our favorite professional athletes.

For those not familiar with Long Island, the main body of water I’m referring to is the Long Island Sound.  The minds over at Wikipedia describe the Sound as an estuary to the Atlantic Ocean located between Connecticut and Long Island.

I’ve gone sailing, tubing, and fishing in the great Sound; but I had never truly gone swimming in this body of water; until yesterday that is.

With my slight struggles in the open water at National Championships last weekend, I knew I have a lot of work to do in order to hold my line and be more efficient in the water. Everyone says you can’t win a race in the water, but you can certainly lose it; and it’s on the laundry list of improvements…enter stage left LI Sound.

I had decided during the week that I was going to drive out to my folks house on Saturday evening for a little BBQ, and get up early and go for a swim on Sunday at our town’s local beach.  All was going as planned, which you know I love, until I hit the beach on Sunday.

There had been a considerable amount of rain that hit LI the previous couple days, enough to toy with building an Arc; and more importantly for swimming purposes, a significant amount of runoff.  I drove up to the local beach, Fleets Cove, and was greeted by the 2 flags you never want to see, waiving Red in the air.  I thought to myself, what could the problem possibly be?  Only to walk up and talk to the lifeguard who told me the water was closed because of bacteria in the Sound!  Now I’ve been out to CA on many occasions, swam and surfed in the Pacific; and had experienced 1st hand the beach closures after a large rain fall. But this was NY, and the Long Island Sound.  Surely, the overflow of bacteria and pathogens could not affect it so much as to warrant a closure.  But then I thought and realized, that this was NY…and the Long Island Sound…

I was able to speak with the beach supervisor who told me that all surrounding beaches were closed because of the bacteria problem, and they weren’t able to do anything until the Huntington Dept. of Health cleared the waters safe for swimming.  However, he said that Crab Meadow Beach, about a 10 min drive to the next town over of Northport was open.  Crab Meadow is actually situated on the Sound, and not tucked in the Harbor inlet like the aforementioned closed beaches are. I’m no Marine Biologist trying to find a solution, I just wanted to swim without walking out of the water a fluorescent green color.

I hopped in my car, and made my way to Crab Meadow which turned out to be a beautiful beach, with outdoor restaurants, playgrounds, and all.  I was happy to see that the water was not only open, but this beach didn’t have a roped off buoy area, like the one near my parents house does.  I Squeezed into my wet suit, which is always a trip doing completely by myself; and made my way to the waters edge.

The Sound in the beginning of June is pretty chilly, but my suit helped and made it comfortable.  I waded in the water and mapped out my swim route, which would essentially just be a lap swim along the shoreline.

I started off slow and kept my laps in the confines of the flags, which were roughly 50 yards apart from each other.  After about 30 mins of going back and forth and a solid warm up I started extending my laps, and by the end of my hour and 15 minute session I was swimming the entire beach line; which felt phenomenal.

I mixed in my new swim technique, utilizing a shorter and quicker stroke, rather than the long extending stroke I had been using.  I don’t have the endurance to keep that pace over a sprint distance, but will get there.

I’ll tell ya though, swimming in the Sound ain’t easy.  It truly is open water, and much harder than any sort of Lake Swim.  All in all, I swam a mile and a quarter, and was completely spent at the end; but very happy with the session.

But the best part is I now have a safe, clean open water swim to practice throughout the summer months.  And practicing in the tough Sound will make racing in a Lake that much easier.

Spar with the Lions, to prepare for a fight with the Cubs…

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June 1, 2012 · 1:51 pm

Austin City Limits – Paratriathlon Championship Edition

How do you describe a moment that you will forever remember, one that you can feel altering your very future.  It’s quite tricky you see, but thankfully I’ve never been shy with words and expression so this post is dedicated to the USA Paratriathlon National Championship race in Austin, TX this past weekend.

The race was held over Memorial Day weekend, which in itself is a celebration and remembrance of the brave lives that have sacrificed so much for their country and to protect our freedom. The power that compels so many individuals was on stage throughout the entire weekend, and it struck me to the core.

It all started on Saturday morning with meeting the rest of the Achilles Tri team at the Central Park Engineer’s gate dark and early at 3:45am.  We loaded all our gear and were on our way to the airport.  Now, I was not anxious about traveling with all my gear, however my biggest worry was making it to Austin on time.  My USAT classification appointment was scheduled for 1:30 pm at the Hyatt Regency, and with my flight landing at 11:30 am, any sort of flight delay could jeopardize my entire race and Championship contention.  Thankfully my confidence was restored in American Airlines and we actually landed 10 minutes early!

I quickly made my way over to the Hyatt and met up with some friends before my classification.  I entered my classification knowing I would become a Tri-3, but had to go through the prodding and poking to make it official.  After several minutes of strength and balance testing; it became official, I would be competing in one of the most competitive classifications, the dubious “Les Autres” (Simply translated to ‘All Others’).

Later in the evening we would attend the Wounded Warriors Dinner, which was an incredible dinner, with phenomenal athletes and speakers, including Melissa Stockwell and John Register.  Their words were a true inspiration, and was a precursor to the entire weekend. I also got to see some old friends, and make new ones with those who I’d be competing with.  It was a long day, and was glad to make it back home to get some sleep.

We had a good early wake up call on Sunday morning to take a trip to an open-water pool called Barton Springs in Austin.  This was one of the more interesting places I’ve seen, essentially an open water springs enclosed with multiple pool ramp entrances.  It was a great way to get an open water practice in before the race.  I felt great and fast in the water, which gave me a lot of confidence going into Monday.

After our swim we made our way to the Hyatt for athlete pickup, briefings, and bike check.  This is where I got to meet the elite competitors in my category, in addition to my old buddy Sean Vangerena; I met David Kyle and Craig Vogtsberger.  These are the guys I am going to be chasing for years to come, and I wanted them to know that.

After all the meetings were over, and bikes were officially checked into transition; it was time to go home and get some much needed rest and sleep before the day everyone was waiting for. I surprisingly got a phenomenal sleep that night, mostly cause I did my best Betty White impersonation and went to bed at 8:15.  Alarm went off at 4:05 am, and it was race morning; which meant it was time to show everyone what you’re worth.

We arrived at transition, where I met up with my handler and set up my station; had a few anxious laughs with my transition mates; and heard much debate as to whether to wear a wetsuit or not in the balmy 81 degree Lady Bird Lake.  Since my swim is not that strong, I decided to wear my suit and get any advantage I was afforded.

All the Paratriathletes were able to get in the water right after the pro start to get a light warm up which I jumped right in to make sure my goggles were nice and tight with no leakage; and before I knew it I was treading water at the start line of the 1st wave. The gun sounded and rang through me like a cannon..this was it; the last 7 months of teaching myself how to swim with 1 arm, re-learning how to ride a bicycle; and running until the pain stopped.  The 5 am mornings, the late nights on the trainer; and the all the miles were made for me to perform at this moment.

Before I go into my full race detail, I’d briefly like to explain my expectations.  This is my 1st full season in Triathlon, and this National Championship race will have been my first full open water swim race.  I knew the guys in my category and what they are capable of, and was fully aware I was not at that level yet.  My goal was to finish the race in under 1 hour and 30 minutes, which was an aggressive goal for me – but that’s the whole point of racing, pushing yourself to the edge you’ve never encountered before, and breaking it down. I wanted to run my race, and just see where I landed.  More importantly, my goal was to show that I’m on the scene and I’m here to stay.  In a couple years, I will hopefully be nipping at the backs of the top elite athletes.

Now back to the grits, the swim began and I started pushing myself hard and tried to get into a rhythm.  It was tough because I had difficulty sighting and trying to stay on course.  I was able to keep pace through the first turn buoy of the leg, however there was a slight current once I made the turn and during the return portion of the swim.  With the fact I swim with 1 arm, I naturally pull to the right side, add any sort of current and I get pushed off line easily.  I sighted as much as I could, but had to significantly correct myself 4 or 5 times as I was way off course.  I lost a lot of efficiency in this way, and probably ended up swimming an extra 100 yards more than necessary with my corrections. I got out of the water in around 18:30, which is on pace with my slow long distance pace; but not my race pace. I didn’t have a slow swim, it just wasn’t a fast race swim.  I need to  do a lot of open water practice, and start swimming with the fishes.

I had a quick transition and was on my bike and started to push my cadence.  Mike Johnston, a Tri-5 National Champion Paratriathlete got on the bike at the same time, and I tried to keep up with him as long as I could; but he eventually pulled away.  The bike course was a fairly flat technical course with a couple hairpin turns, and some sharp angles at the bottom of flying hills.  For the sprint distance, we had to do 2 loops of the course.  I completed my 1st loop in around 21 minutes, and knew if I had any chance of finishing under my 1:30 goal, I’d have to hammer the 2nd loop and make up the time I lost in the water.  I pushed myself hard and increased my speed and power, and was happy pulling into the bike dismount off the course.  I jumped off the bike, with only a slight delay in getting my left foot clipped out.  Sprinted into transition with my bike, racked it and started gearing up for the run.

I ran out of T2 at around 1:05 and slightly disappointed realizing there was little chance I could break my 1:30 goal; but I pushed myself and kept one foot in front of the other.  The 1st mile was tough cause it was hot and crossing over the bridge was wide open.  I had just come up to Melissa Stockwell, the  current Tri-2 Champion and 2 time USAT Athlete of the year; I thought to myself holy toledo, I’m catching up to Melissa, which made me push my foot cadence a little faster, and keep the jelly legs moving.  It would turn out to be great pairing, and one in which we stayed with each other and both pushed one another through the entire run.

Since I had completely forgotten to hit the ‘lap’ button on my Garmin watch to change from swim to bike, and from bike to run; the mile times were not coming up on my watch; so I really had no idea how far was left in the run.  It felt like we were coming to the finish with more spectators around, and all of sudden Melissa turns on the afterburners and pulls alongside me.  I quickly realized, this is the final sprint; so I turn to her as she’s flying past me, and simply said..”Let’s Do This;” and started sprinting myself. We came to the final tunnel and I struggled as hard as I could to keep up with her sprint, we both crossed the Finish Line at the same time, and embraced each other with a victorious hug.  This will undoubtedly be a moment I will remember for the rest of my life.  I won’t remember my finishing time 10 years from now, or that I had a slow slim; but I will never forget the feeling of crossing that Finish Line side by side with Melissa…thank you forever.

At the end of the day my finish time was 1 hour 33 minutes and 57 seconds, good enough for 4th place in my category.  I missed my goal by 3 minutes and 58 seconds, but I am incredibly happy with my overall performance.  I accomplished what I set out to do, and that was to run a good clean race to the best of my ability, and see where I end up.

I know now where I need to be to compete with the top guys in my Category, and what I have to do to achieve that goal.  Now comes the fun part of putting in the work to get faster EveryDay!  I hope I showed my competition that I’m here now, and ain’t going anywhere anytime soon; and for the next years to come I am going to find a way to get to the top podium spot, and contend for a National Championship.

As I started off with, I’m not shy with words; and one of the greatest aspects of this past weekend, besides the race; was meeting all the other Paratriathletes in our field.  That has always been my favorite part of being involved in the disabled sports world..just interacting with other athletes.  Hearing their stories, talking about how they compete at such elite high levels.  Creating friendships and bonds that last outside the competitive arena.

By doing this, the moments of this weekend last forever.

Next up is Denver on June 10th, racing a mile high is going to be fun (and painful)!

Here’s the Highlight reel of the weekend -

2012 USAT Paratriathlon National Championship Highlights

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May 23, 2012 · 7:00 pm

Basic Instinct – Just Race

With my Duathlon career officially, and accidentally, launched at TriRock New York; my competitive edge was peaked. I’m not a runner by any stretch of the imagination, and to be perfectly honest, whenever I hear someone talk about the ‘runner’s high’, I think they’re full of bologne.
The reason for my love/hate relationship with running stems from the pain that comes from each stride I take.  Because of my gate, I put a ton of pressure on my entire leg when I run; including my hip, knee, and ankle.  Over time..and miles, it can cause some pretty significant hurt, but I usually am the stubborn mule who never listens to his body and runs through it…as my father always said to me as a kid “Play with Pain.”
With that being said, the idea of a Duathlon  had never appealed to me; having to run once in a race was enough for me. But things changed significantly for me in December 2011, when I went in to Hanger Prosthetics and got fitted for a custom made dyanmic AFO running brace.  This brace takes a lot of the pressure off my leg when I run, and coupling that with the work I’m putting in with Michael Conlon at Finish Line Physical Therapy to strengthen my hip; running has become more enjoyable, dare I say fun..
So after successfully completing the coincidental TriRock Duathlon, and while speaking with some of the members of the Empire Triathlon club; one of them mentioned they were racing in the Prospect Park Duathlon the following Sunday, which also happened to be Mother’s Day.
I had pretty much decided on the spot that I was going to do this race, to work on improving my 5k time off the bike, and to work on and speed up my transitions.  The week went by, and I finally pulled the trigger on Saturday night and officially registered for the 3mile run, 14 mile bike, and 3mile run.I realized that my basic instinct has become to race. I was a competitive athlete growing up, and lost that part of myself for quite a while as I adjusted to a new way of life. I have found that passion again in racing, and is something I do not intend letting go anytime soon.

The Duathlon started at 730, with transition opening at 6.  I arrived in transition a little behind schedule, but was pleased to see there were not many people there yet; which I would soon realize was the case for the entire race…

My transition setup mode kicked in and I got everything I needed for the race, saw a couple familiar faces from the Empire Tri Club again; and we made our way to the Start Line.  There was a big pre race speech from the Director, because the course had changed significantly due to construction being done in Prospect Park.  We all got our instructions down, “If you find yourself in the middle of a Farmer’s market, you’ve strayed off course.”

The gun went off, and I quickly found myself towards the back of the pack due to my foot speed, but kept my pace mindful.  I was feeling pretty good as I approached the 2 ½ mile mark, so increased my speed a bit as I pulled into T1.  With the struggle I had the week prior with forgetting to put on my wrist brace, I made sure to think of this as I cruised in.  However, my hand was fairly tight from the run, and was clenched pretty tight; as is my norm during strenous activity.  I was finally able to get the brace on (Which I have since decided to lose for Sprint Distance Races), and ran out of transition, hopped on my bike and was off.
The bike course of this race consisted of 4 laps of the 3 ½ mile loop of Prospect Park.  It was a relatively easy ride, with only 1 hill to climb in the beginning of the loop. It wasn’t a hard hill to climb, just annoying to have to do it over 4 times in a row…the International distance racers would have to do that course loop 9 times!  no thanks…
I pushed my pace throughout, and as I pulled into T2 my legs were feeling tired and heavy, which was not a good sign. I brushed it off, threw on my sneakers and CAF visor and was off running.  I felt much more comfortable in transition this time around, knowing the plan in my head and what I had to execute. My legs were immediately slow, and I made it about ½ mile in when I reached in my pocket for my Energy gu, only to realize I must have not put it in my pocket or had fallen out.  Luckily at the next aid station, they had a gel I could take, which helped.  My pace was slow, and I struggled through, but kept pushing myself to the finish line.
Duathlons are tough man, they put some serious tax on your legs, but it’s great training to transfer over to triathlons.At the end of the day I finished under my time goal, which I was happy about; but my 5k time was still much slower than where I want it to be.  However, I did learn an invaluable lesson in this race though, and that is nutrition!
During this race, the only hydration and nutrition I had was an electrolyte drink in T1 and T2, and the gel I took on the run.  Since I’m not at the point where I can balance and drink fluids on the bike, I get very dehydrated, and never get enough to replenish while rushing through transition. So for Paratriathlon National Championships coming up this weekend in Austin, TX, I’ve formulated a plan with a mixture of Salt Sticks, Honey Stingers, and Gu gels to help propel me through the race, and give me fresh legs on the run.  It’s not something I’ve raced with yet, but have used these products in training the past week to test how my body reacts; and it did so favorably.
Nationals is only 6 days away, it’s time to show what you’re worth…

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