Challenged Athletes Foundation Triathlon Camp, sponsored by Dodge
I’ve just returned from Pensacola, FL, where the Challenged Athletes Foundation staged a camp for newbie paratriathletes. It was an honor to be invited as a mentor/coach along other seasoned vets like Amy Dodson, Scott Hollenbeck and Sarah Reinertsen.
Twenty or so men and women of various disabilities (many below-knee amps, aka trans-tibial or BK like me) took up the offer for the all-expense paid trip to the white sandy beaches to learn from certified triathlon coaches and several of us who have already put in thousands of miles. Several from the group were injured in the conflicts overseas, and, as I’ve mentioned before, that’s where the true reward is: being able to help those who’ve sacrificed so much for the rest of us. “Wounded Warriors” has become the popular moniker. (Can’t tell you how often I’m asked if I’m an injured vet!)
The accommodations couldn’t have been better than that of The Portofino at Pensacola Beach. My 14th floor condo overlooking the ocean was a real surprise—we’re typically housed on more of a budget, but I suppose these condos were sponsored to some degree by the management. A fabulous dinner started things off on Thursday night along with introductions of staff, mentors and campers. Breakfast was served 6am sharp and by 8am, after building our bikes and going over bike fitting and prosthetic issues, the BKs were on the treadmill for gate analysis and the other groups were either in the pool or on the bikes.
I was not there so much to coach as to be the example of how to it should be done, or as close to ideal as I could manage. Even my bad habits have improved over the years! One of the coaches, Sorgio Borges of X Training, put me on the treadmill first to demonstrate proper form: slight lean forward, not bent at waist; loose shoulders and arms, latter in tight; quick, light foot strikes; head looking 8-10 feet ahead; etc. Many of the others had great running strides already, some of whom were still running on walking legs—no Ossur Run-Flex feet (C-shaped carbon) most of us are now on. They still ran great and have nowhere to go but faster and smoother.
It didn’t take long to take a liking to Kent Solheim, an Army Green Beret who lost his lower leg to a close-quartered fire-fight in Iraq. I hope I am at liberty to quote him: “I’d shot one guy from about 10 ft, then stood over him and capped him, just then his buddy came from another room and put four bullets though my legs.” Man…hard to even comprehend.
Later that day were in the pool for swim-stroke analysis. This was good stuff for me too. As of late, with a return to the water after not spending much time at all in there in the past few years, one of the Boulder YMCA coaches has been helping me to slow down my stroke and stretch out a little more. In the pool this week was Mike Garlan from Asphalt Green in NYC and Coach John Murray from the Multisport Performance Institute in Pensacola. Each were fabulous instructors whose tips will surely benefit my future competitions. Mike put my middle fingers “on rails” (unbeknownst to me I’ve been S-stroking) and John got me “reaching over the barrel” to grab more water. Each of these theories of proper technique I am familiar with, but little did I know I wasn’t executing them properly. These faults were proven in the underwater video clips they provided me on DVD, which I watched earlier on this flight back to Denver. (And my single leg kick has been grossly inefficient, bending nearly 30 degrees creating massive drag!)
That night myself and Eric Averill, a Boston resident, fellow Boston Bruins fan, and VP at USA Triathlon headed down to the local sports bar with a gazillion TVs to watch the Bs complete their sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers and move on to the Eastern Conference Finals! GO Bs!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our training grounds at Pensacola Beach were a 200 meter wide strip of land that extends east of Pensacola with the Gulf of Mexico to the south and Pensacola Bay to the north. On Saturday morning we were on the bay side practicing open water swim technique. Several of the campers had never swam in open water. One camper, Earl Barnes, a firefighter who’d lost his leg on a murdercycle, is a former college swimmer and showed me the line around the buoys and back. I later found out he could ride a bike too!
From there we went straight to a local middle school track to work on run form drills and knock off descending 200s. My first track workout in forever! Felt good. Loyal Pyczynski, A 25ish-year old congenital hand amputee—built like a runner—ran away with the “fastest guy at camp” award.
After the Subway sponsored lunch and some lectures from the MPI staff, we headed out for out ride, broken up into groups based on ability. The more experienced guys and gals rode 13.5 miles out to the end of the peninsula and back. Things had started to wind up toward the half way point and it was soon made clear that Kent had also ridden before. Turns out before joint the army, putting on lots of muscle mass and becoming a member of the Special Forces, he was a Cat 1 cyclist!
On the return trip, into the wind, two of the guys—understandably, the two above-knee amputees—had gotten dropped from the pace. Since I was there as a mentor, I wouldn’t have been much of one had I left them out to dry, so I hung back and began pulling them back to the hotel. Soon thereafter Coach John came back and helped with the work. Then the bottomless pit of energy and chatter known as Peter Harsch—prosthetist at the San Diego Navy Medical facility, builder of several of these boys’ legs, and tremendously talented Ironman athlete—came back to us along with Coach Mike Sortino of MPI to help get everyone home. Shortly thereafter Peter, Mike and John lit it up off the back and began hammering it home. I hesitated, feeling I must hang with the other two, then it occurred to me that these two grown men behind me could ride a few miles home by themselves; I took off on chase. I’d waited too long and couldn’t catch them (as much as assumed I would!) but did get in 12 minutes of max time trial training!
That was pretty much the end of the program for me but one matter remained: I had to get to the beach mere steps away from my hotel and swim in the gulf. After an unexpected cat-nap, I crossed the road and was both reminded and amazed at how clear and beautiful and perfect the water is there! I swam for spell, then hurried back to grab a quick shower and catch the boat to dinner.
Up at 4:30 on Sunday morning for my return to Colorado and Mother’s Day brunch at the fabulous Green Briar Restaurant at the bottom of Left hand Canyon, a few miles north of Boulder, just down the road from where my dad built a house in 1972.
I think you might agree, life is what you make of it.
Center for the Intrepid
The Challenged Athletes Foundation has a program called Operation Rebound designated to assist disabled/injured US military personnel in reaching their athletic goals, whatever they might be. CAF was asked to conduct a triathlon clinic for the current patients at Brooks Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. This clinic took place May 20-21 at the Center for the Intrepid, the state-of-the art prosthetic and rehab facility on base. Facilitators of the program were myself, Carlos Moleda, a former Navy SEAL shot in the back during the Granada invasion of 1983 and the Hawaiian Ironman wheelchair division world record holder, and Evan Morgan, a 25-year old Marine who lost both legs and vision in his right eye in Iraq before becoming a competitive triathlete.
In the midst of single and double below-knee amputees, single and double above-knee amps, below knee/above knee amps, arm amps, triple amps, and severely burned, one can’t help but be humbled and awed by the sacrifices these individuals have made. Mine was the only civilian injury in the group of 30 or so in the room and the honor of being part of this was certainly not lost on me. I’d like to extend a sincerely “thank you” to Nico Marcolongo of CAF for including me on this trip.
It was great to see these guys and gals get in the water with open minds eager to learn. For the most part they had no true swimming skills, yet 90 minutes later most of them had improved ten fold. Some had not been in the water since their injury and yet, save one, they showed no fear or hesitation. They listened when critiqued, applied the lesson the next lap and left the water with a sincere appreciation for their new skills and understanding of the theory behind freestyle swimming.
That afternoon the BK’s and arm amps rode standard bikes and pretty much everyone else was introduced to handcycles. Carlos handled the latter instruction while I talked up the basics for competitive cycling. Unlike swimming, everyone knows how to ride a bike with some degree of control. I found it difficult in this short lesson to impart any practical techniques to them because once we got out on the road to ride they all rode their pace and enjoyed the beautiful afternoon, and without proper pedals, ie, without being “attached,” proper technique is hard to accomplish anyway. So we all just went out and got sunburned.
The next day we worked on running and nearly every participant had a proper run prosthesis, which made it very easy to evaluate gates and offer practical advice. Like the time spent in the pool, all the soldiers listened, applied and improved.
While the chance to offer years of experience to a well-deserving audience was certainly rewarding, the most thrilling part of the trip was sitting around after wrapping things up and hearing the stories that led us all there to begin with.
