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US Nationals Video

Mon, 2 Aug 2010 09:22:00 -0700

Fantastic video put together by the folks at USA Triathlon. It showcases what Paratriathlon is all about and shows highlights from the recent race in NYC, the Paratriathlon Nationals. There’s even a couple of random clips of me interspersed, but luckily, no on-camera stammering.

video del campeonato nacional
Este video fue producido por nuestra federación nacional de triatlón, USA Triathlon. Realmente da un buen homenaje al deporte de Paratriatlón y el movimiento paralímpico. Está en ingles, pero muestra imagenes bastante fuertes de la prueba que se llevó a cabo el mes pasado en Nueva York. Tal vez verán un par de imagenes de mi por ahi, pero menos mal no abrí la boca en ningún momento.

RACE #3: Dextro London

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:36:54 -0700

So, being so far from home to race a super-sprint race, I decided to sign up for the ablebodied, Olympic distance (1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run) Dextro London Triathlon, taking place the following day. I had fairly low expectations considering that in the last week, I’d already raced twice on two different continents (Nationals in NY and Paralympic Super Sprint in London). Unable to repair the flat tire on my super speedy disk wheel, I had to borrow a rear wheel from one of the elites. Super-speedy badass Olympic hopeful Jenna Shoemaker was really cool and lent me one of her Zipp wheels for the race since she had already raced the women’s Elite race on Saturday.

Unlike the earlier race in London, here I was just one of the general public. There was no disabled division... just the age-group race. As such, there was no VIP treatment, no special transition zone... here I was just one of the 2000 athletes competing.

Despite being my third race in 7 days and a race with no particular consequence (not a qualifier, national or world championship) and with no disabled competitors, I had a very good race.

The swim: usually my worst discipline, I actually came out of the water first in my wave... that’s never happened before, and definitely not in the able bodied races. Granted, I may have lucked out with a slow wave (they were waves of 100 or so), but still, it was quite a surprise. Usually I follow someone and hope that that someone knows where they’re going. This time, I had to actually sight and I was able to stay right up against the buoys.

The bike: I had a phenomenal bike. I was the fifth fastest cyclist overall in my able bodied age group. I managed to push hard without overdoing it for the run, which has always been a challenge for me.

The run: The 4 lap course was actually pretty flat and the weather was cooperative. I ran my 3rd fastest 10k ever in this race despite “dead legs.”

This was a good race and a great tune-up for World’s in Budapest in September.

Prueba #3: Dextro London
Yendo tan lejos de casa para correr una prueba super-sprint, me inscribí en un triatlón abierto sin categoría de discapacitados. No tenía expectativas muy elevadas siendo que iba ser mi tercera prueba en 7 días a traves de dos continentes (el campeonato nacional en NY el domingo pasado y la prueba paralímpica el día anterior en Londres). Con mi rueda super-aerodinámica chata del día anterior, me presto su rueda Zipp, la campeona y candidata Olimpica de triatlón para los EEUU, Jenna Shoemaker. Super simpatica y una de las triatletas mas fuertes del mundo.

Esta prueba se llevo a cabo sin ninguno trato especial como la del día anterior. Era una carrera abierta a todo el público y no contaba con áreas especiales de transición. Solo yo y mas de 2000 otros competidores (sin discapacidad).

A pesar de haber sido mi tercera prueba en 7 dias y siendo una prueba sin consecuencia (no es una prueba calificadora nacional ni mundial) y sin competencia paralímpica... me fue bastante bien.

La nadada: por primera vez en mi vida, salí del agua en primer lugar en mi agrupación de mas o menos cien atletas. Dejé atras todos los otros atletas y tuve que navegar por mi cuenta (lo cual no es una fortaleza mia). Me quede pegadito a las boyas y no me desorienté como en otras pruebas.

La rodada en bici: Me fue fenomenal en esta etapa. Fui el quinto ciclista mas rápido en mi agrupación de edad (35-39) entre todos los atletas sin discapacidad. Mantuve una velocidad rápida pero sin cansar mis piernas para la etapa corrida.

La corrida: fue mi tercera mejor corrida de 10km desde que empece a hacer triatlones, a pesar de las piernas muertas.

Me fue bien y siento que fue un buen ensayo para el mundial que va ser en Budapest en Septiembre.

London Paratriathlon: Gold

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 06:52:41 -0700

So USAT sent four of us to race in London a week after the NY Triathlon. The race is part of the Dextro World Championship Series and took place on the same course as the future 2012 Olympics race. There were 40+ paratriathletes representing a dozen or so countries. In reality, the race is meant to be a showcase for Paratriathlon which helps the cause of getting the sport into the Paralympics.

USAT was kind enough to have us piggyback with the elite Olympian triathletes who are currently competing to win a spot on the US Olympic team for the London 2012 Olympics. Great bunch of young athletes. As a result we had access to a great bike mechanic (thanks Todd) as well as a fulltime massage therapist and chiropractor.

At the race, we got to use the same transition zone as the elites... names like Jarrod Shoemaker and his super-cool sister, Jenna. It was really cool to have our own elite transition zone with our names and countries represented at our transition spot. The race organizers treated us great.

My race went very well, despite having gotten a flat tire at the beginning of this super-sprint race (400m swim, 10k bike, 3k run). I heard a hissing sound at the beginning of the bike leg and just kept going since my tire did not appear flat. Luckily, the bike course was very short and so I was able to finish the leg before my back wheel was completely flat. Completed the entire race in around 35 minutes beating out my competitors and getting to the top of the podium.

It was a heck of a long way to go for such a short race, but luckily, I had signed up for the able-bodied, age group race the next day, which was an Olympic distance race.

LONDRES PARATRIATLÓN
La federación de triatlón estadounidense (USAT) me mandó a mi y a tres otros para-atletas para competir en una carrera super-corta, aquí en Londres. La prueba se llevó a cabo en la misma pista donde se llevaría a cabo la prueba en las Olimpiadas de Londres en 2012. Hubieron mas de 40 atletas de mas de una docena de países. El propósito de la prueba era para demostrar la capacidad y amplitud del campo de atletas con discapacidad para así poder realizar la entrada del deporte en los juegos Paralímpicos.

La USAT nos trató con gentileza y formamos parte del equipo elite de atletas olímpicos quienes están compitiendo para calificar para los juegos olímpicos de Londres 2012. Unos jóvenes bien talentosos y simpáticos. Tuvimos uso del mecánico oficial y el masajista y quiropractor del equipo.

En la carrera pudimos usar la misma zona de transición que usaron los élites. Realmente bárbaro tener nuestra propia area de transición con nombres y países representados en cada puesto (como en la foto de arriba).

Me fue bastante bien, a pesar de haberme pinchado una llanta. Como era tan cortita la prueba “super-sprint” (400m natación, 10k en bici y 3k corridos) pude completar la etapa ciclistica antes de que mi llanta estuviera completamente chata. Completé la prueba en mas o menos 35 minutos, ganándole a mi competencia y obteniendo el primer puesto en el podio.

Era realmente un largo viaje para hacer una prueba tan cortita, asi que aproveché de inscribirme en la prueba del siguiente dia... un triatlón de distancia olimpica abierto a todo el público (sin discapacidad).

Paratriathlon Nationals: Gold

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 05:14:09 -0700

Sorry for the lack of updates... been a little busy with life, my business, kids and training. This last weekend, I was in NYC to compete in the Paratriathlon National Championships. As always, the race was well organized and fun, with lots of activities before, during and after the race.

To quickly recap the race, I will say that I am satisfied with my first place finish. It was a tough race though and I probably had the worst performance I’ve had in a long time. Here’s the breakdown of each leg:

The swim: Really shanked this one. The swim portion is in the Hudson and the currents really help you out, provided you swim far enough out. Every year the organizers time drop a bag of cheetos into the river and time how fast it arrives. My mistake was to swim too close to the banks of the river. I was trying to navigate by following another swimmer... and this swimmer was staying too far left. My navigation skills are not great. As a result, my time was 2:30 minutes slower than last year, despite having record swims recently. When you’re beat out of the water by two one-armed guys, you know you’re not doing something right.

The bike: here, I made one crucial error. When I run from the water to the transition area, I use my running leg, which, being an older socket, requires two layers of socks to keep it snug on my residual limb. My bike leg (created by my sponsor, Scope Prosthetics) is a new socket and has a snug fit that does NOT require a layer of socks. In the transition to the bike leg, I forgot to remove the two layers of socks, so now my stump was squeezed mercilessly into the socket for the entire run. The stump cramped up badly and my power output dropped significantly. I’m a strong cyclist these days, but the pain in my stump/calf really prevented me from consistently applying power to the pedals.

The run: Well, here, I simply suffered due to the effects of the 95 degree heatwave, which I believe everyone probably suffered from. The cramping stump didn’t help and my run was 5 minutes slower than last year. While I beat all the other leg amputees, when compared to the age groupers, I dropped in ranking from 8th overall last year to 16th this year.

Next weekend, I’m in London to do 2 races, similar to last year. A Paralympic exhibition (super sprint) and an Olympic distance open age-group race.

Paratriatlón, campeonato
Para resumir, en breve... me fue bien en esta prueba, el campeonato nacional de paratriatlón. Aunque gané, tuve una carrera muy mediocre, sufriendo de los estragos del calor del verano niuyorkino (35˚ C o 95 F). En la etapa de natación, no nadé lo suficiente lejos de la orilla del río, lo cuál me quitó una ventaja muy importante en esta carrera... la corriente que se pone mas fuerte lo mas alejado que está uno de la orilla. Perdí casi 2.5 minutos comparado al año pasado. El calor me bajó el rendimiento en las etapas corridas y ciclisticas, donde obtuve tiempos mas lentos comparado a los últimos años.

Ahora estoy en camino a Londres donde voy a competir en dos pruebas, una exhibición paralímpica y una abierta. Les aviso como me va.

Competitors - Sport Radio Show

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:20:22 -0800

Bob Babbitt. publisher of Competitor Magazine, huge supporter of disabled athletics and officially titled “Funky Dude” asked me to come on his show last week. We chatted for half an hour about all kinds of things, including my latest race at Surf City Marathon. He asked some pretty personal questions about the nature of my accident and my recovery which I was more than happy to answer. He is a hell of an interviewer and a helluva guy too. Click here to download the interview in MP3 form. You can go to the competitor radio site and listen online as well. Incredibly, I was humbled to see one of my marathon heroes interviewed the next week: Ryan Hall, one of the greatest American marathoners and one of our hopes to see some medals in the Olympics.

Click here to download the interview in MP3 form
Sigan este enlace para bajar en forma MP3

ENTREVISTA DE RADIO
Bob Babbitt, fundador e editor de la revista Competitor Magazine (una de las revistas deportivas mas conocidas en el pais) me entrevistó la semana pasada para su programa de radio, The Competitors (los competidores). Platicamos por media hora acerca de cualquier cantidad de cosas, incluyendo a temas personales relacionadas a mi accidente y recuperación y la última prueba en la Maratón de Surf City. Bob es un tremendo tipo y un muy buen entrevistador. Sigan este enlace para bajarlo en forma de MP3 (inglés). También pueden ir directamente a la página de su show aquí.

Increiblemente, la siguiente semana entrevistaron a uno de mis heroes Americanos del maratón, Ryan Hall, maratonista olímpico y poseedor del record Americano de maratón.