(Photo courtesy of PARA ENDURANCE)
Earlier this year, I was made aware of the first-ever all Adaptive Triathlon and Camp. At the time, it was scheduled for April and I already had commitments. But then it was rescheduled to September, which meant I could attend!
After the introductions and check in at the hotel, we headed to a local pool. While it was great to be in cool water, the pool went very heavy-handed on the chlorine. It was so bad that I had to stop evry 50 yards to clear out my mouth. While this created some interesting challenges, Paul helped me through them. We also had the opportunity and privilege to learn from two-time Paralympian Kyle Coon.
After about ninety minutes in the pool, we transitioned to a run session along the paths around the pool. After doing some drills and short runs in the heat, we broke for the day.
After a very long dinner (due to slow service times) and sleep, Day 2 started out with a run session in the Texas heat. From what I was told, it was 101 degrees with 80%+ humidity. So it was like running in a sheet of water. Really not the most fun — especially when the run workout included tempo work. While it definitely wasn’t ‘fun’, I made it through. And the experience would pay off later on…
After a break, we transitioned to being on the bike. I’m extremely grateful that House of Tandems came up from Houston to provide bikes and support for the camp. I would not have been able to participate without their support!
We started out with some basic riding and drills, eventually transitioning into turns. Even though it’s been more than two years, I still have some residual issues from the crash in May 2022. So when we went into a turn too sharply, I felt anxiety creep in. After a brief stop and talking through things with Paul, we headed back out with the group. I was comfortable enough to do a ‘tandem Grey Poupon’ later in the session.
After lunch and a break, we headed into the lake for the first of the open water swims. This was the first time using the new tether that Andrew had made for me after someone walked off with my old one at PT Nationals. This first session gave Paul and me an opportunity to refine the tether while also working on communication and stroke.
Day 3 was a shorter one, which started with another open water swim followed by transition practice. Things seemed to go better with the second swim, and the transitions seemed good. After a long break in the hotel, we headed to a pre-race banquet / presentation.
As part of the camp welcome bag, there was a personal letter from the Mayor of Pflugerville. This was very nice, and something that I had not seen at the multitude of camps / races I had been at before. During the dinner, members of the City Council joined us. It was very nice to see the entire city behind Scott’s efforts!
Going into race morning, I was prepared to finish the season strong. This was my last outdoor Triathlon for the year, and my last Tri until the indoor ones in early 2025.
The race start was done with each of us starting 5-10 seconds after one another. I ended up being the first in the water, and the swim went well. Even with the time from swim out to the T1 line, I was on target with where I wanted to be.
After a T1 that was roughly half of most of my 2024 times, we headed out on the tandem. The season had started with hills in TN, so it was only fitting that it ended with hills in TX… While we were aware of ‘two large hills’ going in, they didn’t mention the other 10-15 that were out there… But even with all those hills, we still managed a respectable 17 mph. So all the frustration in the Knoxville hills (including when we were at 1.9 mph on a 9%+ grade) paid off!
After a solid T2 that was in line with most of my other 2024 T2s, we headed out for a run in the Texas heat. Up until that point, there had been some cloud cover, so it hadn’t been that bad. While I don’t remember the first 2 miles, I can tell you about the last mile. At that point, I was hurting and wanting to just give in. But Paul helped to continually push me. Having water bottles at the second aid station was also crucial, as it allowed us to have a steady water source for that last part.
While there were a couple of bumps, I felt it was the most solid race I’ve had in a while. The icing on the cake was having Kyle put the race medal around my neck. Hopefully I’ll be able to find that photo.
Thank you to Scott for the opportunity and all of the volunteers and support people that helped to make it possible. Thanks again to House of Tandems for ensuring that we all had tandems. And thanks to Paul for guiding and Para Guide for all their support!
