Desert Challenge Games

In May, I was in Tempe, Arizona for the Desert Challenge Games.  It was a very cool experience.  In my racing career, I had only done road races, so this was the first time that I participated in a track event.  Besides the hours of practice that dad and I spent on the track in preparation for this event, the only other experience I had on the track was at track camp at the University of Illinois in the summer of 2014.  Another new experience for me while in Arizona was being nationally classified, which I explained in an earlier post.

Because of my age, I was placed in the Women's category instead of the girls for most of the races.  All week long I was competing against Hannah McFadden and Cheri Madsen both of whom are former Paralympians going to the Rio time trials.  They pushed me to go faster because they were ahead of me.

I had a few times throughout the week when someone would ask, "What events did you sign up for this week?"  I would reply,  "Well,  I signed up for the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, and 5000m events."  I would then get a look that said "Have you lost your mind?"   It turned out that I was not too crazy because I made my goal and made qualifying times in all of the events for the National Junior Disability Championships.

 My times were as follows.

100m=21.93
200m=40.09
400m=1:13.49
800m=2:38.72
1500m=5:13.81
5000m=18:21.09

A huge thank you to Wyron and Jennifer Bobis, my cousin, who opened their home in Phoenix to all of us for the week of competition.  It was a blessing to have a home to come back to in the evenings rather than a hotel room.  It was also great to get to know them and their kids.

Classification

Last week this time I was in Arizona just finishing my classification appointment.  Paralympic classification groups athletes with similar abilities together to make competition more fair.  For example, it would be totally unfair for someone with an arm impairment to be racing against an athlete with full arm control.  Someone said that the point of classification is to level the starting line.

Being classified was very exciting because it opens more opportunities for me to compete.  In track and field classification, "T" stands for track and "F" stands for field.  There is a a numerical system that keeps all of the types of disability grouped together.  The numbers 11-13 are for blind athletes; 20 is for those with an intellectual impairment; and any number above that is for a physical impairment.  I am in the 50's.  This grouping contains those who are in a wheelchair for competition.

With my disability, I fall very closely between classifications T53 and T54.  The difference between the two is how much abdominal control you have.  I was classified as a T54 because although I do not have full ab control, I would have a distinct advantage over some T53's who have no ab control at all.  Basically,  my advantages as a T53 did not outweigh my disadvantages as a T54.  Although this means that I would have to work harder, it would be totally unfair for my to be in the T53 classification.

Here are some great links:

For more details on classification please see US-Paralympics/Athlete-Classifications.

For more information on track and field classification see US-Paralympics/athlete-classifications/track-and-field/.

Half Marathons

Earlier this year I competed in the Louisville Triple Crown of Running. I wrote about the first two races in a previous post. The last leg of the series was the Papa John's 10 Miler. In the first two races, I won the 5K and the other female competitor Tina Vogel took the 10K. I was very eager to see who would win the 10 Miler because whoever won would take the entire triple crown. Tina was well ahead of me at the finish. I did not pace well because I did not know the course.

We got the chance to compete again at the Kentucky Derby Festival Half Marathon. I wanted to see what I could do because over all our times were very close. I started out ahead of her and stayed ahead for the first two miles. Later she passed me but I thought that that was fine because I had kept her at bay for a long time. About mile eight or nine through the race I saw her round the corner ahead of me. I was surprised because I thought that she was way out in front. I decided that I was going to try to pass her. Slowly, I worked to close the distance between us. About mile eleven I caught up to her. I passed her and stayed ahead. Tina passed me at the last turn because she knew that the finish was right there. We fought down the home stretch and in the end I won by 0.21 seconds! I was thrilled! I found out later that around mile eight she dropped her glove rubber and went back to get it. If that had not happened, I would not have stood a chance.

The next weekend, I raced in the Indy Mini, which had a much larger wheelchair division. There were four female wheelchair competitors from Illinois, which has the best wheelchair racing program in the nation. They got ahead of me and stayed way ahead. During part of the course I got to race around the Indy 500 track and cross over the brick yard. As I was going around, I looked up and on the jumbo-tron I saw a local news station interviewing the first male wheelchair racer to cross the finish line. I thought “I am little more than half way done and he finished and has time to be interviewed.” I fought to finish well. I pushed myself to go hard even though I had not felt well the night before. I finished with the time of 1:13:12 and in fifth place. I thought that it was pretty ironic that I felt slower in that race because I came in fifth even though I had the time of 1:16:09.57 in the Derby Festival Half the week before.

Here are some links:

A news article about the Kentucky Derby Festival Half Marathon:

http://www.wlky.com/news/race-day-live-kentucky-derby-festival-minimarathonmarathon/39286164

Results for the Kentucky Derby Festival Half Marathon:

http://results.xacte.com/?kw=kdf

Results for the Indy Mini:

http://www.indymini.com/p/mini-marathon/miniresults

Great Practice This Week on the Track!

I don't know if some of you know, but West Jessamine High School has allowed us to use their track for practice.  (Thanks, West Jessamine!)  Dad and I try to get out there once a week in addition to our once-a-week road time.  Riding on the track is different than being on the road.  It is more difficult because of the monotony of left turns!  There is no variation in terrain; thus, I have had to learn to pace myself.  I can't push up the hills and then ride down--it's all arms!  Also, staying in track lanes is hard when you are used to riding on the road.  It feels like I go from a 24-foot wide road to a two-inch wide track lane!

If you look at my calendar, you will see that I am planning to go to the Arizona Desert Challenge Games.  (They are in Minnesota--just kidding.)  At this track event, I plan to be nationally classified, which opens opportunities for me to compete in other events such as the National Junior Disability Championships (NJDC) in Madison, Wisconsin, in July!

When we first read the website, we thought that to register for the Desert Challenge Games you had to turn in a qualifying time.  I thought that in order to get an official time, I would have to compete in a high school track meet, which soon became complicated because I am home-schooled.  We tried to find a way for me to compete even if I was just racing by myself, but nothing seemed to be going right.  I asked the Lord why there was so much friction, but I did not get a clear answer. Shortly thereafter, Dad contacted someone out in Arizona.  It turned out that we had it all mixed up. If you make a qualifying time at this event you can qualify for other events.  It was a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders.  I did not have to make a qualifying time in such a short amount of time!

This week the Lord blessed me in a mighty way.  Dad timed me just to see how I was doing.  I pushed the 5,000m and the 1,500m, and I was able to keep a good pace and stay in my lane most of the time.  We were ecstatic when we saw the stopwatch.  I was within the standards for me to be able to go to NJDC!

I was featured in the National Wheelcats 360 newsletter for March.  Check out the link here: http://nebula.wsimg.com/5129da468322a78f1c908bc602628117?AccessKeyId=213057A2F4699C75ACE6&disposition=0&alloworigin=1The Wheelcats have been great.  In the races that I mentioned in my last blog post, the other wheelchair participants were all Wheelcats members.  They do more than the racing.  Please check out their site for more information about their sports opportunities.  (http://www.nationalwheelcats.org/360-newsletter.html)

Faster 10K time

Today, I raced in the Rodes City Run in Louisville, Kentucky.  It is the second race in the Triple Crown of Running.  I chose this race because it has a substantial wheelchair division.  There were five of us total for the first two races.

The starting line at the Rodes City Run

Just before the Anthem 5K Fitness Classic 

I was very glad when I came to the first of the Triple Crown races (the Anthem 5K Fitness Classic) on February 27, because there was another female competitor.  In that race, Tina Vogel and I were very close, but I beat her by only ten seconds.  Today, she beat me by a full three minutes!  Now we are even, and I am looking forward to the last race in the series to see who wins.  I am still glad, even though I
came in second, because I ran my fastest 10K time, (my personal best of 36:24).  That time is a full two minutes faster than my previous record from the Bluegrass 10,000 last summer in Lexington, which was 38:29!  I asked the Lord for a good race, and He has given it to me.

Psalm 65
5 You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,
    God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
    and of the farthest seas,
6 who formed the mountains by your power,
    having armed yourself with strength,
7 who stilled the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    and the turmoil of the nations.
8 The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
    where morning dawns, where evening fades,
    you call forth songs of joy.



Here is the link for the Anthem 5K Fitness Classic:
http://www.anthem5k.com/

Here is a link for results:
http://www.anthem5k.com/results.php

Here is the link for the Rodes City Run website:
http://www.rodescityrun.com/#!home/mainPage

Here is a link for results:
https://results.chronotrack.com/event/results/event/event-14382?entryID=

Calender

If you look to the right on my main blog, you will find a calendar widget.  I will do my best to keep it updated, for you know where I am and what I have been doing.  Each event includes the name of the race, the location of the race, and a website, so you can check it out for yourself.  Check back for more updates!