Training in California

I was shocked to I receive an invitation to train at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center (formerly the Olympic Training Center).  I was able to clear my scheduled and I flew out on April 5.  It was a blast.  I felt so honored to be around so many Paralympians.  My roommate was Alexa Halko, who won three medals in Rio.  Others who were there included Paralympians Cheri Madsen, Erik Hightower, Gianfranco Iannotta, Rachel Morrison, David Brown, Markeith Price, Mikey Brannigan, Ayden Jent, Femita Ayanbeku among others.  It was normal there to sit down at lunch with world record holders.  It was fun introducing myself all week long.  We trained twice a day almost every day.  There were reminders all over the campus that this was where the Olympic and Paralympic team trained.  After the intense training, we headed to the Mt. SAC Relays.  It was nice to race the same people that I had been training next to all week long.

Mountains

More Mountains

The Track

The Beach in LA

Proof that I was there

Surgery, Recovery, and Beyond

Dear Blog Followers,

In my last blog I very briefly mentioned that I had surgery in August.  I was forced to take three months out of my racing chair to mend up.  At the time, I was very disheartened and very ready to get back to racing.  I went from getting five golds and a silver at Junior Nationals in July to not being able to pick things up off the floor the day after surgery.  Although I knew that recovery takes time, I missed my freedom and mobility in daily living.  

At first, being back in my racing chair was hard because I had to fight to get back to the level of athleticism that I had previously achieved.  I am now making times similar to those I made this time last year.  In fact, I just finished up the Louisville Triple Crown of running (5k,10k, and 10-miler spaced two weeks apart).  Yesterday, I surpassed my time that I made last year at the Papa John’s 10-miler by six minutes!.  I am looking forward to what all the Lord has for me in this next season.  

I am a high school senior this year and am looking to head off to college next year.  This simple fact means I am very busy,  and I have been struggling to find time to write blog posts.  I want to keep in touch, though, and I needed to share with you about an amazing email I received last week:  I have been invited to the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center for a track and field camp.  I leave Wednesday, April 5, and will return Sunday, April 16.  I will let you know about it when I get back!

Aerelle

Fun Mail

Over the summer, there was a lot that happened.  However, I am behind in updating you on those events.  One of the bigest things is that on August 19 I had a neck fusion.  Because I have been recovering from surgery, I have been out of my racing chair for the past three months.  I am now to the point in recovery where I am very ready to get back into racing.  While I have been out of my chair, we have been making modifications in my seating position.  A huge thanks to local artist Tim Vetters and also Sterling Tool and Die for their big part in that.  As I am nearing the end of my long break, the Lord has blessed me with some encouragement.

When I saw the return address, I knew it was going to be fun:

I was NOT expecting what was enclosed.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:5-6)

Thanks be to the Lord! I am very blessed to receive this award.  He gave this to me.  I pushed myself on the track for His glory, and He has let me know that He is proud of me. 

See the link below for more information on the award.

http://www.teamusa.org/US-Paralympics/Features/2016/October/19/2016-US-Paralympics-Track-and-Field-High-School-All-Americans-Announced

Endeavor Games, Edmond, Oklahoma

The Endeavor Games were held the second week of June in Edmond, Oklahoma.  Boy, was it hot and humid!  Thanks to my uncle and cousins who live nearby who came and endured the heat with us.

This event is one of the largest multi-sport, parasport events in the US.  There were more that ten sports available in which to compete. The motto was pretty much, "Just sign up and try it!  Why not?"  I was able to participate in an air rifle clinic.  If I get the chance, I'd love to try that again.

My track times were not as strong as they were in Arizona at the Desert Challenge, but I think the heat had me beat.  I was able to meet younger athletes and cheer them on, as well as some
seasoned coaches who cheered me on!  I had a blast watching and learning about sports that I have never tried before like powerlifting and sitting volleyball.  I watched my new friend, Liberty Freeman, swim her way to five gold medals, and I think I will be seeing her again in Toyko in 2020.  Here is her story:  http://tucson.com/sports/liberty-s-motto-i-m-gonna-beat-you/article_80bd6e2e-a899-5f54-ac29-f96007418aeb.html?mobile_touch=true

Many veterans were present at this particular event, and it was an honor to meet them and see the determination and poise with which they conducted themselves.

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