2008 White House to Lighthouse Soldier Ride

DAY 3
The day started way too early. Breakfast was at 7:30, but since Fox news was doing a special on the soldier ride at 8:00 I lucked out since we hung around to see what they said. The news coverage was well done although the focus was mostly on the president rather than on the soldiers. But we got airtime and they posted the WWP URL at the bottom of the screen. By the way, it's www.woundedwarrior.org.


We started the ride at the Baltimore Harbor, probably the nicest part of Baltimore I've ever seen. Another day of riding took us along the Greenway (some of it very nice and other parts going through neighborhoods that were a little questionable). The local Park Rangers and some cops were leading the way, although it wasn't the escort service we had experienced the day before. They did their best and we filled in where needed to to block the road and keep all of our guys together. I again stayed near the back of the pack talking to a Sergeant Major with the National Guard. I have met all kinds of people on these rides and each person has a unique and interesting story. This particular guy travelled regularly and, like me, enjoyed the exposure to other cultures. We compared the places we'd both been and made suggestions to each other about other "must-see" destinations.

We hit our first stop around 11:00 in a beautiful wooded area with a large gazebo. There were people handing out snacks and Gatorade, and it was situated right by an old folks assisted living facility, where the residents had made "Thank you soldiers" signs. A group had congregated outside to wave and cheer as we road past on to our next destination, which was not far down the road. No, really, not far down the road at all. I had practically just clipped into my pedals when we came to another halting stop just down the street. Another community group had prepared a substantial lunch for all of us. It was already our 3rd meal of the day, but we were gracious and ate as much as we could.

The coolest part of this stop was talking to one of the soldiers about his experience in the handcycle. I really hadn't had a chance to try it out before so he let me take his around the parking lot a couple of times after lunch. My arms were burning, my shirt was covered in chain grease, and I swear I still have bruises on my hips where the handles would hit if you tried to turn to hard. It was rather difficult to maneuver, and just as hard to power. I can say that it was definitely a good upper body workout.

After lunch we continued our ride. I gave my arms a break and let my legs do all of the work since they're used to it. I moved up to the front of the group in response to some heckling from the some of the soldiers who seemed to think I was making a poor showing as a triathlete at this event. I was socializing, not racing, but they didn't see it that way. To some people, everything is a competition. So I road up towards the front and hung around these guys, dodging their antics (ie: squirting me with their water bottle and throwing leaves in my face) until I finally dropped back to socialize some more. I finished yet another ride at the back of the pack.



Exhaustion struck when we got to our final stop for the day. It was a nice little park off the highway in Annapolis and it was hard not to lie down and pass out. But we weren't there long and in no time the support staff had loaded up the bikes and we were headed to our hotel downtown. Again, another tempting place to lie down and pass out. My hotel bed was calling my name. Instead, I showered and dressed for the Officers Club, which was hosting the WWP guys that evening.

Although dinner came out really slowly, we passed the time with pitcher after pitcher coming to our table from some of the veterans at the club. It was an appreciated gesture although when the 4th pitcher was set down on our 6 person table we were started to lose interest. Hence, the picture below.

That picture says it all for the rest of the night really!

2008 White House to Lighthouse Soldier Ride

DAY 2
We were getting an early start to the day so I woke up at around 6:00 to pack up my things before heading down to the lobby. Once I got down there it was pretty much a complete anti-climatic scence since I seemed to be the only one down there. Plus, since we were all dressed up for the White House ceremony, I couldn't tell who was with WWP and who was not (we were at the Hilton, everyone was dressed up)!

I had been to Walter Reed once before, but it's like a maze from hell so I knew my way around no better than if I'd never been there before. If you take a wrong turn, you can count on there being a dead end ahead. Not just a dead-end though. A dead-end with so many cars parked on each side of the street that you have to back down the entire road just so you can turn around. Then once you've turned around you're no better off because there is still no parking. I watched as my gas gauge dropped an 1/8 of a tank (3 gallons) just looking for parking. That's about $12 these days in gas. And I didn't even go anywhere. But once I'd parked, I turned over the driving to someone else and didn't have to set foot in front of a steering wheel for the next 4 days.


We hit the usual traffic driving down to DC on a weekday morning, but we got to the Capitol in time for a decent tour. It was rather uneventful and my thoughts had quickly skipped past the tour and on to lunch since I had missed (chosen not to pay $12 for) breakfast that morning. Lunch was finally served out of the back of one of the vans on the lawn behind the Capitol building. A delicious boxed lunch with the typical tasteless sandwich, greasy chips, and tempting cookie. Yum.

At this point it was still only noon and time to head to the White House. Security was tight although compared to what I'd been expecting it was like walking into a public museum in New York. I have a harder time getting through security at most airports.



Once into the north wing we were escorted to Mr. President's private tennis courts where our bikes were waiting. We were asked to change quickly so that we could get the ceremony rehearsal underway, which was relaly just another way to ask us to hurry up so that we could then sit and wait. We did a lot of waiting. And rehearsing. By about 2:00 they were ready to begin the event. Condolezza Rice gave a very nice speech. Then there was more waiting. Then President Bush went up on stage to give a speech and shake each of the soldier's hands. I took pictures. Lots of them! Then the horn was tooted and we started the 2008 White House to Lighthouse Challenge.

The first ride took us through downtown DC with a police escort that stopped traffic in all directions. There were a lot of unhappy drivers, but it was pleasant enough. I hung out in the back and got to know a couple people as we road along through DC to our first stop, which ironically enough was back at Walter Reed. One of the guys was having real problems with his stumps, so unfortunately he decided to stop riding at that point. I tried to persuade him otherwise, but he was done. Everyone else was doing well even though, for most of these guys, this was their first time back on a bike since their limb loss. They had been unfazed by the hills we tackled just 20 minutes into the ride. One of the guy's handcycle's handle broke, but he managed to climb the hill with the only handle left and still stay near the front of the pack.

After our relaxing break at Walter Reed we started our ride again, making our way towards Baltimore. We kept up a decent pace and hit the final stop (at the top of a massive hill) just in time for dinner. Perfect timing since the U-Haul facility there was throwing us a huge BBQ party. I finally got to sit down and talk to a couple of the guys, hear their stories, and tell them why I had joined them on this ride. Yes, I am an amputee, yes, I have done Ironman (2X), and yes, I am still completely awe-struck at the resiliency of most of these guys who are ready to get back out on the front line even though they aren't even out of their check-sockets yet.

Not all of the guys were amputees. Some of them were in wheelchairs. Other guys had lost function in a limb although it was still intact and semi-functional. Although I couldn't provide them same resources and advice to them, there was still an understanding there, a connection, that we were coming from the same place. Every day they woke up they had to face the same challenges again; the same pain and the same limitations. Brian joked that he'd never been a runner before and after losing function in his leg he'd never be a runner in the future. But he had a passion for handcycling after just one day in the chair and was already talking about competitive handcycle events. One door may close, but another will open. Go find the open door and walk through it.

I was exhausted by the time we got to the hotel, but some of the guys were going out for a beer. I couldn't pass that up. That's soldier ride. Too much beer and too little sleep. So we headed out to a bar, pulling up in the wrapped WWP van. Who would've thought that would initiate a night of free pitchers and shots on the bar owner who wanted to show his support for the event. Thanks Pickles. You're the reason I drank a lot more than I planned on.

2008 White House to Lighthouse Soldier Ride

DAY 1
I left Durham at 5:00 PM to begin the drive to DC. I was excited and also a little nervous about this soldier ride - my third one. Who knew who I'd know, if anyone, or how my presence at the ride would be perceived. I'd been invited again as a guest rider because, having been an amputee my entire life, I've had a lot of experience dealing with prosthetics and making connections in the industry. Let's just say, I know people. Well, kind of.

A quick stop in DC to meet up with some old college buddies and then I was off to Silver Springs, MD. Having just missed the last call at the bar, which meant everyone had headed to their rooms already, and I was left alone to check in. I started to pull under the overhang at the Hilton, which led to the parking garage, mostly just to get off the street so that I wouldn't hold up any traffic. I was met by a rather obstinate, little man who waved his hands and pointed me back out to the road. Unfazed, I kept pulling forward.

My truck was bigger than him and since it was a fairly questionable neighborhood I had no plans of leaving my nice Sampson bike in my truck overnight. He didn't care that I was disabled, or that I'd had a really long day, having spent the last 6 hours in the car (I exaggerated just a tad), or that I was with the Wounded Warrior Project. He had his orders. But I sure didn't make it easy for him. I was going to unload all of my stuff by the lobby whether he liked it or not.

ASPIRE 10k

The alarm went off at 6:30 AM. It was another early morning on a Saturday and I again wondered why I keep doing this to myself. Why do I race? Why do I give up my weekend mornings to sleep in and instead go pound the road for X number of hours in a race? I pondered the thought briefly then moved on and got ready to go.

I was up in New York for the week having all of my prostheses worked on by my prosthetist, Erik Schaffer. He had outfitted me with a new type of suspension system and I was looking forward to trying it out in my first race. I had picked this particular weekend to go up and see him because the ASPIRE 10k was being held on that Saturday.

The race is one that is held every year in Plainview, NY to raise money for ASPIRE, a non-profit that provides money to disabled athleltes like me. A lot of amputees who have received grants from ASPIRE turn out for it to show their support so I knew a bunch of people there.

The race went off at 9:00 and took off at a comfortable pace. I wanted to run about a 7:30 pace, but this was a training run (I did not taper prior to the race) so I wasn't going to push it. I felt comfortable the whole run, cruising well below my pain threshold. My leg went numb from mile 3 on, but that was about the only discomfort I noticed. When I hit the last mile marker I picked it up a bit and cruised in. I guess the speedwork I've been doing has paid off because I ran a 46:47 (7:38 min/mile) practically without sweating. And that is why I run. What a great feeling.

Cary Duathlon

It's only a week later, but the Cary Duathlon already feels like it was ages ago. I think it's all due to having too much to do in too short a time. Everything just seems to go by so fast. Before I knew it, it was the night before the race and I was still recovering from a hard workout that I'd had on Wednesday. I thought about just not going, but that's not my style so I set the alarm for 6:30 and went to bed. No special preparation or anything. I went into like it was just another training day.

When I got to the race site I noticed that there were really only a handful of athletes. This was going to be a small race making it even harder to get motivated for it. The race went off at nine, starting with a 5 mile run through the Thomas Brooks Park in Cary. It was a 2-loop out and back with a couple of steap hills. Since we all went off together my efforts to stay at the front of the pack were ineffective and after about a mile I fell back to about the top 1/3. I wanted to save something in my legs so I pushed it, but not too hard. I haven't done many bricks yet this season so I didn't know what my legs could handle.

The first leg of the race went well. When I looked at my watch as I entered the transition zone I realized that I'd run a sub-8 mile for 5 miles. Oh crap, was my first thought. Had I gone out too fast? Getting on the bike felt good though and I quickly got into a rhythm and pushed out the 30 miles with little sweat, while averaging 17 mph. It was great. I passed a couple of women who had passed me on the run although I can't say that I was too optimistic about the final 5 mile run that was coming up.

My legs felt sore getting off the bike and it took me a little while to find my running legs again. I had a lot of teammates from the Elite Triangle Triathlon team cheering me on so I kept pushing myself despite the difficulty breathing and complete lack of energy. I started picking off girls one by one as quickly as I could, making it through the final loop on pure adrenaline. I had estimated about a 3:20 finish considering my shape at the time and preparation so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw 3:08 on the clock as I crossed the finish.

Great race, great day, and I met some great people! Thanks guys!

Azalea Triathlon

I know my race report for Azalea Triathlon comes a little late, but better late than never, right? Well, with a race that short there isn't too much to report unless you end up having a race like Paul with a flat and a re-start. I can't say my race was quite that eventful. I finally fet warmed up about 45 minutes into it, and finished about 15 minutes later. Overall the race went well. Good points: (1) it was over in an hour (the whole thing was shorter than the swim of my last race) and (2) it was great for gauging my speed development so far this season. I'm already looking forward to the next one!

Sick and tired...

I had to drag myself out of bed and to work yesterday. Initially I blamed it on the fact that it was Monday. The Monday blues always hit harder after a beautiful weekend that involves little more than fitting in workouts between sleeping in late and meeting friends for a cup of coffee. It was no wonder I didn't really want to go to work.

But as the day wore on it was evident that something more was at play. My coworker had been out of the office for 3 days after having come down with the flu. No amount of caffeine or water seemed to make my headache subside and if my phone would just stop ringing I could easily curl up under my desk and fall asleep. This was definitely more than Monday blues.

It's that time of year when the viruses make their attack on already compromised immune systems. But you've got a workout in the evening - the same one that you skipped last week - so what are you going to do? It's often tough to balance work, health, life, and training. There has to be a happy medium between all of the forces at play in order to maintain overall happiness and health, which will result in a better athlete anyway.

After 5 years of balancing training and life I've come to find that you just have to get your health back before the training can continue. For those highly competitive athletes out there, I realize that it's not always easy to leave the running shoes in the closet and pick up the remote instead. But you've taken off just one workout and can hopefully fight off whatever you've got before it gets worse. Imagine if you did go out on the run and compromised your health even more. Then you end up bed-ridden with the flu. There's goes a week of training and another one will be used just to get back to where you used to be. Sometimes taking off one day is just what the doctor (or coach) ordered.