Try Something New!

As soon as I saw the announcement for a Paralympic Track & Field Clinic, hosted by BORP, I signed up as fast as I could. This event was BORP's toe-in-the-water effort to see if starting up their track & field program again would have interest.. according to the Paralympic coaches, this was the biggest event they've had so far. On my end, this would be a great opportunity for some hands on coaching; while I absolutely appreciate the advice I have been given (both in person and through emails and such) and the technique videos I have been sent, I am a kinesthetic learner. I was excited to have someone be able to look at what I am doing and show me how to improve (spoiler alert: I was not disappointed). This was also my first opportunity to test my curiosity about the field events.

Getting closer to this event, I was like a kid at Christmas. I trained so horribly last year due to physical and mental setbacks that I lost speed and found myself on that backwards plateau, so I was losing confidence again. And, in turn, maybe even losing some interest. There is no way I would give up Tsunami, so I was looking forward to bringing the joy back rather than settling with the struggle I have been in.

I have been to a few of these kinds of clinics now, but it's still exciting to show up and see so many others in wheelchairs.. and at this one, there were all types of prosthetics as well. I got myself signed in and headed off to the side to wait for things to start. Got to talk to a couple people I know from other clinics and/or training, and met some new people. One woman came over to talk to me, asked questions about Tsunami and sports in general; she was curious about the whole thing, but had volunteered rather than signed up.. her own toe-in-the-water. I told her I had been in the chair for about two years, then started listing all the sports/activities I have at least tried so far. Through her surprise, I told her to just jump in. "Give it a try. At the very least, you have a new experience."

After introducing all the coaches and giving us the basics on what we would be doing, they split us into three groups and sent us to different areas. I was starting on the field, so I dropped Tsunami off at the track as I headed over. We learned shotput, which was a lot more technical than I thought it would be. As the heaviest field implement, there are phases you go through in what looks like simply throwing a heavy ball. We learned each step, one at a time. The coach was quick to tell me I had the strength, and had advice on technique for each throw. By the end, there were a couple doing really great. I was not one of them, but I had definitely improved through my throws. We moved to the discus after that, the middle weight implement, and took out all those phases, and extra flicks of the wrist, and power... basically you're turning your arm into a slingshot and getting into the right position to let the discus do its thing. I actually did pretty good with this one, I just had a problem getting my hand flat before letting it fly. We had run out of time, but the coach squeezed in a quick overview of the javelin before we headed over to the track.

On the track, I found Tsunami and got in as others tried to find a chair they could try. The coach came over and looked at the positioning of my hands and decided I wasn't getting as far back as I needed to, so she started undoing all the velcro across my back, had me scoot back a bit, and tightened the straps back up. It was that simple to make the final seat adjustment I hadn't been able to figure out. Satisfied with that, she and the racer did a quick presentation on stroke and racing on the track. She sent me out with the racer while she got others into chairs. As we moved around the track, he asked what distances I had been doing and for how long.. he also told me I had a good, strong push and showed me how to make it a bit better. When we made it around, the coach put me in some different gloves and sent me around again, then put me up on the rack so she could closely see my stroke and physically change it; I need to straighten my hand so it's parallel to the rim (I keep rolling to the outside), utilize the extra push I now have at the end, and get those arms up behind me (with my hand still straight!). She also gave me a couple drills I can do on my own to train myself. With just those changes, I could feel a huge difference already. And it was a lot of fun to see the guys trying out the racing chairs for the first time and really having fun with it.. sounds like I might have some more local company soon!

After this rotation, they gathered everyone for a group picture.. during which it started to sprinkle a bit (we had the threat of rain pretty much all day), but it didn't really get serious, so anyone who hadn't gotten lunch yet headed over to the tables. It was a bit later when I was talking to one of the volunteers I had met at the Adaptive Sports Fest that rain really started coming down. As everyone scrambled to get the racers or themselves out of the rain, I grabbed Tsunami and headed for my car. With everything put away, everyone gathered under something protective; I ended up under the arch with a friend I met through the volleyball training and got to talk to him a bit. And with everything put away, the flash rain stopped and we were at a bit of a loss as to what to do. The track was done for the day, so whoever was left seemed to end up on the field. We were watching the current group learn when the coach began inviting anyone who wanted to join. I hung back because I wanted others to have a chance, but she pulled me up... I even ended up sitting right next to that woman I had met earlier, the one I had told to just jump in! After the shotput, we had to get a bit creative for the discus because of needing extra space to swing our arms around. There was an extra coach now, so we were split into two groups after the head coach went over the fundamentals. And this time we got to try the javelin; my new friend that had jumped in was now excited to try things and ended up doing pretty good with the javelin.. I need to learn more finesse, less force of strength.

They did a final thank you then told us to pick up a paralympic shirt and BORP bag... and the coach running things had an extra present if we went to see her. I got my presents, then went around to thank the man from BORP that set up the event, the field coach (who asked what I thought about the field events, I told her if BORP started up the program, I was in), and the track coach (she gave me a couple more presents and her card; she said if I was interested, they may bring me up to Spokane for some events, and also made herself available for any questions I may have).

At the end of the day, I had a lot more confidence in my training, more new friends, and new sports if the facilities become available. It was a really great day and I am so glad I went. I am also glad that my affinity for just jumping in and trying things inspired someone to do the same.

And now to finish off my spoiler alert from way back at the beginning; I went for a 5 mile run a few days later and maintained a 7 minute mile for most of it. My first mile was pretty slow just to get going, when my next mile beeped I was surprised to see 7:17, and I mostly held onto that. There was one mile that was closer to 8 minutes (it was also into a breeze), but the bottom line is I have not gone that fast without a downhill in about a year, and never in training. I have done a 7 minute mile in training, but only one at a time, so it was a bit of a surprise to keep seeing that 7 whenever my Garmin beeped off miles.