Tri-It Triathlon camp: Athletes perspective
Tri-It Triathlon camp: Athletes Testimonies
The weekend of April 19-22 introduced me to a new athletic endeavor. Imagine combining: swimming, cycling, and running all in one event and you have a triathlon. Nancy Stephen's a world class triathlete who is totally blind and members of the Roaring fork Women's Triathlon Team with a grant from the Women's Triathlon commission Organized and hosted a triumphant developmental camp for athletes who are blind. Nancy shared her experience and expertise with seven blind athletes and eight sighted guides. The weekend was packed with individual and group instruction as well as opportunities for all participants to learn, improve, and demonstrate their skills in all three sports.
The event which was held in Glenwood Springs, CO focused on techniques for both the blind athlete and the guide to learn how to swim together and maneuver through crowds of swimmers, ride together on a tandem bike, and navigate and communicate about running an outdoor running course that may contain flights of steps, uneven ground, curbs, and ramps. We also were empowered by discussions of how to recruit and train guides in our home communities. Time was also spent going over the logistics of preparing for a triathlon and how to transition from one sport to another during a triathlon.
I am so honored to have been a participant in this superbly organized and conducted camp. During our Mini-tri at the end of the camp, I was amazed by
how my guide and I synchronized our swimming strokes, pedaled with a time trial style over the cycling course, and settled into a comfortable yet competitive rhythm for the run. I am a former paralympic cyclist and have competed in many other sports, but crossing the finish-line in the triathlon
gave me a sense of accomplishment like no other individual sport has. I felt
as if I had faced a challenge and overcome the obstacles. What I enjoyed
most was that we are individual athletes, yet we are a team. Goals were set
and met while at the camp and goals were set for the future. I sincerely hope that other athletes will consider pursuing the sport of triathlon. See you on the course! Swim, bike, run.
Lori
I just got back from this triathlon camp for blind women on Sunday and it was a total blast. I was so inspired to get healthy and in shape. I'm planning on running a triathlon just as soon as I get better at running. I'm training every day. I'm going to start with running a 5K and then go from there. Nancy
Stevens is one of the only blind triathletes out there (I think there are three or four at most). She was an amazing coach and all the sighted guides/women triathletes/coaches she recruited to help out with the camp were wonderful. She is planning to have a camp again next year and I hope all of you will go.
That's why I loved this triathlon training because no one was made to feel bad about being at whatever level they were
at. Everyone was so supported and no one was embarrassed. Maybe we could get Nancy Stevens to help us put on a multi-sport seminar for women. She's really
good at coordinating this stuff.
If you know of any women in Colorado who might be interested in running a triathlon, my sighted guide from last weekend is looking for someone to run the
Glenwood Springs triathlon in September. She wants someone from the Denver/Front Range area. Let me know.
Tai
Tri-it camp articles and links
- The Post Independent Article
- Picture Slide Show of the Tri-it Camp