I'm about to embark on a week of furlough, and will be unable to post to the blog.
So, why not end it with another amazing tale of Randall Crosby. Randall, for those who may not be familiar, is a blind runner/triathlete. He is an amazing man who has overcome what many would consider to be very limiting, what many would consider to be a disability.
Whatever he considers it, Randall has overcome it. He is doing things many able-bodied folks wouldn't attempt.
Below I will post Randall's latest update on his training and competitive goals. I also received a subsequent note from a Randall follower who said Randall soon will be training to compete in an adventure race. For those not familiar with what an adventure race, here is a description from David Fitzgerald, who is helping keep this Web site http://www.runbikepaddleonline.com for Randall updates:
"I aim to serve a national audience primarily featuring adventure racing. For those of you who don't know what adventure racing is, it is like a triathlon in the woods with no set course. You must navigate from checkpoint to checkpoint using a compass. There is usually a running segment, a mountain bike segment, and a paddling segment. After Randall completes the half ironman triathlon, we are going to work on a 3 hour adventure race as a 4-man team."
---------------------------Here is Randall's update:-----------------------------------
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So, why not end it with another amazing tale of Randall Crosby. Randall, for those who may not be familiar, is a blind runner/triathlete. He is an amazing man who has overcome what many would consider to be very limiting, what many would consider to be a disability.
Whatever he considers it, Randall has overcome it. He is doing things many able-bodied folks wouldn't attempt.
Below I will post Randall's latest update on his training and competitive goals. I also received a subsequent note from a Randall follower who said Randall soon will be training to compete in an adventure race. For those not familiar with what an adventure race, here is a description from David Fitzgerald, who is helping keep this Web site http://www.runbikepaddleonline.com for Randall updates:
"I aim to serve a national audience primarily featuring adventure racing. For those of you who don't know what adventure racing is, it is like a triathlon in the woods with no set course. You must navigate from checkpoint to checkpoint using a compass. There is usually a running segment, a mountain bike segment, and a paddling segment. After Randall completes the half ironman triathlon, we are going to work on a 3 hour adventure race as a 4-man team."
---------------------------Here is Randall's update:-----------------------------------
I've begun training with Todd Bogue for the upcoming Ron Jon Triathlon on April 18th and the (big one) Disney Ironman 70.3 (Half Ironman). Then if I survive that I will do the Pineappleman Triathlon in Melbourne Beach, FL on June 5th.
Looking at this schedule kind of scares me but why not go for the gusto. Todd & I swam a half mile last Thursday plus a few miles on the tandem bike as a warm up and it felt good to do the long swim to gain some confidence on that since it's our weakest of the swim, bike & run event. The key is for us to swim in sync with the 10 foot bungy cord between us and that will take practice but we've done pretty good so far, the side-stroke seems to be our best way to go but we'll (or mainly me) have to improve on speed and endurance as there are cut off times for each of the swim, bike & run legs during the race- the swim is 1 hour & 20 minutes.
The Half Ironman distances are-- swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, run 13.1 (half marathon). Todd is doing great with his training and I'll have to catch up but I'll get there, I'm just glad he's a strong swimmer so he can pull me if necessary (just kidding). We'll be spending a lot of time at the Parrish Fitness Center pool and weight room here in Titusville plus lots of tandem bike & run for training.
I feel like I'm a long way from doing the 70.3 Ironman distances today but I'm confident that I'll get there in the next 90 days (that's not a lot of time). I do my best work under pressure. Thanks to Todd Bogue for being a great guide & motivator and thanks to all my Team BlindRunner guys for all the training and support. When I think of how far I've come in these past 3 or 4 years with my running & training and all the fun and work we've gone through as a group it amazes me but we have a lot more good times and successes ahead of us and it only gets better.
Looking at this schedule kind of scares me but why not go for the gusto. Todd & I swam a half mile last Thursday plus a few miles on the tandem bike as a warm up and it felt good to do the long swim to gain some confidence on that since it's our weakest of the swim, bike & run event. The key is for us to swim in sync with the 10 foot bungy cord between us and that will take practice but we've done pretty good so far, the side-stroke seems to be our best way to go but we'll (or mainly me) have to improve on speed and endurance as there are cut off times for each of the swim, bike & run legs during the race- the swim is 1 hour & 20 minutes.
The Half Ironman distances are-- swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, run 13.1 (half marathon). Todd is doing great with his training and I'll have to catch up but I'll get there, I'm just glad he's a strong swimmer so he can pull me if necessary (just kidding). We'll be spending a lot of time at the Parrish Fitness Center pool and weight room here in Titusville plus lots of tandem bike & run for training.
I feel like I'm a long way from doing the 70.3 Ironman distances today but I'm confident that I'll get there in the next 90 days (that's not a lot of time). I do my best work under pressure. Thanks to Todd Bogue for being a great guide & motivator and thanks to all my Team BlindRunner guys for all the training and support. When I think of how far I've come in these past 3 or 4 years with my running & training and all the fun and work we've gone through as a group it amazes me but we have a lot more good times and successes ahead of us and it only gets better.
Also, Angela McFall and Richard Warren will be representing our Team by wearing our shirts tomorrow-Sunday, February 7th at the Music Marathon in Melbourne, FL. They'll run the Half Marathon distance (13.1 miles). Thanks in advance for their great effort and for going the extra mile for Team BlindRunner. This is special to me because it's the first time that our Team is represented without me being in the race since I'm still resting some wounds from the Disney Marathon back on January 10th (nothing serious, just some stressed tendons on the foot, no running for a few more days). But I kind of like this idea of having the Team represented without me having to do the work (or running), maybe I'm on to something here. Good luck to Richard & Angie & let's all keep a good thought for them.
I've had an offer to post my training and race updates on a website blog that is created by a friend of Todd so this may serve as my first post on that website. I'll get the website link to everyone in the next few days so we can follow along. The site will have a lot of other info about triathlons, etc on a national level.
Also, Lee Nessel (Florida Today) may also post this or future reports on her website blog as she has done in the past. Lee has been a great advocate and has reported on my race activities several times in the Florida Today news which really helps my cause of showing others what we can do to overcome obstacles, problems and even disabilities such as blindness when we choose to do it and maintain a positive attitude.
Randall Crosby
