Eye Borg

A few weeks ago while I was in Toronto I connected with Rob Spence, a one-eyed film maker (see if you can notice his bionic eye in the photo) who is making a documentary on today’s cyborgs as part of a promo for the new video game Deus Ex Human Revolution.

Bionic Eye

He wanted to interview me on my experiences with my i-Limb hand and as curious as he was about my hand I was just as curious about his eye!

Rob damaged his eye in a shotgun accident as a kid and decided to have it removed a while back. Recently he worked with a couple of engineers to take a tiny wireless camera and build a bionic eye…it doesn’t connect to his optic nerve or anything, but it is really cool.

His documentary compares the cybernetics available in the video game Deus Ex, set in 2027, with state of the art prosthetics today to see how far away we are.

You can watch the video below, Rob did a great job and you’ll see a few segments of the interview he did with me.

One Handed Wake Boarding

This last week Kerry and I were in Canada for our best friends wedding at Balsam Lake, Ontario. While there we got to play in boats on the lake and after my success knee boarding the other week I was up for giving anything a go.

I’d never wake boarded, even when I had two hands and wasn’t sure if I’d be able to pull up with one arm. After 2 attempts trying to hold on to the rope and failing it was third time lucky. With a slightly slower start I was able to keep hold and pull myself up and thanks to my years of snow boarding I was off to the races. What a blast!

Certainly tiring with only one arm, so for my next goes I donned my prosthetic hook to take some of the load, which helped greatly.

Waiting to Wake Surf

Then from wake boarding, to wake surfing – something entirely new to me. I was familiar with wake boarding, but I’d never heard of wake surfing.

Wake Surfing

You use a mini-surf board, your feet aren’t attached to the board and you need a wake boarding boat that has balast tanks to generate a huge wake…which you then surf.

You hold the rope and pull yourself up as the boat starts, then once the wake is established you surf it and drop the rope.

It’s wild, you’re actually surfing behind the boat as it motors along at 10 miles an hour or so.

You can watch the video below to see me in action…not bad for someone who’s never wake surfed before!

One Handed Knee Boarding

At the weekend I got to do something I’ve never tried before…knee boarding.

Now I’ve water skied a few times, prior to losing my hand and figured trying to get pulled up on skis behind a boat with just one arm might be a bit tough so had written off the idea of doing anything much beyond being towed around on an inflatable donut.

Well that’s before I discovered knee boarding…Kerry and I had joined some friends, who are avid water skiers, on a boating trip and as they merrily skied away I got talking to one of their kids who mentioned they knee boarded, “what’s that I asked?”

Basically it’s a bit like a boogie board (for any surfers out there) that you lay on while the boat tows you along and as you pick up speed you work your way up on to your knees and can then play around behind the boat similar to a wake board, I guess.

Sounded like something I could do so I gave it a shot and on my first attempt managed to maneuver myself up on to my knees (after much jiggling around). From there I worked out that by leaning (thanks to my years of snow boarding) I could direct the board across the boat’s wake…way more fun than just sitting behind the boat.

A most enjoyable experience, if somewhat tiring on the one arm. I’ll have to experiment rigging up some webbing or something so I can use my residual limb to take some of the strain, or maybe next time I’ll try it wearing my prosthetic. I’m looking forward to my next opportunity to knee board and it was just as well I got up on my first try since as I lost balance the rope went slack and then jerked, dislocating my shoulder…fortunately it’s an old injury so it jumped straight back in again…nothing a few days of rest won’t take care of.

Prepped For Surgery

Two weeks back I went in for what I hope will be my last surgery…EVER!

As some may recall back in 2009 I had a bike accident whilst training for my first Half Ironman that resulted in a broken clavicle and shattered left elbow (I don’t know what it is about my poor left arm).

The surgery patched up my elbow with various plates, screws and wires and I’ve been living with this for the last 18 months or so.

Elbow Metalwork

The challenge has been that I wear a prosthetic on my left arm everyday and when I go biking or compete in triathlons I put a lot of pressure on my prosthetic and arm. I was able to complete my recent 100 mile bike ride around Lake Tahoe, but not without a fair share of discomfort and pain in the old arm.

All-in-all the metalwork has made life a little uncomfortable, so I finally scheduled the surgery to get it all taken out. Now, I’ve had enough surgeries to last a life time so I promise this will be the last one…honest!

Fortunately everything went well…they cut along the same 6″ incision line as last time and according to the surgeon the procedure was just “tedious”…go figure!

I’m healing fast and earlier this week had the staples removed…a good friend called me the modern-day wolverine…now if only I could actually grow a new hand, that would be something!

Out on a Limb

The makers of a new documentary called OUT ON A LIMB just reached out to me through my blog.

Daria Price, an award-winning film maker, is working on finalizing the fine-cut of her latest documentary after working on it for the last couple of years and is looking for help to cover the remainder of post-production costs, which include color-correction, graphics, sound design and audio mixing. $12,000 will get the film close; more will get it over the finish line faster and ready for release in the fall of 2011.

As an amputee I think it’s time to show case just what is possible today technologically and the strength of the human mind, body & spirit to adapt and embrace adversity.

Help Daria raise $12,000 to complete this documentary.

Muddy Faces

On Sunday Kerry and I completed the 20th Annual America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride, a 100 mile ride around lake Tahoe. Beautiful yes and also a little brutal too…as you can see from our muddy faces.

We awoke at 4:30am to the sound of heavy rain outside, not fun. With temperatures in the low 40′s it was time to layer up and put on those waterproofs (and shower cap). Funny, the day before we’d dropped into the local Pearl Izumi store, it was packed and they’d pretty much sold out of all rain gear…with riders from across the country I’m guessing most didn’t expect California to be this cold and wet in June!

Emerald Lake

At 5:45 Kerry’s TNT ride-group headed out from the hotel with me tagging on behind, it was raining and just getting light, 100 miles stretched out ahead of us, rain or shine. From the state line in South Lake Tahoe we headed clockwise and I quickly realized that I should have had breakfast a little sooner, so time for a quick rest stop and then a fast peddle to catch up with Kerry at the top of the first climb at Emerald Bay. The rain was letting up a little as we headed to the next rest stop at Homewood and mile 30.

Finally some sun and it was off too Tahoe City and an out-and-return to Truckee. At mile 50 we arrived at the Truckee turn around and the next rest stop. On the way back from Truckee one of our group took a tumble after their front wheel got caught in a rut, thankfully they didn’t take out anyone else and jumped right back on their bike…this is a hard-core bunch.

From Truckee it was on to Kings Beach, lunch and the 70 mile mark. It was still chilly but thankfully mostly dry…although clouds ahead indicated that was soon to change. I donned my waterproof trousers again in preparation for the rain ahead, which greeted us just up the road heading into Incline Village. At mile 75 the last big climb up to Spooner’s Summit began just as the rain eased again. Spooner’s is a 9 mile climb to over 7000′ from lake level, after 6+ hours on the bike that’s a hard climb. An hour and a half later I was at the summit and the sun was out again…mile 86 and mostly down hill from here. I basked in the sun waiting for Kerry who’d stopped to help one of her team mates who’d had a flat earlier on.

The 5 mile downhill was just reward after that climb and it was rolling hills through Cave Rock and back to the state line for the finish…although by that point rolling hills didn’t feel quite so rolling!

100 miles and 9 hours 30 minutes later it was all over, total ride time was just over 7 hours…that’s a lot of stopping time, more than expected…what can I say, I blame the weather.

All-in-all a challenging ride, truly beautiful and one I hope to do again on a sunnier day.

By making a donation you will directly help a challenged athlete in need.

Help me raise $2,500 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation

Crossing the Finish Line

Wow, holy cow, oh my god, *add your own exclamation here*, was that hard! But I’m pleased to report I am officially an Ironman, 140.3 miles in 14 hours, 44 minutes and 38 seconds…the hardest 14 hours, 44 minutes and 38 seconds of my life.

What started 10 months ago reached fruition this Sunday with completion of race # 11, Ironman Cozumel. That’s a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run, back-to-back.

It’s hard to describe how intense it was. It’s obviously been quite a build up to this point and spending the 5 days prior to the race acclimatizing in Cozumel all added to the experience. Come Saturday night I went to bed at 9:00pm, alarm set for 4:30am. Unfortunately, I was wide awake at 1:00am, sleeping fitfully through to 4:30am…not unusual for race day, but a little more sleep would have been nice.

Starting the Swim

After a quick bowl of cereal and cup of tea off we headed on the shuttle bus to the race start at Chankanaab Park. And what a crazy start it was.

I’d setup for the swim/bike transition the day before, so prior to the start all that had to be done was check the bike, walk the transition and then watch the pros head off at 6:40am. As soon as they left 2,500 competitors jumped into the sea ready for the mass in-water start. I now know what it feels like to be a fish in a shoal as we bobbed around waiting for the start…and then all hell broke loose and it was every man/women for themselves. That’s the largest mass start I’ve ever done and to be trying to swim in a sea of bodies was challenging to say the least.

The upside was the beautiful, crystal clear, aquamarine sea and 80+ fahrenheit temperature. Looking back now the swim seemed to pass quickly, if an hour and 27 minutes can be called quick, that is. Actually, I’m very pleased with the swim, I was hoping to complete the 2.4 miles in an hour and a half, but thought that might be too optimistic, so I did well. Along the way you get to thump and be thumped by your fellow competitors, watch the divers below blow “air rings” up at you and do your final turn as you reach the submarine…yep, a little different from your average triathlon.

Biking Around Cozumel

After the swim it’s a short run to pick up your bike transition bag and into the changing tent to get dried off and into your bike gear, the pros are all done in under 2 minutes, me, more like 13…but, hey, what’s the rush. With the swim done, 112 miles on the bike beckoned. This consisted of 3 laps of the island (yep Cozumel ain’t that big).

I started out feeling good, my first lap averaged over 17 mph, but for about two-thirds of each lap you’re peddling into wind (head or side wind). To give you an idea, normally, when training on level terrain, I’d be in the large cog on the front, here I was having to pedal in the small one (I only have two). It was as if you were constantly going uphill and the best part was, with each lap, the wind picked up, so by lap two I only averaged 16.5 mph and by lap 3 I was down to 16 mph. I’d hoped the bike might take between six and six and a half hours, it took me 6 hours 46 minutes (that did include a pee stop and rest stop to restock my nutrition) and I’d definitely used more energy than I’d figured into the process, which didn’t bode well for the run.

Start of the Run

Once you finish the ride you hand your bike off to be racked and grab your run transition bag and head to the changing tent, by way of the porta-potty, of course. The run transition is usually the quicker of the two, but for some reason it took me longer than my bike transition, nearly 15 minutes…must have been one long pee! Anyway, after changing and putting on more vaseline (don’t ask) and sun block off I went for the run, full of vim and vigor…and that, ladies and gentleman, is where a tough race turned really tough.

The run also consisted of 3 laps, the first 8 and a bit miles weren’t too bad, I ran for nine minutes and walked for one, probably averaging around a 10:30 / mile pace. Approaching the halfway point of 13.1 miles I’d slowed to a 12 minute / mile pace, running 4 minutes and walking one. I managed to drag myself around to complete the second lap, but, knew I was toast as I came around the turn point for the last lap. I saw Kerry, who’d be out supporting me the entire day, and told her I was well and truly pooped!

Start of Lap 3, is it over yet?

As I approached the 18 mile mark I hit the proverbial wall. In all my races to date I’d never reached the point were I felt I just couldn’t keep moving. For the next 8 miles even walking was hard, my pace slowed to 18+ minutes / mile, time dragged on and only sheer will power and determination kept me moving forward. I knew if I stopped I likely wouldn’t start again, I just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other and let the finish line come to me.

Post-Ironman Ice Bath

I can tell you waves of emotion wash over you at that point, you’ve been going 14+ hours, your legs ache, your back aches, your feet ache, heck even your aches ache. The sun had set several hours ago, the winners crossed the finish line just as you were starting your run, the field has thinned out so it’s just you out there, maybe occasionally someone who can walk faster than you passes you by…that is why they call it an Ironman.

You just keep moving forward.

And so it was that after just over 6 hours since starting the run I reached the finish line, not pretty, but then again Ironman is not about being pretty, it’s about grit and determination, perseverance and will power, conquer or be conquered. To all those that have trained for and completed an Ironman I salute you, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done…but I am IRONMAN!

You can view more pictures of my race on Facebook

By making a donation you will directly help a challenged athlete in need.

Help me raise $10,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation

10 Months, 10 Races & Lots of Medals

T-minus 6 days to race day, Ironman Cozumel here I come.

It’s been 10 months, over 30 miles swam, over 2000 miles ridden and over 420 miles run. I’ve completed 3 triathlons, 2 half marathons, a full marathon, a 70.3 mile Ironman and a few smaller races in between for a total of 10 races to date…with one race to go.

I’m so ready to get this done, since completing my 9 hour brick workout (2 hour bike, 1 hour run, 3 times) 2 weeks ago my motivation level has definitely been waning, fortunately my training has been tapering off since then. I know I can complete each of the distances individually, I can swim 2.4 miles, I can bike 112 miles and I can run 26.2 miles…can I do them back-to-back, that remains to be seen. The one variable not under my control will be the conditions on the day, what will the sea be like, will there be a headwind on the bike, how will the temperature/humidity affect me…other than this I feel confident I can do it. The question is how long will it take?

The race starts at 7am Sunday 28th, if I’m really fast I might be finishing around 7pm (I’d love to do it in around 12 hours), more likely it’ll be closer to 9pm and the cutoff time is midnight. Last year the winner completed it in a little over 8 hours, so don’t think I’ll be in contention for any medals!

Thanks to all of your generosity I’ve raised nearly $6,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation that will help other challenged athletes, children, adults, service men & women, achieve their athletic dreams…a big thank you!

So wish me luck, send me your well wishes for next Sunday and I’ll keep everyone updated on the day via twitter.

By making a donation you will directly help a challenged athlete in need.

Help me raise $10,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation

A Foggy & Kelp-y Swim

It was a foggy start to race #7, the Triathlon at Pacific Grove. Not only that, but the kelp seemed extra thick this year too!

It was great to be back in Monterey, the location of my first triathlon 2 years ago and a great benchmark to see how much I’d improved over the last couple of years and see if I could finally beat the 3 hr mark (my previous time here was 3 hrs 24 mins).

The Triathlon at Pacific Grove is renowned for its kelp crawl, the swim at Lover’s Point means you spend as much time crawling over or through the kelp as you do actually swimming. Last time around my wave didn’t start until 8:30am, so earlier waves of swimmers had cleared a channel through the kelp, this year, as a challenged athlete, I was in the first wave at 7:00am…that’s right, let the challenged athletes clear the kelp for everyone else!

One Armed Swimming

Despite that I completed the 1.5 km swim in just under 38 mins, nearly 5 minutes faster than previous. After a quick run up the beach it was time to head out for the 40km bike. The bike loops around the course 4 times, which was very handy for pacing my ride as I aimed to beat 1 hr 20 mins – I had to do each loop in under 20 minutes.

Out for a Ride

The first loop was 18:01, nicely done, the second was 19:56, needed to pick up the pace a bit there, the third was 19:43, not too bad and then the final loop was 20:37, definitely starting to feel tired, for a total time of 1 hr 19 mins, just scraping under the 1 hr 20 min mark and beating my time of 2 years ago by about 7 minutes.

Now, if I wanted to beat the 3 hr mark then things were getting a little tight, last time it took me 1 hr 3 min for the 10 km run and as I started out the clock read 2 hrs 8 min – I had to pull the run in under 52 minutes, ouch!

The run consisted of 3 loops, so that meant each one had to be around 17 mins 30 secs.

Crossing the Finish Line

Well the first was 17:42, that was cutting it fine, the second was 17:14, made up a few precious seconds and then I had to go all out for the last loop, for a 16:44 and a total time of 2 hrs 58 mins and 48 secs, beating the 3 hour mark I’d set myself and beating my previous time 2 years back by about 25 minutes…very happy with that!

First in Class

I also finished first in class again, out of two of us this time…so if you’re a physically challenged athlete you just have to come and turn up at these events and you’ve got a good chance of getting on the podium, plus it’d be fun to have some competition out there.

You can view more pictures of my race on Facebook or watch me cross the finish line below (you’ll need to fast forward to the 3m 44s mark).

On the fundraising front, I just want to say thank you to my top donors this last month, Ken, Christian and Mike, thank you so much. I’m at the $5,500 mark with 8 races done, inching closer to my $10,000 goal.

By making a donation you will directly help a challenged athlete in need.

Help me raise $10,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation

Crossing the Finish Line

I escaped from Alcatraz and it only took 45 minutes!

On Sunday I completed the San Francisco Triathlon at Alcatraz, it’s one wild race! In fact I had such a blast I think it’s one of my favourite triathlons to date.

It all starts in the wee hours of the morning, setting up transition in the dark at Marina Green and then catching the bus to Pier 3 for the boat to Alcatraz. That’s 1,800 athletes packed onto a boat sailing off at 6:15am as the sun peaks behind the Bay Bridge, quite surreal.

Given the extremely windy conditions the previous day, they only let 4 of the 12 test swimmers even attempt the swim and the rescue kayaks capsized, it was a relief to see the mirror calm sea as we headed to Alcatraz. The conditions couldn’t have been better.

Ready to Start

The pros lined up on the outside rail of the boat and come 7:00am were off, quickly followed by the rest off us piling out of the door and jumping into the chilly waters. It’s hard to describe the feeling of being in the middle  of the San Francisco Bay, looking one way at the Golden Gate Bridge, another at Alcatraz looming large, another the sun silhouetting the Bay Bridge and finally the San Francisco skyline in front, surrounded by a 1,000 other swimmers. One word, WOW!

Jumping Off

You don’t swim directly to the swim exit at Marina Green, if you did you’d end up at the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead you swim further east, more towards Aquatic Park and then let the current drift you westwards. After 1.2 miles or so you hit the makeshift steps and climb out of the sea.

Next stop, a 25 mile bike ride up and down and around the bendy streets and hills of San Francisco to the Great Highway and back. It’s a bit hairy in places, the lumps and bumps in the road nearly knocked me off more than once. You want to go fast on the downhills to make up for all the effort you put in to get up the other side, but you’ve got to have some balls to go all out on those roads!

The Sand Ladder

Back from the bike in one piece, legs a little tired from the hill climbs and it time for the bit I like the least, the 7 mile run, the other wild part about this event. The run is more cross-country than the normal road race. Despite nearly being out of action during the first mile when my left knee gave way again, I was able to stay with it and have to say I really enjoyed the run. It’s mostly along dirt and gravel paths, up steps, ducking through an underpass, along a cliff path, down the road a bit and then along the beach in the sand to the 400 step sand ladder and then return.

First in Class

I finished in 3 hours 51 minutes, the swim took 45 minutes, the bike an hour and 35 minutes and the run an hour and 16 minutes, finishing first in my class (physically challenged athletes) and setting a course record for my class (since it’s the inaugural race).

I’ll be back next year to defend my title!

You can view more pictures of my race on Facebook or watch me finish the swim and cross the finish line below.

On the fundraising front, I just want to say thank you to my top donors this last month, Sam, R2, Hemant, Lea Ann and Prashant thank you so much.

I’m over the $5,000 mark with 6 races done. I’d love to reach $6,000 before my next race in 2 weeks and with your continued support I’m sure I will!

By making a donation you will directly help a challenged athlete in need.

Help me raise $10,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation