TriSports.com Blog

myTEAM TRIUMPH of Southern Arizona

This weekend I had a chance to be a part of a race for a non-profit organization; my TEAM TRIUMPH.  Inspired by Team Hoyt, the father/son racing team, the goal of mTTis to provide racing equipment and racing opportunities to individuals with physical or cognitive impairments. These individuals are the “captains” of a team and a minimum of three “angels” are assigned to assist them to complete a race. This weekend 10 captains led teams of 75 angels to complete the El Tour 5k.

The myTEAM TRIUMPH captains and angels joined volunteers  at around 5:30 in the morning at the mTT VIP tent to start the day with hot coffee and bagels donated by Einsteins. The lineup at the start was a sea of red as the mTT participants were all dressed in red t-shirts.

Each angel on our team took a turn at the helm of the captain’s racing chair, some pushing uphill,  some flying downhill,  and through some bumpy terrain (to the delight of our captain).

Our captain came in for the finish to a crowd of cheers, broke the banner at the finish line, and received his medallion of a Ben’s Bell for completing the race.

All in all it was a fantastic day- this was the inaugural event for myTEAMTRIUMPH-southern Arizona, and they will be busy getting to work to plan the next race. Anyone looking to be a part of a truly inspiring experience please visit www.mTT-southernarizona.org.  They are always looking for more angels, captains and of course donations, so that the  next event allows even more captains the chance to “fly”.

The New Kid on the Block

Let me preface this by pointing out that at one point in time I was a “normal” person. I happily ordered pizza through my TiVo service to avoid getting off the couch and I laughed out loud at the thought of a grown man wearing spandex. That was all before Ironman Arizona came along and ruined everything. I now have more spandex than a ballet troop and I can’t find time for either TiVo or pizza. Don’t even get me started on my vast knowledge of various creams and glides that no man should have to know about (if only I owned stock in Chamois BUTT’r). All this in order to participate in one silly little race in November?? (note: a participant is one who strives to survive an event, a racer is one who hopes to do better each time, I am the former)

I explain it this way; imagine all the highs and lows of your entire life condensed into 17 hours or less. One minute this is the greatest day of your life, you are running like an Olympian not quite sure why everyone around you looks like the living dead (not me though, I feel fine). A few more miles pass and you are explaining to the imaginary person next to you just how strongly you feel that cats and dogs should not be allowed to drive in the carpool lane, all the while dressed like a contestant hopeful for Dancing with the Stars.

This was the beginning of the end for me, capped off by a glance at the return address of this cool triathlon store I found online. It turns out that Trisports.com is located just across town, what are the odds? It was as if someone had built a store with the simple goal of feeding my addiction. After basically living there for several months, I came to the conclusion that I would look less conspicuous if I became an employee of Trisports.com. So this is where the story begins for me, floundering in a sea of super-athletes at Trisports.com, trying hard to absorb as much information as fast as possible. I still have the upper hand though; I don’t think anyone here knows how to order pizza through their TiVo

PS – This picture really wasn’t part of the plan   You never know who has a camera in their hand around here!