And look at your bicycle...I am sorry I don't know the correct term so feel free to educate me...It looks like an amazing machine!!!
It's called a racing wheelchair (some people say "track chair" or "pushrim chair"). It's not the same as a handcycle, which has gears and is therefore more analogous to a bicycle.
It is an amazing but also annoying machine. It goes very fast and very straight and that's about all it can do. It sucks at turns and braking. Pushing it is also completely different from pushing an everyday wheelchair.
This must take an incredible amount of training. What did you do to prepare?
Well, first I'd say that I prepared by lifting weights - not specifically for this activity, but I know that the last two years of strength training have really helped.
And then I was lucky enough to participate in the Boulder City Parks and Rec EXPAND program. Through EXPAND, I had access to professional coaching. We started training in late March as soon as the weather cooperated. Five of us from the program participated in this race. We did track one day a week and road on the weekends.
The Bolder Boulder 10K is notorious for several really steep hills, and now that I've done it, I know that I need to do lots more hill work! On the second to last hill, a race official actually came over to me to ask if I needed help, so I must have looked super pitiful as I edged up the hill getting maybe 4-6 inches with each stroke. Wow, it was hard! This was very near the end, and there was a huge crowd of spectators, and when I finally reached the top of that hill and could coast a little, everybody just let out a sigh. It was hilarious.
