tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84776223193305200372024-03-17T23:03:04.788-04:00Daddy's Blind AmbitionMy husband Matt is a lot of things. He is a wonderful husband to me and father to our three (adorable!) little children. He is an avid runner. He’s a financial analyst. He’s also legally blind. This blog is my attempt to follow him on his journey to the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. We have no idea what this journey will look like, or exactly how we’ll get there, but we are determined to try.Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-82600310695981340332016-07-08T12:25:00.000-04:002016-07-08T12:25:01.861-04:00Track and Field Trials -- The Final Chapter<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For Matt, the Road to Rio ended in Charlotte. It was a fun, hard two years of running for
Matt. He rain as fast as or faster at 36
than he did in college. He will never
have to wonder “what if” when he thinks about the Paralympics. He knows he gave it his all and made his family
very proud! Emily, Marisa, and Zachary
all love to run, have the itch for races, and have perfected high knees and
butt kicks (or hiney kicks as they call them).
And in the end, that’s enough.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The specifics.</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The 5000. </b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The 5000 meter race was on Thursday night. It was hot and humid, but bearable (says
someone that just had to yell splits from the sidelines). There were three in the visually-impaired heat,
down from the six that had originally signed up to compete. Matt took the first mile hard -- 5:06 -- which he needed to if he was going to have a shot at a qualifying time. He started to slow down a bit between laps 5 and 7. I knew he needed to hit 75 second laps and somewhere around lap seven the times were getting more and more off of the target. As he put it, he went into pure survival mode. It was also around that point that the sun came out and was shining very brightly for 7 pm. He finished third, in an overall time of 17:12. It wasn't a personal record (PR) and it wasn't a qualifying time. He looked great from where I was standing. The first place finisher, Chaz Davis, who also has Lebers, took off from the very beginning and never looked back. He had a qualifying time and was the only visually-impaired distance runner to make the U.S. team. He made it look so easy! I could see that Matt was disappointed, but after a few minutes </span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">recovering</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> near the field, he put on a smile and headed up to say hi to his huge cheering section. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The 1500. </b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The 1500 meter race was on Saturday evening at 5 pm. It was hot. The heat index was over 100 and sitting in the bleachers I felt every degree of it. I can't imagine what it felt like on the track. He had been feeling low energy in the late afternoon so he had a black coffee, which he normally doesn't do, to help. </span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Then</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> we were running late getting to the track because I couldn't find the car keys so Matt ended up only having about 20 minutes to warm up. I took my place on the track to record Matt's splits. He knew going in that he didn't have a chance at </span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">qualifying</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> for this event, but after his disappointment in the 5000, Matt was really hoping for a PR. Matt isn't exactly sure what his college PR was (somewhere between a 4:23 and a 4:28), but he hasn't run that fast since college. Matt looked good from the beginning. I could tell early on that he was going to PR. Chaz Davis took the lead early on again in this race. At the 0.5 mile point the fourth place runner passed Matt and took second place and Matt followed. With 600 meters to go, Matt took the 3rd place slot. </span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With 400 meters to go, Matt was
about 5-8 yards behind the runner in second place. Matt kept shortening the gap and even went
into lane two in case he could catch up.
He was about two strides behind, but there wasn’t enough distance left
to pass him. In the end, he finished
less than a second behind him in 4:28. Although
we aren’t entirely sure, we are going to call that a PR. Even if he had a faster time, he hasn’t run
that fast in at least 14 years. What an
awesome finish to an awesome journey. A
little aside, but he was wearing my neon green running socks because he didn’t
have an extra pair clean. Maybe they were good luck. After a lot of hugs and high fives, Matt picked up his bronze medals and we went out to celebrate. </span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The Future. </b>I don't know the fate of Daddy's Blind Ambition. For the moment, Matt is taking some well-deserved time off. We hope to watch many Paralympic events from the comfort of our living room and cheer on the amazing athletes that will be representing the United States in September at the Paralympics. I hope the kids are old enough to remember watching Matt race in Trials and witnessing the athleticism of other visually, physically, or mentally impaired athletes. I know I won't forget this weekend! Matt plans to return to the marathon distance and will be running in the California International Marathon in December, which, as I've written about before, hosts the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes Championship Marathon. </span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A huge thank you to everyone who made donations to Matt to offset the cost of his travels, everyone who traveled across town or to a different state to see Matt race, and everyone who rotted for him from afar. You've helped make this a memorable journey. Thank you. </span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll leave you with some pictures from our weekend in Charlotte. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;"><b>Our big cheering section for Matt for the 5000!</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-small;"><b>Matt early on in the 5000. </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-small;">Matt in his last mile of the 5000</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-small;"><b>He was all smiles even after the 5000</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-small;"><b>Still smiling</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-small;"><b>We took a break from running on Friday to visit with our Charlotte family</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-small;"><b>Here are all of the visually impaired runners being taken to the start</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-small;"><b>Chaz Davis crossing the finish line</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-small;"><b>Matt trying to finish second</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-small;"><b>And the end...with a PR (or close to one)</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-small;"><b>Matt and Chaz shortly after the 1500</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-small;"><b>Lots of high fives</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-small;"><b>The Rodjom crew (minus Zachary who was a bit overheated)</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-small;"><b>Cousin support</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-small;"><b>Sporting his two bronze medals</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: x-small;"><b>This time with the girls sporting the medals</b></span></td></tr>
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</span>Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-61358451849453867302016-06-23T11:59:00.000-04:002016-06-23T12:11:06.798-04:00Trials are in one week!<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Matt will fly to Charlotte for the U.S. Paralympic Trials next Wednesday. He'll spend the day getting adjusted and testing out the track at Johnson C. Smith University. He'll enjoy a quiet night in the hotel room before the kids and I arrive on Thursday afternoon - one week from today. Then, on Thursday evening, he'll race the 5000 meters against other visually-impaired athletes, all vying for one of the coveted spots on the U.S. Paralympic Track and Field Team. Two days later, he'll race in the 1500 meters, but this more for fun as his times are too far off of the standard. Though we'll know if he hits the times immediately, the U.S. team won't be announced until Sunday. NBC will be airing coverage of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials that will be going on in Eugene, Oregon, so they will break to cover some of the Paralympic trials and the team announcement. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Although I've joked with Matt ever since he said he wanted to make this journey that I want to be able to say I'm married to an Olympian, the truth is I'm already married to an aspiring Olympian and an inspiration to me and our three children. We'll be there along with lots of family to cheer Matt on in Charlotte and help him celebrate this amazing journey.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">His competition are kids 15-20 years his junior. He has a full-time job and a family, and yet he's still found time to log more than 60 miles a week. He hasn't actually ran 5000 meters consecutively at a 15:40 pace, but he's logged lots of time on the track at his target pace. I can' t wait to be there to see him give it his all during those 12 and a half laps in the Carolina heat.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The article I shared in a previous blog post that was featured in the summer edition of Run Washington has been posted on the Run Washington website and featured in its blog and email. If you haven't already, you should check it out <a href="http://www.runwashington.com/2016/06/19/see-the-same-way/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I promise to document the weekend with lots of updates and pictures. And, since I haven't had a post in a bit, I wanted to share with you a few pictures from Matt's last race. He placed second overall at the StarKid 5K on June 5. (A high school runner beat him.) Before the race was a 1k family fun run. The kids and I ran that together. Even little Zachary managed to run most of it, except for a block or so where I carried him. Arendelle's Princess Anna was running the race, too, and helped cheer him to the finish. Also at the race were Queen Elsa and Captain America, a bounce house, and lots of other fun kid events. As fun as the race is every year, we love doing it because all of the money from the race goes towards the Inova Children's Heart Program. Medical programs like this are so important, as we learned first hand when Marisa was born with a congenital lung condition and underwent surgery and extensive follow-up care with Children's National. And now, several years later, she's running in her first race. She said after that a 1k wasn't long enough. She wants to do the 5k with Daddy next year. We'll see!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPCdf3a1XjAClKMsCnNuIpCKOOhnog_rxBNwklHUqHHhaNgvm-uFy61s968B1W6JWIOmPOzFZiIJA3hKbrecGd5Gglt-4Gp6iuZBKbbKHj1r4ejLfJEGn9AZ77ZVw7AKpWy9CD91tkx-c6/s1600/IMG_3070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPCdf3a1XjAClKMsCnNuIpCKOOhnog_rxBNwklHUqHHhaNgvm-uFy61s968B1W6JWIOmPOzFZiIJA3hKbrecGd5Gglt-4Gp6iuZBKbbKHj1r4ejLfJEGn9AZ77ZVw7AKpWy9CD91tkx-c6/s400/IMG_3070.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beginning of the race. The kid in red won.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEideFxbqqAxvN9zbEiNut0yHXwnb99Qf8ridY_MtSlHTLmf5kDsFF1yz0YCIpHGs5VslnOgYS9tFpuwBtjVKcz94j7E1VfZ2znIDhkmTer16B22Pru12t26enUOkIeWwpGTFaOT2h3cNPCc/s1600/IMG_3072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEideFxbqqAxvN9zbEiNut0yHXwnb99Qf8ridY_MtSlHTLmf5kDsFF1yz0YCIpHGs5VslnOgYS9tFpuwBtjVKcz94j7E1VfZ2znIDhkmTer16B22Pru12t26enUOkIeWwpGTFaOT2h3cNPCc/s400/IMG_3072.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt and his guide Chuck.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAnOd-Ddp3LZMDtaKZHBSdNO8EIZTtaOMCFSbikoV3xhXTrnaJBSo5jqrb9ifI4BURXV-5sotEb-u-onlkv1cC4WA5UN2-Zx2UB4qGrfTugUOA94v29eAkyE9Ii4Icmd9bJDZ4HbZ1zwXE/s1600/IMG_3075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAnOd-Ddp3LZMDtaKZHBSdNO8EIZTtaOMCFSbikoV3xhXTrnaJBSo5jqrb9ifI4BURXV-5sotEb-u-onlkv1cC4WA5UN2-Zx2UB4qGrfTugUOA94v29eAkyE9Ii4Icmd9bJDZ4HbZ1zwXE/s400/IMG_3075.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt heading to the finish.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHO4hYdn02pq6zKn0KhSYj4amqtihD3IW63Jw_NfS8bR4JyBjWrxyzct3ghekKco2EjCOPryed55atAcvEUd27i97_L4pobh22sLUhMVHIyWFY05qHNT5k8-Kwu2zFOsLRl2LkrtBxXhlM/s1600/IMG_3086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHO4hYdn02pq6zKn0KhSYj4amqtihD3IW63Jw_NfS8bR4JyBjWrxyzct3ghekKco2EjCOPryed55atAcvEUd27i97_L4pobh22sLUhMVHIyWFY05qHNT5k8-Kwu2zFOsLRl2LkrtBxXhlM/s400/IMG_3086.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look who we ran into?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zachary was very excited to meet this guy.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBhwSN6qnKt395by8hF50l8040W_pwtPk9Ds00Y0w_RwiOTa5-3I3ZJPyoA9NHf4RwPW6fcHBDuI1LeCIdZ_XklKWVxNA4LvVrKK14nxrnlmERvgrvSNkdoh43qloMgekcoteKqic4aW_5/s1600/IMG_3110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBhwSN6qnKt395by8hF50l8040W_pwtPk9Ds00Y0w_RwiOTa5-3I3ZJPyoA9NHf4RwPW6fcHBDuI1LeCIdZ_XklKWVxNA4LvVrKK14nxrnlmERvgrvSNkdoh43qloMgekcoteKqic4aW_5/s400/IMG_3110.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All three kids went up with Matt to claim his prize money.</td></tr>
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Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-90061520474999770692016-05-22T21:08:00.000-04:002016-05-22T21:18:27.809-04:00Desert Challenge Games: A Recap<div class="MsoNormal">
Don’t worry; I didn’t forget to post the results of the
Desert Challenge Games. Since I wasn’t there I had
to wait for Matt to give me his thoughts on the two races. Also, I am pleased to be able to include
video of Matt’s awesome finish during the 1500, but let’s not get ahead of
ourselves. Before we can get to
Saturday, we have to talk about Friday.
I’m going to give you most of Matt’s own words. In case you haven’t been able to tell from
all of my posts, I’m Matt’s biggest fan and I would describe Matt’s run on Friday as just
one more step towards Rio. The time
didn’t matter as far as his chances of making the U.S. team. It was hotter than hot at gun. But that would be my inner cheerleader. So instead, I’m going to give you Matt’s raw
emotions about having a tough race and a final time that he doesn’t like. </div>
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First, a few pictures from the week:</div>
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<b>Matt’s own words on the 5K:</b></div>
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Disappointed is the only word to describe how I feel tonight.
Tonight was supposed to be my breakout night and show the world I was ready for
Rio and my spot on the U.S. team. But tonight
I only flopped. What when wrong? I’m not sure. It was 100 degrees out for the
race and so far this season I have only trained in the mid-70s. That can be my excuse. But excuses don’t get me to Rio. Excuses are
what other people have. I did a good bit of warm-up. It takes me awhile to get lose nowadays. It
is just part of getting old, I guess. So
now the race. I took the lead from the
start. At half mile I was on 5:00 pace and going to transition to something
more comfortable. Then at the one mile
mark, the two Mexican runners in my heat came on my side and passed me. I try
to coaster and stay with them but something was off. I was only 5 laps in and was already sucking wind
bad. It was hard to breathe. But even more than that, something was
off. Normally I should have been able to
duck behind them and follow. I keep
trying to figure out what was wrong. I
do weigh a few pounds more now after a week in Disney World and another shorter
trip. Was it the heat? Not sure. But for
the next two miles I had trouble finding a groove and keeping a good pace. My final kick wasn’t even that great, and it
usually is very strong. I finished in
17:34. I was the first place
American. The two Mexican contenders
finished in 16:49 and 16:54. Even those times are not fast enough for Rio. There was so much time and effort put in to
this race and now only for such a crappy result. I got home and took an ice
bath. I forgot how much ice baths hurt.
On a brighter note, I made a new visually impaired Canadian friend and
finally got to meet Donald Balcom who lives in Maryland. I found out that Dave Dobbins, my fraternity
little brother is in the Phoenix-area for a dental conference and may come out
for the 1500. It would be great to see
an old friend. </div>
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<b>Matt’s own words on the 1500:</b></div>
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Saturday was the day to just find something to do. I got up early since I was still on East
coast time and got a light breakfast downstairs. Still had 11 hours to kill. I went to Walmart for some Advil and then
went and saw the new Captain America movie.
At 5pm, I went over to the track.
It was still hot – about 103 degrees - but at least tonight there was a
slight breeze. I was able to fit in a light
warm up and then they were already calling last call for the 1500. I picked up
my spikes to go check in. They even
measured them for the race which doesn’t usually happen. There weren’t too long, thankfully. On the walk to the start I heard Dave. There was still a little time to kill so we
did warm ups in the javelin area. I
requested the starter to provide us splits since everyone in my heat was
visually impaired, but he did not have a watch. The first lap was hard and
fast. There was a lot of bumping going
on, which I haven’t experienced since college.
Of course, most of my competitors are still in college. There were six in my heat (three from Mexico,
one from Canada, and two including me from the U.S.). I had trouble getting around the T11 Mexican
runner and his guide because he kept swerving. In laps two and three, I was in last place but
still holding an ok pace. With one lap to go I kick with everything I had. I
was able to pass the other U.S. runner with about five yards to the finish. I
was happy with my kick at the end, but not the time. Afterwards, with the two races behind me, I went out with Dave and his friends to a micro-brewery to catch up. So glad he could be there!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqmavWX8zh9I9vn9uz00iMyjVf_vlFoF9NW4_P2NISmiXdmoJURgveyy73tiwS58wGiv82R-3evC5MKPWEHgeUXin5_K_DsZZ5z-tmPZzXtIxnSs6F0pXaaJvjtEAR8kmlZHSfAzlRdXST/s1600/image1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqmavWX8zh9I9vn9uz00iMyjVf_vlFoF9NW4_P2NISmiXdmoJURgveyy73tiwS58wGiv82R-3evC5MKPWEHgeUXin5_K_DsZZ5z-tmPZzXtIxnSs6F0pXaaJvjtEAR8kmlZHSfAzlRdXST/s400/image1.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt and Dave after the 1500</td></tr>
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For the first time ever on the blog, and thanks to Dave, here's a video of Matt's awesome finish!</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwZYog-LRc-CT3d7pVQH3OMsVTzOGrRdhZmpYKcQANV6mne6SWHxCLEHF_6ZhX8JQnz7NV4z3fJmLzE1UHA1A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
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So these were not the
result I was looking for this weekend. But I am not out yet of Rio
contention. My workouts show I have the
capability. I need to keep pushing. I’m not giving up. Next up is the StarKids 5K on June 5<sup>th</sup>. It is a road race, but one I really love
running. I’m down, but not out.</div>
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<b>Here are the official results for the two events.</b></div>
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<b>Results 5000:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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First Place T11: 1
Alejandro Pacheco Sr. 25 Mexico <b>16:49.55</b>
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First Place T12 (Matt’s classification wasn’t updated): Matthew Rodjom 36
United States <b>17:35.10</b> <br />
Donald Balcom 42 United States DNF <br />
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First place T13: Isidro Tavera Sr. 19 Mexico <b>16:54.88</b><br />
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<b>Results 1500:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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First place T11:Alejandro Pacheco Sr. 25 Mexico <b>4:26.07</b> </div>
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First place T12 (Matt’s classification wasn’t updated)
Matthew Rodjom 36 United States <b>4:44.07</b>
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T13 order of finishers</div>
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1 Isidro Tavera Sr. 19 Mexico <b>4:18.69</b> <br />
2 David Garza 21 Mexico <b>4:21.30</b> <br />
3 Nick Neri 18 Canada <b>4:33.14</b> <br />
4 Michael Kinoshita 20 United States <b>4:44.86</b></div>
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The kids loved getting Daddy's medals. He only won two, but the race volunteer gave him an extra for Zachary. :-) </div>
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Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-29621441381906029012016-05-13T13:30:00.001-04:002016-05-13T13:30:33.720-04:00Reclassification - Mixed EmotionsYesterday, Matt had his appointment for his International Paralympic Committee reclassification. It is valid for two years. Matt was originally classified in Arizona during the Desert Challenge Games in 2014 as a T12 athlete. As I mentioned in my post earlier in the week, it would be detrimental to Matt's Paralympic dreams if he were to be reclassified as a T11 athlete since he has not trained with a guide on the track and he has never raced (or even worn) blackout glasses. He was so concerned, but as it turns out he was reclassified. Only he wasn't reclassified as a T11 athlete, but rather a T13 athlete. Until this year, there were different standards for T11, T12, and T13. This year, the qualifying times for T12 and T13 are the same. This is good -- otherwise, Matt would have had harder qualifying standards to meet. <br />
<br />
So what does it mean that Matt is now a T13 athlete? We have no idea. We should be happy that he is a T13 because it should mean his vision has improved, except that isn't true. Sixteen years of testing by highly renowned neuro-ophthalmologists has never revealed an improvement in his vision. After the initial period of onset that lasted several months, Matt's vision has been stable and that's okay. Matt has learned how to navigate life with Leber's. The "T" designation is the international classification. The United States uses a "B" classification, but it has three categories, too, B1, B2, and B3. Matt is a B2 athlete so that should marry up to the T12 classification. Yet still, the doctors yesterday said that his left eye was improved since his testing in 2014. The only thing we can think of that is different between his testing in 2014 and yesterday is the guidance they gave him during the testing. In 2014, he was not allowed to move his blind spot, which is his entire central vision, to help him see during different aspects of the test. In 2016, he was instructed to move his blind spot.<br />
<br />
We do not know if this will impact his chances of making the U.S. Team. The standards are the same, but how does Matt stack up against other T13 athletes, compared to other T12 athletes? We won't know until July 3rd when the U.S. Team is announced. But for now, we have mixed emotions about the new classification. <br />
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On a brighter note, Matt is scheduled to race at 7:15 pm (10:15 EST). There is a high of 102 in Phoenix today, but it should be around 95 at gun. I know it is a dry heat, but that's still hot! <br />
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Stay tuned for updates!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ3CUKKD2cQKGqx8bJM-wAZv5q2Xt2_EWsm3xsrMCYPBStSKCxF0q9XxJ2mMb3LcXxV755tSzyUh5vQl3VboKm9mk-BudHzrrduZhDxgSQPLmQeBWTRiH0KNNXs1rQQiH8mmo6-7sEg-zW/s1600/030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ3CUKKD2cQKGqx8bJM-wAZv5q2Xt2_EWsm3xsrMCYPBStSKCxF0q9XxJ2mMb3LcXxV755tSzyUh5vQl3VboKm9mk-BudHzrrduZhDxgSQPLmQeBWTRiH0KNNXs1rQQiH8mmo6-7sEg-zW/s400/030.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A picture of Matt nearing the finish line at Nationals last year. </td></tr>
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<br />Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-525668822960797112016-05-09T13:46:00.001-04:002016-05-09T14:02:25.606-04:00The Desert Challenge Games and I'm Not the Only One Writing About Matt<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On Wednesday, Matt will depart for the Desert Challenge Games, which will be held at Arizona State University, May 11-15, 2016. This event is part of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics Grand Prix, and the only event taking place in the United States. Matt needs to attend to renew his IPC classification, which expires this year. Two years ago, Matt was classified as a T12 athlete. In order to receive his classification appointment, we had to provide lots of updated paperwork on Matt's vision. Unlike some visual impairments, Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy is not degenerative. That doesn't mean that age won't negatively impact his vision one day, but it does mean that since he was diagnosed in 2000, his vision has been stable. Every year Matt goes in to see his Neuro-Ophthamologist for what Matt calls his annual "I'm still blind appointment." We expect that Matt will once again be classified as a T12. Matt does not run with a guide on the track because his peripheral vision, the only vision he has, allows him to see the track lanes. If he were to be categorized as a T11 runner, he would be required to have a guide and to wear blackout glasses so he would not have an advantage over the other T11 runners. Both would be detrimental to Matt -- he's never trained on the track with either and he would have no guide with him to compete. But again, we expect he'll be reclassified as a T12 athlete. His classification appointment is on Thursday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Friday night, he'll race the 5,000 meters. There are currently five runners registered for this event so he will have competition. This will hopefully push him to run his fastest. He needs to shave 79 seconds off of his 5K time to meet the Rio standard. The Desert Challenge will give us a good indication on whether that is possible. I hope it is. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Saturday night, Matt will race the 1500 meters. It is less likely that Matt will meet the Rio standard in this event, but he will race it anyway. It is a long way to travel to only do one event. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Twenty people are scheduled to race this event. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Neither of these events at the Desert Challenge Games will impact his chances to make the US Team. The sole determinant for that is his times at Nationals in June. But as I have said before, we are expecting that he'll close in on that 79 second gap. I plan to have several posts between now and Saturday giving you updates on the Games and Matt promises to take lots of photos since I won't be there with him. However, the whole family will drive down to Charlotte in June. Who doesn't like a cheering section, right?!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm not the only one who is writing about Matt these days. There is an article on Matt in the Summer 2016 edition of Run Washington. If you're local, you can pick up a print copy in your local running store. I plan on picking up a lot. For those out of the area, <a href="https://issuu.com/runwashington/docs/1606" target="_blank">here</a> is a link to the digital copy (his piece starts on page 41). The photo was taken a few weeks ago on a freakishly cold day in April on Braddock Road, about a quarter mile from our house. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And finally, I'll put in another request for you to consider making a tax-deductible donation to Matt via the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes <a href="http://www.daddysblindambition.com/p/donations_10.html" target="_blank">here </a>to help offset Matt's travel expenses for this final push to make the U.S. Paralympic Track and Field Team. Other than a free Brooks running outfit and set of racers, we have funded this journey ourselves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">More soon...</span><br />
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<br />Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-84115965727642444862016-04-04T08:46:00.000-04:002016-04-04T08:46:06.475-04:00And That's How You Do It!<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On Saturday, March 26, Matt competed in two events at the Gallaudet University Invitational, the 1500 and the 5000. Field events started in the morning, but track events started at noon. We arrived shortly after thinking we had some time since the first event was scheduled to be the 10,000; however, there must not have been any runners because it was no longer on the schedule. That meant Matt had about five minutes to change and warm up before the 1500. Our friend Matt and his son Sean arrived just in time to see the race and help cheer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There were five runners in the 1500, including Matt. One of the other runners, Alex, remembered Matt from the StarKids 5K. Matt and Alex (briefly) warmed up. There was only one heat. Matt didn't want to go all out for the 1500 since he still had the 5000 to race. He was worried he'd have lactic acid buildup in his legs. According to Matt, he ran at about 80 percent effort and finished in 4:36 (a second slower than his time at Nationals last year). He only needed to complete the 1500 in 5:00 to be able to compete at Nationals so he was pleased with his time. The winner completed the event in 4:27.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Matt had some recovery time after the 1500 so that he could properly cool down and sit a bit before the 5000. Due to the number of runners, they decided to combine the men and women (there were only two men including Matt and one woman). It all happened so quickly so I didn't get my stopwatch started at gun, but was able to start it when he crossed the finish line after the first half lap. I yelled splits and Matt took photos every lap. Gallaudet was very accommodating to us. Everyone remembered Matt and they even made sure to call out the laps since Matt could not read the lap sign. We had one exciting moment about halfway through the race. Sean was playing with a ball and somehow it managed to roll under the fence and on to the track. I don't think it could have happened twice. Luckily, one of the timekeepers saw the ball and was able to pick it up before the runners reached us. Mishap averted. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Matt needed to run at least an 18:30 to qualify for Nationals. Here are his approximate splits:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lap
1: 80 secs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lap
2: 79 secs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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3: 81 secs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lap
4: 80 secs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lap
5: 81 secs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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6: 83 secs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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7: 83 secs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lap
8: 84 secs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lap
9: 85 secs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lap
10: 86 secs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lap 11:
84 secs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lap
12: 72 secs</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He completed the 5000 in 16:59 -- a new personal record (by 3 seconds). The other male runner in the 5000, a freshman from Gallaudet, kept up with Matt for the first five laps, but then couldn't hold. He completed the event in 17:07.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Matt went into the track meet with the goal of qualifying for Nationals and he did that. Next up is the Desert Challenge Games in Arizona. Thankfully the two events will be on different days with the 5000 being first so that he can race all out and get his times down. </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">We're getting a lot closer to our destination! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crossing the finish line</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkC1xWh4odirLE-3NphBAWMD6WjpHfqmy7_4TNcHej7Q4R71QgVTAPCIgk2vCzX__mIAkn4UzbLbnCuzhusrB24p8hNNQpoWO2jXVsRBx8p9isRjNsGVXiXOtRw9_PR498W5d7KxrP0mhO/s1600/IMG_0886.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkC1xWh4odirLE-3NphBAWMD6WjpHfqmy7_4TNcHej7Q4R71QgVTAPCIgk2vCzX__mIAkn4UzbLbnCuzhusrB24p8hNNQpoWO2jXVsRBx8p9isRjNsGVXiXOtRw9_PR498W5d7KxrP0mhO/s400/IMG_0886.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My cheering team<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This past Friday, Matt picked up my bib for me at the Cherry Blossom 10-miler expo. While there, he got a photo with Olympian Meb Keflezighi. I knew he was going to be there so I sent Matt with a photo album from the 2010 Boston Marathon that had pictures of Meb and Matt on the winners podium after the race. He signed it -- so cool. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe both will be on Team USA in Rio? I hope so! </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsEeTs1NvHb1vTOSiqRASmI8H7RYmtv_QMdT2fwEgyb7qSoVoPFkCiORGmsyJGn6j54WvOusK5TG35IjRkPBpDQe3PqJuc0zOfi0wLJqDUpeJ4FJ3bBakKneixbc6WTqjlWSqV2gMYPsaG/s1600/meb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsEeTs1NvHb1vTOSiqRASmI8H7RYmtv_QMdT2fwEgyb7qSoVoPFkCiORGmsyJGn6j54WvOusK5TG35IjRkPBpDQe3PqJuc0zOfi0wLJqDUpeJ4FJ3bBakKneixbc6WTqjlWSqV2gMYPsaG/s400/meb.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt and Meb at the Cherry Blossom expo</td></tr>
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<br />Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-5297654032923364752016-03-22T15:36:00.000-04:002016-03-22T15:37:24.683-04:00Race Time!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This Saturday marks the first of three track events that will determine whether Matt will represent the United States at the Rio Paralympic Games later this year. On Saturday, March 26, Matt will be racing in the 1500 and 5000 meter events at the Gallaudet University Invitational against Division III athletes. Last year, Matt was the only non-student who raced in the 5,000 and he came in third. I wonder which place he'll finish in this year? I plan to be out there cheering him on and yelling splits. Come and cheer for Daddy's Blind Ambition and keep me company! The weather report has Saturday's high at 61 degrees and sunny -- great racing and spectating weather. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The track events start at noon and will be on a rolling schedule. The point of this race is to qualify for Nationals, which will be held at the end of June. He'll need to run the 1500 in 5 minutes and the 5000 in 18:30 to be allowed to race at Nationals. We know that neither of these times will be a problem. Since this race and the Desert Challenge Games in May are Matt's only races before Nationals, he plans to race them to get a more accurate estimate of his fitness level and capability going into Nationals. In Mesa he'll run both events, too, but he'll have the benefit of them being on different days. This Saturday he won't have much of a break between events. Fingers crossed that the events will be on separate days in Charlotte, too.</span></span><br />
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<b style="font-size: 12pt;">Saturday's event location:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gallaudet University</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Berg Track & Field</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">800 Florida Avenue, NE</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Washington D.C. 20002 -
3695</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Saturday's Schedule: (</b>Field events start at 9:30 and track events start at noon with a rolling time schedule.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">10,000
meter run </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4x100 meter relay</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1500
meter run</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">100/110 Hurdles</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">100 meter dash</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">400 meter dash</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3000 meter run</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">800 meter run</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">400 IM Hurdles</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">200 meter dash</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">5,000 meter run</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4 x 400 meter relay</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and post the results for all those that won't be able to make it. It will be a long afternoon so the kids will stay with Granma. Here are a few pictures from last year's race. Boy was it cold!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Saturday's race is sandwiched between the twins' fifth birthday on Friday and Easter on Sunday. We're looking forward to a wonderful, albeit exhausting weekend!</span>Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-51550229917154277812016-03-02T08:39:00.000-05:002016-03-02T08:39:16.815-05:00Race Recap by Matt<div class="MsoNormal">
What a treat! Matt did a
short write-up of his race on Valentine’s Day so I get the blog post off. </div>
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Here you go…in Matt’s words:<o:p></o:p></div>
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On Sunday Feb 14, I ran the run your heart out 5k in Fairfax Corner. I was getting the itch to race
because I haven’t done much racing since November. My mileage has been averaging about 50 miles per week and I was interested in knowing my fitness level. The week before, I
signed up for the race, found a guide (Chuck—who has guided me twice before) and got
permission for a guide to run with me in the race in
less than two hours. That never happens. I have run several races put on by the Potomac River Running Store and they have
always been helpful in making accommodations so that I can run with a
guide in their races. After running so many years without a guide in road
races, and missing turns and having near-miss run-ins, it is now my preference
to have a guide when possible. Also, I have
to say that I feel lucky to have a
good network of running guides. I know a lot of visually
impaired runners and how hard it is for them to find guides.<br />
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On race day
luck would have it that an arctic front came through, so it was VERY cold. When I work up it was only 9
degrees and that wasn’t including the wind
chill. Matt, my coach, was volunteering at the
race so he was kind enough to give me a ride to and from the race.
Normally, Sarah and the kids come out when I race locally, but we couldn’t have
the kids out there in such cold temperatures. Thankfully Chuck,
my guide, did not chicken out due to the cold. The
two of us did a two-mile warm up. We
thought we had more time until gun. We ran
into the running store to put on our bibs and warm up for a minute. After walking out of the
store, we were probably 150 yard from
the start thinking we had time to position
ourselves on the start line before gun. There was no warming or countdown until gun. They just
said runners to your mark, then go. I guess with the cold, they wanted to get
started, which I don’t blame them.
Unfortunately for me, I was at the back of the race when the gun went
off. As a visually impaired runner this
makes things hard, to say the least. The
first quarter of a mile I was zigging and
zagging to get to the front. I can’t see right in
front of me so I had to rely a lot on Chuck to move forward in the pack. If
I was smart, I would have just waited till the crowds
thinned out and then started the race with
clear roads since it was a chip race.
Instead, Chuck and I got out to the side of the course and passed everyone
till about 1.25 mile. It was about then that I
finally found runners at my pace. The first mile was 5:38 with a lot of work
getting to the front – I wouldn’t have been able to
do it without Chuck and I’m sure all of the calling out took a lot out
of him. At mile two,
some kid put in a strong surge, so I followed
him. I guess he did not have the gas to keep it because I passed him not much later and never saw him again. It was then open rolling hills. With half
a mile to go, Chuck got a stitch. With open
road, I started getting my kick and was able to hold it to the end. Because of his stitch, I had to leave Chuck and finish solo. I
am guessing it was the fast hard first mile with all of the talking to make sure I didn’t run
into anyone or miss a turn at a
5:30-5:40 mile. I finished in 18:15. Not bad considering I was dead last and
then made it to sixth overall and first in my age group. Unfortunately,
it doesn’t give me a good representation of where I am due to the cold. It was 16 degrees at gun plus wind chill and I had 3 layers of clothes on. I never
wear that many layers and I know I will have shorts and a singlet on when I
race in Arizona and North Carolina here soon. Post-race, I got some hot
coffee for Matt and Chuck, which we all needed.<br />
<br />
All
in all, I had fun, but it was not by
best race and I don’t know my level of
fitness. Since there weren’t as many runners as
expected due to the temperature, I got to take home some extra bananas and
muffins. My kids loved them!
Next up is Gallaudet on the 26th of the month. Here’s hoping for a great race and
indicator of my fitness for my qualification races for Rio!<span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "bookman old style" , "serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7JFxQxVfUHbtQru-A6RrrbPq_UKFMrvtmD1QT8YiPVU7YmQANDfqYr2xo5FXMHYZex-C_0bdD56vznLGOQxb7_Re0CYvKPXUhofRnipyWKmJlGY42TO3_7q30Hmv7OJn6aRub2BJeZSu/s1600/heartrun1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7JFxQxVfUHbtQru-A6RrrbPq_UKFMrvtmD1QT8YiPVU7YmQANDfqYr2xo5FXMHYZex-C_0bdD56vznLGOQxb7_Re0CYvKPXUhofRnipyWKmJlGY42TO3_7q30Hmv7OJn6aRub2BJeZSu/s400/heartrun1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;"><b>The kids wanted to have race day pictures since they weren't there. The girls insisted on dressing up for the occasion.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFnm4_rqNkTwQKseCsakafTJV88iVtR1phTnWeppgSwjhCZKdZyLNciLK09QwV5-DFXRDotGpus9E2PDQsDiGRx45Q_C_7M_0bqVq0LAlS6tnLe0Cb67bKD7KIDCxKjL7Sot9QCUQNAYiV/s1600/heartrun2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFnm4_rqNkTwQKseCsakafTJV88iVtR1phTnWeppgSwjhCZKdZyLNciLK09QwV5-DFXRDotGpus9E2PDQsDiGRx45Q_C_7M_0bqVq0LAlS6tnLe0Cb67bKD7KIDCxKjL7Sot9QCUQNAYiV/s400/heartrun2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange;"><b>We set the timer so we could all be in the picture. </b></span></td></tr>
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Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-81624692415823220432016-02-11T10:09:00.002-05:002016-02-12T11:04:00.704-05:00How Do We Get to Rio?<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not sure how it is February 11<sup>th</sup> and this is
my first post of 2016, but here you go…<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is it! The next few months will determine whether Matt makes the U.S. Track and Field Team for
the Rio Paralympics. He’s fast, but we
know his times need to be faster to be competitive. He’s planning on running the “Run Your Heart
Out 5K” on Sunday, but with temperatures estimated to be in the single digits,
it probably won’t be a good indicator of the time he’ll run in Mesa, Arizona,
at the Desert Games in May, or the National Championship in Charlotte in
June. Nonetheless, it will be good to
get a race under his belt. He hasn’t
competed since the Race to End Women’s Cancer in November, unless you count him
running with my bib minus the chip in a New Year’s Eve race because I was under
the weather, or all of his snow shoveling during Snowzilla. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So what does Matt need to do to wear red, white, and blue in
Rio? First, he needs to update the
paperwork. He received his International
Paralympic Committee (IPC) classification at Mesa in 2014 and was classified as
a T12 runner (which means he does not require a guide), but it is only valid
for two years. He will need to be
reclassified in Mesa at the Desert Challenge Games. He has an appointment with his neuro-ophthalmologist
on Monday at 7am (way too early for a holiday Monday if you ask me) to update
all of his medical forms, which basically means we need something that says
that Matt is still visually impaired, but it hasn’t gotten better in two years
and it hasn’t gotten worse. He also
needs to renew his IPC license. The next
piece is the actual running. He needs to
get a qualifying time for Nationals in an approved event. Matt is working to have the Gallaudet
University Invitational approved so that he can qualify for Nationals. This year, he’ll race both the 1500 meter and
5000 meter events at Gallaudet. If you
recall, we were banking on him running in the University of Maryland open meet
to get a qualifying time in the 1500, but apparently the “open meet” didn’t
extend to someone visually impaired. So
let’s break down the numbers:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To be allowed to compete in Nationals, he needs to run the
following:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>1500 Meters:</b> 5:00<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>5000 Meters:</b> 18:30<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You may be thinking that Matt will have no problem finishing
in those times and you would be right.
BUT, now take a look at what he needs to run at Nationals to make the
U.S. roster:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>1500 meters<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
U.S. A Standard: 3:56<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
U.S. B Standard: 3:58<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rio A Standard: 4:07<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rio B Standard: 4:12<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>5000 meters<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
U.S. A Standard: 15:00<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
U.S. B Standard: 15:16<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rio A Standard: 15:40<o:p></o:p></div>
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Rio B Standard: 15:57<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Um, okay, those are pretty fast. Let me be upfront – Matt has NEVER run those
times. So you may be asking what is the
difference between the U.S. Standards and the Rio Standards? Good question.
Matt <b>must</b> meet the Rio B standard,
but he could not meet the U.S. standards and still be invited to represent USA
in Rio. No mid-distance visually
impaired runners met the U.S. standards in 2015, but some were still invited to
compete on the U.S. team for international competitions. The U.S. will have 48 slots for males at the
games, with a max of three per event. I
am pasting in how the 48 men (and 32 females) are selected for the team:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->All results for each eligible athlete will be
given a percentage score. The score is calculated by comparing the athlete’s
result from the 2016 U.S. Paralympic Team Trials-Track and Field to the 2016
National Team A standard for each event using the following formula. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "courier new"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Track events: (2016 National Team A / result) x
100 <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "courier new"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Field events: (result / 2016 National Team A) x
100 <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->The percentage will be provided with two decimal
points (to the one hundredth of a percent) with the highest percentage compared
to the 2016 National Team A standard being the better result. Slots and start
rights will be filled based on the Team Selection Ranking List (highest to
lowest percentage) for the medal events scheduled to be contested at these
Games in the following order: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "courier new"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Athletes who have achieved the AQS between 15
October 2015 and the completion of the 2016 U.S. Paralympic Team Trials-Track
and Field. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "courier new"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Athletes who have achieved the BQS between 15
October 2015 and the completion of the 2016 U.S. Paralympic Team Trials-Track
and Field.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "courier new"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Athletes who have achieved the AQS or BQS
between 15 October 2014 and the completion of the 2016 U.S. Paralympic Team
Trials-Track and Field. Nomination will continue until either all slots, by
gender, have been filled or all eligible athletes who have achieved the BQS
have been nominated to the team.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We are hoping he’ll qualify by having a really competitive
time that is faster than the Rio qualifying times. There are three categories of visually
impaired runners – T11, T12, and T13—and each have their own qualifying
times. This year, the T12 class (which
has less vision than a T13 runner, but more than a T11) must meet the same qualifying
times. It can change from year to year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Here’s a snapshot of his upcoming races:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Run Your Heart Out 5K</b><br />
February 14, 2016<br />
Fairfax, VA<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Gallaudet Invitational</b><br />
March 26, 2016<br />
Washington, DC<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<b>Crystal City 5K Fridays</b><br />
April 8, 2016<br />
Arlington, VA<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<b>Desert Challenge Games</b><br />
May 11-15, 2016<br />
Mesa, Arizona<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<b>StarKids 5k</b><br />
To Be Determined – June 2016<br />
Fairfax, VA<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>2016 U.S. Paralympic Team Trials-Track and Field</b><br />
June 30-July 2, 2016<br />
Charlotte, NC -- Johnson C. Smith University <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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It would be wonderful to have you out there with me cheering
Matt on at any of these events. It is a
long shot, but why not try, right? As much
as I joke with Matt that I’d like to say I am married to an Olympian, I’m
pretty sure he’d like to be an Olympian.
Your support and encouragement has helped make this possible. And in case you are looking for a great cause
to make a charitable, tax-deductible contribution to, please check out our
donation tab for instructions <a href="http://www.daddysblindambition.com/p/donations_10.html" target="_blank">here</a>. There are
a lot of running shoes that will be bought before Rio, along with airfare and
lodging. Thanks again!<br />
<br />
To RIO!<o:p></o:p></div>
Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-14440112521943126482015-12-30T09:13:00.001-05:002015-12-30T09:13:48.555-05:00End of Year Report<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hard to
believe, but there are only a couple of days left this year! It has been a big year for Matt on his
journey to Rio. In March, he competed in
a collegiate meet in order qualifying for the 5,000 meters at the U.S. Paralympics
Track and Field National Championships.
Although we had a setback when the University of Maryland would not
allow him to race in their open meet due to liability concerns, he was still
able to get a qualifying time in the 1500 meters at another local meet before
Nationals. The race director added the
event just for him. He won silver and
gold in his events in Minneapolis, but unfortunately, he was not invited to
represent USA at the PanAmerican Games or Worlds this year. Only one long distance visually impaired
athlete was invited to the PanAmerican Games and no long distance visually
impaired athletes were invited to Worlds.
He was the overall winner of three road races this year. He also set a new personal record for the
5000 at Nationals, beating his last personal record set in college. Not too bad for a guy in his
mid-thirties! He’s been dedicating a lot
of time to running and we even bought a treadmill to ensure that he can get in
all of his miles even when weather and daylight do not permit. He needs to shave more time off his 5000
time, but it doesn’t seem too far out of reach. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here is his plan for 2016:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gallaudet Invitational, March 2016 - Washington, D.C. <br />
Desert Challenge Games, May 11-15, 2015 - Mesa, AZ<br />
U.S. Paralympics Track and Field National Championships, June 30 – July 2,
2016 - Charlotte, NC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And with
any luck…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2016
Paralympic Games, September 7 – 18, 2016 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Rio Games are expected to be the largest Paralympic Games to date; approximately 4,500 athletes with physical impairments from more than 165 countries will compete. Fingers crossed Matt will be one of them!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am sure there will be many more blog posts in 2016 as we near the final push for Rio and he'll probably add one or two road races to the list to help get in some competition. I hope you'll join us on this adventure! Talk to you next year!</span></div>
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Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-43483098770266618192015-11-10T16:11:00.003-05:002015-11-10T16:11:30.210-05:00He did it again!As you probably know from several of my posts over the last few months, Matt was on the Host Committee for the National Race to End Women's Cancer 5K, which took place this past Sunday in Washington, D.C. Matt was contacted earlier in the year to be a part of the Committee after his first place finish last year. Though Matt is always up for a fast, flat course, Matt has run this race in support of raising awareness and vital research funds for women's cancer after my mom was diagnosed with endometrial cancer in 2011. <a href="http://www.daddysblindambition.com/2014/11/guess-what-matt-did-on-sunday.html" target="_blank">Click here for a link to last year's summary</a> and <a href="http://www.foundationforwomenscancer.org/sisterhood-of-survivorship/runwithme/" target="_blank">click here for a link to Matt's story on the Foundation's website</a>. The race raised $446,126 in support of women's cancer, and thanks to your generous support of Team Daddy's Blind Ambition, we contributed $1,035 to that total. Thank you! Matt was on WJLA last Friday with the National Race Chair, Camille Grammer, and cancer survivor Tamika Felder to talk about the race. <a href="http://wjla.com/features/good-morning-washington/national-race-to-end-womens-cancer" target="_blank">Click here to see the interview</a> Zachary kept saying, "Daddy's on TV, Daddy's on TV!" the entire time we watched it. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCOIzlyX2Te66Qaqg2J9uZ1gbOM4u0FjoxSzaiDQThC4zhKWBaKBOZCEUT4AhWO0YgI33I18DnLt0b7hNfELvcQOpQt8PgiPB6zSlPAHrDyee6S_SdOf90cqteUyCP8R-bv4da_8Dzemsa/s1600/camille.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCOIzlyX2Te66Qaqg2J9uZ1gbOM4u0FjoxSzaiDQThC4zhKWBaKBOZCEUT4AhWO0YgI33I18DnLt0b7hNfELvcQOpQt8PgiPB6zSlPAHrDyee6S_SdOf90cqteUyCP8R-bv4da_8Dzemsa/s400/camille.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt with Tamika and Camille after the interview</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A picture from the WJLA interview</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Though this is a road race, the 5,000 is one of the distances that Matt is hoping to race in Rio at the 2016 Paralympics so it was a win-win to run this race again this year. Matt first ran it solo in 2013 when it was an 8k, then last year he and I both ran it. Well this year we had a team of 12 runners and walkers and five kids participating in the race and wearing Team Daddy's Blind Ambition shirts. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIzhpvCUwLQSUifbSenJocUvnYUYlDLlBn-ad5UixKcHNjBtgN7aXWLvdP98Z5KKckEm0pTwyG0jhGthtfxuPQ9XTetRJxlR65HoOMG0CSAM5FApG9CmynJlTkIHJZO7X9UK41-R4F0xkr/s1600/tdba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIzhpvCUwLQSUifbSenJocUvnYUYlDLlBn-ad5UixKcHNjBtgN7aXWLvdP98Z5KKckEm0pTwyG0jhGthtfxuPQ9XTetRJxlR65HoOMG0CSAM5FApG9CmynJlTkIHJZO7X9UK41-R4F0xkr/s400/tdba.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Team Daddy's Blind Ambition before the race (not pictured are Ian, Donald, & Chrisy)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Matt hasn't raced since Nationals over the summer so this was a great opportunity to get him back in race mode and test out his time on the road. Chuck agreed to guide him again this year, which was a huge relief since this course has a lot of turns and u-turns -- not great for a visually-impaired guy. Though there were plenty of volunteers on the course, they weren't calling out directions so it would have been easy for Matt to have missed a turn. </div>
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It was a pretty good day for a race -- the weather was cool, but not cold and there weren't the strong winds we had last year. I probably said this in my post about last year's race, but I love the 9am start! We didn't take the kids down to the Marine Corps Marathon two weekends ago because we had to leave the house by 5am. Leaving at 7am was much more manageable and it meant happy kiddos. </div>
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The kids have cheered at lots of races, but this was the first time they have been IN a race. Emily and Marisa were very excited. Though they probably would have made it the whole way walking, I opted to push all three in the Bob until the final straight away. Emily kept asking me when they could get out and run and when I said "now" they were off. The three of us ran in the last little bit with Zachary along for the ride. They loved crossing the finish line and got very excited when my name was announced crossing the finish line. </div>
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I know the title gave it away, but I'll tell you anyway -- Matt won the race in 17:29! It is a huge improvement over last year's 18:15. Team Daddy's Blind Ambition Ian Clements took second in a time of 18:54. Way to go team!</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUU1fySbxMyKtWa_uUZYdq4dmfG0hZDA_2CK-DGxx0nTrTQVzcYuyop9MYI6hRLb6hsYui_edsPKRW8hjHuUlkKeu8oM1osWWPBKnWUSz3EpLLM-aaKenvY_w8JdV0Nfae9jmvHmQ-5ZHQ/s1600/winner+dba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUU1fySbxMyKtWa_uUZYdq4dmfG0hZDA_2CK-DGxx0nTrTQVzcYuyop9MYI6hRLb6hsYui_edsPKRW8hjHuUlkKeu8oM1osWWPBKnWUSz3EpLLM-aaKenvY_w8JdV0Nfae9jmvHmQ-5ZHQ/s400/winner+dba.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt showing off his first place prize - a Visa gift card</td></tr>
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I would like to send out a big thank you to our team: Diane, Elizabeth, Gilbert, Ian, Chuck, Jeff, Milky, Chris, Donald, and Chrisy. Also, thank you to the generous donations from Leila, Tom & Debbie, Pat & Kara, David & Terrie, Jean, Tom, Melisa, and Mandi - thank you for contributing to raise awareness for women's cancer!</div>
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Matt has been upping his weekly mileage, but other than a Turkey Trot, doesn't currently have any races scheduled. He is focused on getting FASTER! Stay tuned for updates on his progress!</div>
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Happy running.</div>
Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-55234331660841814102015-10-28T13:43:00.000-04:002015-10-28T13:43:14.638-04:00The Adventures of Dating a Visually-Impaired Guy<div class="MsoNormal">
Though most people seem surprised when I tell them, I
actually was a runner before I met Matt.
In fact, I met Matt one week before I ran my first Marine Corps
Marathon. That was ten years ago this
month! Since Matt lost his vision in
college I never knew him when he was fully sighted. Sometimes people are surprised when I tell
them that, too. So in honor of this
anniversary, I thought I would give you a few funny snippets about my adventures
dating a visually-impaired guy. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When I met Matt, I knew he didn’t have perfect vision based on
some passing commentary from our mutual friend, but I didn’t know the extent of his visual impairment. We met by
happenstance. I had plans with Tom, a
friend I met while interning in college and Tom invited
his high school friend Matt, who had moved to the area earlier that year, to
join us. Since we met right before my
marathon, we spent most of the night talking about running and most likely
boring Tom. We went to a tea house. I remember watching Matt attempt to pour his
tea. He successfully poured the water out
of the tea pot, but I’m not convinced much of made it in the tea cup. In fact, it went in the saucer and mostly on the table. At the time I thought maybe he'd never poured tea, but didn’t think too much of
it. He lived right by one of the
marathon water stops so he said he’d go out and look for me during the
race. At the time I didn’t realize how
impossible that would be for him. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On our first date we met at a pizza place for dinner. We had a great time. When the check came he insisted on
paying. I saw the bill and was shocked
when he pulled out his money to pay and left a 50 percent tip. I had no idea it was because he didn’t want
to ask me what the bill was and guessed, which is why he had cash instead of just using a credit card.
At the time I thought he was a very generous tipper. Now I know that he’s actually rather cheap! <o:p></o:p></div>
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On our second date we
went to a movie after dinner. We had
some time to kill so he suggested we walk around Barnes and Noble, which was
next to the theater, to kill some time.
He’d randomly pick up books and look at the title. I’d ask if he read it, and he’d say no. It wasn’t until our third date when he told
me a bit more about his vision that I realized that he couldn’t have read the
book titles in the bookstore. <br />
<br />
When he
told me about his vision he explained that he didn’t have any central vision so
he couldn’t see me. He said he centers his
blind spot so it looks like he is making eye contact. I remember asking him if he could tell if I was
looking at him or not or what color my eyes were. When he said he couldn’t I began a little test for the rest of dinner to see if he noticed when I wasn’t looking at him. I started small and just looked down and then I started moving my head to look in different places. He obviously didn’t see me because he kept focused straight ahead completely oblivious to my test. Side note, but after we had been dating almost a year he told me how family had been asking him a lot of questions about me and one was what color my eyes were. When he said he didn't know because he can't see them they stopped beating him up with questions, but it did prompt him to ask me. </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Matt and I trained with different running clubs. About six months into dating our clubs were
focused on training for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler. Every once in a while our running clubs would
cross paths. One Saturday morning Matt
and his pace group went zipping by us.
About fifty yards ahead was a large electrical box. Matt slammed right into it, stopped, shook off
the pain, and kept running to catch up with his group. One of the
girls I was running with looked at me and asked if I saw what just happened and why he didn't say hello when he passed. I told her he was visually impaired and Matt usually
tried to brush off his “run ins” so as to not bring attention to himself. There were many Saturday mornings when Matt wouldn’t even know he'd passed me on the running trails unless I called out to him. You probably already read about his run in with the fire hydrant from one of my earlier posts -- likely the most hurt he has gotten while out running! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Matt joined my friend Jenn and me for dinner at a Mediterranean
restaurant one evening. Matt ordered
shish kabobs. They came with the meat
still on the stick. After staring at his
plate for a few moments, he grabbed his fork and tried to use it to get the
meat off of the stick. Every time he
attempted he missed. He’d either hit too
far to the left or right. He got closer
and closer trying to help his aim. Jenn
and I watched several attempts before finally telling him he could just use his
hands. He said he was trying to be
polite. We probably should have said
something sooner, but it was pretty funny watching his determination.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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And my favorite...</div>
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Matt and I were sitting in a booth at a restaurant one afternoon for lunch. He got up to go to the bathroom. He came back and sat down and started talking to me only it wasn’t me because he had sat down at the wrong booth. The woman was completely stunned and didn’t answer him. Finally, he realized he must have miscounted the booths and got up quickly and came to my table. This time he cautiously asked if it was me before he sat down. </div>
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I could probably go on, but I’ll stop there. Stay tuned for future installments of being
married to a visually-impaired guy and raising kids with a visually-impaired
guy. Each has had unique mishaps and adventures. I'm sure you all have funny stories of things that have happened while you have been hanging out with Matt so I'd love to hear about them! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
**<br />
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If you haven’t yet, we hope you’ll sign up to either run the
National Race to End Women’s Cancer on Team Daddy’s Blind Ambition or make a
donation to our team. The race is on November 8th!! It is a great race
and a great cause and we’d appreciate your support. Here’s the link to join us or make a
donation:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.endwomenscancer.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=1131900&lis=1&kntae1131900=7C974C1ADED74D4EAEA3576A9BB27298&team=6417967&tlteam=0">http://www.endwomenscancer.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=1131900&lis=1&kntae1131900=7C974C1ADED74D4EAEA3576A9BB27298&team=6417967&tlteam=0</a>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Happy Running!</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWK9Hw0ztJOAgOIFWkGB2nmFMypM6JDo57__qhozodIeKIT2C4uIzsPjJFcR2vWFxqWy7c6A7mbHGUiCOwH73Q-fKALdbc_ddIOh5dxIDOJ2ivaGBitlt0eZifUW5AombzsHewGROvt2yh/s1600/mcm2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWK9Hw0ztJOAgOIFWkGB2nmFMypM6JDo57__qhozodIeKIT2C4uIzsPjJFcR2vWFxqWy7c6A7mbHGUiCOwH73Q-fKALdbc_ddIOh5dxIDOJ2ivaGBitlt0eZifUW5AombzsHewGROvt2yh/s400/mcm2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here we are when we were dating. We both had just finished the 2006 Marine Corps Marathon</td></tr>
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Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com113tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-57654702430785562422015-09-29T12:48:00.001-04:002015-09-29T12:48:50.141-04:00When Running is Hard<div class="MsoNormal">
Matt is running the Wilson Bridge Half Marathon this Sunday,
October 4<sup>th</sup>. This race is the
U.S. Association of Blind Athletes Half Marathon Championship. He won it last year. Since Matt isn’t focused on the half marathon
distance right now and is instead focused on shorter distances to get his speed
up in preparation for trying for Rio, we’re a little uncertain about his prospects
for defending his first place finish, but you never know! I ran this race last year, too, but will be
in spectator mode since I will have just done a 20 miler the day before in
preparation for the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of the month. <o:p></o:p></div>
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October 4th marks the end of a year of firsts for me since
my brother Brian died save one – the first marathon I will run without seeing
Brian cheering me on. I always looked to
my time running, whether in a race, training for a race, or just out on a jog, as
special me time. That me time got more
valuable with three little ones at home, and often times occurred either very
early or very late in the day. It was my
time to think and plan or not think at all.
I even came up with the idea for this blog while on a long run. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was,
when I went out for my first run after Brian died and started crying
uncontrollably after only a quarter mile.
I turned around and went home. I
attempted runs a few more times and though when it set in varied, I couldn’t
make it through a run without being overcome with emotions. My days are busy and I am rarely alone. I could mostly avoid
grief the rest of the time, but not when I was alone. So unless Matt could meet me at lunch to run
or a friend could meet up on a weekend, I didn’t run. This went on for months and months. </div>
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I quickly learned that you can’t shut out
grief. If it didn’t come out during a
run then it just manifested itself at a different, unexpected, and inopportune
time. I started personal training sessions at a gym so that grief
didn’t find me by the dumbbells. Finally I realized that maybe the reason I was so overwhelmed with grief
during my runs wasn’t because I was alone, but because I was running. Though Brian thought I was a bit crazy for
running so much, he always supported me.
He never missed a Cherry Blossom 10-miler or a Marine Corps
Marathon. In 2009 when I couldn’t run
with my running club on an 18-miler, Brian volunteered to bike it with me the
next day. And so began a new
sister-brother tradition for us.
Whenever I couldn’t run with the group, he’d bike with me and wear my
water belt and carry my gu gels. When I
decided to run a marathon after the twins I wanted to get started before the
running groups so that I could still have a lot of day left with the kids. Most Saturday mornings I would knock on Brian’s
door well before dawn and we’d go out for our run/bike. Afterwards, we’d stop at the Seven-Eleven by
his apartment and get chocolate milk and sit on his front porch and drink them before I headed home. I decided to
challenge myself to train for this year’s Marine Corps Marathon. I ran my first marathon in 2005 so it seemed
appropriate to run it again 10 years later.
The training hasn’t been easy.
Physically, I’ve been injured and going to physical therapy for three
months now trying to fix the plantar fasciitis in my left foot. Mentally, I’ve been trying to balance the
great memories I have of Brian with the pain of him being gone. I’ve been fortunate to have company on many
of my long runs. But when I don’t I have
accepted that they will be hard, both physically and mentally. I still have chocolate milk afterwards; just
now I usually end up sharing it with kids. I miss him every day.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOpoWNaDqWN_0UImQ7ZwABT-vEv_fXgdIdvlQmHE-iqfOFdMpK2kTpq6zTxn1UIHwHk_FbnN7j0mkSfPSMQgwtLUI1gM71Lcb3IDFIUgoNKaJzBf16dfoH7LnL2_SvuXQT9FD0wdYaxzs/s1600/balloons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOpoWNaDqWN_0UImQ7ZwABT-vEv_fXgdIdvlQmHE-iqfOFdMpK2kTpq6zTxn1UIHwHk_FbnN7j0mkSfPSMQgwtLUI1gM71Lcb3IDFIUgoNKaJzBf16dfoH7LnL2_SvuXQT9FD0wdYaxzs/s400/balloons.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: orange;">Emily thought we should send Uncle Brian balloons in heaven on his birthday...so we did.</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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My next post will be all about Matt's half marathon on Sunday!!<o:p></o:p></div>
Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-27332721500598652432015-09-23T14:08:00.000-04:002015-09-23T14:08:04.511-04:00Special Event THIS Saturday!Want to buy some fall running gear 20 percent off? Interested in free samples? Would you like to support the National Foundation to End Women's Cancer and find out more about the upcoming 5k race on November 8th? What about stopping by to show your support for Matt and Team Daddy's Blind Ambition? If so, we hope you'll join us this Saturday!<br />
<br />
City Sports, one of the National Race to End Women's Cancer sponsors, is hosting a special promotional event this Saturday, September 26th from 10 am - 3 pm, at its brand new store in the Mosaic District (by the Target). Passport Mini of Alexandria and Zoes Kitchen, two other proud race sponsors, will also be there. Matt will be there in the afternoon to show his support for the event, the race, and the cause. <br />
<br />
To save 20 percent off your entire purchase, you just have to mention "heart your lady parts" at checkout. For those in DC who don't want to venture outside the city, you can also stop by the 19th Street City Sports location to get more information and save 20 percent on your purchase by saying the same thing at checkout!<br />
<br />
Speaking of the race, it is only six weeks away and Team Daddy's Blind Ambition is in desperate need for runners and walkers to join Matt and I on the course! We are currently only a team of two--that is hardly a team. All we are asking is that you register for the race and run or walk with (or near) us. Please join us by <a href="http://www.endwomenscancer.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=1131900&lis=1&kntae1131900=7C974C1ADED74D4EAEA3576A9BB27298&team=6417967&tlteam=0" target="_blank">clicking here</a>. To read our story and our personal connection to this race, check out my last <a href="http://www.daddysblindambition.com/2015/08/come-run-with-me.html" target="_blank">blog post</a> or read about our story on the Foundation's <a href="http://www.foundationforwomenscancer.org/sisterhood-of-survivorship/runwithme/" target="_blank">website</a>. <br />
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I know many of you reading this blog are runners, both recreational and competitive, but even if you aren't, you can certainly walk a 5k. I plan to walk the race, possibly with three kids in a BoB, since I will still be recovering from the Marine Corps Marathon so there are no excuses!<br />
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Team Daddy's Blind Ambition really wants your support and company on November 8th! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcj9w0OlCDpzpX1JBbZLXLZWSG6pEdTrvVSGDTUf455LIT8Ic5vhhjdVPmdeUzfwVGhDtKMTersgRqVp4x-Pjp3POxbxo9UAJVCuzkLV3deWNu268768w-iRSzmLDouctU-N-ZHeBmPaFI/s1600/matt+ribbon+win.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcj9w0OlCDpzpX1JBbZLXLZWSG6pEdTrvVSGDTUf455LIT8Ic5vhhjdVPmdeUzfwVGhDtKMTersgRqVp4x-Pjp3POxbxo9UAJVCuzkLV3deWNu268768w-iRSzmLDouctU-N-ZHeBmPaFI/s320/matt+ribbon+win.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-3691026052671898792015-08-07T08:57:00.000-04:002015-08-07T08:57:01.166-04:00Come run with me!<div class="MsoNormal">
Last year Matt was the overall winner of the National Race
to End Women’s Cancer 5k. He spoke to
the race director briefly afterwards when he was getting his prize.
She asked if he ran it to run in a race or because of the cause and also
asked about his visual impairment. He told her that
he is always up for a race, but that he ran this race in particular in both
2013 and 2014 for my mom, who is in remission from endometrial cancer. Well, his story stuck with her and a bit
after the race she reached out to Matt and asked him if he would be interested
in participating on the host team as their elite runner. Matt agreed (of course!). As part of the host team, Matt is putting
together a team race in the 2015 Race to End Women’s Cancer on November 8th. In case you didn’t guess it, we’ve chosen the
name Team Daddy's Blind Ambition. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcj9w0OlCDpzpX1JBbZLXLZWSG6pEdTrvVSGDTUf455LIT8Ic5vhhjdVPmdeUzfwVGhDtKMTersgRqVp4x-Pjp3POxbxo9UAJVCuzkLV3deWNu268768w-iRSzmLDouctU-N-ZHeBmPaFI/s1600/matt+ribbon+win.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcj9w0OlCDpzpX1JBbZLXLZWSG6pEdTrvVSGDTUf455LIT8Ic5vhhjdVPmdeUzfwVGhDtKMTersgRqVp4x-Pjp3POxbxo9UAJVCuzkLV3deWNu268768w-iRSzmLDouctU-N-ZHeBmPaFI/s400/matt+ribbon+win.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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We can’t be a team of just two so we need your help! Please be a part of our team. You can walk the race, run the race, or join
the team and then sleep in and join us for brunch afterwards. Race entry is $45. Please join our team and
help us raise awareness for how to prevent, detect, treat, and defeat women’s
cancer. In case you need an added
incentive, we will throw in a Team Daddy’s Blind Ambition t-shirt to all team
participants. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvpPkKk-eZzO49b_YOCvYg1GQVKPz8sQOgyvbxUUWL_OT0Sy080iHX8mNsM_WTN6cEY1WZs3DVm3uKXlZEooNEA-KBlWpWYLvpVZ9WEbJ2fXv9L3yZ1eI6yhCuYS7eCWoVLpJJJEhh1XvW/s1600/048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvpPkKk-eZzO49b_YOCvYg1GQVKPz8sQOgyvbxUUWL_OT0Sy080iHX8mNsM_WTN6cEY1WZs3DVm3uKXlZEooNEA-KBlWpWYLvpVZ9WEbJ2fXv9L3yZ1eI6yhCuYS7eCWoVLpJJJEhh1XvW/s400/048.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Click <a href="http://www.foundationforwomenscancer.org/sisterhood-of-survivorship/runwithme/" target="_blank">here</a> to read about Matt’s story about why he is
running for my mom, Diane.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Then click <a href="http://www.endwomenscancer.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=1131900&lis=1&kntae1131900=D0D5C9306BC94925BCF7C0DB94E0E5A9&team=6417967&tlteam=0" target="_blank">here</a> to register to run or walk as part of Team
Daddy’s Blind Ambition. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We hope you’ll join Team Daddy’s Blind Ambition on November
8, 2015, in the National Race to End Women’s Cancer. It begins and ends in Freedom Plaza. Come join us for a 5k run or walk. I’ll still be recovering from the Marine Corps
Marathon so though Matt may be leading the race, I’ll likely be bringing up the
rear. No matter your pace it is a great
event for all. Here are just a few
startling facts about gynecological cancer:
every five minutes a woman is diagnosed with cervical, ovarian, uterine,
vaginal, or vulvar cancer; far too many are diagnosed far too late in the
disease--nearly 1/3 will die; risk rises with age, weight and other factors
increasingly common among women in economically advanced nations; and, every
year 95,000 U.S. women are diagnosed with one of these diseases. So…<o:p></o:p></div>
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Help us win the race to defeat gynecologic cancers!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: orange; font-size: x-large;"><b>Go Team Daddy’s Blind Ambition!</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>
Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-25824522068146373572015-07-21T20:22:00.003-04:002015-07-21T20:38:32.580-04:00Nationals Part II: Photos and an Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Below are some of the wonderful photos from the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships that took place last month at Hamline University in Minnesota. Two weeks ago we found out that no visually impaired mid or long distance runners were selected for the U.S. team to the Para Pan Am Games, just sprinters. I am so proud of Matt for giving it his all and winning a gold and silver medal in his two events. We always knew making the U.S. team this year would be a challenge. Matt is going to keep focusing on getting his times down so he is more competitive next year. He hasn't given up on his quest to make the U.S. team for Rio. Keep cheering him on -- your support and encouragement have been overwhelming. We have lots of running in the months ahead! Enjoy the photos.</div>
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<br />Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-12407969802016782892015-06-26T08:38:00.000-04:002015-06-26T12:20:36.335-04:00Nationals Part ISorry for the delayed post -- we've been without power.<br />
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Matt flew home Monday from the U.S. Paralympics Track and Field National Championship at Hamline University in Minnesota. I was glad to have him home. For whatever reason, every time Matt goes away something in the house goes wrong. You may recall that when he was in Mesa last year I flooded the bathroom trying to kill a bee. When the girls were itty bitty we had a pipe leak above our dining room that caused some damage when Matt went out of town for a wedding. This latest trip to Minnesota was no different. Matt left last Thursday morning and when I drove up to the house that evening and pushed the button to open the garage door nothing happened. It had poured and hailed most of my drive home so I finally realised the power must have been out. My mom picked up dinner at Wendy's on the way over since we were limited on options with no power. Not the healthiest, but boy were the kids excited! They share Matt's love of Wendy's. Three hours later, the power finally came on. No big deal you're thinking, right? Did I mention that we already had a 4ft x 4ft hole in our family room ceiling? We called a plumber a few weeks earlier and he told us that we needed to re-caulk our master bathroom shower. My father-in-law did that for us so we called to schedule the ceiling repair only to discover we still had water coming out. I recaulked the bathroom shower again. This time we made it two weeks with no water so we called to set up the repair. Well, guess what started to leak again last Thursday? This time it wasn't just a leak, but more like rain. Friday I came home to a pan of water. I taped up a bag because the dripping water scared the kids. By Friday evening the water weight caused the tape to give and poor Emily got all wet because she was sitting in the leather chair nearby. We haven't decided what to do about that. All things considered, we made it through the four days without much disaster. (Thankfully, Matt was here to experience the power outages of the last few days with us.)<br />
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Meanwhile up in Minnesota, Matt was getting ready for his two races -- the 5000 meter on Friday and the 1500 meter on Sunday. On Thursday he had hoped to make it to a dynamic speaking event, but it was delayed a few times due to flight delays of the speaker. Matt decided to spend his afternoon getting acquainted with the University, and more importantly, the track. He got in a workout, though he said he felt sluggish. He ran into one of the athletes he met in Mesa last year and the two of them and another athlete all went out for dinner. He sounded excited yet nervous when I spoke to him later that night. <br />
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On Friday he had a long day of waiting before his 7:30 pm race. He took his work laptop with him so he could get some work done and help pass the time. He headed over to the venue a little before 5 and was able watch the visually impaired 800 heat. He did some striders and warmed up. A bit later his cheering squad arrived. My dad's family is from Wisconsin so Matt had a great turnout of support from Aunt Jean, Aunt Cathy, Andy, and cousins Bill and Sheila. Andy brought his high-tech camera and served as Team Rodjom official photographer. Thank you so much, Andy! I'm sorry I couldn't be there to cheer on Matt, but it is so wonderful to know that he was surrounded by family. <br />
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And now for the 5000 event...<br />
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Matt decided to wear his compression calf sleeves. He wore them in the StarKids 5K and didn't mind having them on in the heat so he decided to wear them again. There were four runners in Matt's heat. Matt was in lane 3 with no one in lanes 1 or 2. The other runners were in lanes 5, 7, and 9. Matt's only other experience with paralympic events was Mesa so he forgot that numbers must be visible or he could be disqualified. One of the other runners, Chaz Davis, has the same visual impairment that Matt does -- Leber's Hereditary Optical Neuropathy (LHON). He's a college kid and very fast. Chaz and Matt are both classified as T12 runners. The other visually impaired runner, Michael Kinoshita, is also a college kid and very fast. The final member of their heat was not a visually impaired runner so would be in a separate ranking for those with brain injury. As soon as the gun sounded Chaz was off and Matt never saw him again. He and Michael stuck pretty close together, settling in at about a 5:20 mile pace. At about lap seven Matt started to struggle with his pace a bit so he tucked behind Michael. He kept looking at the flags to make sure he didn't get a red disqualification flag for not having his number visible. With 300 meters to go, Matt decided to surge. He finished in 17:02, which is a personal best for Matt. His previous personal best was a 17:05 circa 2002. Chaz finished in 16:09 and Michael in 17:13. Since Matt and Chaz are both T12, Matt took home silver for the 5000. Matt met the Parapan Am Games qualifying time of 17:20. We are waiting to hear if he will be chosen to represent the United States in Toronto in August. After a one-mile warm down with Chaz and Michael, Matt and his cheering team all went out to dinner to celebrate and catch up. He slept well Friday night!<br />
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Saturday was a low-key day of spending time with family. They went on a river cruise for dinner which happened to serve the best pre-race meal, pizza. <br />
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And now for Sunday's race...<br />
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The kids and I called Matt early on Sunday to wish him good luck and a Happy Father's Day. The kids made him a trophy before he left and a card, which he took with him for good luck. We were all a bit bummed that we weren't together on Father's Day. Matt was feeling tight so he wasn't sure how the race would go. Then, when he started warming up, he had strong pain in his hamstring. Well, in the end, Matt ran a 4:35. His PR in the 1500 is a 4:23 (in his college days). He was hoping to have run a little faster, but was still feeling ok about his time. He said the entire 1500 felt like a sprint and in the last lap when he usually has enough energy left for a surge he had nothing left. Matt came in third, but took home gold since he was the only T12 in the race (the other runners were T13). Michael came in first with a 4:27 and a young college student, Branden Walton came in second in 4:31. Matt missed the qualifying time for the Parapan Am Games in Toronto. He needed to run a 4:30 in the 1500. None of the athletes made the qualifying time since T13 runners are required to run faster than T12 runners.<br />
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Matt had lunch with his cheering team before they headed back to the Madison area and he spent the rest of the time exploring the city. He also caught up with Kristin, a former DC RoadRunner who lives up in Minnesota now, for dinner. Below are a few pictures from the weekend. Andy took many more and I'll post those when I receive the thumb drive in the mail. In the meantime, happy Friday!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before the 5000</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt and Michael during the 5000 on Friday</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt with my Aunts Jean and Cathy on the riverboat ride</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt and Andy on the riverboat ride</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sporting his gold medal</td></tr>
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<br />Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-36301865372159530322015-06-09T10:40:00.000-04:002015-06-09T10:40:19.317-04:00On a roll!So Matt's running has been going well lately. He has qualified in two events at Nationals and has been having some good track workouts. On Sunday he ran in the StarKids 5K near our house with Karl, who has graciously guided Matt several times. I've probably said it before, but Karl running with Matt is like Matt running with me -- going out for a leisurely run. Karl competed in Olympic trials in 2008 so he knows well what Matt is going for and competing against to try to make the U.S. Paralympic team for Rio. <br />
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Matt came in third last year at the StarKids 5k and he wanted to run it again this year not only because they have generous prizes, but also because it is a very well put together race that is super family friendly and raising money for the Inova Children's Heart Program. Our kids are too little, but there was a giant bootcamp inflatable obstacle course and a huge rock climbing wall. There was also a fun run that Marisa wants to run in next year she said. My only challenge of the morning was navigating the porta-potties with three kids. There were about thirty people in front of us in line. Thankfully the line moved quickly no thanks to the couple that cut in front of us. After the race we got to meet Ariel and Spider-Man AND get a free scoop of ice cream. We also lucked out with great race (and spectator) weather. All of that would have been enough, but to top off our morning Matt won the race, which came with a $500 Visa gift card. Matt has to cross the finish line ahead of his guide so that meant that Karl came in second and won $250. Not bad for less than 18 minutes of racing, right? <br />
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Matt knew he needed a guide on this course. He ran it last year and there were several places where he either started turning too soon or missed turns. If Karl hadn't been there, this year's challenge would have been the orange safety cones. They had them in the middle of the lanes to show where the turns were and to stop cars, but if he overshot a turn Matt would have run right into them. Matt finished in 17:52 (which is a big improvement over last year's 18:33). It is a hilly course and he had done a pretty hard speed workout two days before so he was mostly pleased with his time. He was hoping to have it start with a 16, but that is probably more achievable on a track than on a hilly road race. Matt and Karl were in the lead from the very beginning. Check out some of the photographs from the morning. <br />
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A huge thank you to Karl for pushing Matt and making sure he didn't run into anyone or anything!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting excited for the race!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First quarter mile -- all smiles!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Needed snacks while we waited for daddy to finish</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">almost to the finish line -- running strong</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look who we ran into!?!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Free ice cream</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting for the awards presentation to start</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVOMCe9Cfhl-_0A5ZWbwdp_pQPwdkqZWaBNwQuU0ODFBHplTWH2buIE8jOnBBulvPPEnEAxXllUQzPabtv0-vD-gcXQVUJApZUkHHporJyq3RMyU9iGI571Q2sZYcprsBBWF8GcT4QM1CC/s1600/star1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVOMCe9Cfhl-_0A5ZWbwdp_pQPwdkqZWaBNwQuU0ODFBHplTWH2buIE8jOnBBulvPPEnEAxXllUQzPabtv0-vD-gcXQVUJApZUkHHporJyq3RMyU9iGI571Q2sZYcprsBBWF8GcT4QM1CC/s400/star1.jpg" width="380" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awards presentation -- all the kids wanted to go up with daddy</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The presenter even told the crowd that Matt was legally blind</td></tr>
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<br />Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-3644138885309113862015-06-02T13:24:00.000-04:002015-06-02T13:24:35.736-04:00And the winner is?On Saturday, Matt competed in the Potomac Valley Track Club open meet at Edison High School in Alexandria. It was a bigger meet than we were expecting, with lots of local adult and youth clubs. My mom, the kids, and I all came to cheer Matt on. I have some photos below of the race and cheering section. The temps were good for both Matt and his fans. The kids were very enthusiastic about cheering and yelled "Go Dad, Go" even when Matt wasn't racing. Matt ended up not racing in the 800. The kids were out of steam by the end of Matt's race and there is no way that they would have been able to sit there for several more hours. <br />
<br />
The first track event was the mile. There were three heats of the mile followed by one heat of the 1500. The mile was won in 4:39 so it is too bad some of them didn't run in the 1500 meet to push Matt. Before the race Matt ran into one of the runners from Catholic University that he competed against at the Gallaudet meet. He decided to race in the 1500 with Matt. There were a few other adults and about 10 kids prepping for the Junior Olympics that ran the 1500. Matt had to hold back in the last 300-400 meters because he had lapped the kids and he didn't want to run into anyone. That would not have been good! In order to qualify to complete in the 1500 at Nationals, Matt needed to run at least a 5:04. He ran a 4:40 and came in first. Woohoo! He didn't run all out so there is room for improvement when he races at Hamline University in a few weeks at Nationals. The 5000 and 1500 are on different days so he has a good shot in both events. I cashed in airline miles to buy his plane ticket last night and he has his hotel reservations so it is all starting to feel real. The only downside of Nationals is that he'll miss Father's Day. We'll have to have a rain day the following weekend. :-) <br />
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Here are the standards for Matt's vision classification in order to make the US team and compete in either the Pan American Games or Worlds this year<br />
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<b>1500:</b><br />
National Team A standard: 4:00:30<br />
National Team B standard: 4:04<br />
Parapan Am Games minimum: 4:30<br />
World Championships A standard: 4:20<br />
World Championships B standard: 4:27<br />
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<b>5000:</b><br />
National Team A standard: 14:45:03<br />
National Team B standard: 15:16<br />
Parapan Am Games minimum: 17:20<br />
World Championships A standard: 16:15<br />
World Championships B standard: 16:40<br />
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Don't forget about Sunday's StarKids 5k in Fairfax! Hope to see you there!<br />
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<br />Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-68947613829183679052015-05-26T20:58:00.001-04:002015-05-26T20:58:48.429-04:00Want To Help Us?The Potomac Valley Track Club has agreed to have the last heat of the mile be the 1500 meter so that Matt can qualify to race the 1500 meter at Nationals next month. To qualify, he needs to run a 5:04 or faster. No sweat! We would love for you to come out and cheer Matt on, or, if you're up for it, to run the 1500 with (or near) him! It is an open meet, so for $8 you can race any of the events. The kids and I will be out there cheering and we'd love the company. Depending on how fast the meet goes and how he is feeling, Matt may also race the 800 meter. <div>
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Here are the details:<div>
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Saturday, May 30, 2015 at 8:40 am</div>
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Edison High School, 5801 Franconia Rd, Alexandria, Virginia</div>
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website: <a href="http://www.pvtc.org/outdoor.html">http://www.pvtc.org/outdoor.html</a></div>
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Order of track events:</div>
<div>
Mile (and 1500)</div>
<div>
100 meter</div>
<div>
Mile Racewalk</div>
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400 meter</div>
<div>
100/110 meter Hurdles</div>
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3000 meter</div>
<div>
200 meter</div>
<div>
800 meter</div>
<div>
4x100 meter</div>
<div>
4x400 meter</div>
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We were very disappointed when Maryland denied Matt entry to their track meet so we are over the moon that Potomac Valley has been so accommodating and added an event that wasn't even on their schedule. This will be Matt's last track race before he heads off to Minnesota. It would be really nice to have a great send off for him!</div>
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If the track event isn't for you, please think about running in the StarKid 5k at Fairfax Corner on Sunday, June 7th. Matt will be racing with Karl guiding him. He placed third last year and will use this as a gauge of his current 5k time. It is a well-organized race for a great cause--the Inova Children's Heart Program. <a href="http://inova.org.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1130910">http://inova.org.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1130910</a></div>
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We hope to see you at one of these two upcoming races. Go Daddy's Blind Ambition, go!</div>
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Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-85620368399316278972015-04-30T08:37:00.000-04:002015-04-30T08:37:30.047-04:00An Unexpected Roadblock<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I ended my last post about Matt’s plan to race in two events
at this Friday’s University of Maryland Kehoe Twilighter meet. Since he
qualified for Nationals in the 5000 at Gallaudet University last month, he
wanted to secure a qualification in the 1500, too. If he is going to go
all the way to Minnesota, it would be great to have two events to race.
Well, that may not happen. Let me start by
saying that the University of Maryland Kehoe Twilighter is not an open meet,
which means that it is up to the race director to determine who can and cannot
compete in the meet. Here is what they published:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="line-height: 115%;">Unattached </span></strong><strong><span style="line-height: 115%;">/ </span></strong><strong><span style="line-height: 115%;">Open /
Club Entries </span></strong></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">A limited number of open, club, and unattached entries will be
accepted to enhance the fields for the meet. Unattached athletes must email
their entries to: </span><a href="mailto:dsiebert@umd.edu" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">dsiebert@umd.edu</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> by
April 27<sup>th</sup> for consideration. Please include (1) the event(s)
for which you are requesting entry and (2) your performances in those event(s)
from this year or last year. Not all requests will be accepted. The entry fee
for unattached athletes can be paid on the day of the meet and must be paid
prior to competition. Fee is $25.00.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Matt sent multiple requests to compete, and in full
transparency, told the University of Maryland that he’s a visually-impaired,
former collegiate runner, who would like to race so that he can qualify for
Nationals and ultimately the U.S. Paralympic Track and Field Team. Silence.
He then asked a coach from a local track team that competes in the Kehoe
Twilighter for assistance. Only then did he find out second-hand that they
are “uncomfortable” having Matt compete in the 1500 because of the “potential
for mishap” and that Matt could “impede on someone else” during the first few
meters. Matt gave it one more shot and reached out to the Maryland
track coaches to explain is visual acuity and track record. He received a
“we’ll get back to you” type response. With the meet scheduled for
Friday, they have failed to get back to Matt. Some of you reading
this raced in college with Matt at Westminster or weekly at W-L with DC Road
Runners. Do you recall any mishaps on the track or times when Matt
impeded on any other athlete’s ability to race? Matt doesn’t. One
of the core values of the NCAA is inclusion to improve the learning environment
for all student-athletes and enhance excellence within the Association.
The NCAA includes disabilities among the dimensions of diversity that they
support. If Matt were a student-athlete, we might be able to argue that
the University of Maryland was violating the NCAA rules and the Americans with
Disabilities Act by not allowing Matt to race. Since Matt is no longer a
collegiate athlete we have little recourse for this blatant (in our opinion)
discrimination. All I can do is write about it in the hopes that if any
of you are in a decision-making position that you’ll think twice before you say
no to someone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Maryland didn’t care about Matt’s track history, that he’d
never had an incident on the track, or that he is trying to represent the
United States on the world stage. They saw potential liability and
stopped there. As Matt’s wife, I am a bit biased. Nonetheless, I
have a pretty good understanding of Matt’s limitations. He’s horrible at
certain household chores, his socks don’t always match, he can’t read to his
kids, and when it is pouring rain outside he can’t go get the car (which is by
far the most annoying on this list). That’s a pretty short, but
representative list of the limitations. However, the list of what Matt
can do is endless. I don’t know if it is despite his disability or
because of it, but Matt doesn’t give up. Last month he came in third in a
D-3 track event. Would he come in third in a D-1 track meet?
Probably not. Would it have mattered? No. We hear on the news
all the time stories of people overcoming obstacles and persevering through
adversity. I think Matt is one of those stories. If Matt doesn’t
make the U.S. Paralympic team, that’s okay. He’ll have given it his
all. It just saddens me that someone would not support his journey.
Maryland isn’t the only meet out there. We’re still trying to find
another meet that will race the 1500 so that Matt can compete in two events at
Nationals, but we are running out of options. We’ll keep you
posted. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-43431904142452718232015-03-30T21:33:00.000-04:002015-03-30T21:33:22.423-04:00Hello Nationals!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The U.S. Paralympics Track and Field National Championships
will be held June 19-21, 2015, at Hamline University in Minnesota. The June event is a selection event for
athletes that want to compete in the International Paralympic Committee
Athletics World Championships this fall in Doha, Qatar. However, to compete in Nationals all athletes
must meet qualification standards. Matt
would like to compete in both the 1500 and the 5000 at Nationals, but decided
to start by trying for a qualifying time in the 5000. NCAA
track meets are qualifying meets so on Saturday, Matt completed in the
Gallaudet University Invitational at Gallaudet University in Washington. DC. It was a Division III Track and Field
competition with athletes from Catholic University, Gallaudet University,
Goucher College, Hagerstown Community College, and Hood College. Just to point out the obvious, that means
that Matt was racing against runners between 13 and 17 years his junior. (I don’t think he liked it when I pointed
that out while we waited for the race to start.) Matt had reached out to the Gallaudet running
coach a few months ago asking if he would open up the meet to Matt so he could
attempt to qualify. Coach Moore
graciously agreed and made it seamless for Matt to compete. Not all of the local universities have agreed
to let Matt run – in fact some haven’t even responded to his requests – so we
were very excited to have this opportunity and are very grateful to Coach
Moore. I might have been more nervous
than Matt on Saturday since I had never seen Matt compete in a track event and had no idea
what to expect. I had also never been to
Gallaudet University. It is a very nice
campus with a beautiful new track. For
those of you who may not know, Gallaudet is a university for deaf and hard-of-hearing
students. It was the perfect location
for Matt’s first track meet on his road to Rio.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3nU0tTHIYx14pqJKQYVc5SSzk1EGZ5UUI2m9XJMZFlI4Sw8HzNfd3YE4fC2Rh72GAcaa0OVkJquJPXk_TE3b9-GraVOozn1RB-WBZNxYL4nxUUXWB_8EphuLgWmyAuNt-16GvuVgdUG6z/s1600/163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3nU0tTHIYx14pqJKQYVc5SSzk1EGZ5UUI2m9XJMZFlI4Sw8HzNfd3YE4fC2Rh72GAcaa0OVkJquJPXk_TE3b9-GraVOozn1RB-WBZNxYL4nxUUXWB_8EphuLgWmyAuNt-16GvuVgdUG6z/s1600/163.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt at the Gallaudet track before checking in</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Us freezing in the stands watching the track events. Matt's event was event eleven.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt warming up before the race</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you may recall, Matt injured himself at the California
International Marathon in December and had to start physical therapy. Not only did Bodies in Motion help his injury
heal, but one of the physical therapists, Matt Barnes, is now his coach. He’s been having Matt run less, but a lot
harder. The approach to Saturday’s meet
was simply to qualify. The Nationals’
qualifying time in the 5000 meters is 18 minutes or less. His coach recommended he keep it conservative
and run 5:40 miles. Since there is no
watch to speak splits and because Matt is unable to read the race clock, I
stood by the fence and called his splits.
He needed to average between 83 and 85 seconds a lap for all 12 and a
half laps. Our friends and former
neighbors, Matt, Jen, and Sean came out to the meet to help cheer on Matt and
also served as official race photographers since I was yelling splits. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiewOdLESpF_wk8rr9pwgHuUdYAgEBZ_sgRIJHhCQUgiMAr2-8E5lbwbi1PMVZKV2QdakddgVGpWOFwoH0L7Ii7AA-5VGN3ZAiyTl6ckbZ6eEwj-EnNNUbwVfxYBoHY94RoHeXMfyUHPsmR/s1600/186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiewOdLESpF_wk8rr9pwgHuUdYAgEBZ_sgRIJHhCQUgiMAr2-8E5lbwbi1PMVZKV2QdakddgVGpWOFwoH0L7Ii7AA-5VGN3ZAiyTl6ckbZ6eEwj-EnNNUbwVfxYBoHY94RoHeXMfyUHPsmR/s1600/186.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt, Jen, and Sean in the stands</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seven athletes, including Matt, raced in the
5000.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I tried to remind Matt before the
race not to keep up with the lead runners if they go too fast since he was
really only racing against the clock and not any of the runners.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The race weather wasn’t ideal – between the temperature
and wind chill it was close to freezing for the race.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He opted against a singlet and wore a short
sleeve shirt, shorts, hat, and gloves.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
stood at the finish and started my clock when Matt passed me a half lap in.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are his 12 splits:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lap 1: 83 seconds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lap 2: 83 seconds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lap 3: 85 seconds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lap 4: 85 seconds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lap 5: 86 seconds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lap 6: 85 seconds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lap 7: 86 seconds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lap 8: 85 seconds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lap 9: 85 seconds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lap 10: 86 seconds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lap 11: 84 seconds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lap 12: 75 seconds</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All seven runners in the 5000</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt about to cross the finish line</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt right after finishing.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In case you are wondering what his overall time was, it was
17:37. He did it! He qualified for Nationals in the 5000 meters! AND, he came in third! (The winner ran a 17:06.) Some of the runners came up and congratulated
him and shook his hand afterward. Even
though I was calling his splits, he messed up the math in his head and thought
he was over 18 minutes and was disappointed until he heard his final time. Then the excitement hit him. I am so glad I could share this day with
him. It was also great to have Matt,
Jen, and Sean out there to share it with us, too. Thank you for braving the cold with us! Also, a huge thank you to Coach Moore for
opening up the race for Matt!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that Matt has qualified, he can focus on training. If he gets approval, he’ll compete in the
University of Maryland Twilighter on May 1<sup>st</sup> in both the 1500 and
the 5000. That way, if he doesn’t have
any energy left after the 1500, it won’t affect his chances of racing the 5000
at Nationals. Come help us cheer on Matt
in May! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Daddy’s Blind Ambition is going to Nationals!</span></div>
Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-22074523940815629222015-03-10T15:56:00.000-04:002015-03-10T17:45:50.779-04:00Cold Running and a Race Recap<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've been a bit quiet lately, but I can assure you that Matt is still running! In fact, he's been running a lot. By a lot, I mean he's logging less miles overall, but he's running them at a much faster pace. It's no small feat getting in a track workout considering that we haven't seen the track for weeks because of ice and snow. When we drove by the track this morning on our way to work it looked almost clear so this might be Matt's week to finally train <i>on</i> the track. The last few weeks it has been challenging to find a safe place for Matt to run. He came home Sunday night with a badly skinned knee, elbow and forearm after slipping on ice. I can't even blame a fire hydrant this time! (Though I did suggest that maybe 9pm was a bit late to go out and do a speed workout.) I've gotten good at cleaning boo-boos with three little ones at home so he's all patched up and on the mend. But now for the exciting news of the last few weeks...</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On February 28th, Matt ran in a small 6-mile race called No Fear in Love. The start was about a half mile from our house so it was ideal. What wasn't so ideal was the 14 degree temperature at gun and the hilly course with lots of turns through neighborhoods near our house. The race, which is put on annually to raise awareness, particularly among college students and young adults, about domestic abuse and to stop it in its tracks, had a small but dedicated turnout of runners and advocates for the cause. We sit in traffic every night on our way home in front of George Mason University so we have time to watch the electronic sign of upcoming events and we saw the announcement for the race months ago. (Sometimes the sign isn't so helpful, like when it is announcing that Frozen or some other Disney production will be at the Patriot Center prompting our girls to beg to go.) The night before the race we loaded the kids in the car and drove the course so Matt would know what to expect. Since gun was at 6:45 am, he decided to run without a guide. The roads were pretty clear of snow and ice, but there were no big landmarks to help him remember his turns. With a temperature of 14 degrees at the start I was able to talk Matt into wearing pants for the race. I assured him that pants wouldn't slow him down that much. Apparently it is his first race not in short. I've raced in pants many times, but then again, I'm not running to win. Even with the frigid temperatures, no guide, hills, and turns, Matt WON the race in a time of 37.42. It isn't a good predictor of his track times, but it was still good to get him back into that competitive mode.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next up, Matt will be competing in two events, the 1500 and the 5000, at Gallaudet University on March 28th. This will be his first opportunity to run a qualifying time for Nationals in June. He's hoping to qualify at this meet so he can spend the next few months on speed. His fall over the weekend doesn't appear to have caused any injuries, which is a good thing considering he has his last physical therapy appointment in the morning! </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I hope this detour out of winter that we are having this week means that spring weather is here to stay! Happy Running!</span>Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-62303347837746338302015-01-21T10:10:00.001-05:002015-01-23T13:49:33.073-05:00Where He's Been and Where He's Going<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In 2014, Matt made the excellent decision to focus his
sights (no pun intended) on the 2016 Paralympics. Since then, he’s done a whole lot of
running! He also began the arduous
paperwork process to even make the team.
For those of you who haven’t read all of the postings, here’s a recap:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Travelled to Mesa, Arizona, in May to obtain his
International Paralympic Committee classification and to compete in two events
(1500 Meter and 5,000 Meter) and WON both of them. The kids and I had a mostly uneventful week
while he was gone (other than the bee that wouldn’t die and ended up flooding
our half bath—no joke!).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Placed third overall in the StarKid 5K race right by our
house. It was a great day for a race, it
was very well organized, and he received a very generous prize award. Woohoo!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Won the USABA Half Marathon Championship at the Woodrow
Wilson Half Marathon in October and set a new personal record.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Won the Race to End Women’s Cancer 5k (as in he was the
fastest person in the race, not just his division) which was totally awesome. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Received some amazing running gear compliments of Brooks
Running. He loves all of it! </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Travelled to Sacramento, California, and placed third in the
USABA Marathon Championship at the California International Marathon. After some Achilles pain in the lead up to
the race, his hamstring crapped up at mile 24 so he didn’t break 3 hours, but
still had a fantastic race and weekend with his fellow visually impaired
competitors. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Matt is one of those people that must run. A little black rain cloud follows him around
if he has to go more than a day without even a short run. So he wasn’t the happiest when he came back
from California because he knew he needed to not only recover from the race,
but also to address the pain he was still having in his leg. In the nine years I have known Matt, this is
the longest he has ever gone without running.
The day after Christmas he saw a sports medicine doctor who prescribed
physical therapy. He was completely
expecting this outcome and almost welcomed it because he knows it is necessary
to get him back to the shape and condition he needs to be to meet his
goals. Unfortunately, our favorite
physical therapist Lyn at Capitol Rehab is no longer in-network with our
insurance. She’s seen both of us through
several injuries over the years.
Thankfully, Matt found Jamie at Bodies in Motion near the house and so far so
good! I can report that he’s been doing
all of his drills every evening while the kids play and he’s been stretching
and foam rolling, too. So although it
isn’t ideal that he has an injury, we’re pretty sure 2015 is going to be
another awesome year for Matt. He has started running again and no pain! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here’s what you can expect to hear about in
blog posts this year:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lots of shorter distance races. His goal is to run a race every month to help
with his speed and leg turnover. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Track events. Matt
needs to run in certified races, which could include an open NCAA track event,
so that he can get a qualifying time on the books this year. We’re in the process of working on this one
and I hope to have some good news to report in the coming weeks.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Marathon v. track.
Matt is still wrestling with what he wants to pursue. After California he is leaning towards focusing his energy on the track. He was happy with his times in Mesa back in
May, but those times won’t secure him a spot at Rio so he has some work to do.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Treadmill. Matt and I
have never been big fans of the treadmill.
Running outside is so much more enjoyable and the best way to train for
a road race. Unfortunately, where we
live there isn’t sufficient (or any) overhead lights at night so there is
nowhere safe for Matt to run. Having a
treadmill would give Matt more flexibility in when he can run and peace of mind
(mostly for me). Although we don’t have
one yet, it is looking like a 2015 necessity. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thank you all for your support this past year and for
reading the blog. Life gets in the way
and I haven’t posted as many updates as I would like, but I love documenting Matt’s
journey and I particularly love getting your feedback. Since I started the blog last April, I have
had more than 6,000 visitors come and read about this quest. (Disclaimer:
I don’t know how many of them our parents were!). For me, Matt’s running is just a part of our
life and family and I am honored to share a bit of our everyday with you. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq_DZ8HrzR_wi6qBykrLrsPWeuew65ABMKmjoT7-E8vWfQJe8G7KekBRb_CLabidMhPpOh4Lkc54xzhaDdXl4zIhWHEmpUoHAL0KmSf5gu4T5G8jP9cbfiWddCWzNhA4_KOjFMfjvnxqsa/s1600/runmarisa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq_DZ8HrzR_wi6qBykrLrsPWeuew65ABMKmjoT7-E8vWfQJe8G7KekBRb_CLabidMhPpOh4Lkc54xzhaDdXl4zIhWHEmpUoHAL0KmSf5gu4T5G8jP9cbfiWddCWzNhA4_KOjFMfjvnxqsa/s1600/runmarisa.jpg" height="290" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This really has nothing to do with Matt's running, but I love this picture taken during our family photo session. We spent most of the time chasing after the girls. They are fast!</td></tr>
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Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477622319330520037.post-30684842829615928732014-12-12T11:33:00.000-05:002014-12-14T13:37:07.325-05:00Greatness...and the California International MarathonI started this blog in April with the simple goal of documenting Matt's journey to pursue his dream of making the US Paralympic team. This past weekend was a huge milestone in that journey. Matt ran his first marathon in two years with the ambitious yet achievable goal of breaking three hours. His PR had been 3 hours and a few seconds and with a half marathon PR of 1:20 it is not crazy to think he could shave off a few seconds. <br>
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Two weeks before the marathon Matt started to get Achilles pain. I knew it must have been bad because Matt took a week off of running and was walking around wearing an ice pack any chance he could. He even was stretching. Getting Matt to stretch is like having a clean house--a rare occurrence. Then, Matt found out that the race was certified by the International Paralympic Committee and running a sub 3 hour race could allow him to run in the London Marathon in April, a Rio trial. So let's just say Matt was feeling a bit of pressure. The week before the race he had some short runs and began to regain his confidence. It is amazing how one off week with pain can tank, at least mentally, six months of hard training. Last Friday he left for Sacramento with renewed enthusiasm. </div>
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This was Matt's third time to Sacramento for this marathon. Running this race was definitely about competing for Matt, but it was also about supporting the many visually impaired and blind runners he has met and befriended over the last five years, and helping to educate and demonstrate what being a visually impaired and blind athlete means. There were 47 visually impaired runners running the marathon or the marathon relay, each with unique stories and trials that brought them to this race. I continue to be amazed and humbled by these athletes. With that many in his field we knew that Matt would have steep competition. Adrian Broca, a fellow distance runner with Leber's, has stood on the Boston Marathon podium with Matt both times he's run that race, and both times coming in faster than Matt. (More on Boston later.) </div>
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The weekend had a full itinerary of dinners, lectures, and events. Matt called frequently telling me about his experiences. His excitement was apparent. He had two awesome guides with him, one for each half. He has come to rely on his guides, which is no small feat after 30+years running without guides. This year during the marathon, a group of young visually impaired paralympic hopefuls participated in the USABA Paralympic Experience. This event was not short on inspiration. Matt probably wouldn't have known about the California International Marathon if it wasn't for Richard Hunter, the force behind making it the USABA Marathon Championship, increasing the field of very talented visually impaired runners, securing funds to help offset travel costs for these athletes, and partnering with local universities to provide guides and overall support to the runners. I remember getting a call out of the blue after Matt's first Boston and it was Richard. He asked for Matthew so I thought it was a telemarketer, but he then went on to say he was a fellow visually impaired runner and I quickly handed over the phone to Matt. He called to introduce himself and recruit Matt to consider coming out to California to run. The next year, Matt did just that and won the USABA championship. Richard's mother-in-law, Inge, graciously opened her home twice to Matt for the 2012 and 2014 race weekend. Not only has Matt raved about her (and her cooking), but it also made it possible for us to afford Matt going to the race. </div>
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You probably are ready for me to just give you the results already. Okay, okay. I spoke to Matt the night before the marathon and his plan was to run 6:40 miles. He felt great at the start. In fact, the bus was able to take the visually impaired runners directly to the start and saving them a walk up a big hill. He went through the 10k in 6:39s and the 20 mile mark he was holding a 6:47 pace, still on track for a sub-3:00 marathon. At mile 24 Matt's right hamstring completely locked up on him to the point of having to walk it out. Paramedics were running after him to see if he needed help, but he told them no. If they had even touched him he would have been forced to leave the race course...at mile 24. Matt was able to get back up to a run, but he was in pain. In the end, he finished in an overall time of 3:04:21, a very respectful time AND a Boston qualifying time. Unfortunately, it was four minutes over the London A standard. It secured him the 3rd place overall Visually Impaired runner place (and second B2 finisher). I was heartbroken <i>for </i>Matt. If I were him, I probably would have cried. But when I spoke to him shortly after, expecting to hear disappointment in his voice, I heard excitement and the words, "I gave it everything I had." He then went on to tell me that he knew Adrian was ahead of him (we later learned that Jason Romero was also ahead of him) and then started talking about his great guides (Mike and Drew), the race overall, and how he needed food. I called this post "Greatness" because that is the word that came to mind after I got off the phone with Matt on Sunday. Greatness as an athlete in giving it everything he could. Greatness as a competitor in being supportive and thrilled for his fellow VI runners. Greatness as a dad in showing our children, whether or not they understand it now, how important it is to accept defeat and not see it as weakness. Greatness in life in not dwelling on his time, but instead going on to enjoy the rest of his activities that day. Greatness as a group of VI runners together supporting each other doing what they love.<br>
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Matt's not sure what is next. It's only be a few days and he's still has the post-marathon shuffle. It could be Boston in April, or it could be focusing on track events instead. We knew the road to Rio would be long, but he's still on his way. For right now, the focus is on family and Christmas. I'm sure the running shoes will be dusted off soon.<br>
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Before I close I want to tell you a feel good moment I had over the weekend. I write this blog and have no idea who reads it. I see the number tally, but that's about it. Matt said that not only did several people tell him over the course of the weekend that they read it regularly, but also that the post I wrote about Matt placing at Boston (and getting his picture with Kara Goucher) was the subject of discussion and that THAT post got forwarded to the Boston Marathon's Disability Director. (Here's a link: <a href="http://www.daddysblindambition.com/2014/04/running-celebrities.html">Running Celebrities post</a>) This year the Boston Marathon did not include the Visually Impaired runners (and some of the other disability categories) in the awards ceremony. I don't know if my post will change any one's mind, but I hope it at least planted a seed that every winner, regardless of time, deserves that feeling of being recognized for their amazing achievement along with <i>all</i> of the other winners. It is important for the overall winners to see and cheer on the other categories, too, because as hard as the race might have been for the overall winner, it was just as hard if not harder to have done it without sight, missing limbs, or in one of the many other categories of runners. The Visually Impaired winners aren't even listed on the 2014 winners results page. If Matt does run the 2015 Boston Marathon, I hope he'll be able to go to the awards ceremony, either as an award recipient or to cheer on the VI runner that is the award recipient. I'm not sure who might be reading this today, but I hope you agree!<br>
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Here are some pictures to help document the weekend. I'd like to say a big thank you to Mike an Drew, Matt's two guides for taking care of him on the race course, and Richard Hunter and his family for making this event what it is! <br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIZrcBbfuzzMRW0Cr3OC-MjmGJ08u6EfRyoYp1y9Fjv0eIZMUsahi_Jk1RrRMjIcjaqxaGWLn1FRM4kEb8Il4Vwi3vgHgP6usM_VveEpvJJ0e5RAq4ZgriyJ7jgVYhqdu3w2IDZeQONst3/s1600/cim20141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIZrcBbfuzzMRW0Cr3OC-MjmGJ08u6EfRyoYp1y9Fjv0eIZMUsahi_Jk1RrRMjIcjaqxaGWLn1FRM4kEb8Il4Vwi3vgHgP6usM_VveEpvJJ0e5RAq4ZgriyJ7jgVYhqdu3w2IDZeQONst3/s1600/cim20141.jpg" height="400" width="300"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt with his two guides - Drew (L) and Mike (R)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IqqKHj8eZbHpQxRWFqqOTGmPcVlblomL0t6osXKvKMf6W5PM7gsfOtFlx38UWvBItgE0m6z1t5Cc8vV0lHgY3yoY-7i9f9Z8qpRhOU3UeSjaiVC1cTjjmQfOY_PWgajx_-YmWItQ2KpS/s1600/cim20142.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IqqKHj8eZbHpQxRWFqqOTGmPcVlblomL0t6osXKvKMf6W5PM7gsfOtFlx38UWvBItgE0m6z1t5Cc8vV0lHgY3yoY-7i9f9Z8qpRhOU3UeSjaiVC1cTjjmQfOY_PWgajx_-YmWItQ2KpS/s1600/cim20142.jpg" height="300" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt (right after finishing) with Adrian (L), Aaron (CR) and Michael (R)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6wUp3VKmdzbgVB7OpI566URPcaNtqrnb4UNXjump4W3AgNjmBTqYggTXLC01QIXqFyXZwhmqlZ_OQAfNUA73IwNVFMQeUOURNp-o2qzP8fefC7aOWGsGPZVGLFOdpMpZWm3FKC5b_jNz/s1600/cim20143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6wUp3VKmdzbgVB7OpI566URPcaNtqrnb4UNXjump4W3AgNjmBTqYggTXLC01QIXqFyXZwhmqlZ_OQAfNUA73IwNVFMQeUOURNp-o2qzP8fefC7aOWGsGPZVGLFOdpMpZWm3FKC5b_jNz/s1600/cim20143.jpg" height="400" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">VI 1st - 4th place finishers posing with Delta Gamma who supported the runners throughout the weekend</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9vPiDS0OipJTjRvGEhEaAdXHIE3xlMFes7Tgaz412pxb_Uj6wJ0_nMrun0VazbE5DGAkLwvBr0d5dO80BbpSzXNrrTXHGnei-yg69YLnbsmzCge96g-woWmQOIrqjTZDpGIbyMLQSKisC/s1600/cim20144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9vPiDS0OipJTjRvGEhEaAdXHIE3xlMFes7Tgaz412pxb_Uj6wJ0_nMrun0VazbE5DGAkLwvBr0d5dO80BbpSzXNrrTXHGnei-yg69YLnbsmzCge96g-woWmQOIrqjTZDpGIbyMLQSKisC/s1600/cim20144.jpg" height="400" width="300"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt and Richard</td></tr>
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Daddy's Blind Ambitionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04316592713518344347noreply@blogger.com4