Wisconsin Senior Olympics- Swimming and Cycling

" No matter how many mistakes and how slow your progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn't trying." -Tony Robbins

Cycling
I look forward to the Wisconsin Senior Olympic cycling race all year.  The two days of racing take place on a closed course in Menominee Park.  Day one races include a 10 K time trial and a 20 K road race. Day two is a 5 K time trial and a 40 K road race.

Because I started a new job in August I do not have much vacation time. I decide I would just be doing the time trial races.  You cannot use a triathlon or time trial bike in the road race.  Because my car does not have a bike rack, I can only carry one bike.  I bought a triathlon bike last year to do races like this.  So it would just be the time trial races.

The first day there was a huge thunderstorm in the morning. I did not want to take time off of work, drive to the park and have the race cancelled. I saw a Facebook feed later in the day from the race. The weather cleared just in time for the time trial.

The weather was much better for day 2.   Time trials are a great way to break into racing. We are lined by by gender and age. Women and older first.  A rider goes off every 20 seconds or so.  You are basically racing against the clock. A 5 K race goes by pretty fast.

You can have a hold to give you a faster start. I have never done that so I decided not to use a holder.  I had trouble clipping into my pedals and that delayed me at the start.

The roads were still wet from rain over night and from the day before. I decided to not go too crazy. I know the course well because I practiced riding the course several times this summer.

I ended up just 7 seconds out of 2nd place. Because that finisher was from Illinois we were both awarded silver medals. The rules are that an out of state competitor cannot displace a Wisconsin resident from awards.  The best part about this race is visiting with all the other athletes.
Many of them are local runners and triathletes as well. It was fun to see everyone and I qualified for the National Championship in New Mexico next June

Swimming
This event was held on September 15th at the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center. This is an awesome facility. It has been the site of Olympic trials.   I did five events:

• 500 Meter Freestyle Novice
• 50 meter breast stroke, Novice
• 50 meter back stroke, Novice
• 100 meter free style, Novice
• 50 meter side stroke, novice

There are two categories, a masters for those that compete and belong to National Masters swim and Novice.   This year is a qualifying for those in the Master category. Because I was swimming novice I would not qualify.  Most of those competing swam in college or high school. They start off the blocks and do flip turns. I do neither and that puts me at a disadvantage.    Neither is required, but I won't swim in the master category until I can do both.  Even in the novice category many of the swimmers start off the blocks.

I took silver in every category except the back stroke.  I got beat by a huge margin in the breast stroke but the other races were close.

The back stroke is the one race where everyone starts in the water.  I pretty much smoked the field. I actually slowed down I was so far ahead.

My one moral victory was in the 500 meter race. I finished in 10 min 29 seconds which was a great time for me. That would be about 15 30 for 750 meters which would be a couple of minutes faster than my last pool race.   

I am not a great swimmer, but I had lots of fun. I had a couple of friend that competed so it was fun to see them race and visit.

A race like this keeps me motivated to keep training. I really need to get some lessons on swim starts and flip turns. Something to work on for next year.

It was a good games for me. I qualified in track and field, road race, triathlon and cycling. Not sure if I will go to Nationals. It is way too early to decide.


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Chris Wodke

Founder & Manager Team CMT

www.run4cmt.com

Chris is a triathlete and long distance runner. She is a three time participant of the Boston Marathon.  In 2012 she finished 2nd at Boston in the Mobility Impaired Division. She was on the course in 2013 when the bombs exploded.

She has appeared three times at the Paratriathlon National Triathlon Sprint Championship. She was the 2012 and 2014 National Champion Paratriathlon Open Division Champion.

In 2014 she was the PC Open Champion at the Duathlon National Championship and at the Aqua bike National Championship in 2016. She represented Team USA at the Aquathon ITU World Championship in Chicago in 2015i, Cozumel in 2016 and Denmark in 2018. In 2018 finishing 5^th in the 60 to 64 age group.

 In 2014 she represented the U.S. as a paratriathlete at the Pan-American Triathlon Championship in Dallas, Texas.  She has won state championships in cycling and triathlon as a senior Olympian. In 2017 she placed 2^nd in her age group at the Winter Triathlon National Championship, earning a spot on Team USA for the World Championship.

She travels around the country raising awareness of CMT.

She is the author of the book, “Running for My Life” that details her experience as a CMT affected athlete and the book “Soup Sundays, A Journey Toward Healthy Eating”.

http://www.henschelhausbooks.com/catalog/memoir-biography/215-running-for-my-life-winning-for-cmt-9781595982827.html

You may visit her author page at:
http://www.amazon.com/Christine-Wodke/e/B00IJ02HX6

Team CMT is a group of athletes and supporters working to raise awareness and to find a cure for CMT. We have 218 members in 39 states. We also have members in Australia, England, Scotland, Canada, Vietnam, Turkey, Finland, France, Ireland, Poland, Iran, Norway and Sweden. If you wish to join us visit our web site; www.run4cmt.com or www.hnf-cure.org

CMT or Charcot-Marie-Tooth is the most commonly inherited peripheral neuropathy. It affects over 155,000 Americans (as many as MS).  It is a disease of the nerves that control the muscles. It is slowly progressive, causing loss of normal function and or sensation in the lower legs/feet and arms/hands.

Symptoms include; muscle wasting in the lower legs and feet leading to foot drop, poor balance and gait problems Atrophy in the hands causes difficulty with manual dexterity.

Structural foot deformities such as high arches and hammer toes are common.

Poor tolerance for cool or cold temperatures and many people have chronically cold hands and feet.

Additional symptoms may include fatigue, sleep apnea, breathing difficulties and hearing loss.

Additional Link

Follow CMT affected Paratriathlete Timmy Dixon
http://cmtamputee.wordpress.com/

Follow CMT Author Chris Steinke
https://cmtandmesite.wordpress.com/2017/01/30/what-is-charcot-marie-tooth-disease/

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