1st Place Overall Ugly Dog Gravel Aqua Bike
"It ain't about how hard you get hit. It's about how hard you get hit and keep moving on. That's how winning is done."- Slyvestor Stallone.
I took a hard hit just two weeks before a scheduled sprint triathlon at the Ugly Dog Gravel race in Grass Lake, Michigan.
I was on a training ride in my neighborhood when my bike hit a crack in the road and I lost control. I hit my head on the pavement and my ribs on the sidewalk curb. When I hit was not even sure I was ok. I lay there for a minute, trying to decide if I could get up. A lady who saw the whole thing asked if I was ok. I told her I was not sure.
After a couple of minutes, I got back on my bike and rode for another 20 minutes. I had two salad plate-sized bruises on both inner legs. They looked terrible, but did not hurt much. The ribs were another story. It hurt to breathe. Lying down at night required doses of Ibuprofen. My back also hurts. It was hard to get comfortable sleeping.
I had an annual medical exam later in the week, and the doctor thinks I have a microfracture of several ribs.
I was able to run and ride, but could not swim without a great deal of pain. I confined my swimming workouts to fins and a kickboard.
This happened at a really bad time in my season. I have the para-triathlon national championship in my hometown of Milwaukee on August 10.
I also had the Ugly Dog sprint triathlon on July23rd. The first year I signed up for the race, I found out triathlon friends Robert and Cheryl Kearney had also signed up for the race. Plus, Cheryl's brother owned a home on the lake where the race was held. For the 4th year, this race has been a friends and family weekend. I did not want to miss it.
The 750-meter swim for the sprint race was out of the question. I had to figure out what race I would do. I know from last year that the trail run was steep with roots and rocks. I would be worried that with the recent rain, the trail would be slippery.
I decided to do the super sprint aqua bike. This race would be a 300-meter swim and a 5-mile gravel bike. I crossed my fingers that the short swim would be ok. I knew I would also need to be careful on the course. The race director told us in the pre-race briefing that the course was peanut butter (soft).
The only glitch in the race was on the swim. The safety kayaks kept getting in the way. Two of them blocked the route to the first turn buoy. I had to yell at them to get out of my way. There were lots of first-time athletes, and many were hanging on kayaks. I understand that, but the kayaks needed to move out of the way. Then a kayak was again blocking my way as I headed into the swim finish. I had a direct line on the swim exit and again yelled for the kayak to get out of the way. I have never had this happen in a race.
My friend Cheryl was just seconds ahead of me out of the swim, but I beat her out of transition. I was biking as fast as I could to put distance between us. She was on a gravel bike, which is much faster than the mountain bike I ride. It is a bit silly since we were not in the same race. Just a way to motivate myself. Cheryl caught me just before we hit the dismount line. My race was done, and she was off on her fun to finish her triathlon.
The bike course was soft, but I got through it without incident. Awards for the aqua-bike are only given to the top three in the race. I finished 1st overall with a time of around 44 minutes.
My ribs were sore, but I got through it. In 10 days, I have the biggest race of the season. I am hoping I can get through the 750-meter swim on that one. I guess we will see.
Here we all are at the finish.
Cheryl and Robert both took 1st place in their age group for the super sprint triathlon. It is a fun event for us, and I look forward to being back next year.
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Chris Wodke
Founder Team CMT
www.run4cmt.com
Chris is a
triathlete, Nordic skier, and long-distance runner. She is a three-time
participant in 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.
She has won national championships as a physically challenged athlete in
Aqualon, Duathlon, Aqua bike, and Winter Triathlon. She was the national
champion in her age group in 2023 for gravel duathlon.
In 2014,
she represented the U.S. as a Paratriathlete at the Pan-American
Triathlon Championship in Dallas, Texas.
She was the 2023
Gravel Duathlon National Champion in the 65-69 age group.
She has won state
championships as an age-group athlete in cycling and triathlon. She has
represented America as an age-group athlete at world championships in Chicago,
Denmark, Cozumel, and Norway. She earned a bronze medal at the Winter Duathlon
World Championship in 2023 in Norway.
In 2020, she was
named a National Ski Patrol Subaru Ambassador and a USA Triathlon Foundation
Ambassador.
She travels
around the country raising awareness of CMT.
She is the author
of the book “Running for My Life,” which details her experience as a
CMT-affected athlete, and the book “Soup Sundays: A Journey Toward Healthy
Eating”.
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 find a cure for
CMT. We currently have 257 athletes in 43 states. We also have members in
Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Vietnam, Iran, Scotland, France, Turkey,
Poland, Norway, Mexico, Wales, Ireland, and Sweden! If you wish to join
us, visit our website: 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.
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