Left Arm Bandit

Snow birding it up

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:31:00 +0000

Training in the Portland, OR winter is not the easiest thing to do. It is cold and rainy, and it gets dark very early. With low circulation in my right hand, cold weather causes me a lot of pain when I’ve been out on the bike for more than an hour. Solution? Move to a warmer climate during the winter. Two years ago I was in Phoenix 5 days a week for about 3 months. During that time I learned all the training locations, made friends with the local athletes and had a blast. So I’ve moved back for a few months. I told my grandfather that I was becoming a snow bird and he queried (or you could say “said”), “Son aren’t you a little young for that?”

I’ve been in Phoenix for a few days and been enjoying the sun and warmer weather immensely. On Saturday Allan and Alison were in town for a Challenged Athletes Foundation swim clinic and they helped look at my swim stroke. I’m in the middle of a rather large swim block and have made some fairly major changes to my swim mechanics, swimming out doors in the sun versus inside is so, so much more enjoyable. I’m working on my tan and stroke at the same time.

Allan and Alison

I still have to take my first bike ride here in Phoenix. This year I’ll be racing on a Specialized Shiv TT. When I got the bike late last year it was like getting on a rocket ship. Super Super Fast! I’m still adjusting to the more aggressive positioning that Russell at Upper Echelon Fitness put me into. On longer rides its not super comfortable, however since I race short course triathlon its worth sacrificing a bit of long term comfort for a lot of speed. I love it!

Less than 7 mins from my winter house there are some great off-pavement trails for running. Monday afternoon I was up there for some light trail running. It’s a bit different running on trails in Arizona; everything is rocky and hard. This time of year in Oregon trails are pretty muddy and slick. I think I might miss that while I’m here. Compare and contrast below:

Portland Vs Phoenix

From here on out this winter is all about consistency and staying injury free. I’m building towards USA ParaTriathlon National Championship in Austen, TX on May 28. Hoping to see the top of the podium again!

Sep 18: 2011 ITU ParaTriathlon World Championship

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 19:38:00 +0000

The last week I've been in China to race in this year's ParaTriathlon World Championship. Saturday night was a good friends wedding but the previous week had been so busy with work and final preparations to leave for China that I had not started to pack. I stayed up all night before leaving to pack and clean. Arriving in China was pretty easy although getting to the hotel took about 5 hours between waiting for my bike, clearing customs and immigration, waiting for the ITU bus and driving around Beijing. I was rooming with Travis (see pic below)

The rest of the week was full of final training, race meetings and similar. Race day rolled around. Our start was at 3:45 pm so after a light morning jog I spent the day relaxing, reading, repacking my race bag and trying to get my head in the right spot to race. Most of the morning I felt pretty keyed up and nervous and anxious. I was trying to take Phil 4:6 to heart. I made a few calls home to talk with people which helped a lot. Then decided to start reading Psalms. I started at the beginning and just read. By the time I got to chapter 18 I was starting to put my trust in God and by chapter 24 I was calm and focused. There is something about those poems which calms the soul. I think its the raw emotion that the writers display.

I road up to the race site about 3k's away to check into the athletes lounge. I the way up I noticed that the front break on wasn't retracting quite right and was causing some rubbing on one side. Lucky for me Specialized was on site with their Team. I stopped by and they were able to get it mostly working. Turns out that the cable is catching where it comes out of the stem.

Checking into the lounge and then getting my transition area set up was pretty easy to do. I got in my run warmup but ran out of time to do a swim warm up. There is no temperature cut off for wearing a wetsuit for paraTriathletes. I was planning on not wearing a wetsuit because the water was pretty warm, however one of athlete put on a wetsuit and within about 30 seconds everyone had one on.

We all lined up for introductions, starting with the Tri-6 athletes and working towards the Tri-1 we were all introduced. I got an ok spot on the starting pontoon. Close to some of the fast swimmers with them on the correct side for my breathing to be able to watch them. The start was fast and furious as always. I hung with the lead pack for the first 100m then got dropped. I need to learn to go out strong then settle to stay on the feet of the leaders instead of building throughout the swim. After the second buoy I started to catch people eventually I found a good pair of feet to follow for the rest of the swim.

I booked it into transition and with the help of my handler quickly got the wetsuit off and onto the bike. Exiting transition I jumped on my bike and slid my feel into the shoes. Or at least that was the plan. In reality I jumped on the bike, slid one foot into the shoe and then kicked the other shoe off the peddle. the 10-15 seconds I lost going back to get my shoe was the difference between 7th and 8th.

On the bike I was generating good power but people who I out biked last year pasted me. Even one of the AK athletes was able to hold with me for a while on one of the climbs. I found out after the race that I had a slow leak in the rear tire and I road most of the race with a low tire. The bike course was challenging and interesting with two 12% incline climbs and some semi technical descents. The first loop I didn't realize that I could use the whole road and stayed in my lane. I'm too used to having to follow the rules of the road. Even with the low tire I was pretty fast. The course was 2k longer and much more challenging than the pancake flat course last year in Budapest and I road essentially the same time. Thats what training and a much faster bike will do for you! I'm bummed that I wasn't able to use the rocket ship of a bike that Specialized sent me to its full potential but sometimes you just have bad luck.

Transition two was smooth and fast. Then it was off to a four loop run. I ran my heart out. On each loop there was a 180 turn where you could get a time check on athletes in front and behind you. I was closing a 30 second gap with a Dutch athlete and trying to stay away from a German behind me. On the third lap the German passed me and I passed the Dutchman. The German started to build his lead to 15 seconds but on the last straight before the finish I started to close. Each step got be a bit closer. Around the final 180 turn you need to swing wide to get to the 300 meter finishing shoot. When I went to make the wide turn two wheel chair athletes pinned me into the turn. I had to slow up to almost a walk to get around them. By then the German I was chasing was gone. I finished 11 seconds behind him in 8th place.

With my handler after the race

All in all it was a good race, much better than last year. The field this year was much more competitive than previous years. The Tri-4 field continues to be the most competitive in ParaTriathlon. Its good to compete and I've had a good year with 2 wins (Madrid and NYC) I'm much more competitive than I was last year. Over the course of the off season I'll be focused training to produce more wins next year.

Sep 6: Portland City Triathlon

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:09:00 +0000

It has been a crazy few weeks since my last post about winning at the USA ParaTriathlon National Championship. The last hard push for training for World Championship and work has been eating all my blogging time up. Today though I have some time to write Two weeks ago I raced one of my favorit races of the season, the Portland Triathlon. I love this race. It's my hometown race and plays to my strengths with a challenging bike course (climbing and technical descents) then a flat fast run course. Because of the location a lot of my friends are able to come. Check out these shirts they made for me.

The race started with a fast swim in the river. I felt good and was able to find a strong rythem. Coming out of the water in T1 I slipped on some wet grass. I didn't notice it at the time but I banged ny elbow pretty good. By the run it was swollen up and hurting. I biked very well. I wouldn't say I crushed it mostly because I didn't take risks on the descents. With Worlds so close I didn't want to go down. The run was hard for me. I tried to build it but just couldn't get my legs under me till the last kilometer. Even with a slower run I still was fast enough for my first age group podium!

Aug 11: USA ParaTriathlon National Champion

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 19:09:00 +0000

National Champion!!!!

Yes, I won another National Championship! Two years ago some of the fastest guys were hurt and unable to race. I jumped on the chance and won. This year was so much sweeter. The big guns were out and I pulled of an awesome win!

Here's my race report:

Race morning it rained, the roads must have been pretty slick because shortly before the highway was to be closed for the race a car hit the gard rail and over turned. Fortunately everyone was ok, however the race start was delayed so that the oil and gas could be cleaned up. No one wants to race on a slick surface and then go down.

The New York City Triathlon race is a bit trick as far as the start times go. This year with the delayed start and the new starting procedure I wasn't quite sure when the start would be. I timed my warm up a little late so only got in about 10 mins instead of my normal 20-30. Also because of the current there is no swim warm up.

The swim was pretty rough (see video of an age group wave). The wind was going against the current producing significant swell. I had a very hard time finding my rhythm until the last 500 meters. Eventually I figured out how to swim up one side and ride the swell back down and still be able to breath.

Unlike last year I had good transitions. T1 was fast and efficient. My handler was super great and helped with my wetsuit and helmet.

The first 5-10 kilometers of the bike I found it hard to generate power. It wasn't until the first climb that the legs started to really kick in. This is a bit odd because usually I get out of the water ready to kill it on the bike. About 1 kilometer from the first turn on the bike I spotted the Willie Stewart who I thought was in the lead. Willie is a fast runner so I knew I needed to attack him on the bike. I passed him on a short steep climb and then kept building my lead. At the second turn I had almost 2 mins on him.

On the bike at USA Nationals

When I hit T2 I was a bit surprised to find out that there was another athlete ahead of me. I'd never raced Daniel before so I missed him on the bike. That happens when there are 4000 age group racers out there. Worse I had no idea how well he could run.

Look at those awesome Nike Streak XC shoes!

My plan for the run was to build it from the start. As it started a woman ran next to me asking "what are you doing." To which I replied, "Running." She thought I was a pro. She wanted to pace me but had to drop off after the first mile. By this time is was hot and humid 90+ degrease and 90% humidity. My TYR carbon suit which normally dries in about 3 mins was soaked with sweet the whole run. I kept pushing knowing Daniel was out there and worried about the fast runners behind me. With 1.2 kilometers to the finish I passed Daniel. I was so deep in my own personal pain cave that I didn't realized it was him until i heard him swear as I went by.

The last few meters of the race were totally amazing. I may have enjoyed them a little bit too much as you can see in the picture.

After the race I spent time in the medical tent getting ice and cooling down. This always seems to happen to me after hot races. In the finnish area there was a Muscle Milk tent which I took advantage of. Then went to the Accenture VIP tent for food and to wait for the podium.

Special thanks to: Coach Lara, USA Triathlon, PACE, Athletes Lounge, Muscle Milk, Trigger Point and many others who have helped me this year!

On a sad, rather serious note, there were two deaths in the swim this year. One of them was the sister of one of my coworkers. These things are a strong reminder that sports are dangerous. Things can happen quickly that are often out of your control, no matter how in shape you are or how good of a swimmer you or how good of a skier you are. My heart and prayers go out to the families so effected my this tragic loss of life.

Aug 6: USA ParaTriathlon National Championship is Tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 23:19:00 +0000

Tomorrow is the Accenture ParaTriathlon US National Championship. I love this race. It plays to all my strengths. The swim is fast in the Hudson river. The bike is a challenging course that requires power and guts. The road surface is not very good and there are a ton of people on the road to get into the way. The run is a rolling course through central park.

Two years ago I had a breakthrough. Some of the fastest guys were injured and unable to race. I took advantage of that and pulled of out my first ever win. It was awesome. In 2010 Willie Stewart was back on form and he beat me. I came in third overall and second in the arm category. This year I'm looking for redemption and a second National Title. Race is tomorrow morning at 6:40 am. Wish me luck!

Weekly Training Recovery

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:29:00 +0000

Recovery is one of the most important and often over looked areas in triathlon. Sometimes I think it should be the 4th discipline. Swim, Bike, Run, Recover. If I'm honest I have a hard time taking this to heart. I always want to train more, train harder and train faster. Coach is always working on me to make sure I take tie to recover between workouts. For the past 1.5 years I've been taking one day off a week. We've found that the extra day sets me up for progressively harder workouts. On my recovery days are a bit different from training days and generally contain a session of muscle regen with Trigger Point and a massage.

Sometimes I stress about my fitness levels with a day off but I haven't had any injury that would cause me to take more than a day off in almost 2 years. And if the results from a few weeks ago are any indication of fitness I'm right where I need to be right now.

I think the tendency of all athletes is to try and push the limits too far. There is a real danger of not recovering or over training or injury and then having to take weeks off. That is what we should be more concerned about.

ITU ParaTriathlon World Cup Madrid 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:16:00 +0000

Here is my race report for ITU World Cup Madrid. It was a fast hard race.

The swim was a bit tough and felt longer than it was. I was surprised to come out of the water with the pack. The run to T1 is really long. Probably about 400 yards with the first 50 across a floating plastic pontoon which moves under you. It's a bit unsettling. I moved up a few places on the transition run.

I had a quick transition but was a bit over ever to get my feet in the shoes once I mounted the bike. Road the first few 100 meters with one foot between the strap and the shoe but not in it.

I pretty much crushed the bike course. Within the first k I was in first place. There was a photo/video bike who followed the leader. At first it was a bit annoying but then you just end up pushing harder. You've got to look good on film and all. At the last 180 turn 2.5 k before T2 I did a time check and was up on 2nd place by about 45 seconds.

Hit T2 and missed finding my rack finding my rack. Next time I'll be sure to scout it better. Lost a few seconds there but not to bad. The ITU transitions are super nice! When you get off the bike you are pretty much at your rack unlike big transition areas where you run a ways to the rack.

The run was hard, I took off at a fast pace and felt like I was going to die. Chest heaving, couldn't get a breath. I must have looked like crap to the guys on the moto bike. I kept praying for the turn. Eventually it came and then I realized why the run was hurting so much. It was a false flat. The way back rocked and I picked it up a gear. The guy in second was way too far back to catch me. And I cruised in to the finish. I'm trying to get race photos but for now you'll have to settle for the podium shot.

March 5: Four Year Anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 00:09:00 +0000

March 2nd was the four year anniversary of my skiing accident. Last year I wrote a bunch for retrospective stuff looking back on the previous three years. This year I totally missed the date! Which is a good thing. I though about recapping everything again but I don't have a whole lot more to say about things other than I am very happy with life these days.

Here's 4 years ago:

In the snow after hitting the tree

And here is today:

Vacation in Tempe, AZ

Feb 25: Kansas City work travel

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 06:14:00 +0000

This week I was in lovely Kansas City. I'm actually on the plane back as a write this. Sprint was doing a major upgrade to their community site and I was there to help out should anything go wrong. The Sprint team was really impressive, great process, smart friendly people and good documentation. All things that make for a good project.

While I was there I got in a few good workouts especially some track work. Wednesday evening was nice enough to run fast out side so I did my 3x1 mile repeats. They are hard but really good. I'm starting to feel like there might be some real speed under all the base training I've been doing the past few months. If this workout was any indication I should be running well come race season.

The next morning I woke up to snow and my car looked like this

Its pretty incredible the difference a day makes. That evening I had dinner with my friend Adam who was in Budapest at Worlds with me. It was fun to catch up with him. Hopefully he will do well at nationals this year.

The weather doesn't look all that great in Portland right now so I'll be riding the rollers and swimming in doors this weekend. I can't wait for training camp in Phoenix first week of March. Finally some time in the sun!!!

Feb 21: Jack Frost Time Trial 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 17:52:00 +0000

Two years ago my first bike race was Jack Frost Time Trial. Last year I missed it but I was back for revenge this year. Unfortunately I was late getting to the course so my normal 1 hour warm up was truncated to 20 mins and I forgot the arm warmers that I was planning on wearing. Thats not the best way to start. To add to the stress one of the local pro triathletes was starting 30 seconds behind me!

Here I am 10 mins in trying not to freeze my arms off

From the beginning my plan was to go hard and hold off the pro rider behind me as long as possible then hang on to the end. I passed the rider who started 30 seconds in from of me and the rider who started 1 min in front before Mr. pro came by about 10 mins in. For quite some time after that it was a bit lonely but at the turn around I saw the rider who had started 2 min in front of me. He had about 45 seconds on me. I spent the remainder of the race trying to track him down. At 1 kilometer to go he had 6 seconds and with 200 meters to go I caught him. However it was on a 90 degree corner and I had to sit up because he took the whole road. After the corner he sprinted with me and crossed the like about 1/2 a bike length ahead.

It was a good race for me, more warmup would have really helped but I got a grood time and finished 15th in the category which included 5 or 6 pro triathletes. Not too bad.

Results

Feb 15: First Swim Meet

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 17:41:00 +0000

First let me say my swimming is rock'n right now. Ever since I changed my stroke up last year after attending a challenged athletes swim camp in October as part of the SDTC weekend I have leaped forward in my abilitiy. I've been meaning to write up my new swim stroke for a while. Maybe next week.

Part of my training this season is to swim with swimmers, bike with cyclists and run with runners. I've done a lot of bike training with cyclists but have not done much training with swimmers except for the time I spent in Phoenix swimming with the Sun Devils Masters last winter. A few weeks ago I started swimming with a new masters program in Portland, Willamette Valley Masters. Swimming with the other swimmers really pushes me to swim faster, stronger and better.

As a triathlete I've done a lot of, you guessed it, triathlons. However I've never raced a swim meet. Last weekend I did my first one. I was pretty nervous and a bit freaked about it. Part of trying new things is to ask question and not act like you have it all together. Personally I hate that. Clearly I don't have it all together but I still try to act like I do most of the time. But I swallowed my pride, asked a bunch of questions, got some wired looks and eventually figured it out.

I signed up to swim the 100 IM, 50 Fly and 500 Free. I was a bit worried that I would mess up the order of the IM strokes, or not be able to make the 50 fly or die on the 500 free. So I kept saying to myself: Fly,back, breast, free and you can make it.

Platform start for 500 free

100 IM: This was my first race and first time starting a race off the blocks. I was pretty psyched up and hammered it right from the bat. Fly went ok, back was pretty good, breast was strong and free was really good. Time: 1:26.8 the fastest 100 anything I've ever swam! I was pretty stoked.

50 Fly: Wow that was hard, the last 15 yards were killing me but I stayed strong and finished in 39 seconds. Not too bad considering a year ago I could not make that time for a 50 freestyle.

500 Free: This was a long, long race. I lost track of where I was 150 yards into the race. For events 500 yards or longer you can have people show you cards to tell you where you are in the race. This is something I found out about afterwards. Next time I'll have someone do that to help me. I think I could have pushed this a bit harder than I did I would have liked a time under 8 min but I came away with an 8:16 not too bad but I know I can do better

All in all it was a great time. I highly recommend swimming with masters and going to a few swim meets to all my triathlete friends out there. Your swimming will get better, I promise!

Feb 7: Birthday Week

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:35:00 +0000

Well its been a long, long time since my last post. I'm sorry, I feel bad about it and I'm going to be making an effort to keep up more. My blogger friends tell me you need to post 5 times a week. This seems like a very lofty goal and I like to make my goals achievable. So I'm shooting for once a week to start and we will go from there.

And so much has happened I'm not really sure where to start. However its my Birthday. If you recall last year for my birthday I was in Phoenix with my brother. This year I am at home and not traveling. On the actual day I had dinner with my parents, the next few days were full of events with friends which were a blast. Its nice to take some time to hang out. Sadly I don't have any pictures to go with this post.

Finally I'm making the commitment next year to do a Hillary Biscay style birthday swim which is a 100x100 workout. I wanted to do it this year but i'm not quite there yet with my swimming.

19 Dec 10: ParaTriathlon in the Games for 2016

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 00:19:00 +0000

Perhaps you've hard the good news, perhaps not. Either way I'm telling you that ParaTriathlon has been added to the Paralimpic games for Rio in 2016. This is hugely exciting and a massive step forward for our sport. There is media coverage here and here.

This means that we might be added to the program in London 2012 as a demonstration sport. I'm structuring my training that way and should be in fine form.

As my German friend Stephan says: "Train on"

Back the bid!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 17:45:00 +0000

ParaTriathlon is bidding to be included in the 2016 Paralimpics. The vote by the IPC is Friday Dec 10, 2010. Join me, the 2010 men's and women's Elite World Champions and a ton of other people around the globe by backing the bid by liking this facebook page.

ParaTriathlon Facebook Page

14 October 10: Post Surgery

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 22:22:00 +0000

After 2 years its time for another surgery. After vacation in Europe and racing at world championships its time to take a few weeks off training and get some more work done. Two months ago I went to see Dr Mackinnon we decided to have some tendon transfers done. Basically we are steeling muscles from the flexer side of my right hand and threading the tendons through my wrist to do extension. The goal is to give me the ability to open my hand and cock my wrist back. These to additional movements should help make my whole right arm and hand more functional.

On Monday I went in for the pre op appointment and we noticed that my wrist and fingers are starting to move a bit more on their own, without surgery!! I had an EMG done to confirm this. So Dr Mackinnon and I elected to forgo the tendon transfer and instead do a nerve release surgery. The nerve release surgery should help the nerves grow more into the muscles that are starting to work.

Post opp hangout

My brother John and I spent the next few days after the operation hanging out in St Louis for the pot opp appointment. Here's a few pics.

Note: This is a back dated Blog Post - I'm catching up on a bunch of things.

2010 ITU ParaTriathlon World Championship

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 04:09:00 +0000

Firstly a quick History lesson. Budapest is a city composed of the two ancient cities Buda and Pest divided by the Danube River. In1873 the two cities were unified and the Chain Bridge was built across the river forming the city of Budapest.

The race takes place in all three of the places. The swim is in a backwater of the Danube, the bike is all on the Buda side of the river and the run takes you over the river across the Chain Bridge to finish just on the Pest side. The course is dead flat except for a small rise on the run to the bridge.

Race morning it was pouring down rain and about 56 degrees out. Transition setup was pretty miserable. The grass was mostly soup and it was impossible to keep anything dry. The water temperature was 54 degrees. That's very, very cold, even in a wetsuit. Sam Cili and I went for a quick warmup swim but afterwards we both agreed that it wasn't even close to long enough. Then we made our way to the swim pontoon for the start. Most of the athletes were shivering on the platform and I tried to line up close to the other wingers so I could keep an eye on them during the swim.

I started the swim off strongly getting locked into the second swim pack. Thats a pretty good spot for me as swimming is really not my strong suit. About 1/2 way into the swim I started to loose confidence in my swim and started to feel like I needed more air. So I switched up my swim stroke to breath right side. This causes me to slow down quite a bit but I can breath and glide better. I picked it up a bit at the end of the swim but never felt like I could pull it back together after abandoning my fast stroke earlier in the swim.

At T1 I got clocked in the head by a volunteer who was trying to strip my wetsuit but shook that off and had a fast transition getting out on to the bike course with one of the fastest transition times.

The bike was a bit sketchy. The road is not in the best shape and there was standing water ever where. There were four 180 degree turns and eight 90 degree turns. I think being from portland really helped me here because I had good confidence with the turns and the water and one of the fastest bikes.

T2 was good too, fast and I was out on the run in no time.

On the run I pushed but felt like there was another gear that I couldn't access. This was super frustrating. It was like how early season races often are. Where you know there is more speed somewhere and you can feel it wanting to come but it just won't.

I finished in 7th place which was a bit disappointing. What hurt me the most was the swim where I lost almost 6 minuets to the leader. So a lot of the focus for the winter will be on swimming. The season is over and next up is some surgery.

August 2, 2010: Racing Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:58:00 +0000

Thought I would share a few pictures from my recent races.

Finish of ParaTriathlon Nationals

On the bike at ParaTriathlon Nationals

Athletes Lounge Wednesday Night Training Race

July 26, 2010: Accenture ParaTriathlon National Championship

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:42:00 +0000

I got up at 3:30 AM on race morning, showered, grabbed something to eat, and then caught a cab to T-1. For some reason traffic in New York at 4:30 in the morning was bad, real bad. So I made it to transition a bit later than I wanted to but still with plenty of time before it closed.

The 1 mile walk from transition to the swim start was different this year. They completed a new promenade that is right along the river. As we walked to the start we saw several waves go by, including the pro waves. Watching them I decided that I was going to get an outside line no matter what. The current was stronger the farther from shore.

Because it’s the national championship us paraTriathletes get treated pretty well. At the swim start and finish we share a tent with the pros and get treated like them. That means, among other things, we get to skip the madness and hassle of dealing with the age group chip distribution and have a great place to just relax before our start time.

I took a quick warm up jog, and then it was time to get the wetsuit on and head to the start pontoon. I got a spot towards the end of the pontoon where the current was strongest. When the horn went off I fought for position for a bit and had feet to follow for about 200 meters, then I was dropped and swam the rest on my own. A few times the current pushed me closer towards shore than I wanted, but I headed back out to where it was stronger each time. I had a good swim, not amazing but strong. At the swim exit I had my wetsuit stripped off. Then it was the 700 meter run to transition. Wow it just kept going and going.

I got to transition where the handlers told me I was about 3 mins down on the leading 2 arm guys. That’s a lot of time to make up but I decided that I would push on the bike. This year the bike was not as congested as last year. I pushed hard on the bike and at the first turn saw the leader about 2 and a half mins ahead of me. I was making time. I did have one really close call on the bike, while passing at about 31-32 mph a rider suddenly swerved towards me. That pushed me into a parallel rut. I could hear the tires bouncing off both sides of the rut. Thankfully I kept my bike upright and popped out. I caught one of the paraTriathletes ahead of me just before the second turn, second place on the road.

Storming into T2 with a good runner right behind me I tossed my bike in the racks, got a time check on the runner in front of me (2 mins), threw on my racing flats and took off. By this time it was starting to get really hot. Running down 72nd street to Central Park was really awesome; I found my legs right away and then started to push. My mantra was run hard, run efficient. I flew past age grouper after age grouper. Once I was in the park I kept on pushing. I knew the guy ahead of me was a fast runner but you never know what might happen.

The weather had gotten really hot. I walked the water stops to take in as much fluid as possible. Every stop, CytoMax, water, water on the face, water on the head, water, then right back to race pace. At mile 3 I picked up the pace even more. The last 2 miles really hurt, hurt a lot.

I finished in 2:22:16. That was 2nd in the Arm Category and 3rd ParaTriathlete over all! All in all a good outing, my fastest 10k off the bike in some of the hardest conditions I’ve ever been in.

Next up is the Mid Summer Triathlon (Portland, OR) August 1st

May 6, 2010: Masters Swimming

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Thu, 06 May 2010 17:09:00 +0000

Swimming in Phoenix is such a Joy. In Portland all the pools I swim in are indoors, shallow and often a bit short. In Phoenix however there's a great pool really close to where I was staying. Its outdoors, deep and can be set up for long course meters. Long course meters is swimming lingo for a pool that has 50 meter lengths. Most pools are short course yards or 25 yard lengths.

There also is an amazing masters swimming group, Sun Devils Masters. They meet 3 times a day weekdays in Tempe and once on Saturday, plus other times and places further from where I was staying. My swimming grew leaps and bounds swimming with other swimmers. The first session I was barely able to hold 1:50 100's on a significant about of rest. When I left Phoenix two and a half months later I was swimming 1:45's on 2:00 no problem and put down a fastest 100 at 1:36. Huge improvement's that I'm super happy with. Now that I'm back in Portland I need to find a group that I can swim with here. Swimming by myself just isn't quite the same.

Here's the Mona Plummer Pool I've been swimming in at ASU

April 29, 2010: 2010 USAT ParaTriathlon National Team

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:12:00 +0000

I just found out that I've been selected to the 2010 USAT ParaTriathlon National Team! I'm super stoked and excited. This is awesome!!!!!!

Being selected to the Para Triathlon National Team is something I've been working towards since I found out about its existence. All the hard work over the last few years is really starting to pay off. I will follow up with more info as it becomes available. But for now I'm just super excited.

GO Team USA!!!

April 20, 2010: Leaving Phoenix behind

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 02:42:00 +0000

I've spent the last few months traveling back and forth between Phoenix and Portland in my roll doing services work for my company. For about 4 months I've spent almost every weekday and a lot of weekends down in the valley of the sun. I grew up in Phoenix and being able to reconnect with all my friends and spend time with my brother who's doing graduate school at Arizona State (go Sun Devils) has been awesome. This weekend was one in Phoenix and I celebrated by going to a final Fast Friday swim with the master group I've been swimming with, riding is the blazing sun without sun screen on Saturday and chilling with my friends all weekend.

Riding in Phoenix


Hanging with Friends

The other side of the room

Now I'm back to the Cold and damp of the Pacific Northwest and hopefully I haven't turned into too much of a wet weather pansy.

April 16, 2010: Splash and Dash

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:32:00 +0000

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." In that vain I decided to do two fun races which combine my two weakest triathlon disciplines, swimming and running. Traveling to Phoenix does have its advantages. It is warm enough here to start open water swimming in March and April. Back home in Portland its still way, way too cold. The first Splash and Dash or Sploosh and Doosh as the masters swim coach here calls them was April 3 the second on April 15.

April 3: 1000 meter swim and a 3 kilometer run. Wow it was fast. I got there early had a good warm up and then it was off to the races!! I swam well and then killed it on the run. With about 400 meters to go a guy passed me. I jumped on his heals and we pushed each other to the end. I came around him just before the finish to finish side by side. They would have needed a camera to tell which one of us finished first. (Edit: looks like they gave him the edge by .1 seconds)

April 15: 750 meter swim and 4 kilometer run. Again this was fast. Because I was working that day my race prep was not as good and I paid for it on the run. The swim I killed, fast strong and mostly on target. I fought for position on the first 200 meters, maintained position on the next 200 then settled in for the 3ed 200 and pushed the last 200. I had a nice quick transition then busted it out on the first kilometer. At that first kilometer marker my GI system started to act up. I had to drop the pace a little bit for the last 3 kilometers but still finished strong.

I also won a gift certificate to Tribe Multi Sport. To bad I didn't get it a while ago as I've "given" them quite a bit of cash since I've been in Phoenix.

March 31, 2010: Bartlett Lake Triathlon

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 02:24:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I raced the Bartlett Lake Triathlon. My life's been a bit crazy since then so I haven't had a chance to write it up until now.

Since mid-January I've spent just about every weekday and most weekends in Phoenix for work. Of course, this means that I have little to no social life, but I get to train in some of the most amazing weather while my teammates and training partners have to suffer in the cold and wet back home in Portland. Also, it means that my first triathlon of the season comes a full 2 months earlier than last year, and it's a full Olympic distance with an open water swim.

I arrived at the race site early enough to be able to park close to the transition in the lower parking lot. That left me with plenty of time to get my transition area set up, go through my traditional warm up of a 10-15 min run and 15 mins of swimming and splashing around in the water trying to adjust to the cold temperature. My Garmin 310xt, which I love, froze up and died on me during my warm up. (Not to worry I was able to fix it later) That was a bit frustrating, and I had to do the entire race without a way to check in on time, power, heart rate or speed. Lets hear it for RPE!!!!

The swim was ok but not great. I swam faster than I did at Worlds last year but not anywhere close to my fastest time of 32 mins. Its a bit different getting back into a wetsuit and open water after spending all winter in a pool. The transition to the bike when well. The wetsuit came off well, Fit2Race suits rock!

The bike course was a monster!! Two loops climbing right out of transition with no flat sections. Each loop climbed about 1200 ft before turning around and descending. Like I mentioned before, I didn't have a way to measure speed, but I did notice that the speed limit for cars was 50 mph. On each descent I was pacing and catching every car. I've been practicing my bike dismounts, trying to exit the shoes while still on the bike, riding the last 100m or so with my feet on top of the shoes so I can hit the ground running for the run transition. I have to say that I looked pretty pro out there.

The run was much the same as the bike. Steep up, steep down, steep back up and steep down to the finish. I felt pretty strong on the run but had one guy pass me which is always a bit disappointing. I might need to spend a bit more time running hills. I also felt like I could have and should have pushed it a bit more on the run. Well next time right?

All in all a great race. I highly recommend this course for people out there who are a bit weak on the swim but are strong on the bike and run. You can make up a lot of time on those hills.

I ended up with a time of 3:12:12 with the 10th fastest bike split and 2nd in my age group. That's my first age group placing since my accident.

Three Year Anniversary!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:34:00 +0000

Today's my anniversary. No not that kind of anniversary. Usually when people think of anniversaries they are marking the beginning of a relationship, our first date, our wedding, etc. My anniversary is a bit different. I suppose its the start of some sort of weird relationship that I never wanted to be in. 3 years ago today I wrecked myself into a tree skiing Heather Canyon on Mt. Hood. When I say wrecked I mean really wrecked. I talked about how i felt about the accident, my disability and all the things I accomplished since the accident last year. This year there's even more to recap. Here's just a short list in no particular order.

Won a National Championship in ParaTriathlon (and here)
Took 9th in cat level road racing championship
Road my first Century
Raced at the 2009 ParaTriathlon World Championship
Found a few great Sponsors
Kicked it at Bike Camp
Had further Arm improvement
Made more peace with myself and my disability

I am so blessed that I'm able to continue to do the things I want and like to do.

I'd like to thank my wonderful friends and family who have been a continual source of encouragement and support through the last year. Particularly, Dad and Mom, Brett and Tara, Todd, John, Drew, Joe, Lara and Flurry, and many more. Here's to the next year may it be better than the last!!!!!

Feb 5, 2010: Bike Camp Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Rosinbum) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 07:08:00 +0000

Old Spanish Trail and Pistol Hill:

Today was hard day. The first hour and a half was through the city with lots of traffic, a few missed turns and just generally not that much fun to ride. When we finally made it to the Old Spanish trail there was a head wind on top of the false flat. There are a bunch of road signs that say 5 or 4 or 2 miles to go. They took for ever to go by. We finally made it to the half way mark and stopped for some food. The way back (after we got through a section of really, really rough road) was a blast, tail wind + slight down grade = going fast. We went by the Bone Yard where the air force puts all their old planes. Here's a bunch of pics and what Drew's thinking: