November 16, 2022 • 34 mins
Rodger Krause is a handcycle triathlete who has competed in the toughest Ironman challenges in North America. 18 years after becoming partially paralyzed, he trained himself with a handcycle in order to continue participating in his passion: triathlons.
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Episode Transcript
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Intro (00:02):
Welcome to Disability Talks, a podcast produced by
Abilities in Motion.
I'm your host Ed Granger.
Join us to encounter uniqueperspectives on accessibility
and independence, and to hearstories from everyday people
living their most independenteveryday lives where essential
conversations find their place.
Let's talk.
Ed (00:23):
Our guest on the podcast today is Roger Krause, a
certified public accountant herein Berks County, PA, as well as
a longtime triathlete.
Roger's participation in thesport of triathlon received a
serious setback when he wasstruck by a car while out
training resulting in a spinalcord injury.
But as it turns out, that injurywas not the end of Roger's
athletic journey.
We're grateful to be able toshare Roger's story in his own
(00:45):
words.
I'm joined as co-host today byStephanie Quigley.
Stephanie is the ExecutiveDirector here at Abilities in
Motion, and like Roger, agraduate of Shippensburg
University.
Stephanie (00:56):
So Roger, I'm so glad you're with us and willing to
talk to us today.
I became aware of yourremarkable story in fitness
through the Ship Magazine.
We're both SHIP alumni andwanted to make a, a shout out to
our alma mater first andforemost.
I graduated in 95 and mostrecently graduated in 2022 with
(01:16):
my Masters from Ship.
So I know you're also a SHIPalum, and I wanted to welcome
you with that intro.
Rodger (01:22):
Oh, congratulations.
Stephanie (01:24):
When did you attend Ship?
Rodger (01:25):
Oh, I was there from 76 to 80.
I graduated in 80.
I had good memories of thatplace,
Stephanie (01:32):
for sure.
Yeah.
Is that where you kind of gotstarted on in sports or fitness,
or is that something that you'vedone lifelong or, or is it
something you discovered in, incollege while you were at Ship?
Rodger (01:43):
No, I, I was always into sports.
I grew up in the city inReading.
I attended 13th in Union,Northeast Reading High, and I
played sports all along the way.
Ed (01:54):
So, at some point, you, you found your way to triathlon,
which is a main sport youcompete in now.
And I, if I remember correctly,you know, your, your biking
started with Awin varsity, whichcan be said of a lot of kids
from the seventies.
So, you know, can you share alittle bit about how you got
started in that re disciplinedsport that everybody kind of
admires, people that do itbecause it's so difficult.
Rodger (02:12):
The, the way it came about was I played, I was on the
golf team at Shippensburg, butgolf was a spring sport at
Shippensburg in college, and Ilooked for something to do in
the fall.
So while I was at Ship, I wouldoftentimes go out for a run, go
back through, Seavers apartmentsand out the back way and run on
those rural roads back there.
(02:34):
And, um, I, I had a route thatwound around and came out back
by College Park Apartments atShippensburg.
So I was always into running andI had swam for the Reading high
swim team when I was in highschool.
So I had a, a half decentrunning and swimming background.
And then shortly aftergraduation, I was with my
(02:55):
brother Bob Krause, who's also aShip alum.
He graduated in 82.
We were at his house and, and hehad two bikes and he had been
competing in triathlons before Iwas, and so he loaned me his one
bike.
One day we went out for a rideand, um, I thought, Wow, this is
great.
We, we, we already have aswimming background.
(03:15):
You already have a runningbackground.
If you just add cycling to therepertoire, you, you can do a
triathlon.
So about 1988, that's when Ientered my first triathlon.
Ed (03:26):
And tell us a little bit about how, what kind of
competitions you were doing and,you know, what kind of successes
you were having in triathlon.
What, you know, what was itabout it that, you know, made
you, you know, wanna continuedoing it?
Rodger (03:36):
It's just a fun sport.
They're, they're good athletes.
It, it's a well rounded sport.
You're not always running and,and putting stress on your legs.
You're not always swimming andputting stress on your shoulders
and arms and, and they, theywere all good physical
exercises, so it was a wellrounded sport and I enjoyed that
.
Ed (03:55):
So I think what, where your story kind of takes its turn
from reading your story was in,uh, 1999 and you are cycling one
day and, and share with us thestory of, of what happened then
and how that kind of changedyour story.
Rodger (04:08):
You're exactly right.
It was December of 1999.
It was an unseasonably warmSaturday afternoon in the
beginning of December.
And I went out for a short onehour bike ride.
I used to live in SouthHeidelberg Township.
So I went up over the mountainto, uh, Route 897 and Route 897
(04:29):
comes to an intersection in theroad where it's Cocalico Road
and it's the, the originalvillage of Cocalico.
And, and right near there, I Iwas just proceeding along the
white line on the right handside of the road and, and a car
came at me.
He didn't actually make contact,but he came very close to me and
, uh, forced me off the road.
(04:50):
And you might have heard the oldadage, a ditch alongside the
road.
There really was a ditchalongside the road at that
point.
And I, uh, I fell off my bikeand I, I fell into the ditch.
It was fairly deep.
It was about 10 feet off to theside of the road.
I had a T 12 thoracic number 12spinal cord injury.
That's what happened in Decemberof 1999.
Ed (05:12):
So somehow from from that point, you, you actually found
your way back to triathlon, intocompeting.
So, you know, I I'm sure that's,that story had a lot of stages
to it, you know, what kind ofmotivated you when you were kind
of doing your, your rehab andyour physical therapy just to
kind of get back to your normallife?
Rodger (05:27):
I, I was always confident I, I would make a lot
of rehabilitated progress, but I, I wasn't aware shortly after
the injury, I wasn't aware howlong it would take it, it's just
a long, long process.
And I always stuck with theswimming part of it.
That was easy.
But because my, my gait and mylegs were affected by the
(05:49):
injury, the lower body, your,your T 12 is right around your
belly button level.
So anything below that point,you're gonna have a, a deficit.
And I, I'm what they considerspinal cord injury incomplete,
which means I still have somesensation, still have
coordination below the level ofinjury, but, uh, not nearly as
much as I used to have.
(06:10):
So I kept swimming all the yearsafter my injury.
And then in about 2005, ChrisKaag, who has the, IM ABLE
Foundation Corps Fitness, heloaned me his hand cycle.
He actually lived very, actuallyhis father lived very close to
me and he loan me his hand cyclefor a weekend.
So the bug bit me, and,and I was back in to cycling and
(06:33):
, and I, I, I figured out a wayI, I could ride a, a cycle, not
a bicycle, but a hand cycle.
And then shortly, maybe a coupleyears later in 2008 or 2009, a
few years later, Chris alsostarted to get into what we call
push chair or racing wheelchaircompetitions.
(06:54):
And they're, they're basicallymanual powered wheelchairs,
similar to a regular wheelchair,but it has a third wheel out
front so that if you hit a bump,you won't go tumbling out of
your wheelchair seat.
So he introduced me to that too.
And that was in 2009.
And then shortly after that Istarted to do Chris Kaag's
triathlon and other triathlonsjust fell into place.
Ed (07:17):
And that's the, I believe Chris still still does that one
in Mount Gretna.
Is that the, the one that youhad gotten back into?
Rodger (07:22):
Did you say Mount Gretna?
Ed (07:24):
Uh, I think Mount Gretna is where, is where Chris does a tri
, it still does a triathlonthere, if I remember correctly.
Rodger (07:30):
Yep.
That was it.
At first time I did it, I justdid it as part of a relay.
In fact, the first couple ofyears is part of a relay.
And then I thought, well, geez,I, I can do this whole thing.
So I started to do the wholerace and um, I think I've done
that just about every year,except, um, we didn't have the
race in 2019, 20 or 21, but Idid it again this spring.
(07:51):
This past May.
Stephanie (07:53):
Is that the, got the nerve challenge?
Is that what he calls it?
Rodger (07:57):
Yep.
It's usually the weekend beforeMemorial Day, about the third
week in May.
Always a cold swim cause water'snot.
And, and they, they, they drainthat lake at Mount Gretna.
So it's, it's freshly filledabout a week before Labor Day
and, and we're some of the firstto go in the water after it's
filled.
It's normally a very cold swim.
Stephanie (08:17):
So what did that, what did that do for your drive
to get back to getting, youknow, setting some goals as
completing another Ironmangetting access to that hand
cycle for the first time?
Is that kind of what rerefocused you back on?
Yeah, my, my goal is to get toKona or complete another
triathlon.
What significance did thataccess to that hand cycle have
(08:39):
for you?
Rodger (08:40):
You know, getting back to the rehabilitation process, I
was never aware everything wouldtake so long.
And so when I first got ChrisKaag's hand cycle, I was really
excited about riding hand cycleagain.
But it, it was another year ortwo or three till I really
started to envision thepossibility that I could do a
(09:03):
triathlon again.
When, when I first had myinjury, I, I just put cycling
and, you know, anything Inormally did like running with
my legs, it was off the table.
I had no idea how I couldpossibly do that.
But then with a hand cycle and a, a push chair or a racing
wheelchair, I, I saw ways thatthis could all come about again.
And so it was a very longprocess.
(09:25):
It took years.
To answer your question, I can'trecall exactly when I set up the
goal of doing another triathlon,but without, you know, getting
too far ahead of myself.
I can tell you more aboutsetting the goal to do an
Ironman race at Lake Placid.
Stephanie (09:40):
Yeah, tell us a little bit about that.
Rodger (09:42):
Well, that was another friend Kevin Moore.
He's an attorney with LeisawitzHeller.
Uh, they're now Barley Snyderhere in, in Berks County.
And Kevin and I had racedtogether prior to my injury, and
then he started to race LakePlacid, which is normally in
July each year.
And that's a full distanceIronman, that's 2.4 mile swim,
(10:04):
112 mile bike and a 26 mile run.
And, and there's cutoffs.
You can't just enter that raceand, and you know, kind of mosey
your way on through it there,there's time cutoffs and you
have to hit those cutoffs oryou'd be taking off the race
course.
So Kevin was doing this race in2015 and 16 and told me what a
(10:24):
great venue, nice place, LakePlacid was.
And I thought, geez, you know, I, I've been swimming all this
time.
I, I started to hand cycleagain.
I started getting the push chairracing, I could do this.
And so in 2017 I signed up formy first Ironman race following
my injury, and that was at LakePlacid and that was because of
(10:45):
Kevin Moore.
Ed (10:46):
So tell us a little bit about how that, how that race
went for you.
Um, what was that experiencelike?
Rodger (10:51):
Lake Placid is a very hilly, mountainous course.
It, it's very difficult from abiking standpoint.
You do two loops, twomountainous loops out and around
Lake Placid, and it's verydifficult to do on a bike.
And it's even more difficult ona handcycle.
You just don't go as fast onthree wheels as you do on two
(11:11):
and pedalling with your armsjust as not, it's just not as
fast as pedaling with your legs.
So it's a more difficult race.
And in an Ironman triathlon,there's a 10 and a half hour
cumulative time cutoff for theswim bike.
So from the time you start toswim to the time you finish the
bike, you have 10 and a halfhours.
(11:33):
And the first time I did it, Iwas like 11 and a half hours.
I I didn't make the cutoff.
And so they took me off the racecourse in 2017.
Ed (11:42):
But obviously the, the story doesn't end there.
So you, you go back the nextyear, I believe, if I, if I read
correctly and you, uh, improveyour bike time, by over an hour.
So what, what kind of kicked infor you as far, far as like, the
motivation to get back there andto actually get to finish the
race that next time?
Rodger (11:57):
Oh, well, it's like anything in life when, when you,
uh, don't succeed, you come backtwice as hard.
It's like, you're not gonna letit get the best of you.
You always, you know, I can beatthis.
So in 2017, after Lake Placid, Igot a new bike.
I hired a coach and I started toget really serious about
training.
(12:17):
And in 2018, I, I had a reallygood race, but I didn't realize
this at the time.
I was seven minutes past the 10and a half hour cutoff.
So I, I was actually 10 hoursand about 37 minutes.
And Ironman didn't even know it.
The Ironman officials didn'teven know it.
(12:38):
And so I completed that wholerace.
I, I did the swim, the bike inthe run, all 26 miles of the
run.
And then late that night, Inoticed in the results that I
was DNF did not finish.
Ed (12:53):
Wow.
Rodger (12:54):
And I was like, you know, what's going on here?
So sure enough, I looked into itand it became evident that
according to the officials, and,and I think I was sadly, uh,
seven minutes late, uh, gettingthrough the 10 and a half hour
cutoff.
So technically, even though Idid the whole race, I did not
finish Ironman Lake Placid in2018.
Stephanie (13:16):
Did you say seven minutes?
Rodger (13:19):
Seven minutes too late.
Stephanie (13:20):
Wow.
Rodger (13:21):
But at that point it was so close, Ironman didn't even
realize it during the race.
Stephanie (13:25):
Right.
Rodger (13:26):
And, and they just let me go on and, and I competed as
though I, I completed the raceand, and made all the cutoffs.
And it wasn't until very latethat night, the next morning
until it was apparent what hadhappened.
Ed (13:40):
And so I guess you, you kind of felt you probably had that
seven and a half minutes in youif you had known what you needed
to do
Rodger (13:46):
All the time.
That comes back to me if only Ihad known.
Ed (13:49):
Absolutely.
So, so, but the, again, thestory doesn't end there.
So, uh, you know, what, what'skind of the next step?
Obviously you're getting betterand better and better, you know,
and obviously you're enjoyingwhat you're doing.
So, you know, what, what was thenext step for you?
Rodger (14:00):
Well, I, I saw that I was doing well.
I saw that, um, if I keep goingalong the track, the path that I
was setting for myself, I wasgonna continue to improve.
And I, I knew it just takesyears to get your, your, your
body and your, your mentalthinking and adjustment to
compete in an Ironman race.
And, um, I, I saw I was headingin that direction, but there was
(14:23):
room for improvement.
So in 2019, the North Americanhand cycle qualifying for the
Kona Ironman World Championshipwas in Lubbock, Texas.
And there's only four slots forthe hand cyclist in Kona.
(14:43):
There's actually, now, nowthere's a few other, you know,
just basically charitable slotsand things like that.
But those persons that competeare not eligible for awards or
anything.
The only four qualifying handcycles are eligible for awards
after the Ironman race, if youfinish.
So I went down to Lubbock in2019 and that was actually more
(15:05):
pressure than Kona cause I hadto win that race.
So I won that race and I got aslot to the 2019 Ironman in Kona
in October that year.
Ed (15:19):
And you got that, uh, that experience in kind of under the
wire with, with what's happenedsince then, you know, So that
was a amazing that you got tohave that experience.
So you go to Kona, you know,and, and obviously that's a
mecca for triathletes.
I mean every, every triathletesort of dreams of being able to
compete there.
And then you also, you know, youwanna finish, you want to do
well, how do you, how do you goto a big race like that and know
(15:40):
kind of how to pace yourself soyou're not, you know, you're not
trying too hard at thebeginning.
Cause I know that withtriathlon, you know, that
experience counts.
And by that point you had someexperience.
Rodger (15:48):
Well, it, it's hard from a, a hand cycle standpoint
versus a regular competitorstandpoint.
You have to use your arms forthe swim.
Of course you use your arms forthe bike and the running
portion.
And, and so if you're a regularathlete, you know, you'd be
using basically your, and thenyour, your legs for the cycling
and then the running portion.
(16:09):
So we have to be very, we haveto focus our training in
swimming on making sure thatwe're in very good shape.
Cause we don't wanna feel asthough we're tired when we first
start the bike.
Especially when the bike at, atKona on a hand cycle if you have
a good race, is about sevenhours.
And that comes after a one and ahalf hour swim.
(16:30):
So when you're using your upperbody, we focus on, on getting
swim very strong so that we'renot tired when we get out on the
bike.
And then when you get on thebike, you have to remember,
watch your time.
Cause you have a cumulative that10 and a half hours to, to
finish the swim bike portion.
There's actually a swim cutofftoo that's two hours and 20
(16:52):
minutes.
But that one isn't nearly asdifficult for hand cyclists as a
cumulative 10 and a half hourswim bike cutoff is so that
that's what you're watching.
You wanna focus on yourswimming, you wanna focus on
your bike and, and keep youreyes sighted so that that 10 and
a half hour cutoff doesn't getahead of you, in which case you
(17:13):
won't be able to finish yourrace.
Stephanie (17:14):
So how does, how do you adjust for weather factors?
Because I'm, I mean, I'm not atriathlete by any stretch of the
imagination.
Ed (17:22):
Me either.
Stephanie (17:22):
Barely an athlete, Roger.
So you're not I don't, Idon't really not able to comment
on that, but I'm just wonderinglike how weather affects your
training, because I'm sure, youknow, training here in the
mid-Atlantic states is a lotdifferent than going to a
competition in Lubbock, Texas orKona.
Did the weather when you'recompeting affect the way you
train at all?
Or how do you make adjustmentsfor that?
(17:44):
I'm just curious.
I thought, I'm familiar withTexas weather and I'm thinking,
man, that that must be a, achallenge.
Rodger (17:49):
Texas weather is very low humidity.
It's hot, but very low humidity.
And Kona weather is very highhumidity.
That's hot and high humidity.
Plus at Kona, you're actuallyout there much later in the day.
So oftentimes when you're bikingor running, the roads are hot,
the streets are warm.
(18:10):
Also, when you're in Kona, theyhave the lava fields and they
just radiate heat.
It's, it's very, it's just hotall around.
Uh, road temperature is around120 to 140 degrees are not
unheard of.
The, the good side, the plusside about living in
Pennsylvania or Berks County isthe weather we've had the last
few weeks, the hot, it's verysimilar to Kona.
(18:34):
So if you, if you can pushyourself to go out and train in
that, which is what we doactually very good training for
Kona.
Stephanie (18:41):
Yeah.
Rodger (18:42):
We have very hot, humid, sweltering summers here in
Pennsylvania.
And that, that's a lot like whatthey have all year round in
Kona.
Ed (18:50):
I, I guess it, that might be the next tourist attraction here
is come and train for Kona.
It's like the perfect weatherfor, you know, if you wanna ever
go to the Ironman WorldChampionships.
We've got the, we've got thetraining venue for you here.
Is the nutrition and the, andthe hydration like similar to,
you know, to other triathletesor is it different?
Like how do you sort of managethat part?
Rodger (19:10):
No, you, you try to, um, drink about one bottle, one
water bottle, bicycle, waterbottle water per hour or so.
As far as nutrition goes, I relya lot on Cliff bars, but every
athlete's a little different.
They also make like gel packsand um, you know, cliff cubes,
(19:32):
they, they're, they're actuallylike a hard jelly type thing.
Those are pretty nice.
Uh, you can put them in yourmouth and they just kind of
dissolve an anything that, thatyou can really, um, train with,
you know, get your stomach totolerate.
Uh, even Gatorade if, if you candrink a lot of Gatorade, uh,
that has electrolytes andcarbohydrates in it.
(19:54):
I, I know people that have gotthrough the race, which is, um,
drinking a lot of Gatorade.
Again, it's training you, youknow, we, we practice nutrition
and hydration when we're outthere training.
It's not like you can just gointo that race and and say to
yourself, Well I'm gonna eat,uh, so many calories per hour
and expect your stomach's notgonna revolt.
(20:15):
Cause it will, and and not onlythat, but, but you know, you
could have bowel issues and allthose kinda things that would
happen.
So yeah, that's what we trainfor.
Stephanie (20:24):
Roger, what would you say to an athlete that's just
starting out or is interested ingoing to a level such as
becoming a triathlete that hasmobility challenges or as a
person with a disability and arethinking of this a physical
fitness and training in acompetition like this as a
barrier, or they might not beable to compete.
What would you say to them?
Rodger (20:45):
I would advise them to get very strong, get a strong
swimming background.
That's why a lot more peopledon't do triathlons.
It's basically because they swimand they stick to duathlons,
which are bike run competitions.
A lot of people just don't feelcomfortable as comfortable in
(21:06):
the water.
Plus when you get into, um,what's oftentimes a, a mass
start, a pack start in thewater, that, that can even be
scarier for them.
And so I would recommend toanybody that wants to start in
triathlon, either have a strongswimming background or gain a
strong swimming background andthen, you know, practice on the
(21:27):
bike, practice on the run,actually sprint distance and
Olympic distance triathlons.
Sprint is usually very short,maybe a 500 yard swim with a,
um, 10 mile bike or a three orsix mile run.
And an Olympic distance is a 1.2mile swim with a, uh, 26 mile
(21:49):
bike and a 10K run, which isabout 6.2 miles.
Those are, are doable.
They're not impossible forparaplegics or spinal cord
injury athletes.
But again, you, you want to, youknow, be confident in yourself
to get through the, the waterand then practice your biking,
practice your running.
(22:09):
And I, I think a lot of, um,hand cyclists or paraplegic
athletes, uh, would find successwith triathlons.
Ed (22:17):
How about having, having access to the equipment, because
I know you mentioned Chris Kaag,I know he's been involved in
getting a lot of people startedin the sport.
How would they sort of have theopportunity just to, you know,
try the, try out the equipmentthat they would need or get
started on, you know, havingaccess to a hand cycle like you
had, uh, the opportunity to try?
Rodger (22:35):
Honestly, uh, I know anybody, and I know a lot of
other hand cyclists,triathletes, paraplegics that
know of others.
It's a fairly friendlycommunity.
And I know I've let a lot ofpersons try my hand cycle.
And, um, I, I know othertriathletes, paraplegic
(22:55):
triathletes have done that.
Chris Kaag he's a good resourceif you're in Berks County area
and need adaptive equipment.
I, I guess the, the trick wouldbe to, you know, reach out to
somebody and get to know the,the persons in the handicapped
triathlete community.
Stephanie (23:11):
I think that's part of what Chris does is so unique
and that there's no excuses,right?
If you want to, no matter whatyour ability, if you want to be
or remain active, there's a wayto do it.
And there's, there's an, anenormous amount of adaptive
equipment that's available.
And I think you're exactlyright, Roger.
It's being in that community andknowing what resources to tap
(23:32):
into
Rodger (23:34):
The, the thing you have to remember is the higher up
your injury, typically thehigher up your injury, your
spinal cord injury, the moredeficit or, or the more
neurological deficit you'regonna have or more neurological
issues that you're going tohave.
And so the other thing is, keepin mind practice.
(23:54):
If you've been at it a number ofyears, Ben Hogan said,
the more I practice the luckierI get, you know, I, I wish other
spinal cord injury, uh, personswouldn't be scared away because
their deficit might be greaterthan mine or Chris Kaag's, or
they might not have access tothe same equipment that I do or
(24:15):
Chris Kaag has, or that they,they might be afraid of, of
practicing and, and things likethat.
You know, I I just like to reachout to them and say, if they, if
they do have the desire tocompete or something, you know,
please touch base with me orChris Kaag or, um, any other
person in the community, the,the paraplegic community, uh,
(24:36):
who might be involved withtriathlons.
And I, I think they'd have afriendly reception.
Stephanie (24:41):
Absolutely.
I think that's what makes it soimportant for organizations like
ours, which is a center forIndependent Living to make those
connections in the disabilitycommunity with other nonprofits
or other organizations that aredoing the same kind of work.
And we're basically, you know,able to connect people.
We may not provide theequipment, but we can certainly
(25:02):
make those connections.
And the bigger the community is,the more opportunity there are
for people with disabilities toget access to that kind of
stuff, to keep them active.
Rodger (25:11):
I got to know a number of your group.
Many, many years ago atAquabilities in Birdsboro.
There used to be a group thatswam there, I think Wednesday
and Friday afternoons.
And, uh, right after my injury,I, I went there for years to do
water aquatics and, and, andthings like that.
So I'm, I'm somewhat familiarwith your group.
Stephanie (25:32):
Yeah, we have a nice history with Aquabilities.
I'm not even sure if that'sin...
Ed (25:36):
I think it, uh, closed down now.
I would just do a little bit ofresearch on it.
I, we did do a, uh, actually dida, a collaboration event with
Chris in June, actually, wherehe brought hand cycles out.
We were out there sharinginformation.
So we're always looking foropportunities to, to collaborate
and use our platform as a way toconnect people.
So we're, we're looking for waysto do that, and we're more than
(25:56):
happy to, uh, to make sure thatyou're part of those
connections.
Uh, that's great that you'rewilling to do that.
Rodger (26:01):
Thanks.
Ed (26:02):
So, uh, you know, obviously with, with Covid, we all know
that it's really put a a damperon a lot of athletics recently,
and I know triathlons haven'tbeen held until, you know,
fairly recently, again, startingback up, I know they had the,
uh, Ironman World Championshipsfrom last year, I believe was
actually in Utah, and thatthey're planning to sort of get
things ramped up again.
So do you, do you have anythingin your, uh, future plans as far
(26:24):
as getting back out andcompeting again?
Rodger (26:26):
I do.
I, I'm the, um, actual KonaIronman World Championship for
2022 is planned to be held inKona this year, in October.
And, um, I qualified for thatlast year.
Ed (26:41):
Oh, congratulations.
Stephanie (26:43):
Nice.
Rodger (26:43):
And then, because last year's October 2021 Kona Race
was canceled, then I gotdeferred to 2022.
But they're gonna actually raceon two days in Kona this year
because of all the events thatwere qualified and rescheduled
in 2020 and 2021.
There's just too many athletesto accommodate in one day.
(27:05):
So they're gonna have a Kona,basically the women and the, uh,
hand cyclist on Thursday andthen the men on Saturday.
Ed (27:15):
So where are you kind of in your, in your training process
for that now?
Kind of what, what stage are youat?
How do you sort of ramp up forsomething like that and, and
plan things out?
Rodger (27:24):
The training intensity becomes much higher.
And the endurance, which, whichis basically the time you spend
out on the bike and spendrunning and so forth, the
distance you're covering thepool, they're all increasing.
And, and so this past weekend Idid about a 60 mile ride.
Two weekends ago I did a 95 milewide.
(27:45):
Now this weekend coming upagain, I'll probably do a, a 90,
a hundred mile ride the lengthof time and the yardage I do in
the pool is increasing alongwith the intensity and the
length of time I spend in mypush chair, as well as the, the
intensity, the workouts, allthat increases.
Ed (28:02):
So we're gonna be able to root for you.
Do you know if that event isgoing to be televised or, or, or
streamed somewhere that we couldactually watch it?
Rodger (28:10):
It, it is on TV live.
I'm not sure how long.
Each day, Thursday and Saturday,uh, Kona is six hours behind us
and the race starts at 6:30.
So I think we'd be about 12:30here when you could tune into
it.
What they typically do is filmit, and then they have it on a
(28:30):
Saturday afternoon, sometime inDecember or something like that.
But when they've had a chance tocompile all the, the different
video footage that they'veaccumulated, and that's
typically a one or two hourpresentation, but that's a
couple months later.
There is an Ironman tracker thatyou can get.
It's an app for your phone thatwill enable you to the day of
(28:52):
the race.
You would go into the Ironmantracker, type in Kona, and then
type in the participants lastname.
And you can actually, on yourphone, it would tell you, you
know, what checkpoints and, andhow they're doing in the race
and so forth.
It's a pretty cool app.
Stephanie (29:08):
That is cool.
I never, I didn't realizesomething like that existed.
So it's able to attract likeyour real time progress in the
competition?
Rodger (29:15):
Right.
Everybody has a chip that theyget from Ironman that they wear
on their ankle during the race,and that that chip has GPS
capabilities.
And so you can actually seeright, where you're athlete,
anybody you might wanna follow,and you can follow multiple
athletes at the same time, youcan see where they are in the
race course.
Stephanie (29:34):
That's really cool.
I, I love how technologyadvances and allows, you know,
us to follow something likethat, even that far away and
live in real time.
I think that's really cool.
We'll probably, we'll, you know,Ed, I think you're gonna have to
download that app and...
Ed (29:47):
Yeah, absolutely.
Stephanie (29:48):
Follow Roger's progress.
Ed (29:49):
Yeah, I feel like I, I feel like it kind of makes us
participants in the story in away, which is kind of neat.
Rodger (29:55):
Yeah, last year, last fall, there's an Ironman race in
, uh, Cambridge every September.
And again, Kevin Moore wascompeting last fall and I went
down to watch him.
And so when I got there, it wasabout three or four hours after
the race had started, I justpulled up the Ironman tracker I
could see right where he was onthe course.
And so I was able, able to getmyself out there and, and, um,
(30:17):
you know, follow him.
Stephanie (30:17):
Oh, that's great.
So Lake Placid, are yourevisiting that next year to, to
get revenge for your sevenminutes?
Rodger (30:25):
I don't know.
I, I haven't thought that farahead yet.
, I I'm so focused onKona right now.
Stephanie (30:32):
Right.
Rodger (30:32):
I, I don't know what my schedule will be next year at
this moment.
I, I'm sure I'll sign up forsome races, but offhand I just
don't know exactly which ones.
Ed (30:43):
It, it's a pretty inspiring place though.
I've been to Lake Placidactually when I was working as a
sports writer, and it's prettyamazing to see, you know, the,
the venues for all those greatathletic performances that, uh,
that I remember, you know, fromwhen I was younger.
It's a pretty, it's a prettyneat place.
Rodger (30:57):
I did do a race in June in Luxembourg, and what was
really cool about this race, itwas a half Ironman.
Um, not a full Ironman, 70.2miles, but you got to swim in
Germany, bike in France, and runin Luxembourg all in one race.
Ed (31:15):
I was gonna say, they, they probably can't actually hold a
full length triathlon inLuxembourg.
Rodger (31:19):
Yeah.
You know, over in Europe, youreally don't know when you
change countries may, maybe onthe major highways you do, like
welcome to France or somethinglike that, but when you're on
these, these, these s in a bikerace, you really don't know when
you go from one country into thenext.
Ed (31:34):
And I, I know other, other athletes I I've spoken with have
said that the travel is one ofthe interesting things about,
you know, being involved insports.
So is that something about itthat you enjoy or are you so
focused on, you know, yourperformance that you're, you're
kind of not able to to take thatall in?
Rodger (31:49):
No, I, I Luxembourg I was interested in, because it,
it was the three countries, sothat that was kind a, a
destination race that I, Iwanted to do for years.
Other races like Kona, that,that there I'll be more focused
on my performance.
Ed (32:03):
Well, I, I'm fascinated by your story.
I really appreciate you sharingit.
I, I've had a great time gettingto know you.
I did a little bit of readingahead of time and you were
actually written in up inBicycling Magazine, which is a
pretty neat thing too.
So, you know, what, what wasthat experience like?
Rodger (32:16):
Yeah, that, that, the Bicycling Magazine interview was
a good one.
The trouble with that was ittook place in a very cold
December day.
It was cloudy and overcast.
We had snow flurries and, and Ijust had a tough time.
They wanted to get some, uh,video, but it, it was a good
interview other than the, thesnow flurries and the cold, cold
(32:36):
temperature.
I think that was 2018.
It might, I think it was really,it was a very cold day in
mid-December 2018.
Ed (32:45):
I, I think that sounds right, if I remember correctly.
Well, I, I really appreciatedgetting the, the chance to chat
with you.
And I don't have any morequestions.
I don't know if Stephanie hasany more Shippensburg related
questions or comments that you'dlike to make to kind of bring
things full circle.
Stephanie (32:59):
I just appreciate the reminiscing through.
I I, I picture it in my mindwhen you were talking at the
beginning of the podcast aboutrunning past Seavers apartments
and through College Parkapartments, all very familiar
places for me, even though Iwasn't there at the same time
you were from 1990 to 95, Itraveled those same paths and it
was a nice walk down memorylane.
So I thank you for that.
(33:20):
And it's been a, a pleasuretalking to you about your
journey and adaptive racing andyour, your goals.
And I think it's so cool to getto experience these competitions
in, in the way that you describethem, especially, you know, I, I
love the, the, the three countryone I just think that's amazing.
That is a destination race forsure.
And best of luck to you, Roger,and your, and your future goals
(33:42):
and your competitions in Konathis October.
Ed (33:44):
Yep, we'll, we'll be tracking you.
Rodger (33:46):
Oh, thank you Stephanie.
Stephanie (33:47):
Yeah, thank you.
Is there anything you'd like to,to leave us with before we sign
off?
Rodger (33:52):
No, no.
I, I can't think of anything offhand.
Thank you for taking the time tointerview me.
Stephanie (33:56):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much.
It was, it was a pleasure.
Ed (33:59):
Yep.
It was definitely our, ourprivilege.
Rodger (34:01):
Thank you.
Stephanie (34:02):
All right.
Take care, Rodger.
Rodger (34:03):
Take care.
Bye.
Stephanie (34:05):
Bye.
Outro (34:41):
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Disability
Talks.
Want to be a part of the ongoingconversation?
Visit our website atabilitiesinmotion.org or connect
with us on social media.
Welcome to Disability Talks, a podcast produced by
Abilities in Motion.
I'm your host Ed Granger.
Join us to encounter uniqueperspectives on accessibility
and independence, and to hearstories from everyday people
living their most independenteveryday lives where essential
conversations find their place.
Let's talk.
Ed (00:23):
Our guest on the podcast today is Roger Krause, a
certified public accountant herein Berks County, PA, as well as
a longtime triathlete.
Roger's participation in thesport of triathlon received a
serious setback when he wasstruck by a car while out
training resulting in a spinalcord injury.
But as it turns out, that injurywas not the end of Roger's
athletic journey.
We're grateful to be able toshare Roger's story in his own
(00:45):
words.
I'm joined as co-host today byStephanie Quigley.
Stephanie is the ExecutiveDirector here at Abilities in
Motion, and like Roger, agraduate of Shippensburg
University.
Stephanie (00:56):
So Roger, I'm so glad you're with us and willing to
talk to us today.
I became aware of yourremarkable story in fitness
through the Ship Magazine.
We're both SHIP alumni andwanted to make a, a shout out to
our alma mater first andforemost.
I graduated in 95 and mostrecently graduated in 2022 with
(01:16):
my Masters from Ship.
So I know you're also a SHIPalum, and I wanted to welcome
you with that intro.
Rodger (01:22):
Oh, congratulations.
Stephanie (01:24):
When did you attend Ship?
Rodger (01:25):
Oh, I was there from 76 to 80.
I graduated in 80.
I had good memories of thatplace,
Stephanie (01:32):
Yeah.
Is that where you kind of gotstarted on in sports or fitness,
or is that something that you'vedone lifelong or, or is it
something you discovered in, incollege while you were at Ship?
Rodger (01:43):
No, I, I was always into sports.
I grew up in the city inReading.
I attended 13th in Union,Northeast Reading High, and I
played sports all along the way.
Ed (01:54):
So, at some point, you, you found your way to triathlon,
which is a main sport youcompete in now.
And I, if I remember correctly,you know, your, your biking
started with Awin varsity, whichcan be said of a lot of kids
from the seventies.
So, you know, can you share alittle bit about how you got
started in that re disciplinedsport that everybody kind of
admires, people that do itbecause it's so difficult.
Rodger (02:12):
The, the way it came about was I played, I was on the
golf team at Shippensburg, butgolf was a spring sport at
Shippensburg in college, and Ilooked for something to do in
the fall.
So while I was at Ship, I wouldoftentimes go out for a run, go
back through, Seavers apartmentsand out the back way and run on
those rural roads back there.
(02:34):
And, um, I, I had a route thatwound around and came out back
by College Park Apartments atShippensburg.
So I was always into running andI had swam for the Reading high
swim team when I was in highschool.
So I had a, a half decentrunning and swimming background.
And then shortly aftergraduation, I was with my
(02:55):
brother Bob Krause, who's also aShip alum.
He graduated in 82.
We were at his house and, and hehad two bikes and he had been
competing in triathlons before Iwas, and so he loaned me his one
bike.
One day we went out for a rideand, um, I thought, Wow, this is
great.
We, we, we already have aswimming background.
(03:15):
You already have a runningbackground.
If you just add cycling to therepertoire, you, you can do a
triathlon.
So about 1988, that's when Ientered my first triathlon.
Ed (03:26):
And tell us a little bit about how, what kind of
competitions you were doing and,you know, what kind of successes
you were having in triathlon.
What, you know, what was itabout it that, you know, made
you, you know, wanna continuedoing it?
Rodger (03:36):
It's just a fun sport.
They're, they're good athletes.
It, it's a well rounded sport.
You're not always running and,and putting stress on your legs.
You're not always swimming andputting stress on your shoulders
and arms and, and they, theywere all good physical
exercises, so it was a wellrounded sport and I enjoyed that
.
Ed (03:55):
So I think what, where your story kind of takes its turn
from reading your story was in,uh, 1999 and you are cycling one
day and, and share with us thestory of, of what happened then
and how that kind of changedyour story.
Rodger (04:08):
You're exactly right.
It was December of 1999.
It was an unseasonably warmSaturday afternoon in the
beginning of December.
And I went out for a short onehour bike ride.
I used to live in SouthHeidelberg Township.
So I went up over the mountainto, uh, Route 897 and Route 897
(04:29):
comes to an intersection in theroad where it's Cocalico Road
and it's the, the originalvillage of Cocalico.
And, and right near there, I Iwas just proceeding along the
white line on the right handside of the road and, and a car
came at me.
He didn't actually make contact,but he came very close to me and
, uh, forced me off the road.
(04:50):
And you might have heard the oldadage, a ditch alongside the
road.
There really was a ditchalongside the road at that
point.
And I, uh, I fell off my bikeand I, I fell into the ditch.
It was fairly deep.
It was about 10 feet off to theside of the road.
I had a T 12 thoracic number 12spinal cord injury.
That's what happened in Decemberof 1999.
Ed (05:12):
So somehow from from that point, you, you actually found
your way back to triathlon, intocompeting.
So, you know, I I'm sure that's,that story had a lot of stages
to it, you know, what kind ofmotivated you when you were kind
of doing your, your rehab andyour physical therapy just to
kind of get back to your normallife?
Rodger (05:27):
I, I was always confident I, I would make a lot
of rehabilitated progress, but I, I wasn't aware shortly after
the injury, I wasn't aware howlong it would take it, it's just
a long, long process.
And I always stuck with theswimming part of it.
That was easy.
But because my, my gait and mylegs were affected by the
(05:49):
injury, the lower body, your,your T 12 is right around your
belly button level.
So anything below that point,you're gonna have a, a deficit.
And I, I'm what they considerspinal cord injury incomplete,
which means I still have somesensation, still have
coordination below the level ofinjury, but, uh, not nearly as
much as I used to have.
(06:10):
So I kept swimming all the yearsafter my injury.
And then in about 2005, ChrisKaag, who has the, IM ABLE
Foundation Corps Fitness, heloaned me his hand cycle.
He actually lived very, actuallyhis father lived very close to
me and he loan me his hand cyclefor a weekend.
So the bug bit me,
(06:33):
, and I, I, I figured out a wayI, I could ride a, a cycle, not
a bicycle, but a hand cycle.
And then shortly, maybe a coupleyears later in 2008 or 2009, a
few years later, Chris alsostarted to get into what we call
push chair or racing wheelchaircompetitions.
(06:54):
And they're, they're basicallymanual powered wheelchairs,
similar to a regular wheelchair,but it has a third wheel out
front so that if you hit a bump,you won't go tumbling out of
your wheelchair seat.
So he introduced me to that too.
And that was in 2009.
And then shortly after that Istarted to do Chris Kaag's
triathlon and other triathlonsjust fell into place.
Ed (07:17):
And that's the, I believe Chris still still does that one
in Mount Gretna.
Is that the, the one that youhad gotten back into?
Rodger (07:22):
Did you say Mount Gretna?
Ed (07:24):
Uh, I think Mount Gretna is where, is where Chris does a tri
, it still does a triathlonthere, if I remember correctly.
Rodger (07:30):
Yep.
That was it.
At first time I did it, I justdid it as part of a relay.
In fact, the first couple ofyears is part of a relay.
And then I thought, well, geez,I, I can do this whole thing.
So I started to do the wholerace and um, I think I've done
that just about every year,except, um, we didn't have the
race in 2019, 20 or 21, but Idid it again this spring.
(07:51):
This past May.
Stephanie (07:53):
Is that the, got the nerve challenge?
Is that what he calls it?
Rodger (07:57):
Yep.
It's usually the weekend beforeMemorial Day, about the third
week in May.
Always a cold swim cause water'snot
And, and they, they, they drainthat lake at Mount Gretna.
So it's, it's freshly filledabout a week before Labor Day
and, and we're some of the firstto go in the water after it's
filled.
It's normally a very cold swim.
Stephanie (08:17):
So what did that, what did that do for your drive
to get back to getting, youknow, setting some goals as
completing another Ironmangetting access to that hand
cycle for the first time?
Is that kind of what rerefocused you back on?
Yeah, my, my goal is to get toKona or complete another
triathlon.
What significance did thataccess to that hand cycle have
(08:39):
for you?
Rodger (08:40):
You know, getting back to the rehabilitation process, I
was never aware everything wouldtake so long.
And so when I first got ChrisKaag's hand cycle, I was really
excited about riding hand cycleagain.
But it, it was another year ortwo or three till I really
started to envision thepossibility that I could do a
(09:03):
triathlon again.
When, when I first had myinjury, I, I just put cycling
and, you know, anything Inormally did like running with
my legs, it was off the table.
I had no idea how I couldpossibly do that.
But then with a hand cycle and a, a push chair or a racing
wheelchair, I, I saw ways thatthis could all come about again.
And so it was a very longprocess.
(09:25):
It took years.
To answer your question, I can'trecall exactly when I set up the
goal of doing another triathlon,but without, you know, getting
too far ahead of myself.
I can tell you more aboutsetting the goal to do an
Ironman race at Lake Placid.
Stephanie (09:40):
Yeah, tell us a little bit about that.
Rodger (09:42):
Well, that was another friend Kevin Moore.
He's an attorney with LeisawitzHeller.
Uh, they're now Barley Snyderhere in, in Berks County.
And Kevin and I had racedtogether prior to my injury, and
then he started to race LakePlacid, which is normally in
July each year.
And that's a full distanceIronman, that's 2.4 mile swim,
(10:04):
112 mile bike and a 26 mile run.
And, and there's cutoffs.
You can't just enter that raceand, and you know, kind of mosey
your way on through it there,there's time cutoffs and you
have to hit those cutoffs oryou'd be taking off the race
course.
So Kevin was doing this race in2015 and 16 and told me what a
(10:24):
great venue, nice place, LakePlacid was.
And I thought, geez, you know, I, I've been swimming all this
time.
I, I started to hand cycleagain.
I started getting the push chairracing, I could do this.
And so in 2017 I signed up formy first Ironman race following
my injury, and that was at LakePlacid and that was because of
(10:45):
Kevin Moore.
Ed (10:46):
So tell us a little bit about how that, how that race
went for you.
Um, what was that experiencelike?
Rodger (10:51):
Lake Placid is a very hilly, mountainous course.
It, it's very difficult from abiking standpoint.
You do two loops, twomountainous loops out and around
Lake Placid, and it's verydifficult to do on a bike.
And it's even more difficult ona handcycle.
You just don't go as fast onthree wheels as you do on two
(11:11):
and pedalling with your armsjust as not, it's just not as
fast as pedaling with your legs.
So it's a more difficult race.
And in an Ironman triathlon,there's a 10 and a half hour
cumulative time cutoff for theswim bike.
So from the time you start toswim to the time you finish the
bike, you have 10 and a halfhours.
(11:33):
And the first time I did it, Iwas like 11 and a half hours.
I I didn't make the cutoff.
And so they took me off the racecourse in 2017.
Ed (11:42):
But obviously the, the story doesn't end there.
So you, you go back the nextyear, I believe, if I, if I read
correctly and you, uh, improveyour bike time, by over an hour.
So what, what kind of kicked infor you as far, far as like, the
motivation to get back there andto actually get to finish the
race that next time?
Rodger (11:57):
Oh, well, it's like anything in life when, when you,
uh, don't succeed, you come backtwice as hard.
It's like, you're not gonna letit get the best of you.
You always, you know, I can beatthis.
So in 2017, after Lake Placid, Igot a new bike.
I hired a coach and I started toget really serious about
training.
(12:17):
And in 2018, I, I had a reallygood race, but I didn't realize
this at the time.
I was seven minutes past the 10and a half hour cutoff.
So I, I was actually 10 hoursand about 37 minutes.
And Ironman didn't even know it.
The Ironman officials didn'teven know it.
(12:38):
And so I completed that wholerace.
I, I did the swim, the bike inthe run, all 26 miles of the
run.
And then late that night, Inoticed in the results that I
was DNF did not finish.
Ed (12:53):
Wow.
Rodger (12:54):
And I was like, you know, what's going on here?
So sure enough, I looked into itand it became evident that
according to the officials, and,and I think I was sadly, uh,
seven minutes late, uh, gettingthrough the 10 and a half hour
cutoff.
So technically, even though Idid the whole race, I did not
finish Ironman Lake Placid in2018.
Stephanie (13:16):
Did you say seven minutes?
Rodger (13:19):
Seven minutes too late.
Stephanie (13:20):
Wow.
Rodger (13:21):
But at that point it was so close, Ironman didn't even
realize it during the race.
Stephanie (13:25):
Right.
Rodger (13:26):
And, and they just let me go on and, and I competed as
though I, I completed the raceand, and made all the cutoffs.
And it wasn't until very latethat night, the next morning
until it was apparent what hadhappened.
Ed (13:40):
And so I guess you, you kind of felt you probably had that
seven and a half minutes in youif you had known what you needed
to do
Rodger (13:46):
All the time.
That comes back to me if only Ihad known
Ed (13:49):
Absolutely.
So, so, but the, again, thestory doesn't end there.
So, uh, you know, what, what'skind of the next step?
Obviously you're getting betterand better and better, you know,
and obviously you're enjoyingwhat you're doing.
So, you know, what, what was thenext step for you?
Rodger (14:00):
Well, I, I saw that I was doing well.
I saw that, um, if I keep goingalong the track, the path that I
was setting for myself, I wasgonna continue to improve.
And I, I knew it just takesyears to get your, your, your
body and your, your mentalthinking and adjustment to
compete in an Ironman race.
And, um, I, I saw I was headingin that direction, but there was
(14:23):
room for improvement.
So in 2019, the North Americanhand cycle qualifying for the
Kona Ironman World Championshipwas in Lubbock, Texas.
And there's only four slots forthe hand cyclist in Kona.
(14:43):
There's actually, now, nowthere's a few other, you know,
just basically charitable slotsand things like that.
But those persons that competeare not eligible for awards or
anything.
The only four qualifying handcycles are eligible for awards
after the Ironman race, if youfinish.
So I went down to Lubbock in2019 and that was actually more
(15:05):
pressure than Kona cause I hadto win that race.
So I won that race and I got aslot to the 2019 Ironman in Kona
in October that year.
Ed (15:19):
And you got that, uh, that experience in kind of under the
wire with, with what's happenedsince then, you know, So that
was a amazing that you got tohave that experience.
So you go to Kona, you know,and, and obviously that's a
mecca for triathletes.
I mean every, every triathletesort of dreams of being able to
compete there.
And then you also, you know, youwanna finish, you want to do
well, how do you, how do you goto a big race like that and know
(15:40):
kind of how to pace yourself soyou're not, you know, you're not
trying too hard at thebeginning.
Cause I know that withtriathlon, you know, that
experience counts.
And by that point you had someexperience.
Rodger (15:48):
Well, it, it's hard from a, a hand cycle standpoint
versus a regular competitorstandpoint.
You have to use your arms forthe swim.
Of course you use your arms forthe bike and the running
portion.
And, and so if you're a regularathlete, you know, you'd be
using basically your, and thenyour, your legs for the cycling
and then the running portion.
(16:09):
So we have to be very, we haveto focus our training in
swimming on making sure thatwe're in very good shape.
Cause we don't wanna feel asthough we're tired when we first
start the bike.
Especially when the bike at, atKona on a hand cycle if you have
a good race, is about sevenhours.
And that comes after a one and ahalf hour swim.
(16:30):
So when you're using your upperbody, we focus on, on getting
swim very strong so that we'renot tired when we get out on the
bike.
And then when you get on thebike, you have to remember,
watch your time.
Cause you have a cumulative that10 and a half hours to, to
finish the swim bike portion.
There's actually a swim cutofftoo that's two hours and 20
(16:52):
minutes.
But that one isn't nearly asdifficult for hand cyclists as a
cumulative 10 and a half hourswim bike cutoff is so that
that's what you're watching.
You wanna focus on yourswimming, you wanna focus on
your bike and, and keep youreyes sighted so that that 10 and
a half hour cutoff doesn't getahead of you, in which case you
(17:13):
won't be able to finish yourrace.
Stephanie (17:14):
So how does, how do you adjust for weather factors?
Because I'm, I mean, I'm not atriathlete by any stretch of the
imagination.
Ed (17:22):
Me either.
Stephanie (17:22):
Barely an athlete, Roger.
So you're not
on that, but I'm just wonderinglike how weather affects your
training, because I'm sure, youknow, training here in the
mid-Atlantic states is a lotdifferent than going to a
competition in Lubbock, Texas orKona.
Did the weather when you'recompeting affect the way you
train at all?
Or how do you make adjustmentsfor that?
(17:44):
I'm just curious.
I thought, I'm familiar withTexas weather and I'm thinking,
man, that that must be a, achallenge.
Rodger (17:49):
Texas weather is very low humidity.
It's hot, but very low humidity.
And Kona weather is very highhumidity.
That's hot and high humidity.
Plus at Kona, you're actuallyout there much later in the day.
So oftentimes when you're bikingor running, the roads are hot,
the streets are warm.
(18:10):
Also, when you're in Kona, theyhave the lava fields and they
just radiate heat.
It's, it's very, it's just hotall around.
Uh, road temperature is around120 to 140 degrees are not
unheard of.
The, the good side, the plusside about living in
Pennsylvania or Berks County isthe weather we've had the last
few weeks, the hot, it's verysimilar to Kona.
(18:34):
So if you, if you can pushyourself to go out and train in
that, which is what we doactually very good training for
Kona.
Stephanie (18:41):
Yeah.
Rodger (18:42):
We have very hot, humid, sweltering summers here in
Pennsylvania.
And that, that's a lot like whatthey have all year round in
Kona.
Ed (18:50):
I, I guess it, that might be the next tourist attraction here
is come and train for Kona.
It's like the perfect weatherfor, you know, if you wanna ever
go to the Ironman WorldChampionships.
We've got the, we've got thetraining venue for you here.
Is the nutrition and the, andthe hydration like similar to,
you know, to other triathletesor is it different?
Like how do you sort of managethat part?
Rodger (19:10):
No, you, you try to, um, drink about one bottle, one
water bottle, bicycle, waterbottle water per hour or so.
As far as nutrition goes, I relya lot on Cliff bars, but every
athlete's a little different.
They also make like gel packsand um, you know, cliff cubes,
(19:32):
they, they're, they're actuallylike a hard jelly type thing.
Those are pretty nice.
Uh, you can put them in yourmouth and they just kind of
dissolve an anything that, thatyou can really, um, train with,
you know, get your stomach totolerate.
Uh, even Gatorade if, if you candrink a lot of Gatorade, uh,
that has electrolytes andcarbohydrates in it.
(19:54):
I, I know people that have gotthrough the race, which is, um,
drinking a lot of Gatorade.
Again, it's training you, youknow, we, we practice nutrition
and hydration when we're outthere training.
It's not like you can just gointo that race and and say to
yourself, Well I'm gonna eat,uh, so many calories per hour
and expect your stomach's notgonna revolt.
(20:15):
Cause it will, and and not onlythat, but, but you know, you
could have bowel issues and allthose kinda things that would
happen.
So yeah, that's what we trainfor.
Stephanie (20:24):
Roger, what would you say to an athlete that's just
starting out or is interested ingoing to a level such as
becoming a triathlete that hasmobility challenges or as a
person with a disability and arethinking of this a physical
fitness and training in acompetition like this as a
barrier, or they might not beable to compete.
What would you say to them?
Rodger (20:45):
I would advise them to get very strong, get a strong
swimming background.
That's why a lot more peopledon't do triathlons.
It's basically because they swimand they stick to duathlons,
which are bike run competitions.
A lot of people just don't feelcomfortable as comfortable in
(21:06):
the water.
Plus when you get into, um,what's oftentimes a, a mass
start, a pack start in thewater, that, that can even be
scarier for them.
And so I would recommend toanybody that wants to start in
triathlon, either have a strongswimming background or gain a
strong swimming background andthen, you know, practice on the
(21:27):
bike, practice on the run,actually sprint distance and
Olympic distance triathlons.
Sprint is usually very short,maybe a 500 yard swim with a,
um, 10 mile bike or a three orsix mile run.
And an Olympic distance is a 1.2mile swim with a, uh, 26 mile
(21:49):
bike and a 10K run, which isabout 6.2 miles.
Those are, are doable.
They're not impossible forparaplegics or spinal cord
injury athletes.
But again, you, you want to, youknow, be confident in yourself
to get through the, the waterand then practice your biking,
practice your running.
(22:09):
And I, I think a lot of, um,hand cyclists or paraplegic
athletes, uh, would find successwith triathlons.
Ed (22:17):
How about having, having access to the equipment, because
I know you mentioned Chris Kaag,I know he's been involved in
getting a lot of people startedin the sport.
How would they sort of have theopportunity just to, you know,
try the, try out the equipmentthat they would need or get
started on, you know, havingaccess to a hand cycle like you
had, uh, the opportunity to try?
Rodger (22:35):
Honestly, uh, I know anybody, and I know a lot of
other hand cyclists,triathletes, paraplegics that
know of others.
It's a fairly friendlycommunity.
And I know I've let a lot ofpersons try my hand cycle.
And, um, I, I know othertriathletes, paraplegic
(22:55):
triathletes have done that.
Chris Kaag he's a good resourceif you're in Berks County area
and need adaptive equipment.
I, I guess the, the trick wouldbe to, you know, reach out to
somebody and get to know the,the persons in the handicapped
triathlete community.
Stephanie (23:11):
I think that's part of what Chris does is so unique
and that there's no excuses,right?
If you want to, no matter whatyour ability, if you want to be
or remain active, there's a wayto do it.
And there's, there's an, anenormous amount of adaptive
equipment that's available.
And I think you're exactlyright, Roger.
It's being in that community andknowing what resources to tap
(23:32):
into
Rodger (23:34):
The, the thing you have to remember is the higher up
your injury, typically thehigher up your injury, your
spinal cord injury, the moredeficit or, or the more
neurological deficit you'regonna have or more neurological
issues that you're going tohave.
And so the other thing is, keepin mind practice.
(23:54):
If you've been at it a number ofyears,
the more I practice the luckierI get, you know, I, I wish other
spinal cord injury, uh, personswouldn't be scared away because
their deficit might be greaterthan mine or Chris Kaag's, or
they might not have access tothe same equipment that I do or
(24:15):
Chris Kaag has, or that they,they might be afraid of, of
practicing and, and things likethat.
You know, I I just like to reachout to them and say, if they, if
they do have the desire tocompete or something, you know,
please touch base with me orChris Kaag or, um, any other
person in the community, the,the paraplegic community, uh,
(24:36):
who might be involved withtriathlons.
And I, I think they'd have afriendly reception.
Stephanie (24:41):
Absolutely.
I think that's what makes it soimportant for organizations like
ours, which is a center forIndependent Living to make those
connections in the disabilitycommunity with other nonprofits
or other organizations that aredoing the same kind of work.
And we're basically, you know,able to connect people.
We may not provide theequipment, but we can certainly
(25:02):
make those connections.
And the bigger the community is,the more opportunity there are
for people with disabilities toget access to that kind of
stuff, to keep them active.
Rodger (25:11):
I got to know a number of your group.
Many, many years ago atAquabilities in Birdsboro.
There used to be a group thatswam there, I think Wednesday
and Friday afternoons.
And, uh, right after my injury,I, I went there for years to do
water aquatics and, and, andthings like that.
So I'm, I'm somewhat familiarwith your group.
Stephanie (25:32):
Yeah, we have a nice history with Aquabilities.
I'm not even sure if that'sin...
Ed (25:36):
I think it, uh, closed down now.
I would just do a little bit ofresearch on it.
I, we did do a, uh, actually dida, a collaboration event with
Chris in June, actually, wherehe brought hand cycles out.
We were out there sharinginformation.
So we're always looking foropportunities to, to collaborate
and use our platform as a way toconnect people.
So we're, we're looking for waysto do that, and we're more than
(25:56):
happy to, uh, to make sure thatyou're part of those
connections.
Uh, that's great that you'rewilling to do that.
Rodger (26:01):
Thanks.
Ed (26:02):
So, uh, you know, obviously with, with Covid, we all know
that it's really put a a damperon a lot of athletics recently,
and I know triathlons haven'tbeen held until, you know,
fairly recently, again, startingback up, I know they had the,
uh, Ironman World Championshipsfrom last year, I believe was
actually in Utah, and thatthey're planning to sort of get
things ramped up again.
So do you, do you have anythingin your, uh, future plans as far
(26:24):
as getting back out andcompeting again?
Rodger (26:26):
I do.
I, I'm the, um, actual KonaIronman World Championship for
2022 is planned to be held inKona this year, in October.
And, um, I qualified for thatlast year.
Ed (26:41):
Oh, congratulations.
Stephanie (26:43):
Nice.
Rodger (26:43):
And then, because last year's October 2021 Kona Race
was canceled, then I gotdeferred to 2022.
But they're gonna actually raceon two days in Kona this year
because of all the events thatwere qualified and rescheduled
in 2020 and 2021.
There's just too many athletesto accommodate in one day.
(27:05):
So they're gonna have a Kona,basically the women and the, uh,
hand cyclist on Thursday andthen the men on Saturday.
Ed (27:15):
So where are you kind of in your, in your training process
for that now?
Kind of what, what stage are youat?
How do you sort of ramp up forsomething like that and, and
plan things out?
Rodger (27:24):
The training intensity becomes much higher.
And the endurance, which, whichis basically the time you spend
out on the bike and spendrunning and so forth, the
distance you're covering thepool, they're all increasing.
And, and so this past weekend Idid about a 60 mile ride.
Two weekends ago I did a 95 milewide.
(27:45):
Now this weekend coming upagain, I'll probably do a, a 90,
a hundred mile ride the lengthof time and the yardage I do in
the pool is increasing alongwith the intensity and the
length of time I spend in mypush chair, as well as the, the
intensity, the workouts, allthat increases.
Ed (28:02):
So we're gonna be able to root for you.
Do you know if that event isgoing to be televised or, or, or
streamed somewhere that we couldactually watch it?
Rodger (28:10):
It, it is on TV live.
I'm not sure how long.
Each day, Thursday and Saturday,uh, Kona is six hours behind us
and the race starts at 6:30.
So I think we'd be about 12:30here when you could tune into
it.
What they typically do is filmit, and then they have it on a
(28:30):
Saturday afternoon, sometime inDecember or something like that.
But when they've had a chance tocompile all the, the different
video footage that they'veaccumulated, and that's
typically a one or two hourpresentation, but that's a
couple months later.
There is an Ironman tracker thatyou can get.
It's an app for your phone thatwill enable you to the day of
(28:52):
the race.
You would go into the Ironmantracker, type in Kona, and then
type in the participants lastname.
And you can actually, on yourphone, it would tell you, you
know, what checkpoints and, andhow they're doing in the race
and so forth.
It's a pretty cool app.
Stephanie (29:08):
That is cool.
I never, I didn't realizesomething like that existed.
So it's able to attract likeyour real time progress in the
competition?
Rodger (29:15):
Right.
Everybody has a chip that theyget from Ironman that they wear
on their ankle during the race,and that that chip has GPS
capabilities.
And so you can actually seeright, where you're athlete,
anybody you might wanna follow,and you can follow multiple
athletes at the same time, youcan see where they are in the
race course.
Stephanie (29:34):
That's really cool.
I, I love how technologyadvances and allows, you know,
us to follow something likethat, even that far away and
live in real time.
I think that's really cool.
We'll probably, we'll, you know,Ed, I think you're gonna have to
download that app and...
Ed (29:47):
Yeah, absolutely.
Stephanie (29:48):
Follow Roger's progress.
Ed (29:49):
Yeah, I feel like I, I feel like it kind of makes us
participants in the story in away, which is kind of neat.
Rodger (29:55):
Yeah, last year, last fall, there's an Ironman race in
, uh, Cambridge every September.
And again, Kevin Moore wascompeting last fall and I went
down to watch him.
And so when I got there, it wasabout three or four hours after
the race had started, I justpulled up the Ironman tracker I
could see right where he was onthe course.
And so I was able, able to getmyself out there and, and, um,
(30:17):
you know, follow him.
Stephanie (30:17):
Oh, that's great.
So Lake Placid, are yourevisiting that next year to, to
get revenge for your sevenminutes?
Rodger (30:25):
I don't know.
I, I haven't thought that farahead yet.
Stephanie (30:32):
Right.
Rodger (30:32):
I, I don't know what my schedule will be next year at
this moment.
I, I'm sure I'll sign up forsome races, but offhand I just
don't know exactly which ones.
Ed (30:43):
It, it's a pretty inspiring place though.
I've been to Lake Placidactually when I was working as a
sports writer, and it's prettyamazing to see, you know, the,
the venues for all those greatathletic performances that, uh,
that I remember, you know, fromwhen I was younger.
It's a pretty, it's a prettyneat place.
Rodger (30:57):
I did do a race in June in Luxembourg, and what was
really cool about this race, itwas a half Ironman.
Um, not a full Ironman, 70.2miles, but you got to swim in
Germany, bike in France, and runin Luxembourg all in one race.
Ed (31:15):
I was gonna say, they, they probably can't actually hold a
full length triathlon inLuxembourg.
Rodger (31:19):
Yeah.
You know, over in Europe, youreally don't know when you
change countries may, maybe onthe major highways you do, like
welcome to France or somethinglike that, but when you're on
these, these, these s in a bikerace, you really don't know when
you go from one country into thenext
Ed (31:34):
And I, I know other, other athletes I I've spoken with have
said that the travel is one ofthe interesting things about,
you know, being involved insports.
So is that something about itthat you enjoy or are you so
focused on, you know, yourperformance that you're, you're
kind of not able to to take thatall in?
Rodger (31:49):
No, I, I Luxembourg I was interested in, because it,
it was the three countries, sothat that was kind a, a
destination race that I, Iwanted to do for years.
Other races like Kona, that,that there I'll be more focused
on my performance.
Ed (32:03):
Well, I, I'm fascinated by your story.
I really appreciate you sharingit.
I, I've had a great time gettingto know you.
I did a little bit of readingahead of time and you were
actually written in up inBicycling Magazine, which is a
pretty neat thing too.
So, you know, what, what wasthat experience like?
Rodger (32:16):
Yeah, that, that, the Bicycling Magazine interview was
a good one.
The trouble with that was ittook place in a very cold
December day.
It was cloudy and overcast.
We had snow flurries and, and Ijust had a tough time.
They wanted to get some, uh,video, but it, it was a good
interview other than the, thesnow flurries and the cold, cold
(32:36):
temperature.
I think that was 2018.
It might, I think it was really,it was a very cold day in
mid-December 2018.
Ed (32:45):
I, I think that sounds right, if I remember correctly.
Well, I, I really appreciatedgetting the, the chance to chat
with you.
And I don't have any morequestions.
I don't know if Stephanie hasany more Shippensburg related
questions or comments that you'dlike to make to kind of bring
things full circle.
Stephanie (32:59):
I just appreciate the reminiscing through.
I I, I picture it in my mindwhen you were talking at the
beginning of the podcast aboutrunning past Seavers apartments
and through College Parkapartments, all very familiar
places for me, even though Iwasn't there at the same time
you were from 1990 to 95, Itraveled those same paths and it
was a nice walk down memorylane.
So I thank you for that.
(33:20):
And it's been a, a pleasuretalking to you about your
journey and adaptive racing andyour, your goals.
And I think it's so cool to getto experience these competitions
in, in the way that you describethem, especially, you know, I, I
love the, the, the three countryone I just think that's amazing.
That is a destination race forsure.
And best of luck to you, Roger,and your, and your future goals
(33:42):
and your competitions in Konathis October.
Ed (33:44):
Yep, we'll, we'll be tracking you.
Rodger (33:46):
Oh, thank you Stephanie.
Stephanie (33:47):
Yeah, thank you.
Is there anything you'd like to,to leave us with before we sign
off?
Rodger (33:52):
No, no.
I, I can't think of anything offhand.
Thank you for taking the time tointerview me.
Stephanie (33:56):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much.
It was, it was a pleasure.
Ed (33:59):
Yep.
It was definitely our, ourprivilege.
Rodger (34:01):
Thank you.
Stephanie (34:02):
All right.
Take care, Rodger.
Rodger (34:03):
Take care.
Bye.
Stephanie (34:05):
Bye.
Outro (34:41):
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Disability
Talks.
Want to be a part of the ongoingconversation?
Visit our website atabilitiesinmotion.org or connect
with us on social media.
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