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#528 Racing with Honor
90 Plays19 days ago
Racing with Honor features two remarkable veteran paracyclists whose journeys through injury, resilience, and reinvention come to life at the Valley of the Sun Stage Race. Alongside their powerful stories, we highlight this week’s announcements—including TriDot Pool School and G2G Velocity live ride sessions—plus our Get Gritty Tip, Workout of the Week, and a fun segment celebrating the heart of endurance sport. Supported by our show sponsor Vespa Power and Ask A Coach sponsor TriDot, this episode brings listeners inspiration, practical training insight, and a deeper understanding of purpose-driven performance.
#Grit2Greatness #CoachingTips #Ask A Coach #TriathlonCoach #TriathlonPodcast #303Endurance #TriDot #EnduranceAthlete #SwimBikeRun #GetGritty #TriathlonTraining #CyclingLife #RunningCommunity
Website - Grit2Greatness Endurance Coaching
Facebook - @grit2greatnessendurance
Instagram - @g2gendurance
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Coach Contact Info:
April.spilde@tridot.com
TriDot Signup - https://app.tridot.com/onboard/sign-up/aprilspilde
RunDot Signup - https://app.rundot.com/onboard/sign-up/aprilspilde
Coach Lauren Brown
Lauren.brown@tridot.com
TriDot Signup - https://app.tridot.com/onboard/sign-up/laurenbrown
RunDot Signup - https://app.rundot.com/onboard/sign-up/laurenbrown
Coach Rich Soares
Rich.soares@tridot.com
Rich Soares Coaching
TriDot Signup - https://app.tridot.com/onboard/sign-up/richsoares
RunDot Signup - https://app.rundot.com/onboard/sign-up/richsoares
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Transcript
Introduction to Grit to Greatness Podcast
00:00:08
Rich
Mm-hmm.
00:00:19
Rich
All right, and welcome. Welcome to episode 528 of the Grit to Greatness Endurance podcast. We're your hosts, coaches Rich Soares, April Spilde and Lauren Brown, and we are on a mission to help endurance athletes train smarter, race stronger, and build the grit it takes to achieve greatness. Coach April, are you ready to get gritty?
00:00:40
April
You know I'm always ready to get gritty. I'm wearing my gritty green tonight, and I cannot wait for this conversation.
00:00:47
Rich
Yeah. Coach Lauren, are you ready to get inspired?
00:00:51
Lauren
Oh, I am. i am so ready. i cannot wait for this conversation and to just dive into it. So.
00:00:58
Rich
Awesome. and This is another one of those podcasts where I am not in the usual studio. i am actually at another race and we have another great inspirational a pair of interviews here.
Veterans' Stories of Resilience and Purpose
00:01:10
Rich
Today's episode is one that goes straight to the heart of GRIT. You know what GRIT stands for. We are coming to you from the Valley of the Sun Bicycle Stage Race here in Phoenix, Arizona.
00:01:21
Rich
where the paracycling fields are packed with athletes who embody what it takes to rise after life-changing adversity. We are honored to welcome two remarkable veterans and paracyclists who have turned injury setbacks and transition into fuel for performance and purpose. I am really proud to be here next to both of these gentlemen. i want to first introduce Mike Murphy, who is an athlete that we started working together just about, a what, two months ago? Yep, first week in January. Yeah, it's been great. So maybe just introduce yourself and you know maybe like one fun fact about yourself.
00:02:01
Rich
Mike Murphy, retired Army, visually impaired athlete.
00:02:07
Rich
I guess I... I love the slogan grittiness, grit to greatness. So I think my my favorite thing since losing injury is I became yes man. So I've been blessed to compete in multiple sports from whitewater kayaking, tandem cycling, all the way to snowboarding. So that's kind of, I'm a man of adventure. so Yeah, you are.
00:02:30
Rich
Greg. Good evening. I'm Greg Quarles, retired us Army Ranger. I'm not only served in the American Army, but I served in the Australian Special Forces as well.
00:02:43
Rich
And an amazing story at that. We are going to get into all of that here very shortly. Really quick, we've got a couple of announcements that we're going to make. Coach April, can I hand
TriDot Pool School Workshop Preview
00:02:53
Rich
it off to you to talk about TriDot Pool School?
00:02:56
April
Absolutely. We're going jump right into our upcoming dot pool school here in Colorado Springs at the air force Academy, February 28th through March 1st. It is a weekend workshop.
00:03:08
April
We're going to help you get fast in the water. So whether you're a beginner struggling to feel comfortable in open water or an experienced athlete chasing podium spots, improving your swim technique can unlock massive benefits.
00:03:22
April
such as greater confidence, efficiency, and speed. We'll explore what good mechanics look like, why they matter and how programs like try.poolschool can accelerate your progress.
00:03:30
Rich
Thank
00:03:34
April
We also have an awesome code here to get $125 off of your purchase. That is Rocky mountain rate, all one word. We would love to see you on deck.
Launch of Velocity Cycling Program
00:03:48
Lauren
so Velocity is live now as of February 7th, where you can join myself, Coach Rich, Coach April, the coaches that you have learned to love on this podcast. so if you enjoy us here, waiting to experience us on Velocity You can, if you, if you haven't heard us talk about rich and it's not easy feeling green, jump on his ride, understand what we're talking about. Coach April will be dialing in with mountain bike skills and I will be focusing a little bit more on triathlon focus, getting arrow on the bike.
00:04:28
Lauren
It is an amazing experience. If you are ready to try it out, grab a free two week trial. it is just $79 per month to join us and dial in your training, your racing, your road cycling, uh, Grits of Greatness premium athletes and our ambassadors do get 25% discount. And like I said, you're going to develop shifting cadence, smoother pedal strokes, power control. We've got three live classes per week. You're also to be able to catch replays, but you will be able to join coach rich on Saturdays at 8am mountain time for 90 minute threshold and hold coach April on Tuesdays at 6am mountain time. Uh, it's going again, be,
00:05:19
Lauren
mountain bike focus this week. It is dirt flirt and you can join me on Wednesdays at 6am, which is going to be again, a threshold focused ride. So check the link in the show notes. So you can again, grab your two week trial and join the fun with us on velocity.
00:05:41
Rich
April, the dirt flirt, really. the the marketing The marketing that you have on your rides is so much better than my threshold and hold hill hell. you know like
00:05:53
Lauren
I know, but I wish I had a little devil emoji on there too on the screen.
00:05:53
Rich
Nobody wants to do those. but
00:05:56
April
Yeah, I did put a devil emoji on there too.
00:05:59
Lauren
That little emoji adds like that little extra level.
00:05:59
Rich
love that.
00:06:02
Lauren
Yeah.
00:06:04
Rich
That's awesome.
00:06:05
April
Thank you. I do take pride in my names here.
00:06:09
Rich
Yes. And you know what? When you do my threshold workouts, it's actually very easy feeling green, as in maybe we're going to work so hard to get sick to your stomach. it is It is hard being green.
00:06:20
Rich
It's hard getting into the green. And that is going to be what you are going to find out more about when you join my class.
00:06:22
April
Yes.
00:06:24
Lauren
Always the goal, Bob.
00:06:28
Rich
Speaking of cycling, speaking of how fun this sport is and how fun racing is and why we are trying to get faster, We're here at the Valley of the Sun Bicycle Stage Race. It's an early season three-day USA cycling event here in the Phoenix area.
00:06:44
Rich
We are having day one is a time trial. It happened today. We're to talk about that. We've also got a road race tomorrow, about 33 miles, 34, something like that.
00:06:57
Rich
What is it exactly? 32.76. See, there you go. Exactly. And then we have a crit race on on Sunday, which, you know, man, that's going to first. First tandem.
00:07:11
Rich
First blind tandem, too. so That's going to be an incredible experience. I've done some crit racing, but never on a tandem. but And not only are you we the first, but you're also the it's your first time doing it, and it's the race's first time hosting a tandem. Yeah.
00:07:25
Rich
It's going to be, it it this is an adventure, right? We are we are learning and we are adapting even this weekend. The paracycling division is the same weekend. And we you know we actually are going to be talking about the you know kind of the different kinds of paracycling divisions that are within that division, classifications that are within that division. And I might even ask Greg, if you might talk a little bit about your experience this morning or yesterday rather with the classifications. So,
00:07:55
Rich
All right. so let's do this. Let's first talk to Mike Murphy, a visually impaired athlete, as you heard, who races on AT&M with a side sighted pilot. That's me today. yes sir. Maybe just, Mike, let me just just say a little bit about your journey here. After... After your service led you to adaptive sport, you needed a you know a new sense of direction is kind of what I got out of our earlier
Mental Health and Adaptive Sports
00:08:19
Rich
conversation. Maybe talk about kind of what that transition was like for you.
00:08:24
Rich
Yeah. So upon injury, I had a head injury during my time in service. We were deployed, but it wasn't combat related. Ended up sparking an eye disease that caused me to lose the majority of my sight.
00:08:38
Rich
went down road spiral, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideations. Just didn't want to live. Didn't know what I was going to do. got medically retired, but during the process of getting out, the Army has soldier recovery units.
00:08:52
Rich
And the purpose of these is to either get you back in the fight or get you prepared for retirement. So medical is the primary, but also physical health. You're still a soldier. So I got plugged in through...
00:09:05
Rich
Mark Catapan was my mentor in Colorado Springs at Fort Carson, and they introduced me to adaptive sports, this program called the Warrior Games, and eventually the Invictus Games. And for me, it was I was in such a deep mental rut that i i I was at the point that whatever I could do to get out of that hole, I was down for it.
00:09:25
Rich
And I heard about it and i was like, I've been an athlete my whole life. i love sports. And the fact that that was an anchor to pull me out of that dark hole was phenomenal. I know most para athletes you meet, they have similar stories. I know Greg and I share the same same views, but I literally wouldn't be here without adaptive sports.
00:09:44
Rich
would have went a way different path. I mean, I turned towards alcohol, turned towards a bunch of stuff. so Got introduced to it. I was a runner beforehand, so they had track, field, swimming, cycling, rowing.
00:09:55
Rich
i just They didn't let blind guys play team sports. didn't want me getting smashed in the face with a basketball. so But being that they they let me do that, it was it was phenomenal. So started training, got jumped on the bike, jumped on. and i mean, I did everything they let me That's how I dove into skiing and snowboarding and in different stuff. So started training for it. I did ice climbing the last couple of weeks.
00:10:19
Rich
But yeah, just, I mean, I've been, it's been very blessing in disguise. I mean, obviously I took something extremely negative and I could have went in a completely different route, but thanks to people around me, the programs that were there,
00:10:31
Rich
I've been able to dig myself out of a hole and now hopefully get on the path to the Paralympics. But even just just being alive and being able to share my testimony and just just trying to share it and help people has been but honestly one of my my favorite things to do. like Anybody I meet, if they do have a disability or impairment, my like a lot of people look at it in a neighborhood aspect and now I'm like, oh,
00:10:52
Rich
you're impaired or disabled, let me help you out. No matter where I go, there's there's programs all over, especially military, but even aside from military, there's so many different programs that I can just try and get people off their butts out of the couch, back into life and back into fight. So obviously from a military aspect, I i lean on on that background, but no,
00:11:14
Rich
no matter what you're going through in life, everybody goes through speed bumps. And for me, I use sports to get over that speed bump. And it's been an amazing asset. I've been blessed to travel all over the world.
00:11:26
Rich
My guide dog Maverick gets to go with me everywhere. and Now my my family, hopefully future from my fiance, she's my caretaker slash backbone. So she travels everywhere as well with me. So it's been been a fun journey. I'm very blessed, but it it was all through the power of sport. And really my first sport was cycling. I jumped on a tandem bike.
00:11:48
Rich
kind of, I guess, short, fun story. I was a runner and I used to make fun of cyclists. like One, they're wearing funny suits.
00:11:55
Lauren
Yeah.
00:11:57
Rich
Why would you use that when you have legs? Like, what are you doing on a bike? And then now I race kind of paraprofessionally, I guess you could call it, on a tandem bike. And I'm wearing the funny suits, and traveling all over. And now Now I get to meet amazing people.
00:12:14
Rich
And I think from the biggest blessing that I received in the military, I was an NCO, which is a non-commissioned officer, a leader. People came to me for things. And then upon injury, i was devastated. I had to ask, how do I get to the restroom? Like I needed to, i was just mentally stuck. And then now sports has helped me get over that pride to where no matter what I do, it's okay for me to ask for help. But then it was that first experience on a tandem bike that it's like, I have to trust the person that's in front of me.
00:12:44
Rich
Every little movement. I mean, you experienced it in the last few days. just, mean, obviously you've got a lot of experience on a bicycle, but being on a tandem, you have to be in sync. You have to be able let me know the calls. We have to even just on a takeoff, Hey, clip in, clip out left, right. So one, I have to not only,
00:13:02
Rich
do the things, but I have to trust you. So me giving up the the pride and trusting that the person in front of me is gonna do what needs to be done was was just huge for me. So now that's where like sports, any guide I have, as long as I know the guide is confident, I'm like, I've been snowboarding, I've been flying down Pikes Peak on a bike. I've done a bunch different stuff. And it was all because i i mean, I trusted the person to jump on a bike and take them the journey. And that's where we're at today. so Very blessed and thankful.
00:13:32
Rich
We're already planning the the Pikes Peak on the 4th of July, April. Just let me know.
00:13:37
April
I was just thinking that. oh my gosh.
00:13:41
Rich
Greg Quarles, can you do the same thing? Just a quick, you know, just maybe just a little bit more background about, you know kind of your journey.
Greg Quarles' Journey and Transformation
00:13:48
Rich
I got in my military career. i did 21 and a half years and throughout my career, I had gotten injured a few times, but fought through them, adapted, overcame.
00:13:59
Rich
Nothing that was life-threatening. But then on my final deployment, my eighth deployment that ended my career, I got shot in the head and blown up within a two-week time frame.
00:14:13
Rich
Broke my neck and when I got shot. The helmet saved my life. And then two weeks later, got blown up. But I had that no-quit attitude. So I tried to just fight through them. And I did that for a while until the injuries got to where I couldn't handle it anymore.
00:14:30
Rich
And I got sent to the same unit. I had to have spine surgery. And then when I came out of that, I got put in an SRU, Subject Recovery Unit. At the time, they were called WTBs, Warrior Transition Battalions. And then they later re-flagged and became SRUs, what they're known as today.
00:14:50
Rich
And I thought my life was over. I didn't have a purpose anymore because I was a senior enlisted NCO.
00:15:00
Rich
I wasn't training troops. I wasn't in charge anybody. I couldn't do my job. I couldn't jump out of planes or do any of that. And just like Mike said, i turned to alcohol, thought my life was over, thought I was going to be one of the statistics, the 22 a day.
00:15:19
Rich
and i had occupational therapists they said you can get on a bike and i'm like i can't get on a bike i have spinal cord injuries i have vertigo i don't have balance and so they first put me on on a recumbent bike a three-wheel bike that's low to the ground put me on started training with it couple miles here five miles 10 miles 15 miles and then they threw me in and was like, Hey, you're doing really good on this. We're going to sign you up for the Gulf coast challenge. I said, I'm down for anything. I said, this is really helping me not knowing that the Gulf coast challenge was a five day from downtown Atlanta to new Orleans bike ride.
00:16:02
Rich
And on that ride, I thought a bike was the worst thing ever. I didn't have the funny gear. I didn't have anything. I'm wearing cotton sweatpants. And we had every weather that you could think of from below freezing to rain to high 30 mile an hour winds to 110 degree temperatures throughout this ride.
00:16:26
Rich
But they was veterans that were on that, that triple amputees and quad amputees that were riding bikes. And when I saw them, that literally changed my outlook on life. I'm like, I have nothing to complain about.
00:16:40
Rich
If they can do it and they're doing it with smiles, I can too. And that was in 2014 and it literally changed my life and got me to where I'm at today. never thought I went on from that to making team army.
00:16:55
Rich
and competing in all the sports to making Team USA and competing at the Invictus, the games that Prince Harry puts on, to being a national, getting classified in rowing and track and field events and now getting classified in cycling.
00:17:15
Rich
And just like you guys, getting... asked to be a coach and i'm the head rowing coach for team army and assistant cycling coach for team army and as of yesterday i'm a classified paracyclist and did my first ever para cycling race.
00:17:36
Rich
today and crushed it incredible like a so like in like a heart rate of like 136 or something like that I mean just my heart rate average 123 okay max correction it was lower
00:17:43
April
What?
00:17:44
Lauren
Wow.
00:17:50
Rich
I didn't know how, like, I didn't know, I didn't want to go out too hard. I didn't know how to pace it because that this was the first time racing a TT bike. I'd only been on one a couple of times before it was a brand new bike, but I'd never raced the TT on a TT bike. And so I didn't really know how hard to push. And at the end of it, I'm like, I could have went a lot harder.
00:18:14
Rich
So it was a learning experience, a very good learning experience. But going in with the the classifications, when I sent in all the paperwork, i originally they're like, oh, on paper, you're going to be a C3, which all those are based off injuries and range of motion and leg strength because I have all the different injuries.
00:18:36
Rich
I show up, they're like, you're in way better shape than we thought you would be with all these injuries. So they classified me as a C4 and then I race and I guess because I raced too fast,
00:18:49
Rich
I got classified as a C5.
00:18:51
Lauren
You're too good.
00:18:52
Rich
so Where the standards are higher. Yeah. Which is harder to qualify. so I made the co the the standard for C4, even though I didn't push myself as good as, and so I was a half a mile an hour off the C5 qualification standard, which the first week in March, I'm racing time trial again in Florida, and I will make it then.
00:19:04
April
Thank you.
00:19:17
Rich
yeah now that i know will Now that I know what I can actually push and what to expect. so Before we go any further, I just want to thank you both for, for well, one, for I want to thank Zedd for putting us, for introducing us. If it wasn't for Zedd, who Coach April and Coach Lauren knows somewhat, I'm grateful for him. i'm I'm grateful for the time that we've had together here with both of you. i I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your service and sacrifice.
00:19:49
Rich
I can't even imagine. it makes me by it makes i'm getting you know it's It makes you choked up to know how much you guys have given and how far you've come. I know Coach April, can as as a senior NCO in the Air Force, can appreciate. so I'm going to turn it over to her here in a second. I think you guys have covered some of the background that I wanted to get to and a little bit of your story.
00:20:16
Rich
Let's just kind of unpack things a little bit. Coach Lauren or April, can i turn it over to you?
00:20:20
April
Absolutely. I've just been sitting here in awe, just reflecting back on the journey that both of you have had and talk about rock bottom, right? And what could have happened if you use those coping mechanisms, which are
00:20:37
April
they're there, right? Those those hard things, those just destruct destructive things that can take us out of feeling the pain of loss, right? And I just wanna say that I'm really proud of you both for rising above that and really leaning into what you do have, your skills, your talents, and the community around you now that you're inspiring, including myself. So i just wanna say thank you both as well.
00:21:03
April
I, listening here, there's a lot of things that you all brought up that I'm like, I wonder what that means and how, how do they do this?
00:21:11
Rich
lot athletes.
00:21:12
April
Yeah. So I would love to hear, when you talk about these classifications and Greg, thank you for explaining a little bit more about that, but in, in practical terms, can you share what that means for how you ride in race?
00:21:27
Rich
So basically based on your disability, there's a classification for each variation. So mine's pretty cut and dry. It's men's blind or women's blind. So any sort of visual impairment as far as cycling goes. So each each sport has a different style as well. So with cycling, it's automatic. You're on a tandem bike. So no matter if if your light's out completely blind or not, you race tandem bikes, male and female.
00:21:54
Rich
And then when you go to kind of like his classifications, you have, they're called C categories. C1 being the lowest, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
00:22:06
Rich
So essentially the lower the number, the more disabled you are. And then the higher the number, basically in forms of movement and function of your body.
00:22:12
April
Mm-hmm.
00:22:17
Rich
the the less impaired you are. So C5s would be a more able-bodied person than a C1 in comparison terms. They're still obviously disabled. And then you have the age categories, which are hand cycles. So anybody that has lower extremity issues, that can't ride an upright bike, spinal cord, they race on laying down hand cycles.
00:22:41
Rich
And then there's also t categories, which they race on upright tricycles. So if those are for, like I believe he's raced on quite a bit of different crews, so he can give you more details, but that's kind of the general just of all the different variations there are. So in a normal para race, so like when we have our national championships here coming up in April,
00:23:04
Rich
Para, you would race against your category. So I would race against other blind athletes. He would race against now, whether against other C5 categories or if his classification changes. But it's against categories, and that's normally you go against.
00:23:17
Rich
This race, Team you or USA Cycling kind of threw us in here as a category just to give us more races. There wasn't a whole bunch here in the nation. So now it's it's a cool field because we're a small category just in general, not just blind, but the the adaptive sports categories. So to get all the cyclists together, we all race in the same pool. So we're all going for the same potential prize money. But then upon this race, so they did the results today, they still haven't quite finished them.
00:23:47
Rich
What they're doing is taking our time trial times and then comparing them to our national standard. So whatever your national standard is and whatever we performed at, they're going to basically do like a a percentage of that. And then they'll re-rank our rankings.
00:24:02
Rich
So we have the time trial today, tomorrow is the road race, and the crit. So we kind of have, yes, we're one big general category, but to make it fair, like an upright tandem is two.
00:24:15
Rich
people racing flying down compared to a hand cycle and not to say that they're not fast. Cause I think we got beat by a hand cycle. So, but just, just in fairness, according to the categories, that's where they kind of have those separate.
00:24:25
Lauren
Thank you.
00:24:30
Rich
You have more to tag onto that. Yeah. So the the, the caveat off that, so there's a total of a little over 30 para athletes that are here and how he was saying earlier,
00:24:41
Rich
C1s or H2s or tandems would race it against each other. Here they put us all together. All 30 of us are racing together based off of our national standards. But as it sits right now, Mike and Rich are in fourth place out of 30.
00:25:02
Rich
I came in sixth place out of 30 after the time trial. Now they said it's gonna change a little bit once they take Cause the trikes, which is a three wheel upright bike, they have a little bit slower time. So for me in the national standard, I have to do 25.4 mile an hour average for mile. And I think you guys are and a half, and a half. And like the trites that we i was talking about at
00:25:38
Rich
And the hand cycles are even a little bit slower. But one of the hand cycles beat y'all all right be me do outright. outright in time. So hand cycles can be super fast, but their time standards by regulation based off the Paralympics and the world championships and stuff that they've raced all last year based off a cumulative everybody's times can either go up.
00:26:06
Rich
So sorry to interrupt. major It goes based off of the so the UCI world championships, the third place person in that category. That's where we hold our our time standards from.
00:26:17
Rich
yep
00:26:17
April
wow okay.
00:26:18
Rich
Yep. when it comes out, we have three time standards. So For us as veterans or anybody coming in, there is what's called the emerging athlete or the national that they're calling it now, time standard.
00:26:33
Rich
And it's at 115% of based off whatever the third place of the third place finisher. then they have the international time standard which used to be 110 it is now 105 percent and then you have the international podium which is 100 so based off what that third place person actually got in each individual category so that's how it all comes down to when it when it looks up
00:27:08
Rich
So one of we have to do a lot math because it's all based off the UCI rule books and everything is in kilomet kilometers. So they give us a kilometer per a time standard per kilometer, and then we have to convert it into miles per hour and our time. So
00:27:28
April
That's a special skill just in that alone.
00:27:29
Lauren
Thank you.
00:27:31
Rich
yes.
00:27:33
April
That's incredible guys. I really appreciate you shedding light on that. It helps me understand how this all racks and stacks and the special skills that it takes.
Challenges in Adaptive Sports
00:27:43
April
would love to know kind of peeling this back to when you started, what were the biggest barriers for you to get started in these, uh, specialties?
00:27:53
April
Was it the equipment cost knowledge? confidence, something else.
00:28:01
Rich
for me, it was, it was a little bit of, of all that. So, confidence based off of my injuries, i couldn't ride an upright bike anymore.
00:28:11
Rich
as I thought, because I thought everything everything had changed and I couldn't do anything anymore. so I was put on a recumbent bike, which I rode for almost 10 years, um, years,
00:28:23
April
Oh, wow.
00:28:25
Rich
International cycling, UCI, i doesn't recognize recumbent bikes. They want you to ride the three wheel upright, which is a regular upright bike, but has two big wheels, 700C wheels in the back.
00:28:41
Rich
And you're there wont they want to put somebody with spinal cord injuries, TBI, vertigo on something that is very tipsy, doesn't take corners, any of that.
00:28:53
Rich
That's one of the things that we're still trying to fight now to try to caveat that because there's a lot of people that could be cycling and would could make it into USA cycling and UCI, but they can't ride that type of bike.
00:29:10
Rich
I was in that same point. And if it wasn't for nonprofits out there, I wouldn't be able to cycle now. I mean, I would, but I wouldn't have...
00:29:21
Rich
the the nice equipment that I have. I've been afforded amazing support and things to go. Because I wanted to make it to the next level after doctor doctors tell me I can't ride an upright bike, what did I do? Because I don't take no for an answer. i got on an upright bike and here I am today.
00:29:43
Rich
So.
00:29:43
April
Oh man, that's so incredible.
00:29:44
Rich
But it's those hurdles. And there's a lot of people that are out there that and that's one of the reasons I'm still cycling one because I know where I started and the struggles that I went through. And i if I can change anybody's life, if they're sitting at home. feeling sorry for themselves because of the injury on this thing and their life's over. They don't have a purpose. They don't have a mission anymore.
00:30:06
Rich
That everything is adaptive. It don't matter if you're b blind, you you're in a wheelchair, there's hand cycles, there's tandems, all that. I've rode recumbents.
00:30:18
Rich
I pilot tandems now and, and ride upright. I did gravel races last year. I did the race across America last year.
00:30:27
April
wow
00:30:28
Rich
3,065 miles on a six-person disabled vet team. a year A year ago, i would have never thought that I would have done that. Somebody asked me, they're like, we like your background, we like your no-quit attitude, and because i wanted to to prove, nothing not only to myself, but to show others, and that's that's why I do it, and that's why I continue to do what I'm now. I like to use the the I don't know the word for it, but you can take a brand new car straight off the lot. You park it in the field.
00:31:03
Rich
Don't crank it. Don't do any maintenance on it. It's not going to crank. The tires are going to dry rot, and it's just going to rust. You take an old rusty truck out of a field, put some new parts in it, keep doing the maintenance, and it'll dry forever.
00:31:16
Rich
I'm that old rusty truck.
00:31:17
April
Oh, yeah.
00:31:18
Rich
Got a bunch of new parts, do the maintenance, and just keep driving it. So...
00:31:23
April
We call you Mater. I like it.
00:31:24
Lauren
it.
00:31:24
Rich
Yeah.
00:31:26
April
Great, Greg.
00:31:26
Rich
I got that.
00:31:26
April
That was amazing.
00:31:28
Rich
So first he was infantry. So that word's analogy. No, I'm just kidding.
00:31:33
April
but
00:31:34
Rich
I'll joke on his side. I mean, similar when it comes to, I guess, adaptive sports in general, the biggest hurdles you're facing is obviously that first initial mental barrier.
00:31:46
Rich
you you lose something that you had, whether it's sight, whether it's a limb or invisible injuries are kind of the worst. Because I mean, I'll walk around places and people don't know i'm blind. And it's one of those ones, not like i'm missing in an arm, or you can see it, or I can't see people looking at me weird. So I think that's a lot of it is internal mental baggage that you're like, what's the world thinking about me? And then it took me The real barrier that helped me get over it was it was adaptive sports that kind of set it up, but then meeting other blind athletes or disabled athletes. Because I tell people when I'm in this realm, when I get around like primarily other disabled veterans, but anybody with disabilities, I don't feel blind. I can get around here.
00:32:26
Rich
Even if I first met you for the first time, like Greg and I met, technically cycling. We met virtually and then we met on Bear 2 Challenge, but then we were teammates on Team US. And it was just like we knew each other forever. So you automatically share that bond because no matter how you got injured or whatever, we you have the military background, you have the disabled background. And you I don't feel judged. So I think that hurdle for me was one of the bigger ones. Getting over the pride of, are they going to look at me differently? i Am I able to do this? like i
00:32:57
Rich
I hold myself to a pretty high standard. And then if I don't hit it, it just I tear myself apart. So that part and then kind of like you hit on it, I mean, the equipment. if you think regular bikes are expensive, tandems are double.
00:33:09
Rich
So thankfully, between the VA a and nonprofits, I've been very blessed with the equipment that I do have. But then the lack of knowledge. So not knowing that the resources are out there when you first get injured, you don't know. like I've met tons of veterans to this day. I work at a bike shop now back home.
00:33:30
Rich
And I get people to come in and they've been retired. They got blown up in their initial surge in Iraq or even older vets from different generation. I'm like, Get with the VA, get with this program. So I think my goal now in life is, i mean, obviously short term, I'd love to make LA, but long term, I wanna make a difference and be able to be that source of, i hold I've got a working list of all these different programs for anybody going through anything. Hey, you mean what do you need help with? What do you wanna get into?
00:33:56
Rich
I'm going to pay it forward because i mean I've been afforded this opportunity. If I can pass that along and you don't learn about it until you sit down and talk with other people. Because yes, you go through a retirement plan, every military branch has them, or no matter where you're at,
00:34:10
Rich
but you're not, you're, you're, you've got so much other crap going on in your head.
00:34:13
April
Mm-hmm.
00:34:13
Rich
And when you go into that process, it's a PowerPoint. You don't care. You're just like, all right, I'm just getting me out of here. And then once you sit down and talk to somebody that's been through it, like nothing against people that there's a lot of counselors, there's mentors and there's some great people, but I really didn't listen to anybody until one of my buddies, he's a, he's a close friend slash mentor.
00:34:32
Rich
Now Lonnie Bedwell, he kind of told me like, yeah, it sucks. You're blind, but what do are you going to now? And I'm like, I can't complain. He's completely blind. This dude kayaked Grand Canyon, just climbed Everest. like He's doing all kinds of amazing stuff. And I'm over here complaining because I mean i lost decent amount of sight, but what i got I didn't want to use a cane because I was embarrassed. I didn't want to do certain things. And now, i mean, I walk around with my guide dog everywhere and preach that I'm blind. so realistically, a lot of it's about perspective. And then I guess next hurdle would be, I guess, personally, in my case is finding a a pilot. I can't ride bikes without a partner. So I think that was one of my biggest challenges is is finding out the information, getting, okay, how do I get there? What's next? And then you you have to do your own self-research. Even coming to races, you got to make sure you're prepared. But then having somebody to race with, that's a whole nother ballgame. Like even...
00:35:29
Rich
Like how coach and I got set up was pretty awesome. I was just talking to him. I said, hey, do you know but anybody in the pipeline that's interested in piloting? My pilot just got hurt. I've been blessed the last few years. I got hooked up with a pretty solid pilot that I met at the Olympic Training Center.
00:35:43
Rich
And we've been on a solid pathway. And then especially since I hooked up with coach, I finally have a structure. He's been going going great. And then, boom, he got injured. And was like, oh, crap. I still have nationals. I still have a couple of things going on.
00:35:55
Rich
And coach was like, well, I've always wanted a pilot. I just got my cert. I've got the numbers you're looking for. about me? And I was like, hell yeah, let's do this. So, mean I mean, God works in a serious place and I'm one i'm a big believer in nothing's to chance.
00:36:08
April
Yeah.
00:36:11
Rich
Everything happens for a reason. and And that's why we're here right now. And it's just, I mean, life's amazing. You can sit down on the couch, you can be, feel sorry for yourself or you can get off like Mater here and just keep chugging forward.
00:36:23
Rich
So.
00:36:23
April
I made her. Yes.
00:36:26
Rich
back
00:36:27
Lauren
my God.
00:36:28
April
Love you guys.
00:36:28
Lauren
I just, I i seriously, if i can guarantee on my life that there's people that are going listen to this and feel like inspired, feel seen, realize that there's things that we take for granted every day that we're able to do, whether it's with our training, with our relationships, with life. And one, like I know Rich already said this before, but like, thank you both. I am so honored to be in this space with you guys and hearing your story and, and how you show up. And it's really easy for people to go down the, the road of like, this sucks. Why me? I i don't have a place. And I'll say this a million times over that. Like I wholeheartedly believe that triathlon or endurance sports can change somebody's life and change the trajectory of their life.
00:37:27
Lauren
And And I really, I'm just so hopeful that somebody is listening to this episode who needs to hear it and needs to hear both of your stories on how you've been able to find a place where you're like, hell yeah, I can still, I can still challenge myself. I can grow and I can like see how strong I am now And i always think it's about like, it's like meeting yourself where you're at right now, not where you were three years ago, five years ago, not where you wanted to be right now. And it's just super inspiring. So I just want to say that first before my next question. And for anyone who's listening and for us, I'm just curious, like, if you can take us through a little bit of what your training looks like now and how that might be different than what we might think like, quote unquote, traditional training might look like for a cyclist or runner or a triathlete.
Coaching and Training Benefits
00:38:25
Rich
I just recently, I had like coaches and people I knew that I worked with coaches and they would give me workouts and things I'd find offline, but I never had like a traditional just modern day coach.
00:38:39
Rich
And so I would just get on a bike the before and just ride. just seat time all that and at the end of last year i decided like hey this is what i really want to do and i got a a real coach and in doing workout at first i'm like what's this zone two like why am i doing these slow rides but it has like it has really worked out. So, I mean, went from doing 12 to 15 hour a week workouts and he he brought them down some, but my endurance and my speed and everything has jumped double. I mean, from from what it was just on having these like structured workouts and it's it's been a game changer.
00:39:26
Rich
And when you're just training on your own, Yeah, you'll train, train, train, but one day you're like, it's late something comes up and so then you don't train. And then that leads into another day you don't train. But when you have a structured coach and you're working for something, it don't matter if it's 12 o'clock at night, I'm still doing that workout for that day because just like in the military, you have a structure and you have a regiment and you have like the NCO Corps, the backbone of the military, somebody that's holding you accountable.
00:40:02
Rich
And now that,
00:40:02
Lauren
Mm-hmm.
00:40:04
Rich
I have that and i now I'm part of a bigger team, guys that I'm working with and training with. And I had that as a coach. I'm giving that stuff to people, but then I wasn't holding myself accountable, but I'm holding myself accountable now because I've got somebody that's holding me accountable. So it's it's it's a big change and and has really helped my growth, and both physically on the bike, but mentally too.
00:40:31
Rich
i guess to I guess to lead more on the question, then same same concept. i So I got injured in 2018, kind of found sports towards 2020. I knew cycling was my main haven, but I was kind of all over the place. I was doing CrossFit, I was snowboarding. I was doing a bunch staying active. I love just, I don't have a stop button. So I was just, let me work out every day and this is gonna be good for the bike.
00:40:56
Rich
And i tried to coach for a little bit. It just didn't work out with the with my first coach that I hired. So once that happened, I was kind of like in a negative aspects for coaching. and then went through the last few years. Things have been going great, but I still wasn't consistent. Same concept to where I was getting workouts, and like I was smoking myself, but it wasn't structured cycling workouts. And then i had talked to Zed. We got through the VeloFlow Project. Zed, he's a fellow Army buddy of ours that we met through Adaptive Sports. And I said, hey, I'm looking at coaching. Project Echelon actually had reached out, and they had a coach available with just –
00:41:34
Lauren
Oh
00:41:34
Rich
Communication wasn't there. And then he gave me Coach Rich's number and I reached out and I was like, hey, this i'm I'm looking for a coach. So he hit me up right away. Yeah, let's let's talk on Sunday. Called, talked, and it was, I mean, just the stars aligned and everything worked out. And it was one of those things to where,
00:41:52
Rich
In my eyes, I'm always, i mean, it's pride, ultimately. I was just, yeah, I'm good. I don't need it. But then once i same concept, i i thought zone two drives were stupid. What the heck am I going to ride for two hours at zone two? That's a waste of time.
00:42:05
Rich
And now I'm doing it, I guess, kind of to hit more. i don't know if you were aiming towards like how do adaptive workouts look different than regular. So for me, I have the worst rides in the world because I'm stuck on my trainer all the time. Unless I have somebody to ride with outdoors. i'm i'm The majority of my training is indoors. So from one aspect, it does it's terrible because trainers are not the most fun. But from a training perspective and structure, I mean, you get the best workouts, hands down.
00:42:34
Rich
true Training workouts, yes, they're... they do suck and that's why I'm glad that there's Zwift TrainingPeaks RoV or any of those. So you're you're actually out doing something. i mean, you're watching a screen, but you're able to do something.
00:42:50
Rich
But I have gotten so much stronger indoor training because it when it says you're gonna hold 300 watts, you're gonna hold watts for that entire amount of time.
00:43:02
Lauren
mm-hmm yeah
00:43:04
Rich
And like you stop, it's going to turn the erg mode off and you're not getting that workout. It's not going to go out on the road. You might hit 300 watts and back off. Then you got downhills and all that.
00:43:18
Rich
You don't have that when you're on on the trainer. So I've, I've gotten love hate for it. And I've tried to tell other people that I'll call trainer sucks. I'm like,
00:43:30
Rich
You want to get stronger, get on the trainer.
00:43:33
Lauren
Hey.
00:43:33
Rich
It's raining.
00:43:33
Lauren
Mm-hmm.
00:43:33
Rich
you don't want to go outside. It's cold. Get on the trainer. yeah You still need your outside workouts for bike handling and and all that. But it it showed me today since December, I'd been outside three times.
00:43:48
Rich
And when we got on on the bike yesterday and today outside, it was a game changer. Like I had noticed my heart rate was extremely low. My watts, I was able to hold 250 watts for 24 mile an hour, like super easy.
00:44:05
Rich
i'm like This has showed me that the workouts and the training has really paid off. And now i'm I'm even more stoked to see where it's going to go from here.
00:44:17
Rich
and and see what I can what i can actually achieve. 14 years ago, 2012 when I got shot and blown up and I saw athletes. I was an athlete in in in high school and like very physical throughout my military career and all that came to, the door was slammed in my face after I was shot and blown up and i I would have never saw myself where I am today.
00:44:45
Rich
and And now I realize that anything's possible, anything's achievable with the right training. i have the mindset and in the heart and I have good people like yourselves. i picked up so many things just over the last few days from the conversations that we've had, Rich, that it has helped me. I've realized that you can can you you can always learn something new to be that sponge and take in all these things
00:45:16
Rich
And because you never know when you're going to be able to use it or give it to somebody else that's needing it. So it's it's it's amazing. It's amazing. And I know that one of the things that Mike has to do is he can't read the workout. Right. I mean, unless it's a really big font. Yeah.
00:45:35
Rich
You got it. You need audible cues. Right. Yeah. So it's a because when we first talked, he was like, just use your garment. I was like, I can't just use my garment. I have a huge one.
00:45:44
Lauren
Thank you.
00:45:46
Rich
I got the 1050, but it's still unless I – so if I smash it against my face, I can read it. But realistically, during a ride, that's not how it works out. So thankfully, i mean technology is a blessing and a curse.
00:45:56
Rich
So TrainerRoad, any workout he uploads to TriDot, it goes – sinks over to my TrainerRoad.com. And I can plug it in directly through erg mode. And then it it's got a beeping system. So it's audible. It'll beep high tone for the high intervals, low tone for the for the lower intervals. And for me, that was a game changer. I tried Zwift. I tried all the other ones And they're great.
00:46:18
Rich
But if you can't see them, you're pretty much screwed. Because if you don't know a hill is coming up and you're not pedaling hard enough, you're not in the right gear, it comes to do a complete stop. It's like, cement I don't care how strong you are. So with TrainerRoad and with the adaptations, like that's where I'm just super thankful because...
00:46:36
Rich
I mean, i could I was pulling workouts directly from from other places before, but me and him will talk every Sunday and we go over each workout. Okay. And i like sometimes like the old me would have felt dumb to ask questions, but I'm like, what do I need to do during this portion? So I mentally prepare.
00:46:51
Rich
All right. I know I have this workout coming up. I can't read it beforehand, but it might mean my phone has a screen reader, so i'll have it blasted to me. And hey, what do I expect? And then that way I know this high beep, this is my one minute warmup intervals.
00:47:05
Rich
It's the same 10 minute warmup. And then I go into my threshold or go into, if it's just zone two, I can do homework while doing zone two. So it's cool because I have, I mean, it's such a little thing that a lot of people don't think about, but being able to just have that confidence of,
00:47:13
Lauren
Thank you.
00:47:21
Rich
can you explain the workout to me has been phenomenal. And it just it changed my complete perspective, and not only in coaching, but cycling and
Training Adaptations for Disabilities
00:47:29
Rich
the workout structure. Like we've been together about a month and I just personally have seen so much progression in myself, not just from my numbers, from my physical health. I know that I need to apply more.
00:47:42
Rich
I was doing a lot more strength workouts and then now I kind of been doing a lot try it out once. So I need to just, consistency is key and no matter what you do. And and that's where the coaching has been a huge and then the adaptations, but it's been, i mean, everybody adapts differently. You can ride outside, you can run indoors, hand cycle, but I mean, kind of like hitting on your turn, like, what are you doing?
00:48:02
Rich
How do you train like this? i I snowboard blind and a lot of people see me and they're like, how do you do that? And I always joke around. i I stand in a snowboard position. I'm like, like this. And then people are like, oh, I'm like, i mean, everybody's capable of doing things, but you got to just crack the joke a little bit sometimes and then bring them to like, no, this is this is how it works.
00:48:16
Lauren
Mm-hmm.
00:48:21
Rich
I've got a headset. I've got a guide. But I mean, no matter what your limitation is, there's there's a way to train. And it's just whether a but or not you have the will to get up and do it. So very, very blessed with what we have going on right now.
00:48:34
Rich
You know, these two gentlemen and I all have a race tomorrow. So we are going to transition here, I think. Thank you, Coach April, Coach Lauren. Those were great questions. We got to like some really awesome stuff. Thank you.
00:48:50
Rich
Gents, you know, one of the things that, that you know, is a theme here for me is first honor, you know, just that you guys are awesome. showing honor by showing other other you know injured soldiers a way forward, a way out, a way, you know, helping them. i mean, you're like, you are...
00:49:12
Rich
going to, like we've said a number of times here, you're going to reach somebody here. And it ain't just soldiers. It's yeah true yeah anybody. It don't matter whether you are a soldier and injured, any kind of traumatic injury, born, acquired, combat-related, non-combat-related. It's anything.
00:49:32
Rich
And this is adaptive to every single person. so Yeah. and that And that's what I want to be able to give back and and help change somebody's life and inspire and motivate.
00:49:45
Rich
I know Mike, too. You're going to save lives. I mean, like this is like life-saving work.
00:49:49
April
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:49:50
Rich
you You know, it really is. Just glad to be here with you both. want to thank you both for letting us do this chat, you know, and letting me be here with you. going to crush it tomorrow, right?
00:50:03
Rich
Yes, sir. Thank you for being here. I wouldn't race without it. so Guys, I'm going to close this out with a quick ad read about VESPA, which, by the way, we all been we all did VESPA this morning.
00:50:16
April
What?
00:50:16
Rich
First time ever.
00:50:17
April
That's awesome.
00:50:19
Rich
in And I was like, okay, supplements, different things.
00:50:20
April
Loved it.
00:50:24
Rich
I took it a little later, but it did hit me at the turnaround. And it was it was great. Yeah. How about that?
00:50:34
Rich
i I mean, why would I even do an ad?
00:50:34
Lauren
Sold.
00:50:34
April
That's a great ad right there.
00:50:35
Rich
It's just like, what a waste of time, but let's do it.
00:50:36
April
but
00:50:38
Lauren
Sold.
00:50:41
Rich
All right, folks. yeah Our Get Gritty sponsor is Vespa Power. Vespa Power Endurance helps you tap into clean, steady energy so you can stay strong, focused, and in the zone longer.
00:50:52
Rich
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00:51:15
Rich
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00:51:26
Rich
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Closing Remarks and Takeaways
00:51:35
Rich
Folks, we're really glad that you were here with us. Thank you for spending time on the Grit to Greatness Endurance Podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, please follow us on Instagram at g2gendurance and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.
00:51:49
Rich
We are also on YouTube, so watch us if you don't listen to us. It helps us reach more athletes like you. Stay gritty, train smart, and keep chasing greatness.
00:52:00
Rich
We will see you next week.
00:52:11
Rich
way Thank you very much. Thank you.