What I never thought I could do

Post by Randi Strunk

It’s over. So strange to think that the thing we’ve been training for the last 4 to 5 months has come and gone, but Jenny and I successfully finished the St. Croix Valley Triathlon on Saturday, September 5. I was a mixture of nervous and excited leading up to the race, but knew we had done most of it before so I tried to treat it as much like a normal training day as possible, so by the time we were lining up to start I was more focused than nervous.

The part I’m most proud of is the swim. If you’ve been reading this blog since the beginning you know my swimming experience was very little and I remember the feeling of dread when I could barely make it down and back in the pool without wanting to die. Pete and Jenny kept telling me it would get better, but a mile seemed like such a long way it was hard to believe them sometimes. However, with the coaching of Pete and our open water swims on Tuesday evenings I was able to complete the swim portion in 44 minutes. I think I gained the most confidence from this portion of my training, and it was definitely the part I had to work the hardest to accomplish.

The bike went really well too, I feel like we gave it everything we had and with good results. Twenty five miles went by more quickly than I ever thought it could. I really enjoy biking and am going to keep training through the winter, continuing to take spin classes and riding our tandem on the bike trainer we have in the basement. I certainly didn’t go into this thinking at the end I’d have purchased my own tandem bike, but that’s what happened and I’m very excited to keep improving on the bike. I’m going to reach out to other blind riders and triathletes to ask about techniques for hills etc. there’s got to be a better way to not lose all your momentum. We stayed seated on the bike the entire time while traditionally you are able to stand and push harder on the up hill climbs. Something I want to learn more about in the off-season.


Finally, there’s the run portion, where I broke the cardinal rule of racing, “Nothing new on race day.” I had some Gatorade at the first water station and my stomach revolted from there. I’m not sure if it was the Gatorade, dehydration, or a combination of the two, but I’m pretty sure we walked more than we ran of those six miles. It was frustrating because I felt like my legs could do more but the rest of my body wasn’t having any of it. Jenny kept reminding me that we were still moving and that we had accomplished our goal to finish regardless of the tough run.


Overall, the training and the race itself were fantastic. I’ve learned so much about the sport and about my own physical capabilities. It’s strange, I’m a bit sad it’s over… having a single race as a goal results in an abrupt end to what your focus has been on for the last five months, but it also means I can move on to something different for a while. I’m anxious to keep up my skills over the fall and winter and to get back into lifting.


I’d like to thank Jenny and Pete for being such great teachers and training partners throughout this journey. Also a big shout out to everyone who came to support us on race day. We had a whole team of supporters and it was a fun day.


Now the question, “Would you do another one?” The answer is a resounding Yes! I have a baseline time now I have learned a ton thus far, but know there is so much more to learn about the sport and about how others train. I’m also super competitive and I want to beat my time, particularly in the run. I hope Jenny had as good of a time in this journey as I did and I have to say we make one hell of a team!!!


Until next time…

It's not courage, it's my life.

Post by Randi Strunk

I'm always a bit hesitant when approached with a pitch for any sort of media, particularly where I'm in the spotlight (it’s not like that happens every day, but it’s happened occasionally). First, because I'm not very comfortable in that position, but secondly and more importantly I'm always worried about how I will be portrayed in the story. I never want to be a part of a story that extolls my courage for even getting out of bed in the morning, because it just must be so hard being blind, and sadly those types of stories are more common than I'd like to admit. I'm also a bit wary about the "inspiration" angle, because to me what I do isn't inspiring at all, it's normal, it's my life, and it’s all I’ve ever known.

On the other hand I feel like I need to get over that for a couple of reasons, and when Jenny approached me with the opportunity to have a piece done on our triathlon training by local station KARE11 I wanted to do it in hopes that it would not paint me as being inspiring as an individual, but it might inspire somebody who didn’t think they could do physical activities to give it a try. Everybody knows about the staggering statistics of obesity in our country, but not everybody knows that those numbers increase even more among our nation’s disabled population.

Statistics from an article published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, July 2013 issue state that nearly 42% of American adults with disabilities are obese and 9% are extremely obese. In comparison, about 29% of adults without disabilities were found to be obese and 3.9% were identified as extremely obese. This is a statistically significant difference, one I attribute to expectations. I’ve heard countless stories of blind kids who weren’t allowed to participate in physical education classes in school due to “liability reasons.” When children aren’t allowed or encouraged to be physically active there’s a good chance they won’t grow into physically active adults.

I also agreed to the story to hopefully encourage more non-disabled athletes to consider being guides for disabled athletes. I literally could not do a triathlon, or snow ski, or a myriad of other physical activities without somebody to act as a guide for me. I can’t even explain how grateful I am that Jenny and others have given of their time to allow me to pursue my own athletic goals. It’s not only a time commitment for me to train, but it’s also a time commitment for guides, and I’d hope that every disabled athlete who relies on a guide in some capacity would agree that our appreciation for your selflessness and time is immeasurable and I’m forever trying to figure out a way to pay it forward… maybe this is the way, by encouraging people with disabilities to find a physical activity they’re passionate about and give it a go, or think about sharing your passion for your given sport with a disabled athlete.  

Watch the segment and tell us what you think!

Are you interested in becoming a guide for a disabled athlete? Email MAGNA at ask@magnausa.com for more information.