JACK AND ‘OUR’ MAIDEN VOYAGE
My existence and routine, which I repeated every day in my house alone after losing my right leg, caused me to lose track of time. When I say time, I really mean days. There were often days that I actually had to check on my computer to know where I was in the week. On this day it was Saturday. I worked on a 3000 piece jigsaw puzzle for most of the day and decided to give it a rest early that evening. I didn’t have much of an appetite but felt like treating myself to a Jack Daniels whiskey over ice. Now some people make a comment on the subject of drinking alone. But here I have to ask for relief on this sobering matter being that my whole existence at that time was alone. Everything I did, every day, I was alone. I took out a beautiful crystal ‘rocks’ glass that I used for special occasions, filled it with ice, and slow-motioned poured. With Jack in hand, I decided that this could be a good time to research my aerobic exercising dilemma on my computer.
My previous attempt of ‘wheel chairing’ in the street was disastrous. It was now time to stream through the internet for something that could answer my prayers. I typed in ‘workout equipment' and got the usual suspects; exercise bicycles and treadmills. Anything that could help, I needed my other leg. Then, unexpectedly, rowing machines popped up. They appeared small in size, but this could be it. This called for a shared sip of whiskey with my Saturday Night Friend ‘Jack’ before I proceeded on. I felt that I could be on the right track. I started to search websites for all types of rowing machines and then lighting in a bottle hit. I found the ‘ERG’. Another sip was called for.
The ERG is an indoor rowing machine used by serious rowers in training. They are used by College and University rowing teams, as well as the Olympic rowing teams around the world. A big sip was taken, more ice was added, and I quickly re-poured wanting to find out more about the ERG. My big question was to see if a one-legged person could use this. With that said, up popped the United States Paralympic Team website. I quickly went down the list of events, and there it was, in all its glory – ROWING. I not only found a machine that could get me in shape, I just found my goal. As my sips began to turn into gulps, at that moment I told myself that I was going to make the United States Paralympic Team and compete in the 2012 games in London, England. The only things that stood in my way is that I was probably too old, never rowed before, and had to figure out how I could afford the ERG. Jack and I decided we would at least celebrate that night and worry about it tomorrow.
CONCEPT 2 / CSI
The following day I excitedly did more research on ‘my’ ERG. It was manufactured by a company – Concept2 – based in Vermont. Concept2 supplied ERGs for not just the novice rower, but for College and University rowing, or crew, teams. More impressively, these ERGs were used by the Olympic and Paralympic teams around the world in their preparation for the games. I needed the room for something that was about 8 feet long, 2 feet wide with a seat that rode on a rail about a foot off the ground. I drew on my knowledge gained from years of watching every television home improvement and decorative channel show to find a home for my ERG. But it really came down to size and available space. With dimensions in hand, I ‘wheeled’ myself around the house with tape measure in hand, eagerly looking. The size was one thing, but the logistics of me getting near it with my wheelchair and getting on and off of it was something else. The ERG was going to need its own room – my spare bedroom. The great thing about my spare bedroom was that the dimensions were perfect for the ERG and because I never had guests, there was no bed to get in the way. Actually, there was no furniture to get in the way. I had a new home for my ERG. Now the big problem was figuring out how to pay for it.
A few days passed when I received a telephone call from my old friend, Andy. For years, Andy and I worked together engineering and installing emergency backup systems on Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facilities around the world. We shared a lot of years and a lot of miles away from home. Our friendship was formed by the shared hardships that resulted from careers ‘on the road’. Andy lived in California working for an electrical firm owned by another good friend of mine – Steve. Both of them were prominent members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). When we weren’t working on jobs together, we would keep in touch by weekly phone calls. We would also meet once a year in Myrtle Beach, SC for a long weekend of golf. We named it the East Coast West Coast Classic and bragging rights were attached. There was golf, nickel and dime poker games, drinks, and dinners that included exaggerating success stories from our working past – shared triumphs. When I became disabled, I fell out of the mainstream of our working world. Although Andy and Steve hadn’t seen me when I lost my leg, the phone calls never stopped followed by numerous cards and gift baskets that kept me going through my medical marathon.
So, with Andy’s first question; “What’s new?” I went off with excitement about my new goal of rowing and the ERG. I described the ERG like a girl I had just gone on a first date with. I was all over the place going from training, rowing in London, and how to obtain the key element, the ERG. With both of us sharing everything going on in both our lives, it was time to go. This was always a sad time for me, but I was already looking forward to giving Andy next month’s update. Two days later there was a knock on the front door. It was startling because there was never a knock at the door. Thank God it was daylight or I might not have answered it. Standing at the door was a tall FED-EX delivery man. Maybe he appeared tall because I was sitting in a wheelchair. Alongside him, was a box that was equally as tall. I had no idea what it was. My first thought was that he had the wrong address. Nope, it was for me. When signing for it I saw the return address – Concept2. It couldn’t be, could it? Oh My God - It was . . . The ERG!! The paperwork contained a note from my friend Andy. He had discussed our telephone conversation with Steve about my ramblings on rowing. Steve told Andy, “He’s got a goal, get him whatever he needs to achieve it”. I was face-to-face with a boxed ERG and my first big step towards my goal.
Unboxing and assembling the ERG became a training event in itself. I was doing everything from the seat of my chair making very slow strides. One thing that I had to learn since my disability was that things would take me longer to do. My life would have to slow down. I had to learn and respect time and patience. What was the hurry? It wasn’t like I had someplace to be. There weren’t many pieces to put together. It was just overcoming the awkwardness of working from a wheelchair. Hours after finding it on my doorstep, my perseverance paid off and my ERG was together and in place.
The WEIGHT ROOM
The training center of my John Allen Road home was now complete and open for business – my business. The weight/strength center, which consisted of my weight bench and various ‘free’ weights and bars were located in my bedroom. The rowing/aerobic center, where my ERG was placed, was located in the spare bedroom. The living room, where my computer was located became the research center. Here I looked for ‘crash’ courses on rowing.
WORKOUTS & ROWING
I was concerned, even yearned to get back into shape again. Sitting in a wheelchair all day long was nowhere close to exercise and I was getting fat. Plus, the fact that I had nothing to do fueled my desire. I decided to go back to my roots of working out with weights. It didn’t take long for me to get back into it again, just like the off-seasons during my softball career. If I missed a day of ‘lifting’ I would get feelings of guilt and it made me work even harder the next day. Lifting weights was never a problem for me. I would spend hours at a time working out in the past and I soon picked right up on the same routine. My introduction to rowing was quite different. I would row between 5 and 10 minutes a day, break a sweat, get bored, stop, and think that it was enough. I thought those minutes spent on the ERG were better than nothing until I got the phone call, a call that would change my life forever.
ALL IN
Less than a week from receiving my ‘gift’ ERG the telephone rang, it was Concept 2 following up on their delivery. This was my first introduction to Mark. Little did I know then but Mark would be instrumental in, not just rowing, but my future as a whole. He was doing his ‘normal’ follow-up on the delivery and customer satisfaction of the ERG. His telephone persona, which I found out to describe Mark in person, was a laid-back, monotone, motivational guy. Talking with Mark was like talking with a comfortable, loved relative – supportive and reassuring. So, Mark introduces himself and wants to check in on my short-time experience with my new rowing machine experience. During our conversation, Mark mentioned that in 3 weeks the World Indoor Rowing Championships were being held in Boston. In a blink of an eye, I said “I was in”. Mark, somewhat jokingly amused by my response tried to re-explain his comment. He patiently explained that people, from around the world, have been training for years to compete in this competition. There were going to be approximately 2,500 entries in different competitive groups – age, gender, and disabilities. But this was the first time I had ever heard the phrase ‘disability’ re-worded. The athletes were not characterized as disabled. They were in a rowing category called ‘adaptive’. The rowing machines, ERGs, were modified, conformed to adapt to the athlete’s disability. I would be an above knee amputee class. Mark quickly found out that I was serious and any more convincing me of anything less was fruitless. He asked if I would be nervous going to Boston and competing. With a New York Yankee logo imprinted on my prosthetic, I replied that I was more nervous going to ‘Bean Town’ wearing that than rowing. The Yankee - Red Sox rivalry is the greatest sports rivalry in the world and I’m going to Boston sporting my Yankee prosthetic – talk about a sitting target. Putting that aside I now had a milestone, a goal on the way to London. I would be now training for the World Indoor Rowing Championships in Boston. I had the ERG for a week, have 3 weeks to train, hung up the phone, caught my breath, and realized that I didn’t have a clue. I knew nothing about rowing. My past athletic bravado rose up and got the best of me.
ROCKY’S QUOTE
The one quote, movie experience, I used to get me to this point was from the last Rocky movie – Rocky Balboa. Rocky (Sylvester Stallone), has an argument with his son. Rocky is an ‘over-the-hill’ boxer challenged to fight one more time and accepting the challenge. His son could not be any more against this and questions his father’s decision. Rocky said it best and I live my life by this.
“It ain’t about how hard you can hit. It’s about hard you can get hit and keep movin’ forward. How much you can take and keep movin’ forward. That’s how winning is done.”
I’ve become a bad ‘Rocky’ sequel.