KeyWords: Para-cycling, Parasport, guiding, tandems, paratriathlon, purpose, why, training
Caroline Gaynor joins us to tell us about her adventures guiding visually impaired endurance athletes in Ironmans. She talks about training around a full-time job, how to find guiding opportunities and discusses the highs and lows of putting your energy into helping someone experience crossing the finish line.
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BIO
Carolyn and Molly raced road bikes collegiately together—for different schools and we didn’t know each other that well back then, but there’s a great photo of us racing at a crit together
Where to Find Guiding or to Become a Guide:
- carolinebikes.com – resources for athletes and guides
- Gu Energy filmed Rachel (a past team-mate) and Caroline training HERE
- Caroline Gaynor on Twitter
- charity events like cycleForSight.ca – June 20th (Molly and Peter will be there!)
- Wiki-pedia for Para-Cycling
- Wiki page for Para-Triathlon
- UCI page for Para-Cycling
Questions
Caroline’s Racing/training bio
Transition to ironman / crazy endurance stuff from more ‘serious’ racing
-> if require a guide it is good to have many guides for training
When/How did you get into guiding?
– asked to cover an ironman 5 weeks out!
– looking for ‘what was next’
Guiding experience ?
– have guided 5 including one of first female guided blind athlete
– recruit new guides – hard to connect
What was different, what was the same?
what does training look like now for you?
Balance work and training
– in college had way more time
– get miles in for bike and run
– most effort into bike when can
– run when travel for work
-> 2 min at 5k/1-2 min off
-> treadmill ladders w. Increase speed
– bike- get a coach , use old workouts that have wirked in past .
-More frequent changes if indoors
– Caroline is a good swimmer so less time for that
– strength and sleep
–
Best guiding experiences?
– Hawaii
– great finishes, 2 people across line
– inspire others , overcoming challenges
Cost of guiding??
– most experiences are as volunteer
– respect other person’s goals and abilities, it is not a free trip
do you miss competing on your own?
which is more stressful: guiding or competing
how can other people get into guiding?
what are some mistakes new guiding people make?
best advice for swim guiding/bike guiding/run guiding
