Friday, February 12, 2010

Classification 101

Today is my classification evaluation. To let you all know, its only an examination on where to place me in the paracycling classification.

I have been previously classified in triathlon as "les autre" which basically means they dont know where else to put me. Unless you are an amputee or in a wheel chair they have a category that puts spinal cord injuries (SCI) with athtletes that have MS, CP, and things like that. With

Cycling its a little different. Even more different than last year. This year they have 6 total categories (except hand cyclists) for all disabilities. Last year they had 2 sub with four sub categories each. I used to be very familiar with the categories and had a good idea where they would place me but now, Im not so sure.

Depending on the outcome of this evaluation, I will have a rough idea of the minimum standards that are necessary to become part of the paracycling national team and with this new information, I will be able to figure out if those times are within my grasp.

I usually dont let a little thing like meeting a goal stand in my way but Im 44 now and things like dropping 20 seconds MINIMUM off my kilo time might be tougher than it sounds. Not that Im not going to try but those are things I have to contemplate whilst working on my new practice and training. I have a wealth of experts around me that I can consult with to help me attain such goals but first, I need to finish this eval.

Hope that clarifies the classification process for you. Have a great day.

PS I love being in Canada while the Olympic games are getting started, there is a huge amount of patriotism, flags on cars, people clad in Team Canada jerseys and this will go a long way to making me strive to meet my next challenge.