Blog 3 in a Series of 3 of How I do a Triathlon.
By Erica Daivs
We have already covered swimming and biking and now, to close off this 3 part blog series (see part 1 and part 2), I’ll enlighten you all with the wonder that is finishing a tri with my racing chair. It might be hard to imagine by just reading this or even by just seeing the picture, so I’ll try my best to explain it to you.
You saw how I ride and how my body position is in the handcycle. Well, the racing chair is a different ball game entirely. Essentially, my legs are tucked up and under a strap of sorts. This helps my legs up and above my ankles and is a cushion for my butt to sit on.
When getting into the racing chair, it’s a pretty tight squeeze to say the least, so you have to wear pants/shorts that are, you guessed it, tight as well. You have to get one hip in first and then work to shimmy the other side down into the opposite side of the bucket.
Once you’re in there, there’s a strap that you put around your waist. Your feet are secured already. In fact, you should be able to look beneath your racing chair and see your toes barely poking out. You can stretch your arms and your back pretty well in this position as well.
Next, you want to put your glasses on because the last step is your gloves, which are like mittens with a lot of padding. Once you’re suited up, you ball your hands up as much as possible and because of the position you’re in, you have no choice but to lean forward with your chest on your knees and arms back. Basically, you’re making a punching motion on the rims of the chair. Lather, rinse, repeat and keep on trucking until you cross that finish line.
