rob balucas

Catalyst. Creative. Triathlete. Speaker. Cigar Aficionado. Amateur Behavioral Psychologist. Fresh Spring Roll Addict. Paraplegic at the moment.

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© Rob Balucas
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Kona IRONMAN World Championships | Race Recap

A week goes by really fast. Wow. A week ago I was in the race. I’m back home after an amazing time in Kona.

What happened…

(I didn’t make it to the finish line)

I honestly don’t know what happened.

I had a decent swim by my standards.. It was tough, really tough. Gauging from how everyone else described their swim, mine was equally challenging.

My transition wasn’t great, but at least I had everything with me that I needed.

There’s a period for the first few miles of the bike where your body is still in transition from one sport to the next and you’re just trying to find your rhythm and settle in.

I just never found that place … for the next 9.5 hours.

Somewhere in the first 10 miles my chain came out of my rear derailleur and got jammed while I was going 30+ mph on a wonderful downhill.

I had to stop, get some help, dig into my flat kit for my chain breaker, break the chain, fix the problem, reconnect the chain, and then pack up my flat kit. That cost valuable time.

And then after that, I just couldn’t find the sweet spot. I couldn’t maintain the watts (power) necessary to make the bike cutoff. My chain derailed twice more. I missed it by a whopping 75+ minutes.

Did I not drink enough water? All the locals say this year it was way more humid than usual. My paralyzed body is very affected by weather and I don’t like to admit it. My neuropathic pain jumps through the roof when the weather shifts. I still don’t believe it when it happens.

I knew at the midway point at Hawi (mile 60) I wasn’t going to make it back in time. The speed I’d have to maintain wasn’t possible given I had to go right back where I came from through the same rolling elevation and climate.

It became about not quitting. It became about getting ‘home’, on my own power, whether I get to keep going on or not.

At a certain point it was almost doubtful I’d make it back before sundown. But I did.

I could go on and on. One of the other handcyclists here didn’t finish his first Kona IMWC (this year was his 5th). Carlos Moleda, a legend of IMWC and 5-time Champion didn’t finish his first either.

with Bob Babbitt
Breakfast with Bob Interview
Breakfast with Bob Interview
Poncho Man - Breakfast with Bob
Name wall
IRONMAN World Championships

Many have said this just fuels you for the next one. And that might be true at some point.

The thing for me is: I don’t know that I have this level of training in me again. I’ve said before how incredibly intense the training has to be. It has come at the cost of every other part of my life. Anyone who’s been in the orbit of someone training for an IRONMAN knows this fact.

My business has suffered. My relationship and our home has taken lower priority.

It comes at significant financial cost. Many have supported me in this and I don’t want to keep asking for that support.

AND .. I hate that this will be the story if I stop here. I had a DNF in Kona. I had a DNF at the 2019 IM 70.3 World Championships in France. That track record sucks. And I hate that it’s mine right now.

I know there is a lot more in this than that. I know that there’s a victory in just getting to the starting line. I know there’s a lot of value in the journey to get there.

But I didn’t put in all this work just to show up. I didn’t work this hard for years to just get out there.

I didn’t also didn’t do it to win.

I did it for what I thought was very reasonable for me, my athletic ability, and resources.

I just wanted to cross the finish line.

I wanted to hear, “You are an IRONMAN” from Mike Reilly even if I was the last person.

Sure there will be more paratriathlon in my future. Shorter distance stuff for fun and staying fit. But my track record on the big races will be DNF. And that fucking sucks.

But let’s be honest. It’s a blessed life. To have a partner in Erika who supports this journey. To have a community – a tribe – who support me as you have. There’s so much to be grateful for; and I most certainly am.

One of my favorite books speaks of “Finding your edge, and not faking not.”

I found my edge that day. I did the best I possibly could in punishing conditions at the biggest stage in triathlon.

As much as I wish it did, it did not happen any other way.

October 12, 2022

Rob Balucas: 2022 Breakfast with Bob from Kona

Rob Balucas was an accomplished age-group triathlete, preparing for his first 70.3 when he crashed on his bike during a training ride in 2015 and was paralyzed. It’s been a long journey, but he is finally here in Kona ready to take on the Ironman World Championship.

Our 11th year of Breakfast with Bob from Kona is brought to you by Master Spas, SFuels, HOKA, Zoot, FORM Smart Swim Goggles, Quintanaroo, Zoot, and our @Challenged Athletes Foundation

October 4, 2022

Wheels Down in Kona

It’s happening. It’s really, really happening this time.

We are wheels down in Kona. All the bags are here.

Saturday was about getting in and getting the handcycle and race chair put together and making sure everything was intact. My battery-powered tire pump bricked on the second of 6 tires needing air. But nothing a quick trip to Lowe’s couldn’t remedy.

Today, Sunday, was an early morning swim for Erika; a nice post swim actual ‘breakfast with Bob’ and Heidi Babbitt, Aussie Paralympic silver medalist Lauren Parker and her Mum and her coach; then back to our place for lunch with family and pumping up tires.

It’s warm. It’s humid. I vascilate between excitement, zen, being present, and all all out imposter syndrome anxiousness .. on a moment to moment basis.

One of the IRONMAN staff said, ”If I wasn’t going through these waves, it would mean I’m a sociopath.”

He’s got a point. This is a big deal and that rollercoaster is only human. … I once heard a great TEDx talk about surrender …

But I’m ready. I have faith in my training. I’ve had the benefit of an additional year of training because of last year’s race postponement. For those who know, my VO2 max is double what it was when we started measuring 4 years ago. So at age 45, I’m the most fit I have ever been.

For those who’ve been asking, here’s how to track me:
(There are text links throughout this info to go direct to the spots)

105 is my bib number.

There is an IRONMAN app where you can track my progress.

The race is this Thursday.
I’m scheduled to start at 6:27am local time / 9:27am Pacific

There is Facebook / YouTube coverage of the women pros that day and we start right after they do. So there’s a small chance you might catch us in the coverage.

After the pro race, the coverage turns into a single stream of the finish line. My goal is to finish between 8pm and 9pm local time … so you might catch my 15 seconds of fame there.

Of course you can find my updates on Facebook and Instagram. I think you might be able to view my posts on Instagram even if you don’t have an account.

On Tues at 8:15am local time / 11:15am Pacific, I’m going to be interviewed again on Breakfast with Bob, live on YouTube. Bob Babbitt is the hall of fame ambassador for the sport of triathlon. He interviews all the professional condenders leading up to the race .. and me!

Wear your #teambalucas shirt this week? 🙏🏽

Here’s also something I would love: do you have your #teambalucas shirt from 2016? Would you post a picture of it this week? I would love to continue to make the statement “You Create Your LIfe” this week as I hit the climax of this story.

For those who got #teambalucas wine, it is in production! The bottles are being labeled this week. I am excited to be sending this to you. It’s legitimately amazing Cab too. If you know the Housley’s, you know how special and amazing they are. I’m incredibly grateful for their support and friendship.

Thank you to everyone who contributed. It takes a lot of resources to pursue this goal. I don’t like asking. But not coming out the other side in debt takes a big piece of the stress out of the equation. For that I am VERY, VERY grateful.

More to come … stay tuned …

October 2, 2022

coffee love | year 7 update

Seven years ago today was the day I suffered a paralyzing spinal cord injury.

As you know, I had started a streak of celebrating with food .. that has not held up.

Year 1 was chicken fried steak and eggs, 
year 2 was a fancy milkshake, 
year 3 was fresh spring rolls,
year 4, 5, 6 .. I’m sure I did something, but I didn’t write about it and subsequently forgot.

This year I have nothing planned on this day, but I did smoke tri-tip with my cousins last weekend and that’s going to count.

Today is a big day of reflection for me. I’ve been reading my annual anniversary updates and looking back through pictures of all my exploits. 

For some reason this picture from the day before my injury sticks in my head: 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rob Balucas (@robbalucas)

It represents my normal routine back then, working from a favorite coffee shop in the city. It also represents finding joy in everyday things like this coffee cup.

I believe that taking a minute – before getting on with work – to recognize and relish in such a small moment is a key component to the attitude and underlying character that allowed me to quickly get back to living after paralysis.

It’s a choice to take a minute. A choice we all are capable of making.
(And this is the whole thesis to this writing and most writing I do.)

Which brings us to today.

We’re 7 years into this wheelchair journey. 
I’m 45 years into life as of last week.
We’re 31 days from the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona.

The biggest thing that has been coming up in the last year is what I call ‘Cynicism Creep’.

Reading my past entries, there’s a LOT of positive. A lot of excitement and a lot of high vibration. But last year I missed writing an annual update. I wrote about the circumstances in last week’s blog. 

Add to that the pandemic, the state of conflict both in our country and around the world, and – this particular week – the HEAT wave here in the west.  The tone of our world gives plenty of reason to get cynical.

So where does that leave us? 

Here’s where it leaves me: Focus on what we can control. Create beauty, create smiles where we can.

What if we all were more attentive to our Cynicism Creep? Could we change the course of things big and small in our world? I think so.

Some experts also think so:

Kona, this blog, and pictures of my coffee cup are my efforts.

What are yours?


So about the wine

I tried to NOT ask for support this year. But I’ve found most days are battle to decide which gets more attention: training/rest/recovery or work. Working for myself, I only get paid for the time I work. Travel, physical therapy, tires, tubes, little incidental things – they have been adding up.

So one last time for my personal journey.

Any contribution is welcome, if you’re willing and able! It means a ton financially – and I kid you not – emotionally it means just as much, if not more.  Links are below.

And if you’re down with great wine, at $200 we’ll ship you a bottle of Housley’s Century Oak Winery 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon with a custom #teambalucas label (shown above).

Details below. Links here:

works too (better actually) »

contribute now »

Use this link to send me your mailing address – click here.


progress report 88%

$5,000 of $5,000


Details:

Shipping: If you are in Southern California and we’ll most likely see each other soon, you can subtract $20 in shipping costs if you choose. 

Timing: we may still wait until favorable wine shipping weather (read: not so hot). But expect it before Halloween.

If you don’t want wine or want to contribute less: that’s perfectly fine too. Just send me a message/email/text if you don’t want the wine.

How the wine came to be: read about my connection to the Housley Family.

September 5, 2022

2021 IRONMAN 70.3 Lubbock Race Recap

Photo by Scott Flathouse

One of my favorite books has a chapter titled, ‘Know your real edge and don’t fake it.’

I have found through my triathlon journey, both before and after my spinal cord injury, that my real edge is always farther out than I thought it was.

Meaning, I am consistently capable of more than I thought when I challenge that thought.

I believe that is true for all of us. Especially those who tell me they could never do a triathlon.

I see all kinds cross that triathlon finish line. Big, small, tall, short, paraplegic, quadraplegic, missing a limb, missing two limbs, cerebral palsy, heart attack, stroke, traumatic brain injury, congenial birth defect … you name it, someone has overcome it.

But I’ve pushed farther and farther, so much so that people argue with me that I’m just an average athlete (which all the data supports).

Case in point, my last major race: the 2019 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in Nice, France.

It ended in a DNF (Did Not Finish) because I didn’t make a hard time cut-off on the bike. There is, of course, more to that story and maybe I’ll write it up another day.

But coming home from such a defeat really stung and made me question everything.

Maybe I found my edge.

And maybe it was time to move on.

It mostly came down to swimming. I don’t have the benefit of 10,000 hours towards mastery many put in during their childhood. I picked up swimming in my late 30’s in order to do a triathlon.

During the race in Nice, I spent too much time and energy in the water. It put me too far behind in the race to make the hard time cut-off.

I didn’t admit it too many people, but I came home struggling to find motivation because maybe I just reached the edge.

Trying to balance my small business and relationship and training, I didn’t have any more time than I was already putting in to get better at swimming and make a difference in a race any time soon. Or even in time for next year.

And then a few months later, the pandemic hit.

All the races were eventually cancelled.

I decided now I have a year to get better. So I put my head down in 2020 and got to training. In the garage on the trainer, in our pool tied with a tether strap to the side. Eventually some pools opened with strict scheduling and distancing. We went to the pool almost every weekend since last September.

Earlier this year I really had my own crisis about it again, with a good sprinkle of lockdown fatigue that we all had.

There are 2 races globally where Handcycle Division slots to Kona are won this year: Finland and Lubbock, Texas.

I was looking at the competition; looking at my lack of progress in swim times; looking at how the cards were stacked for and against me to again qualify for the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.

After a lot of consternation, I decided to stay committed to the goal I set.

 

“Commitment is doing what you said you would, long after the mood you said it in has left.”

// unkown

 

I’m going to put in the work that I’m capable of,
run the best race that I can,
and let the cards fall where they may.

And so I trained, no longer looking back.

Watching 2021 unfold, they set a date for the Lubbock race. Since both Erika and I had been fully vaccinated, we decided to plan as if it was going to happen.

That brings us to the weather.

The first year we went in 2018, It was 102ºF with 27 mph sustained winds, gusts to 48 mph.

The second year we went in 2019, it was a [relative] wonderful 95ºF with minimal winds.

The third year in 2020 was .. cancelled 48 hours before the race due to COVID and luckily we had already postponed as the pandemic loomed large.

We started monitoring the weather a few weeks ahead of the race and it showed a high under 80ºF, but with chances of thunderstorms on race day … so we just noted that as we prepared for the trip.

We decided to take an extra day on both sides of the race and drive – mostly because we couldn’t be certain that airlines wouldn’t damage my wheelchair, race chair, or handcycle (which is unfortunately VERY common); and we wouldn’t risk fellow airplane passengers pulling stunts like they have been with frequency lately.

As race day came near, the chances of thunderstorms only got worse.

It was somewhat of an elephant in the room. They didn’t address it at the race briefing. They didn’t talk about contingency plans…

BUT, there were no thunderstorms on race day. It would barely reach 80º, which was awesome.

No, the thunderstorms came the night before the race.

AFTER we had all checked in our bikes in the transition area out in the open.

I arrived in the morning to a puddle in my handcycle seat which was completely drenched.

It was still drizzling in the dark and we had to contend with mud everywhere around the small lake we swam in.

It also made the lake really murky if you can imagine what intense rain churns up in a shallow man-made lake.

And it was all that and more. The 3 of us in the handcycle division started first, in the dark.

The other two competitors, on top of being better swimmers, have less disability relative to me (meaning that they have more core and/or leg function than me).

And as we expected they were much faster in the water.

I came out 22 minutes behind, even though it was a 2 minute personal best for me.

I went out on the bike and made up 17 minutes on the second place guy.

It was a new bike course and they all but eliminated the climbing.

[rant warning] It appears that while today’s triathlete says they want a challenge, they really just want to go fast but not hard. It seems like the registrations went up a lot with this new course.

So I beat my 2019 time by 42 minutes through wet roads and one very big puddle, but it only got me within 5 minutes of second place.

And only first and second place go to Kona.

That IS me saying, “WAAAAHOOOO!!”

I knew I had a chance of catching second place because this new run course was 3 laps around the Texas Tech campus. It was full of turning and 180º out and back sections.

On a racing wheelchair, all that sharp turning is a technical skill one has to master because race chairs aren’t built for sharp road turns. They are built for the gradual curve of a traditional track.

And then .. technical difficulties.

In the first mile or two of the total 13.2, one of the rubber pads on the paddle I use to push against the push rim wheels and propel myself forward … well, it just straight up fell off.

Which meant I couldn’t hit the pushrim as hard as I wanted, and generate my maximum speed.

In the next mile I found my race chair was steering to the left and I had to continually compensate, again cramping my ability to really crank hard.

I tried to fix it and accidentally unscrewed the ‘compensator’ completely. I had to stop completely and another able-bodied competitor stopped to help me and we got it fixed.

But by then it was too late.

I had no chance to make up those 5 minutes and ended up 22 minutes behind second place. While the competitor in me was still angry and annoyed for the next 24 hours, I did what I had set out to do.

I trained the best Rob Balucas could.

I laid down the best race Rob Balucas was capable of.

With a big asterisk of a new, very flat, very different course from 2019; I PR’d every element of the race even with the race chair issues.

I hit my bike and run goals, and missed my swim goal by 2 minutes.

Photo by Scott Flathouse
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It's Mo!
It’s Mo!
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So what now?

I did not qualify for the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona this year.

I did qualify for the IRONMAN 70.3 Championships in St. George, Utah.

But I decided not to go. St. George. St. George is an extremely difficult course with bike climbing at altitude – similar to what I faced in Nice, France. But for me, and for the expense, I didn’t have interest in another 70.3.

For me, it’s time to tackle a full distance IRONMAN.

I’ve been allowed to enter IRONMAN California in Sacramento on October 24th.

I’m very excited because it is the inaugural year of this new race – the only full distance IRONMAN in California.

(With some exceptions, only certain races are Handcycle Division-approved and I have to petition race directors to allow me to race.)

It’s time to test for a new edge.

Can I improve my swim enough in the next 110 days to swim 2.4 miles before the cut-off time? And then complete 112 miles of handcycling followed by a 26.2 mile marathon?

We’ll see.


Continued training ensues.

I haven’t yet put together the same crowdfunding campaign as in prior years. I’m working on that, but the bucket for it is setup.

But as in prior years, the financial demands of all the equipment necessary are high. I just recently found that my race chair wheels are cracked and bent and need replacement. Those alone are $3,000. I’m open to and work through sponsorships, so if you know of any please let me know!

Beyond that, if you’re so inclined:

 
contribute now »
works too »

July 5, 2021

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