Why are you wearing that "BLIND" sign?

At age 14, I was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), a degenerative visiual condition that results in deteriorating visual acuity, continued loss of peripheral vision and night blindness.  I’m currently 44 and legally blind with 20/400 eyesight, a 10-degree field of vision and very night blind.  During the day, it seems like I’m looking through straws and everything is really far away.  The image seems fairly sharp, although I don’t have good depth perception.  I use magnifiers to enlarge things, wear sunglasses to reduce the sun’s brightness, and I am constantly “scanning” and turning my head to take in the entire landscape since my eyes only pick up 10 degrees of the image at a time.  I also use technology to help out – the iPhone 6 Plus has been a huge blessing to me with it’s large screen, voice recognition, text to speech, reverse contrast and magnification features.  At night time, it is extremely dark for me although I am able to pick up images where there is bright illumination.  I am very thankful for the PrincetonTec APEX headlamp that is now 275 lumens.  I wear It regularly at night and it helps me to read my children bedtime stories, find things in dark cabinets and go to restaurants.  PrincetonTec has also become one of my supporters, and I am so thankful for them as in my opinion their product has restored sight for me in the night time.

Apart from the eyesight thing, I’M A RUNNER!  I compete in distance ultras and timed event ultras.  I also take in the occasional triathlon and marathon for fun.  I wanted to share some experiences that I have had with Training, Injuries and Competing as I think they may be of interest to the sighted ultra community, as well as the visually impaired community.

TRAINING:  Training for me can be a little different as compared to sighted runners.  During the daytime, I have enough sight to run independently.  I do your standard distance, speed and hill workouts.  I also do a lot of cross-training with swimming, resistance and bike training.  I have also been blessed with some additional training opportunities as a result of having low vision.  When I voluntarily stopped driving, I was forced to figure out a way to get to appointments, pick up kids from school, shop for groceries and get to a job.  I retrofitted some old bikes with different tires, added gears, installed fenders and panniers.  Soon, I found myself increasing my total training time with good bike cross training.  There were times, however, when a bike simply could not get the job done because of the route, distance or weather and I needed to turn to public transportation.  I learned that using mass transit helps you get from place to place if you don’t drive, but you waste a lot of time waiting for buses/trains and you end up sitting for long periods of time while the bus/train makes multiple stops picking up and dropping off passengers.  I decided to start “run commuting”.  I would take the bus when necessary, but would incorporate in a run either to a bus stop, or to eliminate a transfer to a second bus, or to get to my destination faster.  In order to do this, all I needed was a good back-pack that was light and had lots of room for hydration, extra clothes and was made for running.  I found it in the HOKA EVO 17L pack.  It had tons of room, is very light, has lots of pockets and fits the body like a glove.  I suddenly found myself getting in an extra 10-20 miles of running per week.  This was awesome, as I usually found myself trying to negotiate how to train for ultras, be a good parent and hold down a job.

I also had to figure out how to train for hills, because I could no longer easily drive to the Colorado mountains and run for hours on endless trails.  I had seen some movies of people dragging tires around as they were training for epic runs like the Badwater 135 or a 100+ day crossing of the Sahara desert.  I thought that could be a great way to build leg strength and imitate hill training.  I got some spare rope I had around the house, got a discarded car tire, picked up an eye-bolt/nuts/washers from a local hardware store and bought a heavy duty running belt from TJ Maxx.  After a little drilling, the smell of burning rubber in my house and some knots I soon had my “hill workout” assembled.  I now do a tire drag every other day for about 50 minutes in my neighborhood.  I get stares and some cheers from people as they see me pumping arms and legs hard while making little forward progress due the tire that is behind me.  My leg and core strength have increased significantly, and I also believe it has forced me to have better upright running form with quicker foot turnover. 

INJURIES:  I really don’t have any “running injuries” anymore.  Gone are the days of a sore IT, or runners knee or sore feet.  I discovered HOKAs, and I believe they have healed me and strengthened me.  They have made the difference for my tired, old body.  Also, contrary to what most people say, I am able to “feel” and “sense” the contours of the ground despite the additional cushioning.  This may be a function of other senses compensating for my limited sight; however, I roll through uneven surfaces like rock fields and loose scree with ease in my HOKAs. 

I do get injured while running, although they come with a little different twist.  They come in the form of running directly into a fire hydrant at 6:30/mile pace during a training run.  I was with a local running group, and wanted to be with the leaders.  Because I have tunnel vision, I did not see the impervious metal beast.  When I ran into the hydrant, the fast pack looked at me like I was crazy and kept on running.  I was not wearing a sign to indicate that I was blind, so I guess they thought I did it intentionally???  It was strange that nobody stopped to see if I was OK, or to help me get back up.  These runners were obviously not the kind hearted ultra-runners I know and love.  It was not the first time in my life that I was fallen, and I would be forced to get back up; and I did get back up and I did finish the training run. 

Other injuries come in the form of cuts from walking or running into things like street signs, tree branches, street curbs and doors.  Usually ice and some butterfly band-aids is all that is needed for these injuries.  I force myself to run in the dark by myself.  It’s the worst time for me physically due to my limited sight and night blindness, but probably the best thing for me psychologically.  I routinely get lost, run into things, get chased by dogs, trip/fall/get up, and prove to myself that I CAN DO IT.  I overcome adversity every time I go on a night run, and as the adage goes “that which does not kill me, makes me stronger.”  This psychological strengthening really has been the remedy for all of my bodily injuries.

COMPETING:  I’m an average ultra-guy with skinny legs and fair athletic ability.  However, there is not much better than waking up on race day, listening to AC/DC’s Thunderstruck, walking to a start line in a desolate location with my Mom and crew, hearing a gun shot and running off into the darkness with a bunch of other crazy people hooting and hollering.  I love to run fast – the only problem is that I’m not really that fast.  I love to run long – the only problem there is that the “death march” is a common companion in my ultras.  I love to push myself to be the best I can be, and to win against myself.  I have always said that any ultra is “a race of one.”  The race becomes a story about a person who has put him/herself into a situation where they are going to hurt, where vomiting is probable, where discomfort is a given, where they will say to themselves “this is CRAZY!”; AND, that person will make a choice to go on or to quit. 

Last year I ran the Javelina Jundred 100 miler.  I had a great plan, felt well trained and thought I was going to nail it.  Then, I arrived at the race to meet my guide.  I rely on a guide to help me run trails in the night.  The guide verbally describes the trail on a moment-by-moment basis with call-outs like “rock right . . . root left . . . steep decline . . . gradual incline . . . veer right . . . step up . . . step over water now . . .  fall left (if there is a drop off to the right).”  I have some eyesight, so I marry the verbal queues with what I can see to run the trail.  I fall very often, and I ALWAYS get up and keep moving forward.  During daylight hours, I like to run independently.    Invariably, this results in going off course, running into things, falling, etc.  But most of the time, daylight running results in blissful moments filled with pure joy where I am overwhelmed with being present, and hearing the wind on leaves, the rhythm of footsteps on the trail, the smell of the environment and the warmth of the sun on my skin. 

I understood my guide at Javelina was going to lead me for the 13 hours of darkness that I knew Arizona held for me in November.  Eight hours before the race start, I learned that my guide was attempting his first 100 miler, and had yet to complete lesser distance ultras.  I knew he needed to focus 100% on himself, and not on me.  I asked for help from Jamil & Nick Coury, the race directors, to help me find a guide for the race which was about to start.  They did all they could, but it came time for the start and we still didn’t have a guide.  I ran during the daylight hours without a guide, trying to accumulate as many miles as I could knowing that night time might stop my progress if I could not find a guide.  As night time approached, I started asking racers on the trail if I could follow them when it became dark.  Unequivocally, all of them said, “sure Jason, whatever you need.”  I was wearing a “BLIND” sign on my race belt.  I was in the middle of the desert at an aid station when the sun finally set, and darkness reared itself.  I was getting water, and asked a complete stranger if he could help me.  Within 15 seconds, I had a person who had agreed to help me and he guided me for 8 long, slow miles to the main aid station on the loop race course.  He had an impressive running resume including Badwater, multi-day events and world records.  The Coury brothers ended up finding 2 guides that would help me through the night, and I hooked up with them at the main aid station.  One of my trekking poles broke in the third hour of the 13 hour night session.  I rely on the trekking poles to “feel” the terrain and to help avoid twisting ankles and falling.  We ended up splinting the trekking pole with rebar and duct tape.  The daylight came and I had 10 miles to go.  My legs were fresh from going so slow during the night hours.  I ran, and I ran hard.  Some racers volunteered, “dude, slow down. You’re not Killian.”  Gordy Ainsleigh (Western States 100 pioneer) asked, “why are you wearing that BLIND sign?”  I explained that I was legally blind, and people are more forgiving and helpful when I fall down and need help.  Then he said, “oh yeah, it looks like you’re scraped up and have fallen.”  Another lady who I had become friendly with during the race was done running and walking in the last 10 miles.  As I was about to pass her, I asked her to run with me and finish with me.  She said she couldn’t.  I sped off hitting 7-8 minute miles.  She yelled out behind me, “I DON’T THINK YOU’RE BLIND!”  I stopped, turned for a brief instant and yelled back, “I DON’T THINK I AM EITHER!”  We both laughed, and I ran off to finish the race with a time that would be a PR, and new record for the visually impaired.

I love to compete in ultras because I love to be faced with the choice to persevere or quit.  I will never choose to quit or give up.  I will always choose to push through the pain, and get to the other side where the pain recedes and the bliss of running returns. 

Run, and if you can’t run, then Walk.  Walk, and if you can’t walk, then Crawl.  Crawl and if you can’t crawl, then get somebody to Drag you.  Just never stop moving forward.  I know YOU CAN do ANYTHING!

Run into you on the trails!

: )

Jason Romero is a highly sought after inspirational speaker and the 1st and only blind person to run across America.  Jason is a member of the US Paralympic Team, holds 11 world records in ultra-running, a former attorney and business executive, and a single father of 3 children.  More information can be found on Jason at www.relentlessromero.com.