What you see is what you give

Over the last couple years I’ve had the privilege to guide visually impaired and blind athletes for various races and training rides/runs.  When I describe this to people they offer a gracious pat on the back followed by stating “I’d never be able to do that, I’m too______.”   Fill in the blank with anything you can think of: slow, inexperienced runner, never guided before….so on and so forth. 

What I’ve come to realize over this time span I’ve been guiding is that it has less to do with my physical abilities and more to do with my ability to give.  I understand that if I’ve never run before that guiding a marathon is something I shouldn’t jump in to, but my point is that with the abilities we already have within us, any one of us can give as a guide.

Early morning December 8^th on a bus covered in snow in sub 30 degree temperatures in California, I overheard a conversation between a first time guide with an experienced visually impaired runner.  The guide looked the part of a runner; trim, fit, long legged – all the features that were irrelevant to the athlete he’d soon be tethered to for 13.1 miles.  As I listened in to their conversation I quickly knew their first run together would go smoothly.  The guide, who seemed a little nervous at first, was asking question after question.  Asking the athlete’s preferences; which side of the athlete to run to, how far ahead or behind he’d prefer he guided, what sort of cues he’d prefer.  As the guide asked more questions I could hear the calmness in the athlete’s voice.  The athlete was becoming more at ease as he learned of the care and concern and attention to detail his guide was giving him with the line of questioning; with the calmness of the athlete came the calmness of the guide.       

In my guiding experience, my conversations with visually impaired/blind athletes and from my conversations with other guides, here is the best list I can come up with for qualities necessary for being a guide:

1.       Be humble and ask questions – there are no stupid questions, you won’t be looked at as ignorant or arrogant if you’re asking questions to learn more about the athlete you wish to help.

2.       Be prepared personally – have your shit together for you, be spot on in your packing to travel, the items you need to run and support yourself through the race.  If you forgot something, identify and take care of it quickly so you’re not creating an emergency.  Imagine if you’re about to travel through the Amazon jungle led by someone you’ve never met only to have them show up and say “I forgot my compass”.  Your panic is their panic.

3.       Be available – make yourself available to the athlete ahead of the race, give them an opportunity to ask you questions so that they may find comfort in being familiar with their guide.

4.       It’s not your race – yes you are out there, yes you do have the opportunity to register for the race and get an official time, but when you’re guiding someone during a race, they come first.  I’m not suggesting putting yourself in any risk or danger, but I do all I can to let the athlete know I’m there for them.  I’m not suggesting that it’s not a team effort, it is, using the distinction of it not being about me helps me mentally prepare, train and be ready to be as attentive as I can be come race day.

5.       Don’t be an interruption - When I run my races it’s always my goal to have chunks of miles that seem to pass by effortlessly.  Somehow I’ve gone from mile 8 to mile 12 and didn’t even notice.  I never know when that’s happening to the athlete I’m with so I always keep that top of mind to not break it up if I can help it.  That’s how I navigate through other runners during the race; plan ahead, make subtle adjustments instead of a big grab or pull.  If any quick or sudden adjustment is needed I try to preface it with a verbal warning.

6.       Pay attention to detail – how much detail depends on the athlete.  Any time I guide someone new I like to find out how much information they want.  I error on too much than too little.  I let the athlete know to tell me to shut up if I’m providing too much feedback. 

This is by no means an exhaustive list of items but I feel a good start.  I can’t reiterate enough how none of the requirements have anything to do with your personal athletic ability.  Just like going to any running race there are slow runners and fast runners; there are slow VI/blind runners and there are fast VI/blind runners and most are in some need of a guide.  It’s not just races, it’s getting prepared to get to the starting line, think of the miles you logged training for your last race, then imagine doing a high percentage of those miles on a ‘dread-mill’ because there were lack of guides to run with.  I encourage you to put yourself out there, reach out to local groups that provide services for the visually impaired community, contact the local schools, perhaps there’s a school for the blind in your area.  Facebook has a great group that has grown to over 425 members called “Running eyes, bringing Guides & Visually Impaired runners/joggers together”. 

While out in California, for the California International Marathon, the event I’ve looked forward to for the two years I’ve gone out to guide is the pre-race dinner on Saturday night.  During the event Richard Hunter, who spends countless hours and time in conjunction with USABA doing fundraising, arranging housing, guides, travel and anything else an athlete needs, got up to speak .  In his brief talk about his bike crash this summer, his recovery and the impact his fellow athletes have had on him he had a great quote “focus on what you can do and not what you can’t.”  That’s my advice to anyone interested in helping others in athletics, if you want to help, there is a way and it has nothing to do with how fast you are.