Ben Brown was a Nova Scotian teenager training for an upcoming motocross race before his whole life changed. A spinal cord injury left him without the use of his legs and he was forced to reconsider his athletic goals. Brown continued to race ATVs, play wheelchair basketball, ride snowmobiles and dabbled in sledge hockey. After spreading himself over many athletic endeavours, including being Canada’s first para athlete to race motocross and becoming Nova Scotia’s first para athlete to compete in both the Summer and Winter Canada Games (for wheelchair racing and wheelchair basketball, respectively), Brown knew he needed to focus his attention to one sport. We caught up with Brown, now 27, in the lead up to competing at the Toronto 2015 Parapan Am Games. Canadian Running: What will you be racing at the Games? Ben Brown: I am racing the T53 100m sprint at the Parapan Am Games. I also race the 200 and 400. If I’m on the roads rather than the track, I race anywhere from the mile to 10K. Sometimes as a hard workout during training, we’ll do a half-marathon time trial. It takes me just over an hour. CR: How are you feeling leading up to the Games? BB: I have a really good shot at the podium. I’m ranked fourth and it would be amazing if we could have multiple Canadians. Yesterday’s 17.4 K push had a good pace and I’m feeling really sharp. My top speeds ranged from 33-36K, so my power is there, everything’s there, I just have to go do the job. CR: What does a normal week of training look like for you? BB: I train six days a week. On two of those days, I have three sessions, two pushes and one lift in the gym. On another two, I have two sessions, which are both pushes. The other two days are single session days. I’m working on building my speed right now and have been putting in 100-120K weeks. I work with my coach, Ueli Albert, who was a high-level middle-distance runner himself. He competed for the Swiss National team before moving to Canada. CR: What’s your favourite workout? BB: If I’m prepping for a track race, I like mixing in some 100m and 200m repeats. If I’m gearing up for a road event, I like to do step-down intervals of 20, 15 and 10 seconds all out. Rise and grind its my last day of training in Nova Scotia before I leave for Para Pan Ans. Endurance, speed and power #GetAfterIt — Ben Brown (@BenBrown191) August 5, 2015 CR: What’s your pre-race routine look like? BB: If I can get my hands on a steak beforehand, I’m set. I’m a metalhead. That was definitely an influence of my beginnings in motocross. So if I need to pump myself it’s going to be something like Metallica. If I need to calm the nerves beforehand, I’ll go for something country or softer rock, like Steve Miller. If my race isn’t until the evening, I’ll take it really easy killing time resting and watching movies. Before the race I make sure I do a gear check, test out the tire pressure and make sure my chair is functioning smoothly. Then, it’s all about getting in the zone and focusing on the single moment. CR: Who’s your athletic hero? BB: I have quite a few, some of them are athletes that I’m hoping to catch up to in terms of speed some day, like Brent Lakatos, the Canadian wheelchair racer who won three silver medals at the 2012 Paralympics. From my roots, since I grew up playing hockey, I have a ton of respect for Steve Yzerman. He continued playing after a knee injury that would have left him in a lot of pain and I respect him for being able to push through it.
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