LIHUE — On their first trial run together with the old wheelchair, Jason Iloreta’s brother fell asleep. That’s because Josh — the sleeper — didn’t think Jason, 23, was pushing him fast and hard enough up a hill. He grew
LIHUE — On their first trial run together with the old wheelchair, Jason Iloreta’s brother fell asleep.
That’s because Josh — the sleeper — didn’t think Jason, 23, was pushing him fast and hard enough up a hill. He grew impatient.
“Seriously, you’re sleeping and I’m pushing,” Jason shouted up to him. “I’m working and you’re sleeping.”
But Jason said he’s getting more confident now that his training plan is in motion.
“I’ve been training, getting up and running,” Jason said. “Training is about five days out of the week. Four times, I run. The other day I do something active, like cross training.”
Jason has been training for the Old Koloa Sugar Mill Run on Saturday. He will be running his brother through the 6.2-mile race up and down hills on what is expected to be a humid morning.
They’ll be using their new 35-pound, $6,400 Axiom Adrenaline Elite racing wheelchair that arrived Tuesday.
Josh, 25, has cerebral palsy, a chronic condition that affects mobility, movement, posture and thinking. But they’re a team, Jason said, and will stick together Saturday.
To prepare, he hired a personal trainer, Pam Kruse of FitBodies Personal Training on Kauai.
“He’s done other sports, but hasn’t had any formal running training,” Kruse said.
She said her 10-week running course is designed for the 10K.
“He’s got the distance down,” she said. “He realizes that he may have to do some walking — it’s a lot of weight to push those chairs. That’s where the strength training comes in. He’s doing things like lunges.”
Since moving back to Kauai in July 2014 from Las Vegas, Jason has lost 20 pounds to reach 175 pounds.
“I try to be mindful about what I eat. I do drink the shakes. I’ll put peanut butter and banana, vanilla and almond milk and drink them as a meal replacement,” he said. “I realized that I need to do it because it’ll help me have a lower weight.”
The brothers were supposed to receive their Axiom Adrenaline Elite wheelchair designed specifically for Josh in October. That would have given Jason and Josh a little more than a month to get used to the unique narrow design of the chair.
The brothers had help from the community and their church to raise the money for the chair.
Instead, the chair arrived on Tuesday, less than one week before the race.
“It’s nerve-racking,” Jason said. “But I’m anxious and excited.”
Jason said when the bright green metallic chair (green is Josh’s favorite color) finally arrived, it was a huge event for this family.
“Josh, he was excited when we opened it,” he said.
To set the tone, Josh asked his family to watch Team Hoyt videos, a father-son duo comprised of Dick and Rick Hoyt — a quadriplegic with cerebral palsy — before the unwrapping of the chair. The Hoyts have completed several marathons, including the Boston Marathon.
“He wanted my dad to watch the videos with us,” Jason said. “And we assembled it together. I took pictures and stuff. We’re making a movie of the video we shot.”
He took the 35-pound chair and the 96-pound Josh out for a test ride.
“The weight of him and his chair is a little scary,” Jason said. “What I learned is braking with your heels, which is probably not safe. Going downhill is a little scary. I’m hoping that the chair that we have has a handbrake.”
When they go downhill, Josh is more worried than Jason.
“His eyes get really huge,” Jason said. “His hands start wailing. He looks back at me and starts making noises.”
Race organizers are excited to host the Iloreta brothers. Josh will have a bib number, said Tom Lodico, president of the Rotary Club of Kauai and director of the Koloa Sugar Mill Run.
“I think it’s fantastic,” Lodico said, “They are getting a trainer to do this. It’s not the easiest race.”
Kruse said with strength training, Jason should be good to go.
“Or I didn’t do my job,” Kruse said. “I’ve been training my runners for over 20 years, so I’ve pretty much got it dialed in.”
