Bike MS: Boy that sure came up fast.

Tomorrow morning I ride in Bike MS. I will be riding from Westminster Colorado up to Fort Collins and back. It will be a two day ride and about 120+ miles. Due to severe wild fires through out the state and especially one thats been going on near Ft. Collins for the past few weeks, the original 150 mile route had to be changed for the health and safety of the participants, volunteers, staff and spectators. Still, it's going to be a good ride.

The ride this weekend marks the halfway point in my activity schedule. Since April when I ran the half marathon, I competed in two triathlons, one sprint distance and one olympic distance. The olympic distance kicked my butt all though I did finish in the end. I will concede that I may have bitten off a bit more than I could chew this summer loading on as many events as I did, but there's no going back now I just gotta grind through. It's been a learning experience, each and every event has taught me quite a bit.

Boulder Half-Marathon: Heat + Running = Badness, but it's okay to know what your limit is and throw in the towel when you feel your health is at risk.

Plate River Half-Marathon: When at first you don't succeed, try again. It was a grind, but I made it!

Summer Open Triathlon: Just keep swimming... The waves on the reservoir were insane, I must have drunk at least half of the res, but I pushed through and ground my way through to the end.

BolderBoulder 10K: Competing is fun, but running with family is more fun. I throughly enjoyed spending time with Calvin and running through Boulder. I can see the BolderBoulder becoming a family even next year with the four of us running through Boulder.

Boulder Sunrise Triathlon: It doesn't matter when you cross the finish line, just cross the finish. It was my first olympic distance triathlon and it occurred one week after BolderBoulder. This race was brutal and by the 10K run I was sorely tempted to quit, but I pushed through and finished with an epic last minute sprint to the finish line that had the crowds cheering.

After Bike MS this weekend, I have two more triathlons to go; a sprint distance and another olympic distance. After that, I'm going to rest for a while and plan for the next racing season. So far this year I've had more MS related symptoms than I've had in a while which is directly related to how hard I've pushed my body. This has been both good and bad. It's been good because I feel like it's making me stronger against MS, that just because I have symptoms it doesn't mean I have to give in, but it's bad because with every symptom that pops up there is the risk that I relapse entirely.

I need to respect my limits, but at the same time if you don't push them a little you never know how far you can go.

Plate River Half-Marathon: Redemption

Today was the Plate River Half-Marathon, the half-marathon I signed up for after failing to finish the Boulder Half.

How did it go one might ask?

Awesome, especially compared to the Boulder Half because this time I finished the whole 13.1 miles! After the Boulder half-marathon, everyone was really supportive, they would remind me that going for 10 miles is still a pretty big achievement and I shouldn't feel too terribly about not finishing. However, after spending so much time and energy training, I couldn't help but feel disappointed with myself for not sticking it out and finishing the race. However, thats all water under the bridge because I finished my half-marathon today thereby achieving my goal of running a half-marathon!

The weather today was just about perfect, at least the temperature was... mid 40's low 50's, partly cloudy. However, the wind... OMG, I ran most of that marathon with the wind blowing straight at me, there were points where it felt as though I wasn't moving forward even though my legs were working! I could have done without the wind. My total time was 3 hours 10 minutes, and I think apart of that had to do with the wind, but I'm not going to complain next time I'll do better... 3 hours 10 minutes is better than not finishing at all.

When you fall off the horse, you gotta get right back on...

Well, it's either that or I truly hate myself since I registered for another half-marathon taking place in a couple of weeks.

I just can't let what happened at the Boulder Half be the end of all the weeks and months of training and running I've been through. If not for the temperature and sun I could have made it, I trained hard and I was capable of taking on the mileage and the time... I was ready.

This time I'm going to do the Platte River Half out in Littleton. Rather than being out in the foothills, the race goes along the Platte River through Littleton. The terrain is a lot more even, no significant hills, and instead of climbing in elevation, the route descends. I think that this could be a good 'redemption' run, I can apply what I learned from last weekend, and get a little extra training in as well.

Boulder Half-Marathon: The heat got the better of me

Things at the half marathon did not go well yesterday. Despite all my planning and strategizing, yesterday felt like a comedy of errors, starting with not getting into the reservoir with enough time to actually prep for the race, I pretty much got out of the car and started running. Once I got running things evened out and I got into a groove, but four or five miles into the race the sun was beating down with fierce intensity and there was nothing, no clouds, no breeze or anything to fend it off. I had my wet towel and was using it, but by mile seven that wasn't helping, my abdomen was getting tight, and I was starting to have difficulties taking deep breaths. By mile 10 I had to throw in the towel (figuratively speaking) and admit defeat.

Boulder Half-Marathon: 3 Days Left to Go

The Rudi's Organic Boulder Half-Marathon is this Sunday! I can't believe its go time! I think that I'm more nervous about this event than I've been for any of my other ones. I know I can do, but it's going to be grueling.

One thing I'm really worried about is heat. I've been watching the weather forecasts like a hawk and it looks like the weather on Sunday is going to be in the 70's with the possibility of gusty winds in the afternoon, hopefully once the race is over. The ambient temperature is going to be pleasant, but the sun beating down is going to be brutal and the warmer I get the more my energy is sapped. This is the curse of running with MS.

Boulder Half Marathon: Strategy, strategy, strategy...

Four weeks left to go until I run my first half-marathon and my training is now all about strategies. I know that physically I can run the whole thing just fine, I have the strength and endurance to run long distances, but now I gotta figure out how to run smarter.

This whole time leading up to the half-marathon, I haven't really followed any set training routine. I just went with what my body told me, I'd run for time and distance when I could and ease up when it felt like I'd pushed too hard. Reading up on running tips and techniques for training for a long distance run I learned that I should have been following a set schedule; oh well, not much I can do about that and honestly I think I'll be fine with the way I've been doing things. However, armed with more information I'm figuring out the best way to run a half-marathon; running smart not hard.

Living with MS my way

I've been noticing that the majority of this blog lately has been about training and preparation for various events. I don't know if its unusual for people with MS to do these sorts of things or not, but I can imagine that it might not seem to some people that having MS is that big of a deal. For me, having MS is a big deal,  and what I'm doing now is living the best I can while my body is allowing me to do all of these things. MS hits people differently, sometimes it hits hard and fast and never goes away to the point where someone can be active and athletic and other times it hits hard and retreats and sometimes it never hits really hard at all. 

I think that how MS effects our lives depends on how we live with it, and we all live with MS the best ways we know how. I don't think that running marathons, doing triathlons and riding an insane number of miles on the bike is THE right way to live with MS, or that if people with MS did all these things they wouldn't have it so bad. This is just the right way for me to live with MS and I'm sharing and recording all of this so that when or if it gets bad again, I can go back to these posts and remember what I did so I won't have regrets about what I didn't do.

That being said... onto the latest in training....

New Year, New Doctor

This week I went and saw a new neurologist. With some of the MS related symptoms I'd been having plus the amount of training I've been doing, I figured it would be good to get acquainted with a new doctor before things really hit the fan, if they in fact did.

First impressions, I like this guy. All ready Dr. K out shines Dr. M by a long shot. He had the same views Dr. M had about my not doing the disease modification shots, but he expressed them in such a way that felt way more respectful. Instead of telling me (and I'm paraphrasing) that I'm stupid for not taking the shots, he expressed his belief that they work and it would be in my best interest if we could find something I would be willing to commit to. He gave me all the statistics Dr. M gave me, but he prefaced his opinion with, "It's your body, you have to live with what ever choice you make and what ever you decide thats how we'll proceed."

That's all Dr. M ever had to say to get me to trust her. Rather than push the hard sell as though she had a personal stake in getting me on something (and I am alluding to some financial kick back from the drug company, she was so pushy), all she had to do is listen to what I was feeling and be willing to work with what I felt I could do. That little bit of consideration goes a long way.

Another thing I really appreciated about Dr. K was his willingness to give me time to think things over. He could see by my lack of enthusiasm, that I wasn't in a position to make a commitment right then and there and he respected that I needed time. The last time I saw Dr. M, I told her my position on the shots, how they made me feel and all she could do was tell me, not recommend but tell me, that she was putting me on a different medication, handed me a release paper to sign on the spot and a big fancy marketing packet proclaiming all the great things about the drug. She left me no room to say no, or to think things over.

It got to the point that if she told me that I needed to eat a bar of chocolate every day I would have developed an instant dislike for all things chocolate and refused to eat it.

Boulder Half-Marathon: Painful lesson learned

Last Monday I had the day off work and decided to test my new running skills by going for some significant distance. I didn't expect to run the entire time, but I wanted to push myself to run farther than I've run before. In the end, I went for 8 miles, ran 6 of those miles, 4 of those straight through for an hour solid. I was hurtin' by the end of the day and the next. Then on Wednesday I had some dizziness and other MS symptoms crop up that lasted for about a week.

Lesson learned... painfully.

I went too hard too soon in my training and the MS let me know that it wasn't happy with me. I've come a long way in my physical fitness, but I still have to be mindful of pushing myself too hard. When I go too hard I don't just have to contend with strained or sore muscles, I've got a whole host of other issues to contend with, including dizziness and mind numbing fatigue. It took me a week and a half to fully recover and start feeling human again.

BikeMS, here we go again...

I just officially registered for the 2012 Colorado/Wyoming Chapter BikeMS ride. The ride starts early June 30th in Westminster Colorado and ends July 1st at the same location. The total mileage of the ride is 150 miles.

Last year's BikeMS was my first event ever and it was the event that started my quest for all things active and challenging. It was from BikeMS that I went onto doing two triathlons last year and now I'm training for a half-marathon and the goal of completing four triathlons this year. BikeMS was the fuse that started it all.

A big part of participating in BikeMS is fundraising, events like BikeMS go along way towards raising awareness about MS and funds that go towards helping find new treatments and hopefully one day a cure. Last year, between BikeMS and the Boulder Sunset Triathlon, I raised almost $1,000 for MS, this year I want to double that amount.

I'm not a wealthy person, I'm not a doctor or scientist, when it comes to MS the only thing I can do with it is live with it. Riding and fundraising is the only way I can make a meaningful contribution that can go towards helping fight this condition.

So I am asking for help in raising funds. You can make a donation at my BikeMS participant's page, any amount you can afford is welcome and much appreciated.

Training in full swing

Only 78 days until the Boulder Half-Marathon and I've got my training in full swing. I spent the past couple of weeks getting back into shape and now I'm trying to boost my running time so I can go long distances. Today I went for about 8 miles and ran for the majority of the time.

Going for greater distances, I'm noticing that my feet start to go numb after about 3 miles. It's really annoying. I can't tell if it's an MS thing, back out-of-wack thing, or running form. OR it could be all of the above. I figure that the smart thing to do would be for me to call the neurologist my aunt recommended and make an appointment. I haven't had an MRI in over a year, and it's probably a good idea to get one to try and rule out any obvious MS related issues (i.e. new lesion development on my spine). Then if it is MS related, maybe the doctor could prescribe some type of physical therapy to help with my form to keep my feet from going numb when I run.

Happy New Year!!

Good Bye 2011, Hello 2012!!

I'm really excited for what this year can bring. 2011 was a good year for me in terms of the positive changes and the growth I've made and I'm looking forward continuing forward in 2012.

I have some big plans for myself this year jumping off from what I accomplished in 2011. My first big thing I'm doing is the Boulder Half-Marathon on April 1st.  It will be my first half-marathon. After the half-marathon my goal is to do at least four triathlons this year, two of them Olympic distance, and the two day BikeMS. Jeremy and I also want to hike up a 14er this summer as well.

My big goal for 2012 is to remain MS symptom free and I feel that continuing to be active and getting into shape will serve to further that goal.