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Had an awesome Yoga class. There were only 2 people there so it was like a private lesson with Sophie.
Can I say my muscles were extremely tight and I couldn’t do most of the poses, but my body was very thankful that I went to the class. Runners generally have tight muscles, but runners with MS is whole new level of inflexibility.
I did a regular temperature class for 60 minutes.
Till next time...
I went to the pool and was getting changed, do you see something missing from this photo?
They say that showing up is half the battle, what they don’t tell you is that you can still end up loosing based on the other half. I can’t believe I dragged my butt to the pool, had planned what I was going to do, was getting changed, only to discover that I had forgot my shorts.
I tried frantically to find a clothing store close so I could still salvage a 30-40 min workout, but it was just not to be today. I’ll take it as a sign that I needed another rest day, my sinuses were getting a bit stuffed up.
Tomorrow I’ll be starting the 10k clinic with the running room so the extra rest will surely do me good.
Till next time...
Easy 30 minute spin day with no resistance to recover from my race yesterday. I totally over did it during the race and I’m sure my legs will be sore for a week.
I just had to do something really light on Monday and Tuesday so I did an easy spin on my trainer for 30 minutes each day to get the lactic acid moving. My legs are very sore from overdoing it on Sunday during the 5k race in Peterborough.
I’ve decided to do a 10k clinic with the running room which starts this Friday and has a 10 week duration. I always have liked the running room clinics and in years past have done the marathon clinic and have done the half marathon clinic a couple of times. While I was taking the 1/2 marathon clinic in Guelph about 5 years ago, I actually had the pleasure of running with John Stanton (founder of the running room) and it was great talking to him and hearing about his experiences.
I had a massage tonight as my wife and I have decided to have a massage therapist come to our house every other week. This is week 3. It really helped my sore legs, although our therapist mentioned that I really have to start stretching as my muscles are way too tight.
I think I will get out to the pool tomorrow for a swim. I’m in contact with a couple of swim coaches now and will probably be able to start within the next few weeks.
Till next time...
So I went out and purchased a Polar RS800CX Multi HRM. I was particularly attracted to this unit because of the ability to measure HR, pace, distance for both running and biking. I’m also very interested in the fitness test and module that helps to make sure that you are not over training which is a big concern for me.
I originally was more interested in the run version of the RS800CX to start out with since it would be more helpful if you do treadmill workouts. The store I went to did not have that version so I thought I would test the GPS model even though I was a bit sceptical.
I decided to test the unit during my 5k race in Peterborough (I’m actually writing this on Monday), and I was very impressed by how quickly the unit was able to pick up my HR compared to some older HRM I’ve used before and I was happy that it never seemed to falter. I also liked how the data was displayed during my run (pace, HR, time).
I did have a bit of a hiccup with the GPS unit as it only seemed to kick in about 1.5 km into the race. I’m sure it’s my fault for not ensuring that I knew how to make sure the GPS was locked on a satellite before starting the race.
I might post a review when I get to learn it more thoroughly.
Leave a comment if you would be interested in the review.
Till next time...
Peterborough 5k Race after only having been off the couch a couple weeks. Good idea? Probably not, Happy I did it? Definitely!
So only having been off the couch for a couple of weeks, but having had registered for this event the beginning of December, I was faced with a decision of whether or not to do the race. I had only been for one run that was 5k distance in the last probably 8 months, and last fall was having difficulty with the runs that were 2k long.
I decided to go ahead and run the race with my father-in-law and I am very happy that we both got out to do it. It would have been nice if my wife Lori could have joined me although see is just getting started on the working out this week and I started over 2 weeks ago. I think I have her agreeing to do a triathlon up near the cottage this summer though which would be sweet if we can do together.
Getting back to the race...
I wore my new Polar RS800CX Multi-sport heart rate monitor and it was a good thing that I did. My plan was to take it easy for the first half of the race, and then when I was confident that I was going to finish I could kick it up in the last couple of kilometres. It turns out that I had a bit of adrenaline rush for the first 1k and realised that my HR was WAY too high, I’m talking just below my maximum. I immediately slowed down but my HR never did not really recover (a good indication of just how out of shape I was). Needless to say that I didn’t pass many if any people for most of the rest of the race, and in fact was passed by many of the people I had passed on my quick start. I did attempt to kick it up during the last 750m or so which helped my HR jump above my maximum, although I thought I could hold that for the rest of the distance which I did.
My only other 5k jog during my workouts took me over 40 minutes so I was thinking I would finish over 30 minutes but was hoping for ~27 minutes.
I ended up finishing with a time of 25:23 which was a shocker for me, and I was very happy with the result. When I was fit, years ago and training for 1/2 marathons my 5k time was just over 22 minutes. Given my MS, conditioning, and now older age I am very pleased.
Till next time...
I’m pretty tired today. I was up a couple times during the night with my son Alexander who has bronchitis again, combined with my regular MS fatigue that I am working at overcoming and I’m pretty lethargic.
Last week I went to see my MS doctor (who is probably one of the best in the world) and asked him what I could do for my fatigue, and whether or not diet and exercise could help. I was surprised that he actually said no, which was not the answer I was hoping for. He suggested I try to manage my energy by practising the four P’s (Pacing, Planning, Prioritization, and Patience). I read one of his articles where he says:
The trick is to pace yourself. “I tell patients to imagine that they’re an auto-mobile,” says Dr. O’Connor. “But unlike everyone else who has a full tank of gas, they only have half a tank. So they have to really think about where they want to drive to.”
I tend to think that at this point there is still at least a small component of the fatigue that is effected by mood and cardiovascular endurance for which exercise can improve. I’m going to do my own test and then think about how I can incorporate the four P’s in my life.
Sorry, that was a little divergence on MS. Getting back to my training log, I’m going to ask my wife if she might be able to watch over Alexander for an hour while he is sleeping tonight so I can get out for a swim.
Best of luck with your training. Until next time...
Update: It’s now 11:00 PM and I’m home after my longest swim ever! (750m - not continuous yet of course, but pretty close with only a few breaks). I’m pretty sure I’m going to take a rest day tomorrow. Perhaps I can get my first stretching session of the year in.
Cheers.
Today I brought Alexander (my 18 month old) to the doctor’s office after he has had a fever off and on for 4 days and it turns out he has bronchitis again. It’s too bad, it always breaks your heart to see your baby sick.
I managed to get a 30 min bike in on my trainer and a 15 min slow jog on the treadmill while he was taking a nap. He’s been out for 2-1/2 hours now so he’s really getting some good rest which gives me some time to write this blog entry.
I’m lucky that I just started an unpaid leave a couple weeks ago from work so I can be here for him while he is getting better. I guess I didn’t mention my leave in any of my other posts; I’m taking around 6 weeks off my work to really focus on my health after the fatigue from my MS was getting to be a bit much to deal with.
The working out will really help to get my spirits up, and it nice to be able to crash out for a couple of hours after if I need to.
Until next time.
Today I decided to do a light combo workout of biking on the spin bike and jogging on the treadmill. I was able to do around 25 min on the spin bike with little to no tension followed by about 15 min on the treadmill. I was hoping I would simulate how my legs felt after the bike at the try-a-tri last year when I started the run, but with such little resistance it didn’t feel bad when I started the run.
So I was happy my wife Lori joined me for a workout today. She was on the elliptical while I was on the bike. It was her first workout since we did the triathlon as well. Lori is always awesome at the discipline of working out once she gets started, so I’m happy she’s back.
I ended up taking the day off yesterday since the last few nights I’ve been waking up with either a fully numb foot or arm (one of the symptoms of MS). I hadn’t actually felt that for a while so I figured it was my body telling me to take a break.
On another note, I emailed a swim coach about some semi-private lessons and I’m really excited about the possibility of finally working towards mastering the front crawl. He is out of the office for a couple days according to his email, so I’ll follow up in a couple of days. I’m not sure how much he would cost, but apparently he is one of the best coaches in the country. I figure, it’s probably worth the bit of extra money to learn the right way from the best than to get advice and have to work to correct it for years after. Stay tuned on this one...