Quarterly update :)
Two months later, a few changes, new challengers, new accomplishments.
After the Beast I have been less focused on running and more on building strength. I certainly have a weakness to address. Not just upper body, but legs as well. I think I have strong legs, but with spasticity, I feel like I have to work them harder nonetheless. Weight carrying uses different muscles than running or soccer...
Also completed two additional obstacle races and a ruck march. I inspired a few people at work and we put in a ten person team to the Rugged Maniac and it was a blast. So happy I could bring people into my world! Here is a link to the video:
It was fun to enjoy the race, my teammates smiles, and not have to push it too hard, glad I have coworkers that are up to the challenge.
My best buddy at work also joined me in another race a few weeks later, we did this to push it harder and see what we were made of. It also went well, better even because my wife and son were there and we got a lot of great pictures.
This was also the first time I got to run a race using a GoPro, it was fun. But, first time... so I missed half of it, here is the 2nd half:
I was a little stronger for the monkey bars at this race, but it was a lot shorter than than the Beast! Nevertheless, this race was so much fun I can't wait to do it again in the spring.
Two other branches in the last two months for my fitness/health/well-being quests. First I started P90X to help out with my upper body strength, it is quite fun, but I now get so many of the jokes about Tony, he's such a dork/ass sometimes. But whatever, it works. I need it.
Second, I've started playing soccer again. Three weeks into the season and I finally scored, I am definitely performing better than my first week back, which was a disaster. This really does put the state of my MS in perspective. Fitness, strength, endurance - they have certainly suffered with my MS, but nothing compared to the balance, agility and coordination needed to play soccer at the level I'm accustomed to.
It really is not going that well, my legs are going lead like in the middle of the Beast, but after only 15 minutes or so. It makes it hard to be quick on my feet, the ball getting stuck under me, and wiping me out are hard to stomach. My fitness is probably the main thing saving me, I'm not tired, but my legs are dragging trying to recover on defense or push the point of attack. I'm just not used to it and reminds me one of the reasons I stopped playing in the first place - the demotivation a night of soccer has compared to a simple run. However, I actually scored last night, had more shots on target and felt more adept. It was just the legs.
My next steps for the MS are pretty clear to me. Ideally I will follow up with my neuro next week and sechedule an MRI. I want to see if there is any evidence of further inflammation. Then, if there is, I'll ask for the ACTH instead of the steroids for a number of reasons:
After the Beast I have been less focused on running and more on building strength. I certainly have a weakness to address. Not just upper body, but legs as well. I think I have strong legs, but with spasticity, I feel like I have to work them harder nonetheless. Weight carrying uses different muscles than running or soccer...
Also completed two additional obstacle races and a ruck march. I inspired a few people at work and we put in a ten person team to the Rugged Maniac and it was a blast. So happy I could bring people into my world! Here is a link to the video:
It was fun to enjoy the race, my teammates smiles, and not have to push it too hard, glad I have coworkers that are up to the challenge.
My best buddy at work also joined me in another race a few weeks later, we did this to push it harder and see what we were made of. It also went well, better even because my wife and son were there and we got a lot of great pictures.
This was also the first time I got to run a race using a GoPro, it was fun. But, first time... so I missed half of it, here is the 2nd half:
I was a little stronger for the monkey bars at this race, but it was a lot shorter than than the Beast! Nevertheless, this race was so much fun I can't wait to do it again in the spring.
Two other branches in the last two months for my fitness/health/well-being quests. First I started P90X to help out with my upper body strength, it is quite fun, but I now get so many of the jokes about Tony, he's such a dork/ass sometimes. But whatever, it works. I need it.
Second, I've started playing soccer again. Three weeks into the season and I finally scored, I am definitely performing better than my first week back, which was a disaster. This really does put the state of my MS in perspective. Fitness, strength, endurance - they have certainly suffered with my MS, but nothing compared to the balance, agility and coordination needed to play soccer at the level I'm accustomed to.
It really is not going that well, my legs are going lead like in the middle of the Beast, but after only 15 minutes or so. It makes it hard to be quick on my feet, the ball getting stuck under me, and wiping me out are hard to stomach. My fitness is probably the main thing saving me, I'm not tired, but my legs are dragging trying to recover on defense or push the point of attack. I'm just not used to it and reminds me one of the reasons I stopped playing in the first place - the demotivation a night of soccer has compared to a simple run. However, I actually scored last night, had more shots on target and felt more adept. It was just the legs.
My next steps for the MS are pretty clear to me. Ideally I will follow up with my neuro next week and sechedule an MRI. I want to see if there is any evidence of further inflammation. Then, if there is, I'll ask for the ACTH instead of the steroids for a number of reasons:
- Simple to self-administer compared to the infusion suite
- No annoying needle hanging out of my arm or necessity to miss work
- Hopefully the same results and then some, it is HGH after all..
Then we'll see. Going to try some more races, continue the momentum in the winter. Join me at Blizzard Blast in January!
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