Running to defeat MS (symptoms)

I took quite a bit of time to put together my winter training schedule. I've developed a new role with my friends and training partners - that of trainer! What I have done is developed a plan to slowly boost cardio fitness while focusing on upper body strength. Still my weakness even after some big gains last year. We're doing stronglifts and Hal Higdon half-marathon training for the next 12 weeks. Week Start Date Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday (monday) Rest day Gym Day Run Day (mi) Gym Day Run Day Gym Day Long Day mileage totals %+ Notes 1 12/1/2014 REST Strength A 3 Strength B 3 Strength A 4 10 NA 2 12/8/2014 REST Strength B 3 Strength A 3 Strength B 4 10 0% 3 12/15/2014 REST Strength A 3 Strength B 3 Strength A 5 11 10% 4 12/22/2014 REST Strength B 3.5 Strength A 3.5 Strength B 5 12 9% 5 12/29/2014 REST Strength A 3.5 Strength B 3.5 Strength A 6 13 8% 6 1/5/2015 REST Strength B 3.5 Strength A 4 Strength B 5.2 12.7 -2% 1 mile warmup, 5k...

Past the halfway point in the year and it is turning into crunch time. I've done a lot of races this year, and my year is definitely backloaded with races. That means there are a ton more races left this year. I need to make sure everything is planned so I'm going to try to list them out. But first I want to look back at my races since the Blizzard Blast, training, and anything else that comes to mind. The toughest race of the year was the BoneFrog Challenge.  on May 17. 10 miles with 44 obstacles. And you can see, they were not easy obstacles. I was extremely proud to make it through the first few sets of monkey bar style obstacles, and I felt pretty good on the trails for the first half. In the second half though, I started to get a flare up. EDIT: Closing this thread on 12/15 to start over again. Too many races, too much training and I lost track of posting.

Mike's MuckFest MS Fundraising Page MuckFest MS Course and Obstacles Multiple Sclerosis National MS Society About me, and my reasons for running: As an active person my diagnosis with MS was extremely difficult. Some of my friends may remember how much I struggled to find answers for why I suddenly could not run and kick a soccer ball at the same time. I would literally fall over in the middle of the field. I remember one of the refs who we would often see, look over at me on the bench and ask, 'Are you injured?'. I think I was too tired to do other than just nod. Middle of the game, my eyes would go all blurry and it was a struggle to sit up straight. After a few months of testing and questioning I was diagnosed conclusively with MS by way of MRI and a couple of spinal taps. The good news was that a week of steroids had pushed back the inflammation in my brain so that I was nearly back to normal - about 95%! It is still a continual struggle agains...

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 l...

spartan beast, killington, vt - 2013 getting here I started training for this after the MS Muck Ruckus event in April 2013. That was my first obstacle course, 5 miles, 12 obstacles if I remember correctly. I was bitten by the bug, I love running, but this took it to a whole new level for me. It required athletic ability, balance, strength, endurance - everything I want to improve within myself. I'm fortunate to have a deep, real motivation  to push myself and challenge myself. motivation When I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) 7 years ago I had two conflicting emotions within myself. On one hand, cold fear for the potential course the disease could take by destroying my ability to move. But also a glowing ember of motivation to build myself up higher and higher so no matter what the disease took from me - I would always have more than it eroded. Over the past two years the ember turned to a flame. My motivation has been on a high, building up through 5k's...

I'm starting to get a little nervous, haven't felt this in any of my other races because I knew that I was prepared. I am hoping that I'm perfectly prepared, but I wish I was stronger, could run uphill better and all that! I'm nervous I'll fail some obstacles and just get wiped out doing 30 burpees each time. Especially if they enforce the hardest form of burpee... My training is going pretty well, I am definitely stronger and if I can lose 5 more pounds before race day I will be in really good shape. Two vacations in the last month have slowed down my progress a little bit. And today I have a corporate league softball semi-final game so I won't be able to get in my planned double session. Both of the session look extremely challenging. 60 minute trail run with 10/15/25/30/35 reps of curls/shoulder press/squat with a rock from the woods. Followed by what looks like an intense lower bod workout with dumbbells/squats and box jumps. It's going to be hard,...

The theme for the past few weeks has been adding strength training days and even strength training intervals to my runs. The goal remains the same - Killington Spartan Beast. Every bit of preparation will help in that gauntlet. I've moved to 90% or more of trail running and what a change it has been! Trail running frees my soul from cars as well! Wow, who would have thought it would be so amazing to get off the roads, but it has been. I've also noted that trail running is a bit harder, and some trails are actually MUCH harder. My nearest loop is the local cross country course here, it is about 2.5 miles, can be run as a 3 mile loop or out and back for 5 miles. Here is an example: That one is fairly flat and mainly fire roads, some gravel and old roads too. A couple hills in one section, but nothing major. That leads me to a run I consider perhaps my hardest ever - in a different way than the half-marathon was. This was just brutal, add in bugs and the threat of getting ...

Sometimes a lot happens between posts. This is one of those times. Here are the highlights: new MS medicine starting soon - Tecfidera, no more shots! new goal race for the year! new training program and app! FUN new gadgets, shoes, and stuff!! Clearly the most important thing for this blog is my new prescription for  Tecfidera  - which is one of the new breed of MS drugs which are taken orally and no longer require injections. I've been suffering from shot fatigue for more than year - really ever since stopping  Rebif . I was on  Avonex  for a year, which was a nice change from 3 times/week to once per week injection. However, I had a hard time sticking with it. Which is odd because IM (intra-muscular) shots really hurt a lot less than SC (sub-cutaneous) shots overall. But I couldn't get past the side effects, fever and stiffness. When Tecfidera came out I knew I would switch some day. My neighbor was a marketing director for the drug and had been fillin...

I can finally say that it feels normal to be running outside again. Seems like the days of starting at stupid numbers on a treadmill are far behind me, and it is a good feeling. Mixing it up more with trail, road and track this year already - it is such a good feeling. Still not feeling comfortable in any shoes - I guess that is not surprising. Even when I am running I am not comfortable in any shoes. In fact, my feet feel the worst lying in bed. So, it is just the MS, kinda doesn't matter about the shoes. But that won't stop me from finding the most comfortable shoe for me... After talking to a friend and runner I am seriously considering the Hoka One One's. They are kinda crazy out there as far as shoes are concerned... Massive cushioning and unapologetic about it. This may be better for me than my not quite successful attempts to minimalize. My greatest success was in my Brooks Adrenalines last year, so either I was not able to, or just couldn't fully convert...

First race of the season was so much fun. Raised nearly $2100 for MS. A cause obviously near to my heart. Thanks to my wife, family, friends for the support and making it a blast! Can't wait until next year.

Yeah it has been a while. I suppose that is a good thing, I tend to think about my blog when things are not going well. Recently as far as running and working out - they have been. I've been going at a steady clip of 3 runs 2-3 lifting sessions per week for a good 6 weeks now. I feel great except a little sore hip flexors today. I will have to work that out on a foam roller and stretch a bunch. Some news on the gadget front - I have been playing Zombies, Run! on my iphone while running recently. Though I am starved for some nice weather - I have managed to get in quite a few outdoor runs. Listening to the story unfold is pretty fun and engrossing. I feel like I am really part of the game. It has cool statistics and you gather items you can user later to build your base. Perfect for a gamer/runner like me! Looking forward to Zombies, Run! 2 which is due out this month. Averaging about 12 miles per week which is nice - but not comfortable in any of my running shoes at the momen...

I have been back at running for about two weeks now. I am starting slowly, today, I clocked in at 4.01 miles, my longest run since December. But there is a lot to catch up on, so here goes. The orthopedic surgeon said that I have some osteo-arthritis in my knees. But didn't think that was the root cause of my knee pain, there is no reason to believe it hasn't been there for a while. They normally form after minor injury recoveries, which is reasonable from a lifetime of soccer with no major knee injuries. He also noted my right patela is out of alignment. Now, there we go, that makes sense. I've always noticed my right arm tends to go out of the path. Not to mention I have felt out of alignment since going to see the chiropractor. Well, great, but how to solve it. I am taking a dual approach. Seeing a Physical Therapist twice a week, for strengthening my balance, some taping and stretching, as well as ultra-sound on my knees. Also I have a running coach at my gym now,...

My last run was Friday 12/7. Only 3 miles after around a week of taking it easy... On that Sunday the 9th my knee pain prevented me from going 200 yds of my 6.5 mile training run. Ugh. Hopefully only a minor setback though, right? I tried running again today after two weeks of being free from knee pain and I had to stop - again. This time after a half mile. My knee is clicking, at first I thought it was my shoelace or something - but it definitely is not. It is time to seek professional advice. This is really disheartening and I just turned 40! Salt in the wounds... Well anyway, as a late birthday present I was able to secure a Dr's appointment with a sports medicine doc, a local orthopedic surgeon tomorrow! Yay! I'm so glad I don't have to wait a month to try to get some answers. This certainly means I will need more time before running again which is terrible news. But I have to reaffirm to myself that my goal is to run for life, not just to train for Boston in Apri...

It has been killing me lately that I have not reached my goals for weekly mileage, speed training, etc. But, I do have to listen to my body and it is telling me to slow down. Fortunately the cool program at runcoach.com was able to adapt and adjust my training plan to suit where I am right now with my running. I toned down my weekly mileage from 26 to 16, which is accurate. I turned off the speed work at the track and added an easy run instead of a threshold run each week. Now: Sunday - long run Monday - off Tuesday - pace run Wednesday - cross/swim Thursday - easy run Friday - easy run Saturday - cross This looks great it is exactly what I needed to preserve my motivation and dynamically modify my routine. I am going to aim for slowly increasing my mileage once again. And, even more important, I am excited again! Instead of a mega speed workout at the track today, which I might have skipped/avoided I now .75 warm up  .75 cool down and an uptempo 3 m...

It is taking longer than I thought. I don't know what happened between my great time in the half-marathon and trying to up my mileage to prepare for a marathon. I guess I knew it would be hard, but my body seems to be letting me down. I have probably tried to move too fast in adding speed work. I am slowing down and trying to run about 75-80% of my planned mileage starting today. Looks like my schedule has a light week this week, so I will follow it and see how I feel for my long run on Sunday. This past Sunday was the first time I've missed doing any miles on Sunday and hopefully represents just a single low point on my road to recovery! 4 miles today, ran in my Newtons. Probably shouldn't have changed my shoes :( my hip flexors were getting sore at the end, but not too bad. My right foot went numb though, felt like I only had a club for a foot. I don't remember that feeling since my first ever 5k a few years ago which I didn't train for at all. Sucked, I had t...

Listening to my body, felt all out of whack last week, I was probably running too fast, moving to my new Newtons too fast, running too far, not rested enough... or something. But my body was telling me it didn't feel good so it was really hard but I took a week off! Also at some point last week I ran out of one of my meds for a couple days. I have since refilled it and one of my trouble spots - sore hips on waking up, is gone. The whole experience left me feeling out of balance, like one foot was striking harder than the other, one hip was more sore, opposite knee was sore... So I started to go to a Chiropractor this week. Couple visits, a nice adjustment to my neck, and going over the X-Rays. I'm not sure I buy this 100% but I am giving it a shot. The X-Rays showed my lumbar spine was twisted, rotated slightly and off center. My cervical spine was straight, none of the expected curve - maybe from too much computer time. And some temperature measuring devices looking for diff...