MSers In Training 2011

[AMFADVENTURES]

Teresa,

Congratulations, etch another marathon in the belt, completing 8 marathons is awesome! Got anything else in the works this year? Well done Teresa, really, really well done!

AMF

[Teresa26.2]

Did my first post marathon run tonight. 4.5 miles around the neighborhood.

My next goal is the Napa Valley Marathon on March 6th.

Great training, all!

[AMFADVENTURES]

1/21/2011

Getting closer, got 5 hours this week, 1 hour short of schedule. Seems to have a lot to do with getting a routine down, hopefully I’ll make 6.5 next week. The indoor bike’s not my favorite either Marina.

Speaking of making goals, my favorite Sports Medicine Journal is out with their version of how to make your goals during these cold, dark winter days. Be sure to check out the column on the health benefits of chocolate too! I confess, I frequently have a chocolate milk for my post ride recovery drink. Come to think of it, we’ve been known to ride 30 or 40 miles just to get a chocolate shake, then 30 or 40 miles back!
http://www.acsm.org/AM/Template.cfm?...ONTENTID=15550

Jenn, look forward to hearing how your training goes. Sue, “never been in a gym before”??? That should offer a refreshing perspective! Are you getting any snow boarding in? Jenn, glad you're back, hope things are looking up.

Teresa, my SIL did the PF Chang marathon in Phoenix last Sun. He missed qualifying for Boston by less than 10 minutes. That was almost an hour better than he did last year when he went out way too fast, way too early. 30,000 runners including the ½, took longer to get out of the parking lot and home than to do the race!!!!!!!

AMF

[Teresa26.2]

Did my first long run again today...10 miles...felt great!

AMF--Qualifying for Boston is my DREAM...Right now I'm focusing on small chunks of time.

[Marinadca]

I finally went to the complex gym to check out our stationary bike options. They had recumbent bikes and these Schwinn Air Dyne things, upright stationary bike, with a big airwheel and moving arms (This thing, I looked it up because I'd not seen anything like it before..http://www.schwinnfitness.com/schwin...rcise+Bike.jsp)

I did 5 miles in about 25 minutes and it felt a lot like biking, except for the arm movements of course. A big bonus was the wheel in the front was blowing nice air right in my face, and that was just what I needed.

I wonder if I should be using this thing or the recumbent bike?

[AMFADVENTURES]

Yahoo!!!

We’re in, my buddy and I have got a really good reason to train now. There’s a ride in Colorado that anybody who considers himself or herself a serious recreational cyclist just has to try at least once before he turns in his cleats. It’s the “Triple Bypass” and I just got my acceptance notice. It’s only 1 day but it covers 122 miles over 3 mountain passes for almost 10,000 feet of ascent! Oh boy, the serious training starts now, I really got to get my climbing legs back, and more, much, much more.

Marina, I’d stick with the machine that feels the most like your bike, sounds like the Aerodyne. Besides, 5 miles on the Aerodyne with the moving arms might translate to 7.5 on the bike come spring! Good job!

Keep on keeping on everybody, the Continental Divide, MS 150’s, many Marathons and The Triple Bypass are calling!

AMF

[AMFADVENTURES]

A mid Winters Tryst

Got 7 hours this week, 5 hours indoors and 2 hours outside on the bike today.

What a rare interlude there was today. Temperatures in the mid 60’s, cloudless skies, the smell of warmth in the air, the feel of sunlight on the skin, all too tempting to ignore. It was a mid winter tryst, an irresistible affair with a beautiful day and it lasted 2 amorous hours. Everyone was out, the joggers, the bikers, the dogs with their walkers, the moms with their baby carriages, the ardent old couples walking hand in hand on the trail. I only hope it will carry me through the rest of the winter I know lies ahead.

AMF

[ActiveMSers]

Okay, I'm chiming in, too. Even though temps are supposed to drop to -3 in Albuquerque tomorrow, I'm keeping up my 2-hour daily workouts... inside. I'm training for my first ride on the bike since the summer of 2009. My goal: late summer 2011. I'll be working out on my exercise cycle to build up to 1 hour of working the legs only (the bike has arm resistance, too) with minimal rest. I'll post my progress here!

[AMFADVENTURES]

2/2/2011

Dave,
What, you guys are enjoying a balmy –3 degrees while up here we’re in the negative double digits? Seriously, welcome aboard Dave, it will be interesting to hear how your bike training goes and your ride later this summer, good luck.

I got 2 hours outside on the bike on Sunday just as temps started dropping but haven’t been on a bike or trainer since. Shoveled snow on Monday in the –7 degree’s. The day I can shovel snow and still get on a bike will be the day I declare myself cured. I can definitely say I’m not there yet. But this is a rest week for me anyway, I only need 2 more hours before Saturday.

BTW Sue, here’s another perspective on that “feeling silly” thing when you’re training indoors looking out the window. On Tuesday I was doing a little elliptical work looking out the window on the icy roads and below zero temps and feeling pretty smug when a guy on some kind of cross bike goes riding down the sidewalk. It completely deflated me, I thought I was doing pretty good just to get to the club under those conditions but this guy was riding his bike in that stuff. It sure put a different spin on that whole "tough enough” thing.

Hoping for an early spring,

AMF

[AMFADVENTURES]

2/5/2011

Only managed 3 hours on the trainer last week, just too much snow to shovel. Now seems like I’ve contracted the crud everybody else has been affected with for the last month or so. A little unsure what this week might hold.

Looking forward to better days,

AMF

[ActiveMSers]

I managed 30 minutes on the exercise bike, at an average of 11 mph, without rest. I only used the arms a couple times to goose the heart rate (I have a Schwinn Airdyne type of bike). It was a fun 5.5-mile cruise through the scenery of my home office.

A year ago I thought the exercise bike I was riding at the gym was broken since the pedals wouldn't turn... until my wife hopped on and started zipping along. Turns out I didn't have the strength to pedal one stroke. Heck, I'll take 30 minutes!

[AMFADVENTURES]

Back in the saddle

Well, really couldn’t breathe very well until yesterday because of the crud I contracted, but between then and today I did manage 1.5 hours on the trainer. If shoveling snow counts, then maybe you could push it to about 3.5 hours for the week. Regardless, it leaves me pretty far behind on my training schedule. However, I’ve still got a lot of time and my wish for an early spring may come true. The weather girl says we’re going to be approaching the low 60’s over the next 4 or 5 days so if some of this snow melts, I hope to be outside on the bike again real soon. My goal of 8 hours/week by the end of February is looking iffy but we’ll see.

Point taken Sue, I really do need a winter sport. I did get the cross-country skis out but have yet to strap them on. It was gawd awful cold here. I will keep trying though.

Later all,

[AMFADVENTURES]

In early March of last year I performed a very rudimentary self-evaluation WRT the state of my MS. Granted it was highly subjective (unlike the detailed empirical evaluations Dave performs) but I thought that was exactly what I wanted. Besides, my training log combined with cycling computers and heart rate monitors would provide empirical data as I progressed. At the end of the cycling season, and again just now, I reviewed my earlier evaluation and the empirical data.

As anyone who followed this thread at all last year will know, everyone who participated saw remarkable improvement in the empirical data like daily/weekly miles ridden, speed and if they used a heart rate monitor, cardiovascular function.

But on review of the more subjective self-evaluation, I found the results much less dramatic. The most notable improvements were in the area of fatigue reduction and possibly non-specific cognitive function. There was moderate improvement in strength, no improvement in balance and a slight increase in lower leg spasticity. I wish I had started doing this 7 or 8 years ago when I first began cycling seriously. I think the comparisons of the subjective evaluations would be very interesting, maybe even enlightening.

I'll be performing this self-evaluation again in the very near future and I think I'll add a column to my training log to record notable subjective data.

AMF

[ActiveMSers]

Yesterday I got in 40 minutes on the exercise bike, doing 7 miles. That really hosed my legs for a couple hours, but it felt good. Managed a good clip until the last ten minutes or so, when getting to 10 mph was a challenge....

[Marinadca]

Well, its finally gotten warm enough to get out of the bike. Really starting to doubt my ability to do the right, but I suppose thats to be expected the first time out.

Steve keeps mentioning that I cannot do the ride on my current bike. I am not sure. I am willing to get something nicer and new, but now I am completely confused at to what.

I have a hybrid type bike (this brand and type - http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/....w/7339/44538/ ). I have some trouble with the shifting, but who knows if its me of the bike? My husband thinks that I need a different *type* of bike for the ride.

I am quite confused with all the different types and don't really know where to start. I am kind of scared of those racer looking bikes.... but I can see the point that my bike's weight and fat tires with the thick nubs might be forcing me to exert more effort than needed.

Any advice on where to begin my research?