Photos from Saturday July 10 Hills Hills and More Hills

The were numerous daunting hills and some very scenics views as well, and some old covered bridges.

After these mamoth hill we get to the top only to find it goes higher yet.

This is some of us took a little post race dip or squat. It was a shallow fast moving, and COLD, river.

This is a different set of hills than the previous shot, and most unfortunately they all came after the halfway point.

I was not hit with a $5 fine even though I broke the speed limit - hopefully.

Quote of the day: " Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty." - John Ruskin

Be your own doctor

I didn't exactly ask my doctor if it was a good idea, or even if it was okay, to run a marathon. I brought a running book I was reading at the time (I have learned to always bring a book to the doctor and to the DMV!), he noticed it and commented on it and looked a little perplexed and a littled worried. I simply said, "It's like me running after my little kids, only I keep going, and going, and going." I also commented about how I had asked if I could physical activity before I had it implanted and the only thing I was to avoid were hard blows to the head (When would this ever be a good thing I thought but did keep my mouth shut). It was obvious he had never even given an ounce of thought to some one running a marathon with a DBS. He considered it and said something about the constant jarring with each step. My reply was, "it is the same as walking, only faster." Well, not really but he saw my point, if it was not going to withstand this then what would be the limitations, no jumping?

Ironically, one of my impulse generators (battery pack) did break later that year but 3 weeks after I had completed the marathon! Maybe it couldn't stand the inactivity?

We are just getting into the meat of our training, an 18-mile long run this week and the first 20-miler next week. And the midweek workouts are getting tougher too, yesterday was 8 400 meter runs at a 1:22 pace. This is the first speed workout where I did more repeats over my time than under, and it was still brutal.

Quote of the day: "The unfortunate thing about this world is that food habits are so much easier to give up than bad ones." William Somerset Maugham

Core workouts

It is great running weather here in MI this week, very cool with only scattered sprinkles of rain. I am loving it but not our workouts. On Tuesday we did more of the same hill, but 12 times this week, and today we did 30 minutes of core workout + 12 200's.

The core workout is interesting, I had never done these extensively, and especially as part of a marathon training. I think they are helping a lot but what I really need is calf workouts. That is were I am feeling the pain after 20+ miles and only a few to go, wishing I had never taken up running. I did buy some funny compression socks that I will finally get to try this weekend, as we are running 16 miles Saturday.

Started reading Always Looking Up by Micheal J.Fox, looking forward to it since I loved his first one, Lucky Man. I will let you know how it is, that is if I finish it before the marathon! I am more of a book on CD type of person so I am not sure how I will do with an actual book.

Quote of the day: "Life is short... running makes it seem longer."-Baron Hansen

The early years with dystonia

When I first got diagnosed with dystonia, after all of confusion of "What is going on with my body?" and the realization that this disorder wasn't going to kill me, I got more than a little depressed. I had this strange and wacky ailment but the good news is it won't kill me, or is that the bad news. Luckily it was not long between the gradual onset and the diagnosis. For the early 1990's it was very quick, in fact my dystonia may have still been developing.

I went through the normal thoughts that I was crazy. I remember vividly one car ride where I just said "No, I am insane, there is something physically wrong with me." (which didn't explain why I was talking to myself but anyways . . ) After that I went all out to figure what was wrong, no more guessing if I was nuts.

I will go into my Botox dramas later but by 1994 I became immune to botulinum toxin type A so I escalated another step on the dystonia (Spasmodic Torticollis) treatment chart, which at that time was up to Selective Denervation. I am not sure how often this is done now if at all.

After my first denervation surgery in Montreal I still had some movement and my voice was unchanged but the greatest thing was my pain was somehow eliminated (I don't know how and why and would now recommend DBS over Selective Denervation but that was an option in 1995). Without the constant pain and agony, I could now think clearly for the first time in over 5 years. And as I thought I realized my dystonia wasn't affecting me as much as it was affecting everyone who saw me. So therefore I was affected indirectly, a somewhat of a social outcast. I was a sane person trapped in an insane body. But the view nice! It was truly bizarre seeing how people reacted when meeting me or even seeing me in a store.

After some painful lessons and lonely times I had to accept that I wasn't normal and I would have to change my thinking and behavioral patterns to accomodate. I bought a modest house and got a dog and was all set for a life of bachelorhood. When I finally learned to like myself and be content with that - then she came along.

to be continued. . .

Quote of the day: "The first step to getting the things what you want out of life is this: decide what you want" - Ben Stein

Core workout

In my last entry I said hiccups and teeth chattering were early signs of my dystonia. I had both and they seem like spasms to me but not even the best dystonia doctor in the world would have diagnosed me as having dystonia back then. So even if you get the hiccups once a week or more, like I did, I would hold off on the worry until your head moves so much you're scared to see a barber. Why worry about something that will either happen or it won't but there is nothing you can do to stop it?

We started our core training this week and my tummy still hurts. There were about forty exercises written on a piece of paper and I saw one word I recognized as an exercise - pushups, the rest were in some sort of code or weird name that Coach Woj had made up like Superman, bridge, butt kick (not what you'd think but it did kick my butt!). We did 45 minutes of these and then started our normal workout. I tried to remember a few of the exercises so I could practice some since I was so bad at them. All that seemede to come back to me were the easy ones and the situps and pushups. So I did a couple quick sets of situps.

This Saturday was also the big dance recital for our girls. The oldest did three dances, each with about 5 other girls while the youngest only had 1 routine but was only dancing with 1 other little girl. They were adorable! Our 4-year-old looked absolutely tiny up on that big stage, their was a collective, "aaaw" from the crowd as the curtain rose.

This week Friday is the day I have been waiting for for about six weeks. I go to get my DBS settings checked and more importantly will get to ask about a possible infection. The lead on my left side is either infected or much closer to the surface than I'd prefer. I am skinny but they got the right one in fairly adequately. Behind my ear there is abou an inch where it feels like I am touching a rubber coated wire, it is that close to the surface.

Quote of the day: "Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use." - Wendell Johnson

I have done 5 marathons now and if you have ever done one you know how your body just craves rest afterward. Well, unfortunately I don't get to do that. I just finished the Bayshore marathon in May and now I am staring at another 18 weeks of training. It looks daunting! As daunting as the thought of running 26.2 miles sounds to a non-runner. I mean I just completed this process and now I have to do it all AGAIN!?!

The speed work and the hills are tough but the long runs are mentally tough. So I started out slow and easy Monday morning going 10 at a nice easy pace. Since I got calf cramps in past marathons including Bayshore I want to specifically address that issue so I am wearing some compression socks I got from the hospital after my most recent surgery. I have no idea why I kept them but now I am glad I did. You can buy some calf sleeves they're called but I wanted to do a little test first. So I took off for my first 10 mile run in what felt like pantyhose. I saw a friend of mine 5 miles in and much to my surprise she didn't laugh or even comment on them, not that I would have cared, I had just finished a very hilly stretch and was glad to be going downhill finally. First 10 miler in the books.

I was asked this week if my kids had dystonia. That was an issue for us, especially since my wife also has dystonia. My thoughts on this are: since I have primary dystonia and she has secondary dystonia it would be the same odds as me having kids with any "normal" woman (the quotes purely hypothetical since I know there is such thing as a normal woman! kidding, Robyn, what are you doing with that . . . OUCH!) Where was I, oh yeah, her reply is if they get dystonia who better to know how to help them deal with it than 2 parents with it also. As yuo can tell my wife is way smarter and deeper than me. (or is it I?) To answer the question - no. They are 4 and 6 now and show no signs of any dystonia yet. And believe me I look and I am sure Robyn does as the same. Every once in a while I will watch them closely to see if notice any hint that they might. For instance, when I was 6 I had the hiccups much more than other kids and when I was cold I would shiver to the point my teeth would chatter.

Quote of the day: "Live as if you'll die tomorrow, learn is if you'll live forever." - Gandhi

Gruelling workout

My training group runs meets at 6:30 PM and I got there at 5:30 after moving some cement from my cousins house yesterday so I decided to do a warmup lap around the lake, about 4.32 miles, or so I am told by all the Garmin wearers of my group. This item has becoming more of a runner's accessory than the iPod. A watch that tells you exactly how far you have gone and the time you did it in, some even give you maps that help you find your way home. Very handy, will have to look into getting one.

Then the actually training started, we were to start with a 2-mile jog to the park followed by 4-8 laps up a hill and then the same 2 mile jog back to the meeting place. This 2-mile jog to get there was easy until we hit the last half mile, which was all up hill, a slow incline that just kept going up. We did a few running stretches or exercises really because as you will find out I abhor stretching, more on that later. Now time for the real workout, a decent sized hill not too long but pretty steep, a great sledding hill in the winter. Coach wants us to run for about 50 yards to the hill and be near full speed as we hit the hill and hit the hill with everything we have and then coast along the top and down and start again (I will take my camera next time as I hear we will be doing this one quite often this summer). After 8 of the I was about ready to puke and we sill had to get back, and better yet I had to carry the water jug (those gatorade size jugs football teams throw over a coach's head) home for a comment I made about ice cream during the exercises. At least they emptied it first! I jogged back the 2 miles with that jug over one shoulder and in front of me and over the other shoulder, switching when I got sore. It wasn't that heavy but quite awkward to carry while jogging. They joked that I was the mobile aid station and asked for a drink. I told them they would have to get their drinks at the bar just like everyone else. Many of our crew like to hit a local brewery after the workouts.

I got home and I still had to empty the cement chunks out of my car and walk the dogs. What took me 20 minutes to put into the car, took me twice that to remove from the car. It is for a project for my backyard, we are trying to alleviate some of the dampness way in the back. The dogs were so pent up by now that I gave up after a quarter mile and just let the leashes go and ran along side of them. They know the only purpose of the leash is to keep me with four feet of them. The pull the leash taught and drag me down the usual route unless there is something interesting to smell. Last time I weighed them JoJo, a German Shepherd, was 63 pounds and Clancy, a Kelpie/shepherd mix, was 56 pounds, so 120 pounds of dog that sometimes wants to go 2 directions at once, or worse if JoJo smells a rabbit or squirrel she will go full bore after it and Clancy will freeze in the middle of the sidewalk. I usually end up trip over Clancy and jerking both dogs by the neck back to me, 1 from each direction. It is always important that I watch and see the rabbits and squirrels before JoJo and the small dogs before Clancy (he hates yappers as much as I do!)

Quote of the day: The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it. -- Anonymous

Hello

Hi, I am Brian Stephenson and over the next few weeks in months I hope you will follow along as I train for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 11, 2009. That seems a long way away now but the summer will fly by and before you know it the race will be right around the corner.

I have a lovely wife, Robyn, and two gorgeous daughters, Ellie and Amber you will hear me speak of often in the coming months. I will insert personal battles we have faced and some we still face everyday thoughout future entries.

Fall marathons are much more fun to train for than spring marathons. Since it takes a good 4-5 months to properly train for a marathon spring marathons have you doing much of your training in the winter, and Michigan winters build hearty marathon runners! It is essential that you find a group to run with or else it is way to easy to skip a 15 mile run when it is 10 degrees outside with a windchill hovering around zero. I have a marathon coming next week in Traverse City that I have been training for since the first of the year through some mighty cold and snowy days, let's hope it all pays off. I plan on taking a month off and start training again for Chicago.

I have some unconventional training methods at times, like running 12 miles in boots this winter, I hope to run barefoot several times (this would be on grass, I said I was unconventenal not insane!). This is one thing dystonia has taught me, be flexible and allow yourself some lattitude. Whether this means taking a little longer to accomplish some tasks or coming up with a completely different way to do a normal activity.

Quote of the day: "This pain is only temporary, quitting stays with you forever." - Lance Armstrong.