Happy New Year 2019!

This isn't the post I hoped to write. This is, yet again, a failed attempt at finishing a parkrun unassisted. I have, over recent months, built up sufficient strength (in my right arm at least) to push 3 miles at walking pace. Big proviso, smooth ground and reasonably level route essential.  The slightest upward gradient and I'm painfully slow, slightest downhill and I speed ahead. On average, things even out and at least with the climbs  I burn a few calories! The problem comes when descents are too steep and my (usually faithful) all-terrain Trekinetic Mac McLaren requires reining in or spins wildly out of control.  A great waste of all that hard-earned gravitational potential energy. I have also learned the hard way not to touch my too-powerful hub brakes (tailspin risk) but use my gloved hand to pull back on the wheels.

New Year's Day is the only day of the year it is possible to complete two parkruns. So after volunteering as usual in Street, I joined the rest of our team and headed off to nearby Shepton Mallet for parkrun number two. I had understood the course to be suitable for chairs with tar paths and no significant hills. How wrong I was! In the photo I'm pushing slowly up a long gradual climb. The chance to catch up was never possible. Survived most of the first lap (which included pushing up a short steep off-road length and carefully negotiating a congested out-and-back stretch with four lanes of runners) before pulling off across the grass to avoid spinning out of control on a steep downhill and wiping out a whole lot of people! To my credit, I refused help and got round the uphill section unassisted.

Sorry to say this little mouse cried all New Year's Day afternoon and felt rather sad and sorry for herself.

What have I learned?
Research well. Wheelchair racing is a whole different kettle of fish to running. Look for smooth surfaces and pancake flat courses!

New Year's Resolution:
1. Buy or borrow a racing chair and practice regularly.

2. Use this horrible experience to encourage  parkrun to be more wheelchair friendly. It would be fantastic  to see a few chair-friendly events, with experienced volunteers and, maybe,  chairs to borrow.


I did try a Bromakin racing chair last year on the track at Exeter with the wonderful Sonya Ellis of South West Athletics Academy:

On the track, this was like running on Speed! Chair is so light, a quick push sends it whizzing round!* Hoping to be able to meet up with Sonya again in 2019. I've also plucked up the courage to contact the team at Bromakin Wheelchairs in Loughborough and hope to visit soon. Ebay is great, but it kinda needs to be right.

I only want to get round a 5k. Target first attempt 50 minutes, my old 10k PB. Maybe parkruns are too busy for chairs (which is great!) but we're lucky to have our local Yeovilton 5k race series. Yeovilton is a flat single lap course around Yeovilton airbase and, I'm reliably informed, popular with wheelchair athletes.  Got a suspicious feeling they'll be sub 20 ex-military guys, not 30 minute fun runners! I have also entered, along with John and Louise,  this year's Edinburgh Half Marathon. No need to be too impressed, it's generally downhill!

It's a big problem I think, there is no wheelchair equivalent of jogging or fun-running. We either see paralympian or Invictus athletes (typically super-fit spinal injury) or people with MS in electric chairs.

Why is this? Use it or lose it  #ThinkHand








*John had to break into a gentle run to keep up!

My plane

L'île de Pietra, L'île Rousse, Corsica

September came and went without a moment to pause and pen a few words.

First came 5 minutes of fame via an article I'd written being posted as lead item in the parkrun UK monthly e-newsletter and across social media:

http://blog.parkrun.com/uk/2018/09/11/parkrunning-with-multiple-sclerosis/

Joined the parkrun MS Facebook group and met some super lovely people still running all kinds of distances. No sooner had I finished chatting, tweeting (remember, neurologists tweet, friends facebook) and liked/replied to the last comment then we were off on holiday to Corsica for a whole week. Lucky, lucky us! Absolutely loved every minute! We travelled via Nice then Corsica Ferries to L'île Rousse on the north coast, rolled off the ferry along to the lovely and conveniently located Hôtel Santa Maria.

From our ground floor room terrace 

Having stayed along the coast in Calvi two years ago I remembered Corsica doesn't do accessible not to mention all the beaches there are to visit . So opted to take Mac McLaren the all terrain wheelchair powered by breakfast and cake rather than Sitzkrieg the scooter powered by Lithium ion battery. In preparation, decided some practice was called for so began short trips around Street. I've gained confidence and learned techniques for turning, slowing down and stopping (without throwing Mac into a tailspin). It isn't easy starting over and using arms instead of legs to get around. Managed fine on my own around L'île Rousse in general, although it was good to have John to handle difficult road crossings and kerbs. 

One thing we've learned is that, like an aircraft, only one pilot should be in control at any one time. Years ago, when I first met John as my flying instructor, I learned that the pilot says 'I have control' to take charge or 'you have control' to hand over to his co-pilot. In the US they say 'my plane' and 'your plane'.

So now when I say 'your plane' to handover to John or 'my plane' when he's not to interfere I smile to think how we had no idea all those years ago that we would be saying these words in this context today.

As it happens it's just as well I've become confident with Mac as Street parkrun has become difficult to negotiate with Sitzkrieg due to all the cracks that have opened in the clay from the summer.  I even set Strava every time I take Mac for a push now! It's another exercise opportunity and chance to get an aerobic workout!

Haha, according to this a whole 5k would take 1 hour 20 minutes. Which is why I will never attempt a parkrun on grass!

Hello to Ellie

Overdue update from our tandem world.

So what happened? At the beginning of June we drove down to Devon (fact: when heading west from home it's down and east is up. Why is that?) and collected our new Hase Pino Steps from the lovely Tom Pales aka Tom Freetrike:

https://www.freetrike.co.uk

Tom has an amazing business, combining his professional training as a physiotherapist with his love for the outdoors, especially cycling! Having  previously supplied my beautiful Hase recumbent trike Harriet for me we didn't hesitate to entrust him with ordering and assembling our new tandem.

And wow! What a tandem she is!  Took a bit of getting used to it must be said, especially manoeuvring round corners at slow speed (eg turning round in the road when you realise you've gone the wrong way). We've named her Ellie. She's grey, equipped with an amazing Shimano Steps electric motor and weighs rather a lot. Ellie the Electric Elephant! The recumbent seat is oh so comfortable and the front seat view as we whizz through the countryside is amazing! No more being stuck at the back. John and I are also sitting really close so conversation is easy and he can't pretend not to hear me when I tell him which way to go. The best thing is the motor is always there ready to kick in if we need it. And we do, more and more. It also means we can go faster which can be a lot of fun! Above all it enables us to go on slightly longer and more challenging rides with our tandem friends again.

What happened to Charlotte? I can report she's doing well with our friends Mark and Liz. If you look closely behind Ellie in the photo you might spot an uncharacteristically shy Charlotte lurking at the back.

We'd clocked up 4300 miles with Charlotte, here's to thousands more with Ellie.

Tail'walking' #loveparkrun

We're in Scotland on holiday, staying in Aberdour for the festival and Donkey Brae run. On Saturday we were parkrun tourists and visited the Beveridge Park (named after John's family*) in Kirkcaldy. The course is two laps of the track running around the park and, as I've brought Mac McLaren with me, I (somewhat naively) thought I'd give it a go....

The Beveridge Park, Kirkcaldy 

*Beveridge is a common family name in Fife 

So, at 9.30am** I managed to self-propel for maybe a couple of hundred metres before accepting more than a little bit of welcome help from one of the tailwalkers. We then turned the corner and started the ascent up Mount Beveridge. In theory the descent should have been easy, except that Mac (being a tail-dragger) has a habit of spinning out of control around corners or when attempting to brake. In the end I left steering to my assistant and concentrated on putting power in. John and Ali joined us as we completed the final lap. Fortunately, none of us had barcodes so the near hour it took is lost forever to historical record.

With tailwalker Sandie from Dunfermline 

**parkrun in Scotland starts at 9.30am in order to give everyone chance to recover from the indulgences of the night before.


Haha, next time it'll be a flat course, I'll take an assistant to steer, I'll wear gloves to avoid nasty blisters and just maybe I should one day invest in a real racing chair. Don't get me wrong, I've no desire to go fast, just get round parkrun without having to apologise to the tailwalker. But once completed, another run calls and before I know it I'll be a chair-parkrunner ever searching for my next PB..... #loveparkrun

Volunteering #loveparkrun

Crikey, no posts for over a month! The sun has been shining and we've been as busy as ever getting outside in the fresh air: cycling, swimming and volunteering at our (now 11 week old) Street parkrun.

#parkrun is a weekly 5k timed run, jog or walk around a park or similar public space away from roads. #parkruns take place every* Saturday morning at 9am throughout the year come rain or shine. Friendly, inclusive, everyone welcome and completely free to enter!

Originally started in the UK in 2004
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkrun
parkrun has spread around the world and to date about 4.5 million people have registered with the event.

To enter you register online
https://www.parkrun.org.uk/register/ 
and print off your personal unique barcode. Then simply turn up (don't forget your barcode!) at about 8.45am (in time to listen to the pre-run briefing) on Saturday morning at any parkrun location worldwide. At 9am the run will be started and off you go! As you reach the finish line after 16 minutes* (you're very fast and probably came first!), 26 minutes* (a highly respectable run time), 36 minutes* (running/jogging), 46 minutes* (a good fast walk, or walk/running) or 56 minutes* (walking steadily) your barcode and a team of volunteer timekeepers, barcode scanners record your name and time. In about an hour's time your phone will ping as a link to the results is received. Magic! 

*Note - Street parkrun is flat, others are more challenging so be prepared to add a few minutes for hills.

Well, not quite magic, it's all down to a team of volunteers who turn up every Saturday from about 8am and transform an ordinary park into a 5k course complete with start line, route markers, marshalls and finish funnel. Then there's the results processor to upload the timers and barcode scanners to a nifty bit of online parkrun software.

Street parkrun volunteers 

I'm in there somewhere 

As you probably know, I used to love getting out for a run, carried on (sort of) a few years post MS and badly missed it when I had to stop. I love to encourage others to run and for this reason was keen to get involved early on when I heard that our local Parish Council were hoping to establish a parkrun in Street. More selfishly, my son has also taken up running over the last year or so and if parkrun gets half of my DNA up and running for 9am every Saturday that's great!

Street parkrun

He's in there somewhere

 http://www.parkrun.org.uk/street/news/2018/06/25/street-parkrun-report-8-230618/





*extreme weather conditions (floods, hurricanes and blizzards....) excepted

Farewell Charlotte

Another beautiful Bank Holiday Monday, we are getting a bit too used to all this sunshine! Took Charlotte for a final gentle ride to Wells before she graduates to a more challenging life with our (considerably fitter and more adventurous) tandem friends Mark and Liz.

Bishop's Palace, Wells

with tandem pirates Rex and Hannah 

Meanwhile I am pleased to report that my right leg has returned to (almost) as it was earlier this year. All in all I found this rare relapse (sharp deterioration over days/weeks with some recovery) a remarkably positive experience. For one it made me rethink things and at last give in to the wonders of the electric motor. And I am incredibly grateful to have made such a good recovery.

We are due to collect Charlotte's replacement tomorrow, I will endeavour to post some photos soon.

Edinburgh Marathon revisited

As many of you know Edinburgh Marathon has very special memories for me. 13 years ago I entered John and myself to run to celebrate John's 50th birthday. Little did I know when I ran happily over the finish line in June 2005 that 6 months later I would be diagnosed with MS.

https://annoniemouse1970.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/2005-in-pre-ms-days.html?m=1

In addition to the 26.2 mile distance Edinburgh holds a concurrent relay race for teams of 4. It's a great idea as the course is flooded with fresh runners every 6.5 miles or so to inspire the tired marathoners on their way.

This year Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, her husband Richard and family/friends had decided to enter as a team and raise funds for the human rights charities who had supported Nazanin whilst in prison in Iran:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/runningfornazanin

Nazanin has been training by running around a courtyard in prison. Sadly, as we know, her release at Christmas didn't happen. Family and friends will run without her. If you can spare a few moments and a token donation to Amnesty Scotland and other charities the message will give support to Nazanin and boost media coverage. Amnesty and the other human rights charities will continue to use their resources to support Nazanin and many others unjustly imprisoned in Iran and worldwide.

This family's living nightmare puts my relatively minor discomfort of living with MS in perspective. Sometimes it does me good to escape my little MS world and think about other problems.