OK, everyone seems to be doing a 2008 year in review, so here’s mine.

I fitness walked 838 miles , which is way down from the almost 1,000 miles I walked in 2007 and more than 1,200 miles I walked in 2006. Most of that decline was planned, because I wanted to spend more time cross training in the gym ( which, by the way hasn’t worked out too well). My iffy health was probably a factor as well.

I completed 3 races in 2008…. the operative word here is “completed”. Not a lot of races , but they were all very unique and I’m grateful I had the opportunity to do them …and FINISH them. I walked 26.2 miles at the Maratona di Roma in Italy in March, followed by my very first 5K race at the San Francisco Marathon in August , then 2 weeks later my first nighttime half marathon up the side of a mountain in the middle of area 51 in the Nevada desert. The desert walk was by far the most difficult half marathon Ive ever done ( 13 miles uphill). Unfortunately I didn’t PR any of these races, but then again, I didn’t train very hard for any of them either. And for the second year in a row, thanks to my lungs, I had to back out of a prepaid, non-refundable trip and race, which ironically , I did train very hard for. Maybe too hard.

Speaking of stupid lungs, 2008 saw me in prison 5 times, for a record of 33 days spent behind bars in just one year. In other medical news; I completed 2-one year long asthma research studies, I stopped taking Xolair injections, I stopped taking my daily maintenance dose of prednisone , and for the first time in three years, saw a decline in my average FEV1, which is now below 40%.

I have plans for only one or two races this year, a full marathon and possibly a half marathon. Ive mentioned doing the Rome marathon several times , but there’s a possibility that I may do another marathon just 4 weeks after the Rome marathon. This will be the first time Ive contemplated doing 2 full marathons back to back ( YUP..Im insane). I’m keeping a lid on the details for that 2nd marathon until I know for sure ( hopefully within the next few weeks). As for the half marathon, my choices are the SF marathon, The US Half ( in San Francisco a well), Seattle marathon or possibly a marathon in Florence (Firenze) or Rome again. In addition, I hope to do another one of Dave Mc Governs Racwalking clinics.

Aside from the Rome marathon in March, I hope to return to Italy again in the fall just to tour the country. Back here at home, I hope to extend my involvement in the asthma research and education field.

I guess my biggest hope, is to spend less time in the hospital, and more time enjoying the little things that most people take for granted.

Salute! manufacturer vytorin

That last flare up was a bit too close for comfort. With the speed at which my PF’s and sats were dropping, I’m really lucky I didn’t crash and burn. On Monday afternoon I finally turned the corner and now I think I’m out of the danger zone. I have a much better handle on my symptoms now and I’m breathing a lot easier. Still a little breathless on exertion, but not wheezing as much and my PF’s are starting to climb back up.

Don’t know if it was a delayed response to that 10 miler or what, but I hate it when my lungs start clamping down really fast and there’s nothing that I can do except wait and see. It’s always nerve racking because there’s always that uncertainty and unpredictability to contend with. I guess all you can really do is be proactive, follow your instincts along with your care plan , and hope for the best. You’d think that after dealing with situations like this for more than 50 years, that it would get easier, but it really doesn’t.

Today, I went back out and did a 4 miler to see if I could handle it. ( Yup, I’m crazier than #$*^%.) Hopefully, there wont be a repeat of Sunday evenings performance;-) .
As far as the future goes of walking marathons , I’m still on the fence. Not only am I dealing with my lungs, but now I’m also having pretty significant muscle and joint problems , for which I’m supposed to see a Sports Medicine doc and a Neurologist next week. Hopefully they can shed some light on why Ive been having so much pain.

Eventually I’m going to have face the reality that there’s a limit to my physical abilities. I might have to cut back to doing half marathons instead of full ones.

Today I did my first 11 miler (actually 10.8) of this training session and I think it went pretty well. I did a combination of regular walking and slow racewalking , finishing in just under 3 hours , which is just about right for this distance on a slow walk.
My body has become so conditioned to walking long distances, that even when I’m more short of breath than usual, I can still knock out a 10+ mile walk. I become so focused on what I’m doing, that having somewhat labored breathing doesn’t seem to bother me. Its not so much the dyspnea that slows me down, rather, it’s the bronchospasm which sometimes follows a long walk that cause big problems for me. And that’s exactly what happen today. The walk was easy as pie, but the aftermath might land me in the big house.

I was able to get through the walk with only 6 hits off my inhaler, about 2 puffs for every hour of walking, but by the time I made it back to my car, the puffer wasn’t cutting it anymore and I had to take a nebulizer treatment as I drove home. No biggie, that’s what usually happens after a long walk, but as the day progressed I got increasingly more wheezy and my PFs started to take a nose dive. Currently, I’m taking neb treatments almost every hour and only achieving minimal relief. I popped some extra ativan to take the edge off and will try to sleep propped up. If I get any tighter and/or my PF drops any lower…well, you know the drill. I’ll either turn around in the next few hours, or I’ll end up back on steroids or….lets not even go there.

So, for the year as a whole, it looks like I’ll be ending at just under 850 miles ,which is way down from previous years ,but probably not that bad when you consider I was hospitalized a record 5 times. It still averages out to more than 70 miles a month, and in total , more than 3,000 miles since I began this journey back in 2005. Walking has improved my health and made me stronger in so many ways. Now , if there was just a way I could do these long walks without making myself critically ill.
I don’t know about you , but I can’t say I’ll miss 2008 . Here’s to an easier, more gentle 2009 !

I leave you with more pictures of me and Winston.

With my health kinda all over the place and now with the crummy weather , it’s been really tough to set an official start date for the Rome marathon training. Well, on Saturday morning in between storms ,I finally took the plunge and completed my first semi long slow distance training walk of the season.

Since I hadn’t done any significant walks since July , I figured Id go easy on my legs and limit this initial walk to only 8 miles instead of the 10 miles I had originally planned for. I followed my usual Ferry building to GG bridge route along the SF water front and had no problems with my lungs. Despite bone chilling temps ( 39 degrees when I started ), it felt really good to get out there again and do some real walking. I walked a very slow 20 min pace and stopped to take a few pictures along the way.

As I mentioned in my last post, because of the fact Ive been having lots of muscle problems lately and because my endurance levels and lung function are at an all time low, I’ve decided to do a series of 3 semi long distance “tests walks” , to see how my body holds up. In 3 weeks I’ll re-evaluate things and make a final decision as to whether I’ll be able to continue on with the rest of the planned training for the upcoming marathon. A more gradual build up of miles would probably reduce some of the aches and pains associated with the longer walks, but with less than 3 months to prepare for this race , there’s just not enough time to train that way. Instead , I will do one long walk every other weekend ( lungs permitting) , adding 3 miles to each. On the alternate weekends I will do either an 8 miler or a 10 . In addition to the long walks, I’ll be doing two -5 milers per week and visit the gym twice a week to cross train on the bike and lift weights.

Here’s a few pics I took on my 1st LSD. San Francisco is especially pretty this time year. Have a nice Christmas! Buon Natale !

With the Rome marathon training window rapidly narrowing (not to mention the availability of airline tickets to Italy in March), I need to make a decision soon, as to whether or not I’m actually going to do the marathon this year. I’m already registered, but saying I wanna do it, and actually committing to it, are two different things.

As a date with a marathon draws closer, isn’t it funny how we start to recall some of the not so pleasant aspects of the previous one? There’s no better feeling of self accomplishment and joy, than in crossing the finish line of race you’ve trained so hard for. Ah..but how soon we forget just how tough it is to walk or run 26 miles, and how many times we told ourselves, that we would never-ever subject our bodies to this type of voluntary torture again. Let’s face it, even in a setting as magnificent as ancient Rome, completing a marathon is very hard on the body…. maybe even harder because of all the effort it takes to get over there…not to mention the cobble-stone streets that you have to run on.

I guess having second thoughts about doing another marathon just goes with the territory, but what makes this an extra tough decision for me, is that over the last year, my lung function, along with my physical endurance, have really declined. I’ve been hospitalized more than ever this year, and the aches and pains of just growing old are really starting to catch up with me. My muscles hurt all the time. Since this will be my 5th and probably last full marathon, I don’t want to proceed unless I’m confident I can finish faster and stronger than I did last year. Actually, I’ll have to , because for 2009 they’re lowering the course time limit to 7.0 hours! ..(No stress there.)
So, if I decide to go-for-it, not only will I have to train much harder than in previous times, but I’ll also need a heap of good luck to go along with it, to keep me from getting sick from the very training that is supposed to prepare me. (like Portland).

Spring time marathons are also tough to do (at least for me), because the bulk of the required training has to happen during the winter months. Granted, I live in a fairly mild climate here in the San Francisco bay area, nevertheless, it’s been very cold and wet here lately and this weather pattern will probably extend into January and February. Add to that ,the pollens which tend to make their debut in those crucial later months. For the first time ever, I may actually do some of the shorter walks on the treadmill.

Depending on how my lungs act, and the status of this head cold that’s been lingering with me, I plan to do a 10 mile “test walk” this coming Saturday, followed by a 13 mile walk on Christmas weekend. If I can survive those two walks without falling apart or getting sick, then I’ll commit fully to the rest of the planned training schedule, which I will post later.

*One good thing; because I’m so conditioned to walking 4-6 milers, I don’t have to ramp up to 10 miles. Effectively, I can start marathon training at the 10 mile mark. This easily shaves a month off the training.*

Marathon or not, I’ll still be going to Italy in either Feb or March and then again in October.