Think I have it bad? Meet my friend and fellow lung challenged athlete….Mike McBride.

Michael has really bad emphysema and has to be connected to supplemental oxygen 24 hours a day just to stay alive. He actually has a tiny hole in his neck , which allows the oxygen to be delivered directly to his lungs (what they call ” Transtracheal Oxygen ).

Well, despite the bad hand he was dealt in life, Michael competes in marathons and climbs Skyscrapers for fun ! (and for charity). What’s even more amazing, is that he has to to pull a 100lb cart behind him which holds his oxygen tanks. When he does a race he goes through so much oxygen (17 lpm), that he has to have people positioned along the course to help change out all the empty tanks …. A logistical marvel in itself.

On April 20th, 2009, Mike will be the very first person with severe emphysema ever granted a disability slot to compete in the Boston marathon, and I will be the first severe asthmatic to do the same.

Mike’s been a tremendous inspiration for me and many many others, sick or healthy. If it wasn’t for Mike, I don’t think I would have pursued Boston the way I did. When I first applied I didn’t think I stood a chance of getting in. It wasn’t until Mike broke the news about his own success in being accepted, that I suddenly felt a new sense of enthusiasm for what seemed so out of reach before.

Wouldn’t it be something if we pull this off !

PS……Mike did a stair climb today. 54 stories in 28 minutes! Hauling his oxygen and all. Absolutely amazing. for clomid endometriosis ionic coral calcium

Now that the pipe dream of becoming one of the first lung challenged athletes ever granted a mobility impaired slot in the Boston marathon has become reality, I have to make some tough decisions about the other marathon that I love so much. I’m referring of course, to the Rome marathon. Obviously, I can’t do both ..(they’re only 4 weeks apart). I think it would be a huge disappointment it I went all the way to Italy and wasn’t able to participate in the race, but it would be an even bigger disappointment if I went to Italy, got sick and then had to forgo Boston.

Most people would say it’s a no-brainer…just cancel Rome!… but it’s not that easy for me. The Rome marathon promoters and the Italian media have been very kind to me and I hate to give the impression that I chose Boston over Rome. In my opinion the Rome marathon is the best marathon in the world for ambiance and historical scenery. I had a wonderful time doing it last year and wanted very much to do it again. The Boston marathon on the other hand, is without doubt, the most prestige pedestrian race of all time and is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for someone like me. If I passed up this opportunity, I’d probably regret it for the rest of my life. I will never get a chance to do it again, because for all practical purposes, after this next race, I’m done with full marathons. My body just can’t handle the 26.2 mile distance anymore. After this, it’s half marathons or less.

So these are my options……. What would you do?

Option#1) Cancel my upcoming trip to Italy and reschedule at a later date when I don’t have a marathon to worry about.

Option#2) Go to Rome next month as planned , but only for 10 days instead of 3 weeks. Be present at the Rome marathon starting line as promised , but only walk the first half of the marathon(13.1 miles) and then voluntarily withdraw. I wouldn’t receive recognition for finishing, but that’s OK, because at least I would be able to say I participated , and by doing only half of the Rome Marathon, not only would I be saving my legs, but I’d be doing a 13 mile taper walk that I would have to anyway for Boston.

Option#3) Go to Rome as scheduled , but skip the marathon.

What ever I decide, I have to do it soon. The Rome marathon is only 4 weeks away and Boston is only 8 weeks out.

Btw….even though I was granted a disability slot in the Boston Marathon, I still had to have a qualifying finish time from a previous certified race, albeit a much more generous one than for regular entrants. prilosec distribution in france

I had planned to write a post about my nebulizer treatment routine, but then I thought….what the heck,  I’ll just video it!
Its  spontaneous , unedited and kinda lame, but it’s the real deal and it’s what I have to do at least 6 times a day. ( recorded on 1-28-2009)

It’s not often that I get to say this, but Sunday was one of those rare long slow distance days, where everything seemed to go smoothly and where I didn’t have any major aches or pains getting me down. Other than being a little nippy with a few light sprinkles at the beginning , I’d say it was a near perfect walk.

Did my usual route from the foot of Market st along the SF waterfront to the foot of the Golden Gate bridge and back. The time seemed to fly by, and as the Ferry Building clock came into view on my way back in, I remember breaking out in a huge grin. I had covered 12 miles in 3:05 , or just a tad over a 15min/mile pace. A little fast for a long slow day, and a little slow for a tempo walk, but I’m very happy overall. I’m also happy that I was able to contain my urge to racewalk for long intervals and instead, only racewalked enough to bank some extra time for the pits stops. I think this strategy helped save my legs and maybe even my lungs.

Just 6 weeks ago after completing my first 10 miler of the season, I remember saying to myself (as I always do at the beginning of marathon training) ” If I feel this bad after walking 10 miles, how in the hell am I ever going to walk 26.2? ” Ever ask yourself the same question?
Isn’t it amazing though, that by being persistent in your training and gradually increasing your mileage by just one or two miles every other week , that you end up conditioning both your body and mind to the point where those medium distances of 10-14 miles (what I call base walks), actually get easier and you end up with a day like I had today.

My lungs held out great during and plendil information prescribing

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the walk ( I think I only used my inhaler 4 times), but course later on that evening, just like clockwork, my peak flows took a nose dive and Ive been flaring up pretty significantly ever since. In my book though , this is a small price to pay for such a stellar workout.

Next weekend starts the serious stuff….a 19 miler followed two weeks later by 21 miler , with a 12 and 14 miler on the alternate weeks. Will it ever end? canine atarax of dose

Hey, what does yours truly, Elvis and the “Flying Grandmother” all have in Common? …The Rome Marathon of course.

Check out the “Latest News” link on the Rome Marathon website

or these other Italian websites : Podistidoc , Corridori

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I usually don’t write reports on training walks, but the “20 miler” is different. It’s almost like a marathon because towards the end, you kinda enter that nomans land ( anything over 18 miles) where your body starts telling you. .”Ok, Ive had enough now” “Why are you torturing me” ..”Just put a bullet in my head.”…you know, those kinda of things. Well, I’m proud to report that I completed the dreaded 20 miler , and so far, seemed to have survived it with only minor breathing problems. I wont say anymore about my lungs cuz I don’t want to jinx myself (sometimes there’s a delayed reaction).

As for the walk itself, it was well, as you might imagine…as difficult as any 20 mile walk would be. I racewalked about 90% of it . Let me re-phrase that, I stayed in “racewalking form” for 90% of the walk. ( there’s a big difference). My actual pace varied from about 15min/mile to as fast as 11 min during the racewalking segments. The walk took almost exactly 6 hours to complete and that included appx 15-20 of various breaks…. This is about par for this type of walk.
I used the inhaler about 8 times, which is the norm for me on a good breathing day. The most difficult part was dealing with the pain Ive been experiencing lately in my arms and shoulders. I think swinging my arms during my faster walking really exacerbates my thoracic outlet problems. Other than that, I experienced the usual shin pain which had to be massaged out every mile after mile 15, and what felt like the “pre- cramp” twitches in my thighs and calves which started happening after about 13 miles. Of course, the last 3 or 4 miles were the toughest, not because of my breathing or the pain in my legs, arms and shoulders, but rather because of sheer boredom and the concern of not being able to finish the walk before rush hour ( I didn’t want to get stuck in traffic trying to leave the city.)

After the walk, which ended at the farmers market in front of the Ferry Building( if you’re ever in the city.. check it out), I proceeded directly to the Sees candy store and promptly purchased a half dozen rum nougats…. my version of post exercise recovery food…( Much better than muscle milk

So, now I can experience a real taper. Kinda short, but nevertheless still a taper. First taper walk of 10 miles is next week , followed by an 8 miler a week before the marathon.

With the bulk of my training out of the way, all I have to do now…is not get sick for 3 weeks!

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