todays workout

Most of lifes obstacles NEED to be overcome, MS is no different. I should preface that with if it's possible to overcome an obstacle in MS I think you should try to do so. At this time last year I was in the process of joining a gym because I was discharged from outpatient physical therapy. Upon starting at the gym I gauged my comfort level on certain machines since the gym didn't have the same machines as the phys. therapy office.

the treadmill in my gym is similar to this one but has a longer plastic  "handlebar" area to grab  onto

One machine that has turned into a necessity is the treadmill, at the gym my first few weeks I hovered around a 1.5, eventually I was able to progress to a 2.0 for an average of a 10 minute walk. These past few weeks I've been gauging my strength and endurance during my treadmill time and progressed to 2.1 and eventually 2.4, when doing all this I keep the emergency stop with arms length because I have also been increasing my walking time to 20 minutes. So far so good, I'm thankful that I haven't had a relapse or  had any other complications. Today I did a good 20 minutes at 2.4 and walked for .78 of a mile. I'm not a math wiz so I don't know exactly what the 2.4 translates into a per hour ratio but I know I feel great. While I do all of this it is important to note that sometimes dial down the treadmill speed to compensate for my dropfoot.

back when I walked

back when I used to walk A LOT and when I used to have hair

I just finished a good workout today and I just got a little introspective afterward, regarding my progress. I did .73 of a mile on the treadmill, that's the most that I've done on the treadmill. I used to walk all of the time, I grew up a few miles from Manhattan so walking was a way of life, especially if you didn't have a car. I would go into Manhattan sometimes via the path train and would walk from the 9th street station and just walk, usually uptown toward Central Park. I miss those days but that was what I could do in my teens and twenties. At thirty three I was diagnosed with relapsing remitting Multiple Sclerosis, in the two years since I've done physical therapy and regular workouts. To maintain a positive outlook I've made a conscious effort to not mourn what I couldn't do anymore, I look back on all the walking I used to do fondly and I have to remember that next week is my thirty sixth birthday and although I can never return to those marathon-like ultra walks through the Hudson County and Manhattan areas I can continue to work within my ability. Since I have a drop foot I tend to not crank the treadmill so I don't fall or get fatigued.

ongoing hurdle

the one setback that I constantly deal with but I barely notice, my drop foot involves a minor sweep to the left that looks like a pretty good Kaiser soze impersonation. The fact that I'm making good progress in tri-weekly physical therapy is a great first step. Most would recommend the Bioness system but I've been down that road before and I don't care to try again. the symptoms tend to feel worse because we're in a mini-heatwave.