Good news, I am finally running 4 times per week. It has been a long uphill struggle with injuries and arthritis in 2008. The trick seems to be watching my form like a hawk. I have adopted some of the Chi Running techniques to help with my form. Adopting a mid-foot strike as opposed to a more traditional heel strike, if I run this way I run relatively pain free.

With the arthritis I have it is important to keep moving, there is no cure other than to exercise. Through I find it interesting that once I get going and get into the “zone” the pain goes away for that brief moment. Endorphins are a wonderful thing, as it really helps mitigate the pain.

I am going to limit myself to only 5 and 10K runs in 2009. Maybe, if it goes well consider a half in the late summer. But I had to admit to myself that the marathon I ran was the only one I will run. Through I am not setting a ½ as a goal at this point. It is a nice to think about goal, but so far not on the horizon.

What is on the horizon is my Grandson and daughter coming to visit me. This Thursday here in Yellowknife, as well as the YK choral societies presentation of the Messiah by Handel. This should be a great event. Dan Gillis a local singer is featured as a Contra Tenor, he was fabulous at rehearsal today. If you are in Yellowknife this week come and see the concert make sure you say Hi.

Weather in Yellowknife today is -4C and a touch of snow. The ground is now covered and is icing up nicely. They don’t really plough up here; they just pack it down and through Gravel on top. So you get traction from the gravel that is imbedded in the ice. Mind you at this point still slushy at this point, will be another month before the cold weather comes in.

After a bout of hypertension I finally got it under control. For the life of me I can’t figure why it spiked up to over 140/90+. As a Diabetic you really want your pressure in the 128/80 range or less. Right now I took it last night after getting home and it was 116/56. A touch low but my body should adjust to the Diuretic soon.

It is frustrating to see this happen as I have no control over this particular aspect of hypertension. According to my Dr. and reading on the internet. In about 90% of Hypertension cases there really is no underlying cause they can give you. The other 10% can be controlled by diet and exercise.

While I don’t run very often anymore due to my Chronic Tendonitis, I do simulate the mileage on the elliptical. I am hoping that Physio which starts in a few weeks will help get the tendon to a point I can run again. Meanwhile I stay away from the running, with the hopes of being able to start up again before the end of this year.

This only makes me reflect a bit on the aging process and hard we fight not to age, yet it is inevitable that our bodies will betray us in the end. Statistically I can be as active as I was in my 40’s but will be slower. It’s a fact of life, mind you judging by some of the races I have run there are some mighty fine +50 runners who are not that much slower than the 20 -30 year olds.

Hopefully, I will get well enough to run a few more of the larger races. Maybe a couple of 1/2's, and if I can stay healthy one more marathon, I would like very much to do one more marathon. After which I can stick with ½’s and 10’s.

Here’s Hoping
Harry

Time to start posting again

I know as a blogger I suck, it has been much t0o long between posts, I mean March seems so long now. My running has been non-existent due to Achilles tendonitis. This has been chronic since December last year. It did go down and I started running again for that ½ in Edmonton, but I started hill training and that was the end of that.

The good news of course is that I still exercise 5 days per week on the elliptical. I simulate the running schedule on the elliptical. Right now I do the equivalent of 10 miles (110 minutes) on Sundays. Also simulate temp runs and hill training as well. While this is not optimum it does well enough.

This September brought my first grandson into the world. Tre was born September 14, 2008 in Edson, Alberta. His weight was 7lbs 10oz. We saw him in October at 5 weeks old and he was a real bundle of joy, not to mention gas. He does take after his Grandfather after all.

May brought my Marriage to Angela; we are now formally married and getting ready for our long awaited honeymoon cruise. We were to go on a Tall Ship adventure in the Caribbean but due to lack of interest on curises either side of ours they cancelled our cruise. Now we are off to take a Carnival Cruise line ship. Visiting Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Mexico, sailing out of Miami this cruise takes place in December.

My Fathers health is holding steady, I visited him at the end of June. He seems to be holding his own despite what is going on. We are hoping that he holds out so we can fly Natasha and Tre down in April or May of 2009. We would like to go to England next summer if we can, but we both feel that it is more important that he see his Great Grand Son.

I have a rant in me, but I am saving it for another day.

For now Steady on
Harry

Yes, I know I have not been timely with the updates. Its just things were in flux the last few weeks so March’s update is just in time for the end of the month. First the good news, Sometime in September I am going to be a Grandfather. My Middle Daughter Natasha and her Boyfriend our having a baby in September, due date is 15th which is close to my birthday.

My plan for the Edmonton Full Marathon has been downgraded to the half marathon. I messed up my back a bit due to a fall on the ice back in Feb. But, as that healed I decided to try some yoga which somehow aggravated my back even more. It got so bad I finally went to the doctor. He sent me to the Chiropractor who sent me back for back x-rays.

Cheers for Dr. Jerry Barker local chiropractor who did not work on my back, his gut told him to not do anything, turns out his instincts are dead on. After two weeks I finally got my x-rays back last week. Seems I have what is referred to as Foresters Disease or “diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis”.

This is a condition that effects 6 – 12” of the population, mainly men over the age of 50 (65/35). Basically this condition is a slow degenerative issue where calcium creates bone spurs on the spine as well as calcifying Tendons and ligaments. Which causes the spine to be less flexible then it is, in my case its pretty bad and I have a number of fused vertebrae.

There is no cure, and after some debate about running or more like whether I will run again. The doctor said, “RUN”, I cheered. Basically if there is pains take ibuprofen, which is the runner’s vitamin anyway so nothing new there. There is a narrowing of the L4 and L5 vertebrae but according to the Dr. and the Rehab guy I go to it’s normal in a man my age again so buy comfortable well-cushioned shoes and run.

So Edmonton here I come. Yes there is going to be pain and my back will not get better, but staying active is the way to keep the spine as healthy as I can. Now you may ask what causes this problem.

Well there is really no known reason, but factors such as Obesity, diabetes play a factor. As you know I certainly was obese and now a type II diabetic. There could also be caused and links to playing contact sports as a teen and adult. Oh well, at least I can run.
Harry

Update

So here we are week 6 of what amounts to a 29-week ramp up to the Edmonton Marathon on August 10, 2008. Things are progressing well, with no real issues at this point, as the mileage is still quite low. The real full training does not start until April 6th.

Last week lost a day due to the fact that I had a good fall on the ice and managed to whip lash my neck. But I was up and running again and only lost 1 day of full training. Through the first run back was slower then the normal steady pace.

Right now I am concentrating on faster then normal pacing for myself. The theory being that I will build my base, stamina and strength in the first 11 weeks of the program. This coupled with increased stretching. As well as some cross training with Yoga, and a bit of biking and strength work.

With the weather I have mainly been using a treadmill. It’s a bit boring but there are really not a lot of options in this –35 to –45 C weather. I have been out a couple of times when the weather accommodates and rises to –25C and above. Hopefully I will get more runs in march outdoors. By April I should be able to get back outside for the long run.

Meanwhile Aingeal and I are now involved with a local theater group. Aingeal has a small part as the customs officer in Cabaret. I will be joining the chorus as a tenor. This show should be good, some of the talent I have heard sing so I know they can sing at least.

Summer plans are progressing with what looks like a trip to see my dad just before his 82nd birthday. As well my Brother and yet unseen nephews, this will be a very busy week, with travel, folk festival, marathon and a visit to Natasha my middle daughter.

harry

Thank you for the great post from The Chronicle Herald, Halifax, NS

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/1010016.html

Look into your heart for a changeBy MAGGIE MARWAHWed. Jan 9 - 6:04 AM

I HAVE SEEN change and his name is Harry.

He’s a tall fellow, too tall to have been running beside five-foot-zero me that late spring day. If I moved too far and too quickly to my left, his pumping elbow would have caught me on a cheekbone. His leg length alone should have given him a stride twice mine.

But I was too polite to ask him why he had joined our plodding group on this long run, so instead I listened to his story – a story of taking control and making change.
I offer a retelling now, without doing it full justice, as this new year takes root and many of us look to this calendar start as a time for change. We make fewer resolutions the older we get, perhaps because we’ve learned how hard they are to keep – how hard it is to change. But that doesn’t mean that quietly, perhaps secretly, many of us haven’t made a promise to ourselves to change something.

On the day we met, Harry had run 10 kilometres in Halifax’s Blue Nose Marathon event a few weeks earlier. He was proud of this achievement and of his time of 61:43 minutes. Not particularly stellar by some measures, but not bad for a guy who a year previous was 100 pounds heavier.

As the other runners asked questions, he told of weighing more than 300 pounds, of being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, and getting exercise walking to the fridge and back to his computer. He told of how, after his diabetes diagnosis, he started eating healthier meals and walking around the block at lunchtime. Then twice around, then three times. He added a stationary bike and, soon after, running, barely 10 minutes a day starting out. And now, he was determined to run a half-marathon – 21.1 kilometres – that fall.

As I listened to him, my mind dwelled on a question that had long confounded me – and more so at the time as I was working in health care communications. In this province, to work in the health care sector is to understand the full challenge of changing behaviours in a population with some of the worst health stats in the country.

I asked Harry: "What finally made you change?" After all, others weigh as much as he did, have diabetes, and do nothing about it.

"My doctor said if I didn’t, my life would be much shorter."

"Change or die?"

"Yeah. I didn’t want to die."

We ran in silence for a while after that. Too facile an answer, I thought at first. But maybe the puzzle piece was still in there somewhere: Is it fear that gives people the courage to finally change?

Change would be a trendy word if it weren’t for the heft and longevity behind that one syllable, despite the best efforts of politicians to trivialize it.

"CHANGE," Barack Obama’s posters shout, its all-capped, sans serif font the more readable for the TV viewers. "CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN." In Canada, should a federal or provincial election – or both – take place this year, I wonder which political party will co-opt the word first and most strongly in their campaign one-liners and jingles.

The experts tell us to be wary of big changes to come this year. They warn of economic tightening and issue cautions about the end of our great run of prosperity. They forecast the price of oil higher and higher. They say Mother Earth can’t withstand our assault much longer. If all comes to pass, we will need to change our behaviour – spend less, drive less, use less.
But change is difficult. And it often hurts. It’s rarely quick – and in this age of instant gratification, we haven’t the patience to wait for results. Yet change is sometimes necessary for survival. Just ask Harry.

The study of change and the development of change models have exploded in the past decade as businesses and organizations seek to weather a turbulent world and governments try to address the unhealthy behaviours of citizens. Organizational change, societal change, individual change, behavioural change. The researchers study how and why it happens, how to make it happen, and more particularly, why it doesn’t happen.

For all the advancements in this studied field, the thinking that has most resonated with me is found in John Kotter and Dan Cohen’s 2002 book The Heart of Change, which looked at how people change their organizations. Change, they argued, is less about giving people data and analysis to influence their thoughts than it is about speaking to their emotions.
"People change what they do … because they are shown a truth that influences their feelings," they wrote. "Both thinking and feeling are essential, and both are found in successful organizations, but the heart of change is in the emotions."

Change is not just a cognitive exercise. Knowing the changes we want and need is rarely enough to achieve them. If it were, we’d have fewer smokers and more active people.
Instead, true change lives in our hearts – in that place that badly feels it and wants it. We change not because someone tells us to or because we know we need to. We change out of fear. Love. Desire. Sadness. Joy. Passion. Anger.

Harry knew this. I came to understand what while fear might have launched him, other emotions kept him going. A year after our brief encounter, and two years into his change, he ran a marathon.

( mmarwah@herald.ca)
Maggie Marwah is a freelance writer and communications consultant living in Halifax.