Day 2/3

Rise and shine around 8:00, for an 8:30 breakfast in the “Mediterranean Room” – three pancakes, two strips of bacon, and a couple glasses of grapefruit juice – $22? please. Crazy, but crazy good. I don’t think I’ve ever had pancakes with actual fresh blueberries on top, and I can’t recall tastier bacon – with that perfect combination of crispy but juicy… wow. Thinking about it = salivation.

Our plan for the day – “Not having a plan” was in effect. All we knew is that we were going to be meeting with a group of amputees from the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, aka Balboa. This gathering had to be planned and executed surreptitiously, due to certain interests of leadership at the Medical Center – so we met at the hotel and decided to make it our training ground for the day. Over the course of breakfast and the proceeding hour, about 10 bilateral amputees arrived at the hotel. Each of the guys were at varying points in their post-injury journey – some were still in stubbies, some using canes, almost all still used wheelchairs at points, etc. After indulging in a classy breakfast, we decided to start our day in the lobby – going around the room, listening to the Marines’ concerns about wearing and using their prostheses in day-to-day life. Most were similar, things like conquering changes in terrain, curbs, and stairs.

We decided to check out the small flight (3) of steps in the lobby, and explain techniques to each of the guys – on how to properly and effectively overcome steps such as these, with or without a handrail. Disallowing use of adaptive equipment such as canes was the next crucial step, as everyday doesn’t forgive, nor does it always allow for modifications – so you may as well get used to going without them.

Over the course of the next couple of hours we addressed all of the guys’ concerns, moving about the whole hotel – seeking out ramps, stairs, other challenging areas and making time at the end to discuss a few of the finer points of being an amp- and down the street for Mexican lunch. Most of the guys had to get back to the hospital for once reason or another before lunch, however, so only two made it that far. But as it turns out, those were the two who I felt had the most potential of the group, just that glow in their eyes and a visible lift in their spirits throughout the day. No matter what, It was a great afternoon, and many fuses were sparked upon the realization that any obstacle can be overcome, no matter what adversity is encountered. We sent them back to the hospital with a bit of knowledge overload, but a renewed sense of hope as well. I hope to see these guys again next year (hopefully they’re out of the hospital, off active duty, and being treated by Hanger!)

We had a brief few hours to ourselves, before meeting up for dinner – John went down to the pool with Cam and a couple other people, I spent some time in the room lounging, and then decided to go for a walk around La Jolla, similar to, but covering more distance than my walk the preceding day thanks to nearly getting lost. But, I saw a lot of really cool places – like the SD Museum of Contemporary Art, a lot of neat little shops, and more coastline scenery. Special shout out to the Sunglass Hut for being the most ridiculously priced place I’ve ever been (I lost three pairs of sunglasses this year – $30 worth – can’t even imagine if I lost a pair that actually cost something). I probably covered 4 miles, maybe a little more – took some pictures (my phone and computer are still feuding – if anyone has any advice on helping an Android and computer rekindle their relationship, let me know – my PC refuses to recognize that the drivers for my phone are in fact drivers for my phone), and just enjoyed the whole downtown La Jolla experience.

Dinnertime came around – Cameron’s girlfriend Nataly and her friend Heather – were coming with us. We wandered looking for our dinner destination, and after about a half hour of searching, came to the conclusion it no longer existed. Thus, we “settled” for a seafood place called George’s.  We ate on the ocean-view deck (enjoyable, even in the dark). I enjoyed the most incredible chicken soup I’ve ever had (even it it tried to kill me), followed by halibut, and an amazing after dinner drink; the ingredients to which I can’t quite recall – it was called a La Jolla Winter – tasted like heaven.

With an arranged meeting time of 8:00AM tomorrow and our plans for the day set, the rest of the evening was ours. A bunch 0f us met in the hotel lobby (Nataly, Cameron, Heather, Kevin Carroll the VP of Prosthetics for Hanger, and myself). We played guitar and sang songs, sat around, talked and laughed. Enjoyed the hell out of life, basically. It was a positively stupendous evening!

The next day, was the actual registration, check-in, and bag pickup for the Triathlon – an event in itself. The SDTC’s schwag bag is absolutely nuts- An Xterra Wetsuits beach/pool backback (heavy duty mf-er with an opening in the bottom for wet stuff, to keep it separate from your dry stuff! awesome!), filled with the CAF hoodie, a couple of shirts (2 CAF, and an official triathlon shirt – mine ended up being way too small so it’s my mom’s now), and even a pair of CAF Chucks among a smattering of product samples and other little goodies.

I got to see my ACA buddy David – this awesome high school kid from Florida who’s a lifter and football player – a little bit obnoxious, but quite loveable. He’s a double amputee as well and unfortunately does not yet rock C-Legs. A real cool kid! So’s his sister Michelle – also an BAKA (crazy, right – 2 BAKA’s in the same family)

That evening, I hit the hay around 9:30. Obvious reasons. It was the best night of sleep I’ve had in a long time – with a rise and shine around 6AM, It needed to be.

 

Took my chances on a big jet plane…

I remember standing in the entryway at Lambert, having just obtained my boarding pass, thinking, Man what a dumpy airport this is. It really is… just generally old and unattractive. The area where you acquire boarding passes, it’s not too bad, brightly lit with shiny white floors. Once in the terminal however, things get pretty dreary pretty quickly.

It’s about 7:30AM, and I was just dropped off here by my grandma. The pre-screening line wasn’t bad, but standing with two stuffed bags (one carrying a pair of running feet/knees and all of my clothing, the other carrying my laptop and other necessary accouterments) draped over your shoulders makes standing for awhile into a real core-endurance challenge, constantly maintaining stability without over-engaging back muscles while remaining upright. But, I manage. And the security checkpoint itself wasn’t nearly as invasive as I’d hoped it to be (we’ll save that for later), although having one of the screeners from another line make his way over and thank me for my service was slightly humorous. He seemed to have lost interest after I said, “Thank you, but I’m not military” – But the guy who had been checking me/my bag asked what had happened, and oddly enough “not having shins when I was born” is “whoa”-worthy. We talked for a few minutes, and then parted ways.

I used to… well, hell, I still do get frustrated with people who ask if I’m military, get my response, and dip out with no further interest. If circumstance is on my side (IE the person does not immediately bolt in the other direction), Typically I’ll attempt to educate someone, on the origin my handicapability. Just bothers me to think that most people live in a rather small world, to think that “disability” such as mine only results from being blown up – and I’d like to open that world up a bit for them. Admittedly, my physical size and perceived age may play a role in directing people’s thoughts that way. Still, “What happened to you?” would be acceptable – although people who come up with new and different things I’ve never heard before or can approach the subject smoothly are always welcome- “Whoa cool legs!” has to be a favorite. Kids are pretty funny as well, and inoffensive and Intriguingly, parents who explain my situation to their kids in a decent manner are few and far between.

Airport tradition, for no apparent reason, has always been to stop by the in-house Starbucks for a Grande Double Chocolaty Chip Frap (outside of airport visits, I go to Starbucks a handful of times a year – QT’s coffee/cappuccino has always done just fine for me). Then go request a pre-boarding pass (guaranteed window seat). And sit in the terminal, with my iPod shuffling away. And people watching. That’s a great activity most anywhere, but especially at the airport. So many differently dynamic groups of people – you see those who have travel down to a basic science, with their ultra-streamlined luggage and crazy good packing skills, and those who have no clue what they’re doing, unsure of what to remove from their bags at the TSA checkpoint. If you’re lucky you’ll get to see someone sprinting across the terminal, carrying three or four different things while frantically chattering into the phone about how late they are and the flight leaves in 2 1/2 minutes. Most of the time, heading into airports makes me wish I got to do it more often. They’re interesting places, always something to see – just gotta keep your eyes open.

Hopped on the plane in front of the crowd and into my favorite seat (Left side, two rows behind the wing, window). Flight was rather uneventful – studied for NASM, listened to a lot of music, and caught up on The Walking Dead. Unbeknownst to me until it actually happened, my flight stopped in Texas, conveniently long enough for me to flip the Bird to some Rangers fans. After about 20 minutes we were back in the air. The latter half of the flight was indeed the roughest. At points, I just felt sick, perhaps the amalgamation of things in my stomach – Xyience + a QT breakfast sammich + DCCF + cranrazz cocktail = WTF

Finally, touchdown.

Felt great to get off the plane. After a quick stretch of the lower back, I loaded up in search of an ATM for cab fare. Bank of America… Great. Whatever, punched in my PIN – and “Unfortunately we are unable to complete your transaction at this time” – huh. Checked my bank balance via cell phone – enough money there. WTF. After three more rounds with other ATMs and calling my bank, I changed my PIN – still unable to get money out. Would I be waiting around the next 6 hours for Randy’s flight to get in? Oh damn. Went to the airport info desk, and after about 10 minutes they revealed that cabs would in fact take credit cards.  Excellent.

$40 and an incredibly awkward cab ride later,  I arrived at the hotel – La Valencia – what an incredible place. There’s parts of it that are… a little too quaint for my tastes, and end up reminiscent of an old folks home – a part of the restaurant in particular. Still an amazing place to stay, beautiful inside and out – crazy awesome vintage architecture with some really unique interior design.

Unfortunately there were some technical difficulties and I was unable to check into my room instantly upon arrival. Popped a squat in the lobby and had a glass of chocolate milk – in a rather luxurious glass, in front of the biggest picture window – with an awe-inspiring view. It’s one of those things that’s probably looked at as pretty average by people from around the area, but to those of us who don’t get to see it often… whoa.

I took a few pictures, called some people – and kicked it around the lobby for about an hour, before saying Screw it, I’m going to explore this crazy place. I walked all around the hotel area. Probably covered two miles. Just went up and down random streets, down to the ocean, walked on the coast line, sat on random benches taking pictures and texting people about how awesome this was. Saw a ton of seals. And for being so mind-blowingly awesome, a lot of the place smelled like the inside of a fish tank, and bird crap. Whatever, it was beautiful.

Started to head back to the hotel, but wanted to grab something to drink – feeling rather parched at this point. I stopped at Starbucks (2x in a day! that’s a record) and grabbed an Izze (whoa, that was awesome. shame I don’t drink soda on the reg anymore). Talked to my dad for a bit. A random man, who worked at the jewelry store across from Starbucks, struck up a conversation. He had been under the impression that I was a wounded soldier, wanting to thank me for my service – and had purchased a $10 Starbucks gift card for me. I let him know politely that I was not, and tried to decline the gift card, but he insisted “because you’re awesome as hell man, thanks for brightening my day”. Holy crap that’s one of the nicest random things that’s ever happened to me.

Back to the hotel, we were finally able to get things cleared up and into our rooms. I was rooming with Capt. John White, a British Royal Marine turned triple amputee who was about a week into his initial visit with Hanger. Over the course of this trip, I saw amazing progress in this guy – He had massive improvements in taking stairs and ramps, visible even over the four days I got to spend with him. Cameron and his lovely girlfriend Nataly showed up as well. Not to mention, the man himself Randy.

Dinner that evening was a splendid ocean-view restaurant called Top of the Market, where we indulged in some stupendously large steaks and damn good chocolate cake desserts.

We had a busy Day 2 planned, so retiring was in order nearly straight away from getting back to the hotel. That about did it for day one in San Diego. There’ll be pictures as soon as my computer and phone decide to stop hating each other and start talking again.

It’s Been Awhile

So, It’s been far too long since I’ve posted in my blog. I almost became a non-blogger there for a moment. I apologize, for a minute there I lost myself. But last evening, I felt this overwhelming NEED to blog – a compulsion. Strange, because it came out of nowhere. Honestly, for whatever reason, I’ve had no desire to write in the recent months, since my last post. I’ve had fleeting moments, here and there, where I’ve said “Oh, I should write a blog” but only once did I actually get beyond that – a <200 word draft I saw saved on my WP homepage. it’s a damn shame, too, because a lot has happened in the past couple of months. Stuff that I should have retained, and written about. Over the coming days, I’m making it a plan to blog my ass off. Ideally, A post every day (or every other day) for the next couple of evenings, to catch up on life.

I need to turn my blog into something. Something greater than just an outlet for myself and my escapades. I love feeling that people are actually GETTING SOMETHING out of what I’m writing – whether it’s inspiration, motivation, or just some amusement. I’d like to provide it.

Starting tonight, it’s going down as a goal, to carve out a half an hour, 4 times a week to sit down and carve something into this blog. As long as I’m writing. Maybe not everything will be posted. Hell, some stuff might even get deleted after writing it. But it’s going to happen. If I make it anything like working out, it will become a religious practice.

Speaking of working out…

I haven’t stopped. And I’m not going to, in fact I’m going as far as to take it to a career level. About two weeks ago, I interviewed and subsequently was hired for a personal trainer position with DFM – a locally-based fitness company that subcontracts personal trainers to area Club Fitness locations. They take a “own your own business” approach to things, except unlike 99% of the time you hear that, this isn’t a scam. I can set my availability however I’d like, as long as I’m able to work clients in. Clients, that for the most part, will be fed to me by Club Fitness – I can do my own prospecting, but people coming in and asking for personal trainers will be distributed among the PT staff (is my impression, but we’ll see how things go in the next few months).

No, I’m not yet certified, but November 30th, I will be taking the NASM CPT Exam – after that, I’ll be able to train clients!

Because I’m not yet certified, I’m working in a really limited capacity with DFM, going in to do one-on-one training with the director, and orientation. I’ve got a good feeling about things to come, but at this point it’s somewhat frustrating to have how things are done explained to me, and not being able to actually do things myself. There’s some process work, it seems, that will only come to me through actually going through it myself a couple of times. Basically like training for any other job. I’m looking forward to writing more about my experiences as a trainer.

At this point, Ideally I’ll be done with Home Depot by the end of the year. However there are some logistic issues that need to be worked out before I can fully rid myself of that place. Splitting off for a moment, Something I’m unsure if I’ve ever mentioned – but I’m incredibly grateful for having a job to begin with. And I’ve never really had any huge problems with Home Depot. In fact it’s a great company to work for, and if one wants to make a career of it, I’m sure there’s a way to make that happen. However, most of HD’s associate-level employees, experience a rather extreme job dissatisfaction – Only recently did the puzzle pieces come together for me, when the epiphany dawned on me – There is no “why behind the what” for HD’s associates. Many of the Company’s officers I’ve dealt with seem quite happy with their career choice – Because they actually give a damn about their job. They refrain from getting caught up and swallowed in the high school… ahem… store BS/drama. Seems as though the associates that are only there in the early-morning hours are happiest overall with their job, and people who spend a lot of time closing are really disgruntled. Whatever, enough theorizing.  Home Depot’s got an unfortunate internal attitude problem. Everyone I know who works there is a generally good person, and for the most part we all get along and there’s a team spirit, but the associate-manager divide is crazy, and when someone takes one wrong step (or long break), best believe everyone notices. Generally people won’t bring their qualms with others, to that individual’s attention. Things get pretty blown out of proportion pretty easily, and I think a lot of people have a hard time grasping – “Relax, it’s just Home Depot” and that no matter what, at the end of the day, they get to go home. Anyway, enough of that.

In September, I started dealing with Vocational Rehabilitation again. Those of you who don’t know what it is… a state-provided service that helps people with disabilities with career preparation and job placement. I encourage, nay, implore you, if you know someone who is genuinely deserving and needs these types of services, to have them contact their local VR office and find out if they’re eligible. With that, my dealings with VR came to a close last week. My position as a personal trainer, is more of a career than HD will ever be (for me) – and because I’ve placed myself in a career, I’m less needy of VR services. It’s something I’ll be doing in a full-time capacity and will have income that should be adequate for me to pay for my own schooling. Also, thanks to some ridiculous questions of FAFSA, I’m still looked at as dependent on my parent’s income (which supposedly should be enough to contribute $27k a year to my college education? huh) – so we’re going to see how things go for the next few months with my career change, and perhaps reopen my case again this summer/fall

A lot different from the rap I was spitting earlier this summer, eh? Life is crazy, but I love it. This isn’t to say my dreams of becoming a nurse have been dashed entirely, rather they’ve been deferred. Personal training is definitely something I could see myself making into a career. If it turns into that, I’d be thrilled. I love helping people, and I love helping people better themselves. If it’s going to make me some decent scratch along the way, that’s even more incredible. It’s interesting to observe, how much difficulty I encountered in my attempts to get into Nursing at SCC. Only taking 80 people a year makes it a pretty stringent program, but not impenetrable. And then comparing that difficulty, to my difficulty nailing down a PT job. Wow! Night and day. There were some small logistical aspects to overcome, but Securing a job interview was relatively easy. Once in the interview, put on a damn good show for them – NEW JOB! Same goes for my attempts at finding other employment over the past few months. I’d been looking – Craigslist-ing, Indeed-ing, Monster-ing, and so on – for all types of jobs. Mainly things I felt would net me some more cash, but a lot of jobs in a lot of different places – I probably e-mailed two dozen copies of my resume around. I can’t recall exactly how many, but I know that no more than 3 places called me back, and they each asked why I would want their job – all paid substantially less than I’m currently making, and were far away. No reason to even entertain the thought of working for them!

This is going to be it for now, But there’s way more to come in the next couple of days, I promise you that! We have a lot to catch up on!

A Li’l Two Hour Journey

The events described in this entry happened probably three weeks back, and I’m just getting around to writing about it… My bad!

I got home from work around 630, and set into my typical routine: get a preworkout drink –  SSIN Juice as of late – mixed up and plopped in front of the computer to catch up on Facebook, find some cool new music to take me through another workout, check what’s happening around the rest of the internet. That whole assortment of activities, for about a half hour, takes up my time before hitting the gym. I tend to zone out for the most part, and wait for that tingling sensation (niacin rush!!! woohoo!) to set in, signaling I’m ready to crush the gym.

But, tonight would not go according to plan.

Randomly, out of left field “Yo! Boy! You wanna go kayaking tonight?” from my stepdad.

A digression – for whatever reason, my stepdad, Jim, and I have had an odd relationship over the last few years. There was a time where we were ridiculously close. We’d wake up ass-early and go hunting, for the most part. There was random crap we’d do together, too, but hunting was our gig. Hunting with Jim made me a stronger person in all aspects of life. It taught me that, no matter what, the world isn’t going to bow to you because you’ve got a “disability”. I can recount many occasions  involving walking multiple miles through the woods – dealing with waist-high grass, avoiding mud and cowpies, overcoming rootwads and downed trees – all while doing everything possible to remain silent and carry loaded firearms safely. This was BEFORE C-Legs. This was on TOTAL KNEES. People without prostheses… imagine your knee functioning as a door hinge, swinging freely no matter what. Sound like a bitch? It was. But I did it. Part of it was the “impress [step]dad”  drive, the rest was testicular fortitude (READ: BALLS). These days, we’ll go through periods of a couple of weeks, without really speaking to each other – and then have a random day (or couple of days if the stars have properly aligned) where things are entirely amicable and we pick up where we left off. It works. Things between us aren’t tense or strained necessarily, I guess we just don’t have that natural chemistry to just talk with each other every day. It’s life, part of the way the universe works.

Back to reality.

“Errrrr… Yes, that sounds like a great idea” We got the kayaks loaded on top of Stella (who has since been sold to some nice folks from South Dakota) and after a quick gas/beer stop we were on the way… Where to, we didn’t precisely know… but we had an idea or two.

Two sketchballs with aviators, crew cuts, and kayaks reported heading East on 70 in a white VW van...

Our time was growing short, as the sun was starting to go down, so we needed to make the best of what we had. Thankfully, we quickly spotted a promising-looking, adequately sized body of water off 370/Fountain Lakes. We parked the van on the side of the highway, hauled the ‘yaks off 100 or so yards through knee-high grass, across a muddy little ditch (pain in the ass), and were able to put in. Microprocessor knees aren’t yet allowed to be submerged, so I wasn’t taking a chance on bringing them in a kayak – and instead took the chance of leaving them on the bank.  We were off, though.

PICTURE TIME

Lil bit of nature for ya!

Lil Sunset Action!

Jim and I

We spent a couple of hours, until the last possible moment before real darkness set in, out on that little lake – watching the sunset, enjoying some PBR and fresh air, not to mention some excellent conversation. We got to catch up on the past couple weeks, as well as get in some…gasp… bonding time? Oh my. Thanks Jim for taking me out.

Typically I like to do physical activities involving the use of my prostheses, because it’s the freaking awesome thing to do. But,that’s not to say you can’t have some relaxing fun and keep up some level of physical fitness doing things that don’t involve them. Kayaking’s one example. I’ve only done it once at this point but can tell it’s an absolutely amazing upper body workout and could definitely work cardio if you were so inclined. While it’s still nice out, I’d recommend finding a friend/relative who owns a kayak (or two) and getting out on a body of water. It feels great!

Ready, Set Screw it!

I’d like to preface just a bit here… The first two paragraphs of this post August were written on August 9th. The rest was written between the evening/morning of 11th and 12th. Encountering bumps in the road like this one had gotten me feeling only slightly discouraged, especially with the “meh” outcome of my recent endeavors into cycling.

I woke up in a strangely good mood this morning. I got to sleep in pretty late and was greeted with a pleasantly cool morning. Mother went on a run this AM and said it felt perfect, “like October”. I agreed, a run is probably a great idea at this point, before the humidity takes hold for the day.

Rolled out of bed, and began work on taking the running knees off the cycling feet, And subsequently reattaching them to the running feet. Everything goes smoothly until…gahhh! stripped set screw on my right socket!!! shitty! I messed with it for another several minutes before giving up and admitting it needed replacing before I could switch knees (yep, even with three other screws completely loosened, the front set screw contacting the pyramid on the socket kept the knee firmly attached. crazy).

Being a Home Depot employee with basic knowledge of the hardware department, I knew I had to go to a real hardware store for what I needed. But, they don’t sell metric set screws there either as it turns out. The associate directed me to a hardware store with a larger industrial hardware department. For $.96 a pop, I acquired two new screws. Excellent. Now onto removing the stripped one.

Over the 1.5 hours spent between hardware stores, humidity had taken hold and it felt like an Amazon rain forest outside. Running was becoming a dimmer possibility as the sun grew higher in the sky. Eff it, I said, I’ll just get in a killer workout at the gym before work, head in a little early, and take care of it there.

One murderous upper body workout (w. 15 minutes cardio) later, I rolled into work (but not before showering) about a half hour early. Purchased a B&D screw extractor and gave it a shot… didn’t work. Returned it and bought the next size up, wasn’t working either. Damn. Removal of the set screw was turning into a real pain in the ass. the hex head wasn’t doing anything either, and the 5mm allen wouldn’t fit at this point. oh well. off to work.

I learned 5/32 does not equal 4mm.

Right before lunch I was getting tired of not being done with this, so I set to work on it again. This time the plan was to chisel away at the exposed portion of the screw with a screwdriver in hopes of creating a slot, in which I’d be able to get some torque and hopefully unscrew this li’l sucker. Spent maybe 15 minutes working on this… to no avail. Quite frustrating. In a last ditch effort, I tried the 4mm allen once more.

IT WORKED. Wow. The attempt to create a slot for the screwdriver had created a decent point for the allen wrench to catch on. Screws were instantly replaced and I spent the rest of my workday looking forward to the run mom and I had planned for 715 that evening.

I ended up getting out of work 45 minutes later than anticipated (because Customers come FIRST! and when someone needs 10 vanities set aside for delivery, they get it!), so I rushed home – to an empty house. Dammit. She went without me! Wells screw that! I set the running legs up and was about 5 minutes from bouncing out the door when she showed up – fresh off a 20 mile bike ride. Overachiever.

Ma ditched from biking digs into running clothing, I outfitted her with the fanny pack (water bottle, 4mm wrench, pullbags – typically an iPod as well) and we set off on what was intended to be a 2 mile run, but I believe it ended somewhere just north of that. To me, it was rather uneventful (no truly epic falls – just a small spill). For a more harrowing account: see here.

I must say though, it’s really good to have someone to run with. My mom’s great to chat with about anything, and having someone with an idea of what they’re doing isn’t half bad either. Also, It seems like having her along pushes me just a little harder. Running over the past couple of evenings has brought me to the realization that it’s only upon taking a rest that I really start to slow down and not want to continue on. When I’m in motion, it feels like I’m the damn Energizer bunny.

Tonight’s run wouldn’t earn me a gold star by any means, but it was good to get my distance up just a hair. Our goal was 2.5 miles. We made it 2.79 miles tonight in just under 30 minutes. I had a couple of falls that could probably be attributed to alignment of my right knee – totally correctable for next time. And with just about 1/4 left, I randomly threw both legs off. No injuries or anything, just kinda ticked. Mom was about 10 seconds behind and came with pull bags. In the probably… ohhh… 3 minutes spent on the side of the road, three cars drove by, noone stopped and paid us any mind. Somewhat unsurprising, but I’m thinking if I witnessed someone on the side of the road on their hands and knees with someone standing over them, I might stop and ask if everything’s gravy. Just a thought.

Kind of reminded me of last summer, I didn’t have a car for a couple of months – but in my dedication to the gym, I walked there and back most evenings. One of these nights, my right knee came loose while I was at the gym. I was worried about it coming off entirely, so I cut my workout short and started heading home. From my gym back to the house is probably 3/4 of a mile. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to perambulate all the way home. Cell phone? Oh. That’s dead. ****! Can’t call anyone. The only positive aspect of this experience is that I made it across Main St before my knee decided to FALL OFF MY BODY, right inside of my subdivision. Maybe I’ll get lucky and someone driving by will see my YELLOW UNDERARMOUR-CLAD TORSO dragging a prosthetic between my knees. Well, I got part of that right. People drove by. In both directions. Noone stopped. I made it from the top of the street to my house (last house in the subdivision). by dragging myself and my leg. I was a sweaty, pissed-off mess, but I made it. I digress.

It took a couple of minutes but I got pulled back in, stood there for a second to gather myself and told my mom “Hey, I’m gonna give this last 400m the shaft right now”

And that’s what I did. I ran that last 400+/- m in about 1:10.

Mom realized she hadn’t stopped the Garmin for any of the falls I had (none really took up any real time aside from the last one), but that we’d done 2.79 miles in 28 minutes and some change. Subtract a couple of minutes for dealing with that fall and perhaps we’re in the 25 minute neighborhood. Not disappointed by any means, But I’m going to keep pushing. Always looking for an improved time, always seeking more distance, always looking for a better way to do things, always evolving.

Anyone who read the first couple of entries knows I listed out my summer calendar of events, and without a report on the Opening Act 5k… Well, things haven’t exactly gone to plan to this point. And unfortunately(?) I’m not going to be participating in the Warrior Run 5k this upcoming Saturday, either. Damn shame. HOWEVER we are still going to get up and pound out a 5k early Saturday morning around the neighborhood. Woo!  looking forward to it. It’s going to be a treacherous next few weeks, as I will steadily be ramping up nearly every run’s distance. I’ve already got a bunch of weekends requested off for things I’d planned on doing – the next one on the list is the JCC Labor Day 10k… ohhh yeah. Is it really going to happen? I’m going to give it everything I’ve got. I’d love to. Stay tuned.

A Quickie

This past Wednesday, I received a pair of feet/pylons that can (and will be) bolted onto my running knees… What are they to be used for? Great question.

Cycling Feet/Pylons

Cycling

Yep… forreal. Gonna give it a shot. Spent some time last evening on the trainer trying to get one of my mom’s bikes set up in a way that would allow me to start riding. Didn’t go down as easily as one would have expected. Had to adjust the seat a fair amount before getting on the bike (on a seat that I’m pretty sure wasn’t designed for men to be seating on… very uncomfortable). Then the pedals were entirely too small for me, so we had to find another set and switch those out. Annnd then for one reason or another, I’m not able to even fully get the pedal around without having some starting momentum (IE physically manipulating my foot in a forward direction with one hand to get started). Not really sure about that one. But I’m gonna keep digging at it over the coming days. I’d really like to give the biking portion of the San Diego Triathlon a shot… that’s about 13 weeks from now. 44 miles is not a joke. Going to need to get really serious about it if I’m going to accomplish it. Not sure how it’s going to fit in with running, but I’m sure I can make both happen. In the same day, thirteen weeks from now? Woof. That’s gonna be tough. But I’m not afraid. What’s the worst that could happen? Fall? Hurt myself? Whatever. It can’t be that bad. I will do whatever it takes to make sure I succeed, one way or the other it’s going down.

Nub, meet concrete.

Elbow, you can meet the concrete as well.

These two were described in my last entry, I believe. Not too gnarly, but not pretty either.

Not enrolled for fall semester at the moment…Pretty sure my next step in developing my education/life will be getting my CNA, since actually getting into the Nursing program at SCC is looking more and more dim for the next year. CNA program at SCC is open entry/exit. It’s in the neighborhood of $575 without books, so hopefully I can conjure that up soon. Just seems like the next logical step at this point…Would be nice to have that ball rolling within the next month or so.

I’m gonna head out to the gym and give the elliptical and/or stationary bike a shot now. Let’s see how this goes. Hopefully better than last evening.

So hot… want to touch the hiney…

 

 

In case you don’t know where that title came from.

Ok, so. First off, apologies. I need to be better and more consistent about keeping you guys up to date. Then again, I haven’t really been able to do so much in the form of running lately – it’s been so dang hot here, even in the evenings it seems like the temp won’t go any lower than 85*-90*, which makes ANY form of physical activity a real pain in the ass for anyone, especially your local amputee runner.
So, with nothing really new to report, I decided it’s time for an entry geared towards helping people.
With these blasted hot temperatures, running becomes near impossible (unless you want to be like Wendy Davis and get up at the asscrack of dawn to go for a run – not particularly my style). So what in the hell is someone in my sockets supposed to do, to train for running 13 miles in the next 12 weeks?

For starters, I’ve gone back into weightlifting mode – three to four days a week. I’ve got an injured elbow that’s been bothering me, so my aim lately hasn’t been lifting heavy, or putting on size. Maintaining and toning what I’ve got is just fine for now. But since I’m not lifting heavier than normal, or really trying to go up in weight, I had to throw something new into the mix – so I went with a personal variety of HIT-style workouts. Hitting as much as I can with a real get-shit-done pace. For example one day may look like this

30 seconds of rest between every set, to be spent adding weight and/or picking a new song on the iPod

Bench Press: 12-10-8, increasing weight 10 pounds on each side every set

V-Bar Pulldowns: 10-8-6, increasing 5 pounds each set

Pec-Dec Flys: 7-6-5, increasing 5 pounds each set

Rear Delt Flys: 7-6-5, increasing 5 pounds each set

Barbell Curl: 7-6-5, you guessed it – 5 pounds each side each set

Shoulder Press: 10-8-6 ” ” ” “

Chinups: 3×20 (sometimes I’ll take my legs off and do horizontal pullups – bringing the bar to about 3 feet off the floor and doing pullups while keeping my body straight)

Some form of ab workout that’ll take up 5 minutes.

10-15 minutes of  using my arms to pedal the elliptical – usually ends up between 3.5-4 miles

Ideally in and out of the gym in about 45 minutes. Sometimes I’ll throw in wrist curls in place of abs, or some low rows in place of the pulldowns, or incline/decline bench instead of regular flat bench. With bench, on those few days when I go heavy, I’m sure to do it with paralympic form in mind (slow, controlled lift, pausing with the weight on my chest for a one-count, feet up on the bench).

And yes, I really will take of my legs and pedal the elliptical with my arms. Probably looks a bit ridiculous, but IDGAF? It’s cardio  - of a different variety than running, but it still gets my heart rate up.

Some point in the future, I need to use a heart rate monitor and actually figure out a target heart rate and work out around 70-80% of that… you should too.

Outside of the gym, what else is there to be sure to do?

Stay HYDRATED. Always. I keep the Nalgene bottle with me at work, at all times. Those of us missing limbs and wearing any suction-based socket, this is especially key as keeping your nub(s) full inside of the socket is well, crucial. Also, being dehydrated is one of the shittiest feelings I can think of. You just don’t feel right, and if you’re in the heat, it’s especially taxing. Feeling lethargic, dark yellow pee, dizzy when you’re moving? A bit of delirium? You’re probably dehydrated. At this point, ya need more than just water. Gatorade’s great, with lots of electrolytes and sugars to replenish what you’ve lost (as a wrestler, I drank a decent amount of grape Pedialyte as well haha). Not a fan of Powerade, though – the second ingredient is High-Fructose Corn Syrup, same second ingredient in nearly every non-diet soda. Dehydration’s no joke and will result in a trip to the hospital (and possibly worse) if you push it far enough.

All of my runs lately have included a Nuun tablet in my water bottle at some point- during, after, sometimes both. It’s got electrolytes! (it’s what plants crave!)  and sodium, which is also crucial for those of us participating in sweaty activities. Gatorade’s decent here but Nuun takes the cake – with about 3x the sodium (700mg per 16.9 oz of water vs. about 220 in Gatorade). A bit of Potassium, and small amounts of Calcium and Magnesium help balance out the equation to keep your body running in prime condition.

A good rule of thumb, if one is working out with anything more than moderate intensity, is 16 oz of water for every half-hour of activity. Losing a pound in sweat alone is relatively easy to do in an hour-long workout, so 16 oz should be easy to guzzle down.

For those of us missing limbs who experience issues maintaining volume inside their socket when it’s hot outside, shoving something like a washcloth, folded up piece of paper, or a handkerchief between your socket and it’s frame can help make up for some shrinkage (and can be added or removed as needed). Or, have the fine folks at Hanger put some padding in for you!

Do NOT spend any time you don’t have to outside, this is a given. If you are, stay away from high-sugar items as well as those with alcohol in them! (this is a given if you’re doing anything athletic…)

Don’t wear more clothing than is necessary! I wear the lightest-weight shorts I own and typically no shirt (or Nike Pro Combat) when I’m out running. Also, if it’s during the daytime, light colors are going to be worlds better than dark colors!

Anyway, off the health podium

I ran last evening for the first time in about a week. On the road, for the first time in a couple of months. It was an adventure. Got about 2.5 miles done with only one period where I walked (less than a quarter-mile). I had a spill as I rounded the first corner at the end of my block – leg spent a little too much time up in the air, didn’t come down in time, so I ate it. Quick reflexes saved me here, before I could blink I was in a push-up position with my face 6″ off the ground. I let out a frustrated grunt and continued on. Everything was going peachy, til about 2/3 of the way through my route, my back started bothering me. Running on the pavement has traditionally DONE WORK on my back, which is something that needs to change ASAP. I started to slow down and inevitably ended up walking. Felt just a bit ashamed so I ducked off the main road I was on, into the subdivision. I got about a block and saw a vehicle in my periph. Can’t let people see you like this! So I turned it back on and started running again. The vehicle and myself went our separate ways at the next block, and I waved to its passengers. Now I was on the main downhill home – piece of cake, right? Actually a little bit of a challenge. One of the “problems” one encounters with running legs is the feeling of going… ohhh… too fast? Too fast leads to a loss of control in some circumstances. Preventing that is a matter of intensely honing in on one’s own and being aware of what’s around, in front of, and below you – and when. Thankfully I didn’t encounter any of that on the downhill this time around. I reached the bottom and crossed over onto my “block”. My back was screaming at me at this point, “YO WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!” But I told it to shut the hell up. I ran past the cops house. No stopping now. Past a couple more houses, oh there’s a neighbor out on the front lawn, wave to her. two more houses to go… I’m in front of my house!!! *slip*

Recognized that feeling instantly. There goes my left leg. Damn. I collapsed onto my right knee, and the unevenness of my descent pushed my now-exposed left nub into the concrete, causing a nice new battle wound about an inch in length. There’ll probably be a bruise tomorrow, too. Hopefully not though…

So my first run back wasn’t exactly spectacular, but I’m glad to have gotten back into it. My goal is to get out again on Saturday after work. Initially it was going to be tomorrow, but giving my leg a day off from hardcore activity is for the best for now. In the meantime, keeping my sockets as clean as possible and having my friends Neosporin and/or A+D close by will be the M.O.

Til next time.

Edit: Made a couple of edits, including a YouTube clip explaining where the post title came from, and edited a couple of links