Back to Basics – 30 Day Challenge: Day 20

So I’ve decided that the 30 Day Challenge doesn’t necessarily have to mean 30 days in a row…. but 30 Days total… So here I am on Day 21, just 9 days to go 🙂 My numbers were a bit lower than they have been this past week or two. This definitely shows me the importance of doing them regularly. Lesson learned…

I’ve figured out a fantastic way to practice squats – I stand over the end corner of my mattress and squat down onto that. It is just the right height and gives me that little lift to get back up without falling or killing myself. Yes, it’s the simple things!!

(Imagine your bed where the butt comes down. It is a great help!)

My push-ups were challenging today because my left leg didn’t want to cooperate, and my sit-ups were good.

I’m definitely loving this challenge as it feels good to get my body moving. After today’s little challenge I did about 20 mins of gentle yoga: cat/cow, butterfly, reclining twist, wide-knee childs pose, supported shoulder stand – all of which felt yummy!

Here are my numbers:

(assisted)         (half)           (assisted)
Squats         Push-Ups      Sit-Ups

Day 20:                52                   45                37

Day Wotsit:          64                   51                 40

Day Something:   62                  49                  40

Day 17:                59                   48                   43

Day 16:                    MICHAEL FRANTI CONCERT

Day 15:                62                   48                   37

Day 14:                54                   29                   43

Day 13:                                  SPA DAY…

Day 12:                60                   21 (pull ups)    32 (unassisted)

Day 11:                61                   34 (ring dips)   34 (unassisted)

Day 10:                60                   30 (ring dips)   33 (unassisted)

Day 9:                                    DAY OFF….

Day 8:                  60                   40                    35

Day 7:                  62                   33                    41

Day 6:                  60                   31                    41

Day 5:                  58                   27                    35

Day 4:                  60                   25                     33

Day 3:                  51                   21                     28

Day 2:                  40                   18                     22

Day 1:                  42                   23                     23

Back to Basics – 30 Day Challenge: Days um… thingy – wotsit

So, um, what to say?… Over the last couple of weeks I have to admit I have fallen off the workout wagon and only got down and dirty twice. The biggest reason is that as a middle school teacher, I’ve been busy getting ready for the start of the school year and welcoming my 175 new seventh graders.

I’ve been leaving my house at 6:45am, and leaving school at 5pm. By the time I’m home, I really haven’t had any juice left to workout and I’m not the biggest morning person so that hasn’t been on my radar. As you know, fatigue is a big thing for someone with MS, so I’m not sure if I’m being lazy and not wanting to workout because I’m tired, or if I’m fatigued from the MS. We shall never know and it doesn’t really matter.

Tonight though, I got home at 5:30pm, had a 30 minute nap (the recommended amount of time for an MS power nap) and did my little workout when I woke-up. It felt really great because my numbers hadn’t gone horribly down!

What inspired me to workout today? An incredibly beautiful and sad article about a mother with MS. You see as well as the day-to-day stuff (fatigue, numbness, vision problems, loss of balance etc), there is the knowing that you are *probably* or at least there is a significant chance, that you will come to somewhat of a sticky end. Your chance of dying peacefully in your sleep at the end of a lovely long life, is probably not on the cards. Seeing this lovely lady in her care home, so proud and happy on her daughter’s wedding day, but unable to be at her wedding because of her MS, makes me really sad. So if I have to get off my ass despite not wanting to, I’ll do it. (Maybe!!)

Here are my numbers:

(assisted)     (half)            (assisted)
Squats      Push-Ups       Sit-Ups

Day Wotsit:           64               51               40

Day Something:   62               49                40

Day 17:                 59               48                43

Day 16:                MICHAEL FRANTI CONCERT

Day 15:                62               48                  37

Day 14:                54               29                  43

Day 13:                               SPA DAY…

Day 12:               60                21 (pull ups)  32 (unassisted)

Day 11:               61               34 (ring dips)  34 (unassisted)

Day 10:               60               30 (ring dips)  33 (unassisted)

Day 9:                                 DAY OFF….

Day 8:                 60               40                   35

Day 7:                 62               33                   41

Day 6:                 60               31                   41

Day 5:                 58               27                   35

Day 4:                 60               25                   33

Day 3:                 51               21                   28

Day 2:                40                18                   22

Day 1:                42                23                   23

Back to Basics – 30 Day Challenge: Days 12 – 14 (Day 13, Spa Day!)

Woot woot, two weeks in!!!!!! Love it. Cheated a bit yesterday though and had a spa day instead of a workout, but I feel like that works seeing as it is good for the body, mind and soul!! 😉

My stats today are kinda disappointing – squats and push-ups down to day 3 & 5. Hey ho, I guess that’s what happens sometimes and what a day at the spa does for you! I am having real trouble with my half push-ups because of the weakness and spasticity (which shows itself in drop foot) in my left leg.

I would love to find out ways to modify that. If you have any suggestions please fire away. (Currently I am doing half push-ups so knees are bent, but my left leg doesn’t want to bend nor have weight put on it…).

(assisted)          (half)                     (assisted)
Squats             Push-Ups            Sit-Ups

Day 14:     54                  29                         43

Day 13:                             SPA DAY…

Day 12:      60                  21 (pull ups)         32 (unassisted)

Day 11:      61                  34 (ring dips)        34 (unassisted)

Day 10:      60                  30 (ring dips)        33 (unassisted)

Day 9:                               DAY OFF….

Day 8:        60                  40                         35

Day 7:        62                  33                         41

Day 6:        60                  31                         41

Day 5:        58                  27                         35

Day 4:        60                  25                         33

Day 3:        51                  21                         28

Day 2:        40                  18                         22

Day 1:        42                  23                         23

Back to Basics – 30 Day Challenge: Day 7

JANE – One week in! Woot woot!

Am feeling very excited that I’ve pushed myself to do this simple workout everyday for the last week. There have definitely been days where its been easier to get motivated than others, but today was happily an easy one! I slept well and when I woke up, my drop foot had got a fair bit better. I decided to do a sweet yoga session as my warm-up, ending with 5 minutes of Legs Up The Wall (Viparita Karani).

Viparita Karani is, according to my teacher, Master Multiple Sclerosis Yogi, Eric Small, the ultimate pose for people living with MS. This is because of the fact that it is an inversion (legs inverted above the heart) which means fresh blood washes the brain and spine, bringing healing and energy to the MS plaques or lesions. I did it for about 5 minutes today, and Eric recommends doing it anywhere from 2-3 minutes when you first start to 10-15 minutes daily when you’ve been practicing it for a long time.

After yoga, I was in a good head-space to do the workout. My results are below and are creeping up 🙂

(assisted)             (half)               (assisted)
Squats            Push-Ups        Sit-Ups

Day 7:       62                  33                    41

Day 6:       60                  31                     41

Day 5:       58                  27                     35

Day 4:       60                  25                     63

Day 3:      51                   21                     28

Day 2:      40                  18                      22

Day 1:      42                  23                      23

Back to Basics – 30 Day Workout: Days 5 and 6

JANE – DAY 5 & 6

(assisted)           (half)                      (assisted)
Squats              Push-Ups             Sit-Ups

Day 1:  42                      23                          23

Day 2:  40                      18                          22

Day 3:  51                      21                          28

Day 4:  60                      25                          36

Day 5:  58                     27                          35

Day 6:  60                     31                           41

Yesterday was a great day, I was feeling strong and good. But, alas, today I woke up and my left foot was dropping again and my leg was weak. It’s been an awesome few days of feeling stronger and more balanced physically, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it is good again tomorrow. I didn’t use a cane/walking stick today, but I probably needed to as I was walking very slowly and my balance was off.

Happily, my weakness didn’t affect my workout because there is no movement that requires me to walk or move my legs in that motion.

I have to admit though, I really didn’t want to workout today and if it hadn’t have been for a friend asking me how I was getting on, I would have tried my hardest to find an excuse and not do it!!

On a side-note, I am finding push-ups really challenging as I find it hard to put weight on my left knee. Not because it hurts, but because it doesn’t have much feeling.

But, once again back to my mantra, “MOTION IS LOTION, BABEE”, so I’m glad I did it 🙂

                                                                         Supported air squats

Back to Basics – 30 Day Challenge: Day 3

JANE – Day 3, still trucking’. Woke up even more sore than yesterday, but raring to go, and more determined than ever to beat my last two days of numbers.

I did half push-ups today instead of pull-ups. Half push-ups are with knees on the ground.

Here’s how I did:

Air Squats: 51 (Day 2: 40, Day 1: 42)

Push-ups: 21 (Day 2: 18, Day 1: 23)

Sit-ups: 28 (Day 2: 22, Day 1: 23)
Before each workout, I do a few minutes of warming-up. This is usually a few stretches, and finishing with a couple of minutes on the mini-trampoline. Here is a video of me on the trampoline, showing the lack of movement and spasticity in my left leg. This is vastly better at the moment than it has been. I have chosen to show it on here so people without the disease can get a better understanding of what it’s about.

Week 24- MS Waves to Wine ride

NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: WAVES TO WINE, Bike MS

JANE & TAVIS- September 20 & 21, 2014 is the largest annual fundraiser for the Northern Californian Chapter of the National MS Society. The ride is approximately 150 miles over two days and starts in San Francisco, goes over the Golden Gate Bridge and meanders along Highway One up through Wine Country. It finishes at Sonoma State University on the Sunday with a gathering for all the riders.

Tavis has been leading a team of riders for PEAK Adventure Travel for the last two years, with this year being the third and I have run a support station for the last three years. It is a wonderful event and raises thousands of dollars for the society. The NMSS spends a lot of money on research as well as on programs for people with MS.

Check out Tavis’s Waves to Wine Page for more information and to donate. On behalf of everyone with this disease, thank you, thank you, thank you.

WORKOUT OF THE WEEK

TAVIS- Jane started her new teaching job last week so these past few weeks have been focused on her getting everything in order. We put things on hold with her working out until she is a little more comfortable but the goal is for her to get in 3 workouts in a week. We’ll try to have her get at least 1 or 2 in during the week and 1 or 2 on the weekend depending on what we have going on.

Last weeks workout was one she has done before and unfortunately it is the first time we have revisited a workout that she was unable to improve on. When Jane realized she wasn’t going to beat her previous time I could tell she was getting defeated. I had to give her a bit of a pep talk to get her to focus on finishing and not just giving up. After the workout we talked a lot about how much progress she has made and that we have been fortunate to have her do so well on every other workout. The other thing is that sometimes workouts take longer when you improve your form and you don’t have to scale as much. I know that today her pushups are better than the last time she did the work out because she is stronger. When you don’t have to scale workouts and move towards stricter movements it takes longer to get through the workout and I had to remind Jane that there is nothing wrong with that. She did a great job today and though she didn’t beat her time I know she gave it her all and did a great job. Nice work sugar!

The Workout she did was ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, which is a progression of 10 box jumps and 2 push ups, down by 1 box jump each time and adding 2 push ups every time. She did it on May 2, 2014, Day 48 in 11mins 52secs, and today did it 12mins 14secs.

JANE- The workout was really frustrating and I was really disappointed with my time. I worked my tail off on the box jumps and did a handful of real push-ups (before several handful’s of crappy ones). Tavis gave me a talk and explained how sometimes doing more correct form movements actually takes longer at first. I do understand, but it was a bad feeling.

I’ve also been having a hard time walking recently. I am started work at a new school and had been in intensive trainings for the  two previous weeks. The school is really hot and doesn’t have any air conditioning. On top of that, the location of my classroom really gets the sun, so after a few hours of being in there I’ve been having a hard time walking. Urgh. We are working on getting a portable A/C unit to try and bring the temperature down. As Tavis mentioned above, these past few weeks I have been a bit overwhelmed with school and my new teaching position but hopefully as I get more comfortable I will be able to get back into my routine. Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend!

 

 

Week 19- Crushed it…and…got crushed…

WOD (original time 7:50, this time 3:52)

4 rounds for time

9 Air Squats

7 sit ups

5 pullups (Jumping)

TAVIS– Since Jane has been going to CrossFit 38 Degrees North for about three months now, I haven’t looked at her workout file recently. So I went through it and came across the Day 12 workout and noticed that it took almost 8 mins for Jane. I bet she would power through that work out with ease if she tried it today. So I sent her a message to see if she would want to do it during lunch and she replied that she was totally up for it.

As I expected, Jane nailed this one with no problem and took 4 MINUTES off her original time! I knew she was going to crush it, but I didn’t think she would do it like this. Her air squats and situps were unassisted unlike before, and in all of her jumping pullups she got her chin easily above the bar. She completely killed this workout. Her confidence with movements and workouts she has done before is incredible. It was so fun to watch her do this workout and see all the hard work that she has put in pay off. Great work Janey G!!!

JANE- Tavis suggested I did one of my first work outs again, to see if I could beat my time. I wasn’t worried about doing it because I have learned that as long as I do my best, that’s all I can do. I also, had in the back of my mind that I could probably do a little bit better than before. And, indeed, I did a lot better!! Almost 4 minutes better – I was super excited and thrilled to see my progress. I blasted through and had fun. I’m excited to keep on coming back to it and seeing my progression.

HOWEVER, on Friday, I went to the gym and did a ‘body weight’ workout which really beat me up. It seemed like a simple and basic workout, and I know that 20+ years ago I would have powered through it. It consisted of:

Tabata Row for calories

1 Min rest

Tabata Sit Ups

1 Min rest

Tabata Air Squats

1 Min rest

Tabata Push Ups

‘Tabata’ is 20 seconds of movement, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated for four minutes, eight rounds total exercise.

The class was from 9:30-10:30am and the WOD began roughly around 10am. On this day in Northern California, it was around 80 degrees already, so my core was already hot. I got through pretty well, putting a soft ice pack on my neck in the breaks. However, I was really hot and tired by push ups and was really lagging by the end. I had a hard time walking and cooling down and was tired all day. Saturday I was beat and only begun to feel ‘normal’ on Sunday.

I am looking into purchasing a cooling vest to wear for workouts during the summer. A cooling vest is like a waistcoat which has little pockets for small ice packs. They are recommended for people with MS to help keep you cool during the hot months. Up until this point, I’ve never really exercised strenuously in the summer before so it has not been necessary. However, it seems now is the time, so am on it!

 

Day 43- “Who’s got the funk” (Take 2)

Day 43

Routine Stretch

Warm-up- 2 rounds 10 Flutterkicks and 5 jumping pullups

Strength- KB Thrusters 5-5-5

WOD

2 min Max effort Kettlebell Swings      (Today 69 reps, previously 50)

1 min rest

2 min Max effort Airsquats  (Today 47, previously 30)

1 min rest

2 min Max effort Push Ups (34 reps)

TAVIS- Today’s WOD is one that Jane did in Week 2 with some small variations to it. I shortened the rest period between exercises from 2 mins to 1 min and the first time she did it she did not do max pushups.

Jane attempted to do this workout on Thursday and let’s just say it was not a good morning. When we started to do some practice with the PVC pipe she accidentally smacked herself in the nose and from that point on the morning went rapidly downhill. It was obvious she didn’t have a clear mind and was letting everything get to her. By the time she started the work-out she already seemed frustrated. Once we got to the Pushups she did 5 reps and stopped. I didn’t want to push her, but I was surprised she stopped at 5 and when I asked her if she was done, she said yes. So I let it be and gave her time to herself and left the room. For what ever reason, things didn’t line-up  and it was one of those lows.

So when it came to today’s work-out I gave her the option of trying this one again or doing something different. She opted for giving this one another shot. It’s amazing how much your mind plays into things especially when it comes to physical exercise. Jane increased her rep count by almost 20 on the KB Swings and was close to doing the same on the air squats.

Jane’s hips are still tight and need more work on flexibility, so I had her do some weighted squats, something we will continue to do almost everyday. I also had her start doing some pullups with the smaller wooden box I made along with some weights to get her a lower height to do them from. This will force her to use more of her arm strength and less of her legs. Overall a great morning and awesome improvement.

 

JANE- Ha! Yes, my funk has been revealed!! Thursday was indeed a rough one. Let’s just say everything went wrong, started by my comedic whacking-myself-in-the-nose-hiccup…It seemed I knocked the confidence out of myself for the morning.

However, determined not to be beaten, I tried the same workout on Saturday and can happily report it went well. It served as a fantastic reminder of just what a mental game this (and life, is) – when we’re feeling good and strong, things go so much better than when we’re not in a funk and feeling horrible. I got into that happy zone and enjoyed myself. No bruised noses to report…

 

 

Day 33- “A Bigger Slice of Angie”

Day 33

Stretch Routine

Warm up- 2 rounds 10 Flutter kicks, 5 Burpee’s

Strength- 10lbs KB Thrusters 5×3

WOD “A Bigger Slice of Angie”

(Todays time 4:27 Boom… original time at half the reps was 3:08)

20 Pullups

20 Pushups

20 Situps

20 Airsquats

TAVIS– Today’s workout was a a version of the Work Out of the Day we did a few weeks ago titled “A slice of Angie,” but I double the rep count from 10 to 20. I told Jane I wanted her to shoot for trying to hit around 5min 30sec, with the idea that if she did it under 6 mins it would be on par with maintaining her previous pace, while doubling the rep count.

However, Jane crushed it today doing it even faster then I ever expected. Her transitions between movements are faster, her pacing is better, and overall her strength is getting better everyday! Another great WOD!

Strength- Today Jane did her first Kettlebell Thrusters. She did the first two sets using the box as a support when she got into the low squat in the bottom position of the Thruster and did the last set unsupported without the box. We’re still working on her balance, hip flexibility and overall leg strength so doing them unassisted is still challenging for her but she is making progress.

JANE- Today was a fun day! Tavis and I had a good talk about having me do too many new things all the time. I like getting good at things and feeling as though I’m accomplishing something, so always having to learn new things was becoming a bit frustrating.

Today, the only new thing I had to learn were kettle bell thrusters, and nothing in the actual WOD. To do KB thrusters, you hold kettle bells in each hand, and they rest on the outside of your wrists, forearms. It’s really uncomfortable, but Tavis gave me straps for my wrists that helped a lot. You then squat down before pushing up into a full extension with your arms above your head. I have always had tight hips and as I’ve talked about, this past couple of years have had a very weak and tight left hip which has caused me to drag my left leg in which I’ve lost a lot of sensation. I found the squatting challenging, but it also felt really great to get some movement into it as if I was waking it up somehow.

The WOD was fun! I did “A Slice of Angie” a few weeks ago which was 10 pullups, 10 pushups, 10 situps and 10 airsquats in 3mins 8secs. Today, I did double the reps and completed it in less than twice the time – 4mins 27secs. It felt really great to achieve this!! Yipee!!

Side note- Also want to share how energized I have been this last week or so. I am powering through my life and have tons of energy even in the middle of the afternoon. I have been happier, more enthusiastic about life and have seen my outlook on life shift. I have noticed that if I get upset, it only takes a few minutes to get over it, instead of hours. This CrossFit is good stuff!! 🙂

Day 30 “Who says I can’t jump?”

Day 30

Routine stretch

Warm up

Strength- Front Squat

WOD 8 min AMRAP

10 Push ups

10 Box jumps

10 Pushpress (15lbs bar, no added weight)

TAVIS- This morning when I looked at the workout I had programmed for Jane today, I thought it might be too much for her because of the 10 rep scheme of each exercise. But I always go into it with the idea that if she feels it’s too much we can adjust it. When she and I talked about the WOD she said she didn’t think she could manage 10 Push Presses. I reassured her that we could change the number to 5 reps if she felt more comfortable, and also reminded her that she didn’t have to do them all unbroken, that she could set the bar down, take a break if she needed.

Then she asked me if she could use the smaller box for Box Jumps. I was a little confused as to why she would want to use the smaller one because she has been doing so well stepping up on the bigger one. She explained that she wanted to see if she could manage actual box jumps. I couldn’t believe it! I had to double check that I’d understood her properly and she assured me I had heard her right. Last week I had her try jumping up on to something just to see if she could do it and a lot of fears came up around  what she can and can’t do. This morning, completely on her own she decided she wanted to give it a shot. Awesome!

Jane did great on today’s workout. Not only did she have the courage to try jumping on to the box, but she pushed through all of the Push Presses. The Push Ups were probably the most challenging for her and when she started to struggle, I reminded her that it’s okay to take a rest, catch your breath, shake your arms out and then try a few more. Jane ended up doing 3 complete rounds + 10 pushups. I couldn’t be more proud of her this morning. When I asked her how she felt, her response was that she felt clumsy and she really wants to get all the movements down so she feels like she does them well. A good day!

JANE- Today’s workout was a mixed bag, but upon reflection it was a great one! I saw improvements as well as saw myself being really clumsy. It’s a funny thing, because on the one-hand I know I’m making significant steps, but on the flip side it seems as though my steps are miniscule when I compare them to someone without MS. For example, today I elected to try jumping on the small box rather than stepping on the big box. I managed it – it wasn’t elegant or very pretty, but I did it. My legs were wobbly and a little unstable, and Tavis needed to catch me sometimes, but the thing is, I did it. First time for years! Pretty cool.

I know I’m making improvements and am incredibly happy and hugely grateful to Tavis and the CrossFit crew for all the encouragement and support.

Day 28- “Coach Lovey in da House”

Day 28

Routine stretching

Warm up- 2 rounds 12 Flutterkicks, 12 pullups

Strength- High Hang Clean -3-3-3-3

WOD “Day one revisited” (Original time was 5:06, today’s time 2:58)

3 Rounds for time

5 push-ups

7 Sit-ups

10 Air Squats

TAVIS– Great way to kick off the weekend by having a guest appearance by Coach Trevor Coddington. Trevor came in this morning to support Jane while she was attempting to repeat the same WOD she did on her first day 4 weeks ago. Also, we recently purchased an Olympic 15 lbs Training Bar to start incorporating into Jane’s workouts.

Strength- Trevor coached Jane through her first High Hang Clean bar movements which was really cool. Up to this point Jane has only completed workouts that consisted of either body weight movements, dumbbells or kettle-bells. This was the first time she has done anything with a barbell so it was a big step in the process and it was great to have Coach Trevor be a part of it. A huge thank you to him for coming down this morning!!!!

Trevor showing Jane the Scarecrow:)

Jane working through a High Hang Clean

WOD- The first time Jane did this workout four weeks ago, she struggled with all the movements. She needed help and assistance with all of her situps and used poles to assist her air squats. Today she completely crushed it! She didn’t need any assistance from me on the situps other than to hold her feet, and didn’t need any poles on her air squats! She took an amazing 2 minutes off her time. It was so cool to watch and have Trevor here cheering her on as well. Thanks Trevor!

JANE- It was awesome having Trevor here today. Obviously he really knows his stuff and broke down how to do a High Hang Clean. Even with his clear explanations, I was still clumsy and not really getting it, but, he assured me I’m not alone in this and I’m determined to get it, so will practice until I do.

Doing the WOD was fun. It was fantastic having both Trevor and Tavis encouraging me and I somehow managed to take 2 minutes off my original time. Have to admit, I am super happy about this and can’t quite believe it!! At one point Trevor said that I’d be doing today’s WOD as a warm-up pretty soon, which blew me away. You know what, I think I will!

It is fascinating to me to recognize how fearful I’ve become over the last 12-years. During the WOD I had a moment of worry that I was pushing myself too hard, but I pushed that thought aside and guess what? After the WOD I was fine! It’s amazing to work through this stuff and see that everything is okay. It’s a good lesson for life. To paraphrase Coach Trevor again, CrossFit emulates real life, so there are good day and bad days, things we enjoy and things we don’t. Today was definitely a good one! Thanks Trevor!

 

 

Day 11

JANE: I’ve been at this for almost two weeks now and it’s beginning to be fun! I can see little bite size pieces of progress which is very rewarding. The stretches are familiar for me because they are similar to yoga stretches – child’s pose with extended arms, cobra, child’s pose arms to either side, cobra etc; shoulder stretches lying on my tummy/side; kneeling lunges followed by hamstring stretches.

The strengthening exercises were interesting today, adding the weight was challenging and attempting to squat whilst holding the weight was tricky. I have always had tight hips and this last year or two have had trouble with my left hip causing me to drag my left foot and not really be able to bend my left knee or walk properly on that leg. That does seem to be slowly shifting as I reported in previous blogs, but there is still a long way to go.

It is that hip that makes doing the step-ups (known to proper CrossFitters as ‘box jumps’) really challenging as to do the movement of actually lifting my left leg high off the ground is no longer natural or instinctual. Instead I really have to work at telling my foot and leg to pick itself off the ground and consciously focus on making that happen, then watch and follow it to see if it is doing what I am asking it to do.

The other thing that makes doing step-ups/box jumps challenging is that when my body starts to heat-up it my legs get weaker and more numb. This isn’t too bad at the moment, and hopefully that will change over time. There are also cooling vests and bands I can experiment with which I will if/when the time comes.

That is a classic example of what it’s like living with Multiple Sclerosis for me where there is numbness or weakness. It is that there is no intuition anymore between my brain and body and instead it is up to me to make that happen. Sometimes it is possible, but usually it is only partially possible due to nerve damage and an actual disconnect between the two.

Stretch Routine

Warm up+ 3 sets of 10 Flutter kicks

Strength

Dumbell Squats 5-3-2

MS WOD DAY 11 (5 rounds +14)

7 Min AMRAP

5 Box Jumps

5 Pushups

6 Lunges

TAVIS: We are at the point where we are seeing progress everyday even if it’s just a little bit. With every work out Jane is gaining more confidence.

When I was in 2D Recon BN we did a ridiculous amount of flutter kicks and I remember them really strengthening your hip flexors as well as abs, so I added those to the menu today. Jane did them quite well so I think they will become a part of our regular warm up.

For the strength exercise today she did dumbbell squats for the first time using weight. We started out with just a 10lbs KB and we are still using the step stool for her bottom support position. We increased the weight from 10 to 20 and then finally 26lbs for just 2 reps and she did great!

When she started the actual WOD I could tell she didn’t think she would get through very many rounds and within 2 rounds I saw a complete shift in her mindset, she got into a rhythm and pushed through the WOD, it was awesome to watch!

 

Day 1

MS WOD 1 (Work Out of the Day)

Warm-up: 2 Runs 100m

3 Rounds:

5 Push-Ups

7 Sit-Ups

10 Air Squats

Jane: CrossFit Day 1

Right. First day of CrossFit. I have to say, I’m entering this adventure with hopeful trepidation. As a kid I was really athletic, and on school teams for most things. In my mid-20s I was a hardcore kick boxer in SFs China Town and on the path to becoming an instructor until I was diagnosed with MS. Then, I became a yoga teacher focusing on more gentle movement until a couple of years ago when that lost me. I hope this works, although I am worried that I am going to be disappointed in my absolute lack of ability and strength seeing as I can barely walk 200m anymore…We shall see.

After a nice stretching session, I was asked to do three runs. Alas, the runs were not runs, but awkward walks. The first 100m took me 2mins 20secs, walking as hard as I can. At this stage it is impossible for me to run as my left hip will not allow me to move that leg fast or pick my foot far off the ground. I am off balance, stiff and have a limp. When I finished the first round, I cried with frustration at how hard it was and how long it had taken. When I was a kid I ran 100m in under 13 seconds. Obviously, at 40-years-old I can’t expect myself to run it that fast, but I couldn’t even run at all. My legs wouldn’t allow it.

However, compared with the run/walk, the 5 push-ups went well. I did half push-ups, so left my knees on the ground which was kind of cheating, but fine. I do have fairly strong arms from yoga.

The 7 sit-ups were a wash. I needed Tavis to help me as I could not manage one.

The 10 air squats were challenging also. I did not have the balance or flexibility to get deep into a squat so used poles to hang on to and my form was bad. Instead of keeping my back straight, I was tilted far forward.

I completed 3 rounds in 5min 6secs.

All in all, not great. But hey, I am doing this to try and get stronger. I think I’ve got a tough road ahead of me.

Tavis: First off I am so proud of Jane for giving this a shot. The first workout didn’t go exactly as planned. Jane was not able to actually run, she could only walk. And when she returned from the first one she broke down in tears. It completely broke my heart to see how upset she was, it was hard for me not to cry as well but I just try to be strong for her. I know how frustrated she was and defeated she felt. I gave her a few minutes and just tried to reminder her that giving this a try is such a big step, we are at the beginning of the process and things can only improve from here.

The second walk went much better and she came in a little sooner than before which is great.

When we got to the WOD Jane did really well, she did need assistance from me though. Her mobility in a squat position needs a lot of work as her left hip is very stiff. Also she hasn’t done any ab workouts in a long time, so I had her use one of my hands to pull herself up. I reassured her that everyone doing CrossFit for the first time struggles with different movements, we all look pretty dorky in the beginning so it will come with time.

The great thing about CrossFit is you can scale/adjust/alter any movement or exercise for anyone. I am excited to see Jane start to experience some of these movements unassisted for the first time.