Sundays with Jarvis Update

Folks,

Here are Sunday results for the last 8 weeks:

9/5/2010 1:03:36
8/29/2010 1:11:34
8/22/2010 1:14:52
8/15/2010 ~1:06
8/8/2010 53:48
8/1/2010 ~57 minutes
7/25/2010 ~1:07
7/18/2010 ~1:20

There are a couple of things that happened during the last four weeks that need to be described. Between 8/15 and 8/22, Trace had a couple of physiological issues to deal with.

As Trace described on 8/15, he was having a MS issue that in the past would have resulted in him staying in bed and calling his nurse for treatment. Instead like the genius he is, Trace decided to meet me at 5:45 a.m. for a walk and not tell me what was going on with him. Immediately less than 100 meters from where we start, I noticed that something was not right with Trace's stability and balance. I don't think there is any other way to describe what he did on 8/15 but pure guts. He powered through the 2 miles. Of course after we are in the parking lot resting he decides to tell me of the MS issue he started having in the morning. I was floored. Not with the fact that Trace did not tell me, unfortunately that is normal. I was floored by Trace's strength and toughness. Trace left after the walk looking fresh as a daisy. In many ways, this 8/15 walk was by far the strongest accomplishment, to me.

So before 8/22, Trace crashed on his bike, nothing too major, but Trace's left side was pretty beat up. The thing is that Trace's left side is stronger than his right side and Trace typically uses the left side to whip Jarvis into shape and power through exercises. On 8/22, Trace was not able to use his left side in the final mile as usual. This was a learning experience for both of us. I learned that Trace's muscles are sensitive to many influences, heat and now swelling through injury. The heat and swelling appear to have an impact on Trace's control of Jarvis and other muscles. As you can see by the remaining times posted, Trace appears to be healing well.

On 9/5, we took 17 minutes worth of breaks in that 1:03 time. I know Trace could have been under 1 hour for the walk but I am forcing him to work on greater consistency, rather than bettering his time. Trace's fitness has never been an issue during our walks, Trisha has him super fit! There are very real logistical issues that Trace is tackling: hydration, heat, proper nutrition, proper rest and MS. Three of these are being handled very well, hydration, heat and I would love to meet someone who tackles MS better than the White Chocolate Smoothie. Trace does need to work on his nutrition and most of all, he needs to learn how to rest in some form, let alone actually resting properly.

Until next time,

Nathan