Message from Jasper Blake, 2006 Ironman Canada Winner

"Hey Chris, great job on your fund raising for MS and your ironman racing. Keep up the good work and hopefully we'll see you in out here in beautiful British Columbia one of these days for Ironman Canada, until then we'll consider you an honorary member of the race4ms team in Ontario. We wish you the best of luck in your Ironman races this year!”

Jasper Blake and the for RACE4MS Team

Race4MS – is a not for profit initiative created to raise funds and awareness for Multiple Sclerosis in Canada. They have secured fifteen spots for Ironman Canada on August 30th, 2009. This is a chance to take part in one of the longest running and most prestigious Ironman events in the world. Race4MS Team Members will receive an exclusive VIP Package with incredible benefits and will get to race Ironman Canada for a great cause - it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Inspired by the idea that collectively we can achieve more than we can individually we decided to assemble a team of individuals to help generate funds and create awareness for Multiple Sclerosis.

To be part of this great opportunity, participants will be required to contribute a minimum donation via pledges through their personal pledge page. This year’s fundraising minimum for each participant is $7,500. Race4MS is for everyone. The goal is to create a unique team of fantastic individuals who want to get across the finish line for the right reason – to end Multiple Sclerosis!!

Race4MS has several goals. The first is to generate funds and awareness for Multiple Sclerosis in the hopes that one day a cure will be found for this disease.

The second is to provide funding for the local chapters of the MS Society of Canada which provide resources and services for those living with MS in their own community.

The final goal of the program is to provide a unique, challenging and exceptionally rewarding experience for our team of dedicated fundraisers. Ironman is a sport that brings the best out in people and requires inspired people who are up for the challenge.

Great Weekend in Muskoka for the Chase!

We spent last weekend in Muskoka for the Muskoka Chase Triathlon. It’s a 2k swim, 55k bike and 15k run. It was an absolutely beautiful day for the race, sunny and almost no wind. Everyone was a bit worried about the water temperature in the lake. I never heard an official temperature, but the general consensus was that it was in the 62/63 degree range. It felt cold at first but after a few minutes it was fine. The bike ride was hilly and seemed like we were almost never on a flat section. I managed to shave four minutes off from last year. I decide to take it easy on the run and save my sore knee for the next two weeks of hard training and ran a steady 5:30km pace for the 15 k run.

Our neighbors, Paul and Cathy and family made the trip up. Cathy was in the sprint triathlon on Saturday where she placed 3rd in her age group, awesome job and Paul, a very strong cyclist and runner had a great race, and looked strong when I saw him on the run. Maybe a potential new Ironman in the making? It was great to see so Paul and Cathy and family in Muskoka and see many familiar faces from our swim group in Muskoka. It always gives you a bit of a lift when you see a friendly face in the race.

Three Alberta universities work together on multiple sclerosis research

EDMONTON — Three Alberta universities are working together to foster a future generation of multiple sclerosis researchers through the newly launched endMS Regional Research and Training Centre.

The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada established five of these centres across the country — the Alberta centre will be a joint effort between the University of Alberta, the University of Lethbridge, and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary. “We’ll see much better alignment and a higher degree of inter-institutional co-ordination,” said Neil Pierce, president of the MS Society of Canada’s Alberta division.

Communications director Darrel Gregory said one the of the most important things about the initiative is that it will result in more researchers, and in turn, more MS research.“It’s going to be easier (for researchers) to share their work with other researchers across the country and I think that will lead to finding a cure for the disease in the shortest possible time,” said Gregory.

Dr. V. Wee Yong from the departments of Clinical Neurosciences and Oncology at the University of Calgary will head the Alberta initiative. He said the centre will have about 30 collaborators and 50 trainees to start off. Some of the trainees will include PhD and master’s students along with post-doctoral and clinical fellows.
“It’s about training and research,” said Yong of the initiative. “To train trainees at the highest level, you also have to do research at the highest level.” The centres are part of the endMS Research and Training Network, a $20 million project that is part of the ends campaign launched in September 2008. Each of the five centres will receive $100,000 per year for the next three years through the network.

UK: Adult Stem Cells Reverse Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis

Chalk up yet another success for adult stem cell therapy!
According to the UK Telegraph, researchers in Britain have taken stem cells from a patient’s own body fat to stimulate the regrowth of tissue damaged by multiple sclerosis.

Last year experts suggested that stem cell therapy could be a “cure” for MS within the next 15 years. Patients’ symptoms were still improving up to a year after the treatment, the new study shows. One, a 50-year-old man, who had suffered more than 600 painful seizures in the three years before treatment has not had a single one since the infusion of his own cells. Another patient’s ability to walk, run and even cycle are still improving 10 months after the therapy.

Apparently there are a couple of studies underway, and the second one is also reporting excellent results: Earlier this year another study in 21 patients injected with their own bone marrow stem cells, found that 81 per cent saw significant improvements to their disability.

The successful treatments derived from adult stem cell therapy is somewhere between 70 and 80; there has yet to be one reported successful therapy from embryonic stem cell research, despite years of trying in the United States and internationally, with both private funding and taxpayer funding. Adult stem cell therapy uses a patient’s own stem cells gathered from places such as fat tissue, nasal tissue and dental tissue.

Drug keeps people with MS walking, even running

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Weekend Workout, First Long Brick

The forecast for Saturday was sunny and warm, with temperatures around 23. The forecast was bang on and it made for a great long brick day. I did a 160k bike followed immediately by a 5 mile run. I still bike in kilometers and run in miles, I find it a lot easier to gauge my speed in kilometers and I’m so used to seeing my speed in those numbers. I tried switching my bike computer over to miles but I just couldn’t get used to it. Running on the other hand make more sense to me in miles. The Ironman courses area all marked in miles, usually by an aid station, and I find it very easy to measure my pace when I’m looking at it in miles. It’s just 26 8 to 10 minute (hopefully) one mile intervals!

I was careful to weigh myself accurately before heading out on Saturday morning. Using two different scales, I was somewhere between 144.5 to 145lbs. As this was my first long brick I wanted to start paying attention to how much I drank and ate and start to dial in my nutritional requirements before the Ironmans arrive. I drank 3 bottles of water, 2 bottles of Gatorade and ate 3 power bars and 4 shots of honey, giving me approximately 400 calories per hour. Everything went down without issue and it felt like enough and not too much. I really like to get some solid food in during the first half of the bike before switching over to liquids and gels only; I think it makes a difference later in the day. When I was finally finished up and home, the plan was to weigh myself again and see how, see how much weight I lost. This would tell me how much more fluids I should have consumed.

Yeah…I forgot to weigh myself. Oh boy. It’ll have to wait until next time.