Biking 101

Last year for the 2007 IM, I spent approximately 185 hours biking a total of 3,250 kms. This year my goal will be do be closer to 200 hours and 4000/4500 kms. Last year I dropped from 77th after the swim to 148 after the bike, so I lost 71 positions. My official time was 6:58:33, but according to my bike computer, my actual riding time was about 17 minutes less than that. As soon as the bike comes to a rest, the computer shuts off, so it measures only the actual time the bike is moving. So what was I doing for 17 minutes??...well I stopped and got off the bike 4 times to pee and that cost was at least 2 minutes each time and I had to fix a flat tire at the 100mi mark, that took the other 8 minutes and change.

This year I’ll be looking for a bike time much closer to 6:00/6:15. I won’t be stopping this year to pee, yes…I’ll teach myself to do it on the fly. It’s common, lots of people do it. You need to make sure to move over and get out of the way of the other riders though. I’ll practice this summer on my long rides a couple times. It sounds gross, I know, but during the race, you are constantly dousing yourself with water to keep cool and your sweating, so you’re wet pretty much the entire time and it will just get washed away.

For me to maintain my 77th place after the swim last year, I would have to complete the bike 6:13, I think that’s a possibility. A 6:15 bike split would require me to bike at 28.8 km/per hour. So based on that, I will gradually build my long rides this summer with a goal of riding at an average of 29/30 kph.

MS Research Going on Around the World

Here are 3 great examples of MS research going on around the world. First, research in Italy on a new drug FTY720 which showed a 50% reduction in relapses and attacks those taking the drug over those taking a placebo with 67% of the participants remaining free of relapses after three years. Second, a Dutch study has found that the drug Prozac may slow the progression of MS and third, in England a new compound BGC20-0134 which encourage the immune system to rebalance itself. More details below…

Oral drug, FTY720, reduces disease activity in Multiple Sclerosis

A drug that can be taken orally reduces the number of attacks people with multiple sclerosis (MS) have, according to research that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 12–19, 2008.“All of the current treatments for MS must be injected, so having a pill you can swallow with a glass of water would be a welcome improvement for many people,” said study author Giancarlo Comi, MD, of San Raffaele University in Milan, Italy.The results reported are from an extension of a six-month study with 281 people with relapsing MS, two-thirds of whom took the drug FTY720 (fingolimod) and one-third of whom took a placebo.

After six months, those taking FTY720 had more than 50 percent fewer relapses, or attacks, than those who took the placebo. At that point, all of the participants could enter an ongoing extension of the study where all would receive the drug. A total of 173 people have finished three-years of the study. Continuous use of the drug led to sustained low relapses, with more than 67 percent of the participants remaining free of relapses after three years. In addition, the inflammatory activity associated with MS, as assessed by MRI scans, remained low, with 89 percent of patients free of disease activity and 75 percent of patients free of new or newly enlarged lesions.FTY720 is an immune-modulating drug that binds to a receptor site on immune cells, sequestering them in the lymph nodes. As a result, FTY720 reduces their ability to cause damage associated with the symptoms experienced by people with MS.

Prozac May Slow Progression of Multiple Sclerosis

A new Dutch study has found that people who took the popular antidepressant Prozac had fewer brain lesions characteristic of multiple sclerosis (MS), suggesting that the drug may slow the incurable disease.
Although the study was small, scientists said the results justify further research in those suffering with MS."This proof-of-concept study shows that (the drug) tends to reduce the formation of new enhancing lesions in patients with MS," Jop Mostert, a neurologist at the University Medical Center Groeningen, and colleagues wrote in a report about the study. In the Dutch study, the researchers randomly designated 40 participants with MS to 24 weeks of treatment with either 20 mg daily of Prozac or a placebo.

In total, thirty-eight people completed the study. Detailed brain scans were conducted every four weeks to check for new areas of neurological inflammation, an indicative sign of MS. At eight weeks, the scans revealed that those taking the placebo had a greater number of new areas of inflammation. However, during the final 16 weeks of treatment almost two-thirds the antidepressant group had no new areas of inflammation compared to about a quarter of those in the other group, according to the researchers.

Potential Treatment For Multiple Sclerosis Begins Clinical Trials

A potential treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), developed by University of Greenwich (England) in association with Kings College, London, has begun clinical trials. The life sciences company BTG plc, which has licensed the research, is running the trials on a new compound, known as BGC20-0134.
Dr Laurence Harbige and Dr Mike Leach, from the Drug Discovery Research Group in the University of Greenwich School of Science, developed the new treatment following many years of research. Dr Laurence Harbige explains: "Although the cause of multiple sclerosis is unknown, there is strong evidence that it involves the regulation of the immune system through molecules in our bodies called cytokines.

In MS, the balance of these cytokines is altered, leading to inflammation in the brain which can result in serious disability."Dr Mike Leach adds: "This new treatment should encourage the immune system to rebalance itself, by inhibiting the production of inflammatory cytokines while promoting the production of helpful anti-inflammatory ones."Louise Makin, BTG's Chief Executive Officer, comments: "The effective treatment of multiple sclerosis remains a significant unmet need. We are pleased to have started clinical development of BGC20-0134, which has the potential to address different forms of the disease and has the advantage of being an oral product."

New support for MS researchers – and the people they serve

Dr. Samuel K. Ludwin is one of Canada’s leading researchers and world-renowned for his work on remyelination and demyelination related to multiple sclerosis. When he speaks, people listen.

“We have reached a unique time of exciting opportunities in MS research. Now is the time for Canada to chart a new course towards a cure for multiple sclerosis,” said Dr. Ludwin, a researcher at Queen’s University and Kingston General Hospital.
Dr. Ludwin has agreed to lead a new project for the MS Society of Canada, one that will attract high quality researchers to work in Canada on a cure for MS. The project will also help to keep some of our brightest young scientific minds engaged in multiple sclerosis research here, building on the world-class success of researchers like Dr. Donald Paty, Dr. Jack Antel and Dr. Jock Murray.

Dr. Ludwin also believes that success in the lab must ultimately reach the person with MS. “It is vitally important that research always be directed towards the individual, whether the research is about lab science trying to find the cause, cure and treatment of MS or whether it is clinical or health research aimed at improving the prognosis and quality of life for people with MS and their families.”

Swimming 101

Since November 2006 I’ve spent roughly 150 hours swimming about 250,000 meters. I now know two things for sure,

1. I still don’t know how to swim properly.
2. It’s going to take me a long time to figure it out and swim properly.

Most of the swimming I did back in 2006 and 2007 was at the Markham YMCA, where I would get in the pool and swim back and forth for anywhere from 60 to 160 lengths (1.5 km to 4 km) I didn’t pay much attention to my stroke, I didn’t think it was too bad and it seemed to the job. I managed to get my 4k time down from 1:32 to 1:20 and I swam the 4k distance 10 times in the pool.

So along comes the Ironman and in the water we go. The water was warm, 84/85 degrees and a bit of current both ways. My time was 1:17:46 which placed me 77th out of 187 in my age group. Not bad. The average for the group was 1:20:51. To give you an idea of the spread, the fastest guy was 59:26 and the slowest swimmer came in at 1:58. All in all, I was pleased with my swim. Open water swimming is very different than following the big black stripe on the bottom of the pool at the Y. It’s very easy to swim off course and add a few hundred meters to your swim and of course there is always the pushing and shoving of a mass swim start or just swimming in a group of people.

This year my swim training has been all different. Tim and I joined a Masters program in Stouffville. I wish I’d done it years ago. Since October we’ve been coached by Yorrick Tong. Yorrick has coached at the university level and he is a great coach. I can safely say that there is absolutely nothing remotely similar to my current stoke compared to the way I swam in 2006. Basically, everything I was doing was wrong. Arms, legs, hips, shoulders, head, breathing, catch, pull, push, everything. Wrong, wrong, wrong. All moving in the wrong way at the wrong time!

Most of the swimming we do with Yorrick is swim drills. Drills isolate one part of the stroke at a time to allow you to concentrate on that only until it is corrected, then on to the next problem. Yorrick’s goal for us is to correct our stroke so and allow us to swim efficiently and with much less effort. Less energy expended during the swim means more energy to use on the bike and run. We’ve come a long way in the swimming department. I’ll swim 4k this Sunday am and see where I’m at. Whatever the time is, I know it will be much less of an effort that it used to be.

MS Research: What does the “cure” mean?

For people living with multiple sclerosis the “cure” means different things to different people. For people who have just been diagnosed, the cure will stop MS in its tracks. For people who have lived with MS and have experienced loss of mobility and other serious impairments, the cure means repair of the nervous system and recovery of lost functions.For people with a family history of MS, the cure will allow their children or grandchildren to live a life free from MS.

The research funded by the MS Society addresses all three definitions of a cure. Research is multi-faceted but with clear purpose: to find a cure for MS, protect the nervous system and repair damage caused by MS, and improve monitoring and management of the disease.



MS Research Accomplishments During Past 10 Years

MS research continues to advance knowledge of the disease and treatment for people with MS. There is much greater understanding of this unpredictable, often disabling disease. Many of those accomplishments have taken place in the past 10 years thanks to the support of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada and its sister national MS societies around the world, many governments and private industry. Here are some key advances:

There are treatments for some types of multiple sclerosis.
o They are useful in relapsing MS
o Their impact on development of disability still not clear

Researchers have developed "windows" into the disease through technology.
o MRI scanning assists doctors in diagnosing MS more quickly
o Canadians are leaders in MRI and other magnetic resonance technology to measure disease activity within the central nervous system

We have evidence myelin can and does regrow spontaneously which indicates repair is possible.
o Myelin repair and regrowth takes place in the early stages of MS
o Studies are underway using the body's own cells to repair myelin

Investigators have a better understanding of the nature of MS which means some types of MS can be more effectively managed. This is because of :
o Studies of MS tissue (pathology)
o Studies of the immune system (immunology)
o Studies of the way MS naturally progresses without treatment (natural history studies)

I'm back...!

I’m back….! and training hard for my second go at Ironman Louisville. This year’s race will be held on August 31 and we can’t wait to go back. It was a great experience for all of us last year and we are really looking forward to being in Louisville again this year.

Together we raised over $8000 for MS research last year and I thank you all for your generous donations. Over the last year there has been lot’s going on in MS research and I’ll bring you up to speed on all the good news in future posts. Raising money for MS and being able to share the experience with Barb and giving her my finisher’s medal are what really made the effort meaningful for me. I wanted her to keep the medal until she can get her own. I’ll show you what she did with the medal next post, it ended up back with me!

My training has been going well. I’ve been following my own made up training schedule, based on several different schedules that I’ve read. I am in week 29 of 46 weeks of training and time is flying by. With the great weather we’ve had this past couple of weeks, I’ve been able to get out on bike and have been really pleased with the fitness gains I’ve made over the winter and fortunately, knock on wood, I haven’t missed any training days due to being sick for the entire past 29 weeks.

This year we will be joined in Louisville by my business partner, Tim Hardie and his family. I think I talked the poor guy into doing this last year after my Ironman before he really had a chance to realize what he was getting into. He’s never actually done a triathlon before! He’s been training hard and following Don Fink’s ‘beIronfit’ training schedule. Tim is a great runner and capable of running a sub 3:30 marathon. In fact he did last fall and qualified for the Boston Marathon, which was held last weekend. He wisely decided to defer his entry and concentrate on his Ironman training instead. It just takes too long to recover from the wear and tear of a marathon and it would mean at a minimum, 2 or 3 weeks of reduce training. I’m sure his great running legs will make his day in Louisville.

The race has a few changes this year, first off, they have opened up the field and added about 800 spots over last year, the only place we’d actually see that increase would be the swim start, if they decide to go with a mass start, it would be a bit crowded to say the least. Last year due to flooding north of Louisville, the Army Corps of Engineers were not able to reduce the current in the Ohio River to an acceptable swim against level and they opted for a modified swim course and a one by one time trail start. The other changes will be a change in the run course; the University of Louisville plays football against the University of Kentucky on the same day. The run course last year went right by the front of the stadium twice last year. With 80,000 people at the game, it could get messy trying to run a marathon at the same time. The bike course has been changed due to a bridge closure and the general thinking is that they will be adding a long hill to make the new course work. Great, another hill!

Click Here to Read the MS Society Spring Newsletter, Featuring an Article about Barb & I.