What workout did you do today?

[steve garro]

Revis (23 yr old) Seda Glider kayak. Steve, is shaking his head right now because this only goes straight and is not a fishing kayak. But it is 19 ft long and narrow and fast.

You don't have to justify buying new boats to me - I just bought a 10' Old Town a few days ago used for $280 with a paddle, PFD, and a cart.
Now up to:
* 18' lake canoe
* 17' tandem folding sea kayak
* two 14' sea kayaks
* two 10' duckies
* 0ne 10' recreation kayak
It's a sickness, I tell you.

Did 9mi of class 1 & 2 creek boating yesterday.

[My395]

Laying it down 395! I tried sit ski this winter. Hurt my arse really bad. I felt like I was still squished into that bucket for days. Maybe the ski wasn't a good fit.

It was super fun though and I was cruising groomers my first day. How long did it take you to get to point where you were able cruise on your own?

A little more than a full season before I started going out on my own.

I have over 30 days in so far this season. Great exercise for my core.

[Jett]

Purchased a Tri shorty wetsuit to use in an upcoming open water event in June.
Today was the first time I have used it. Worked very well!
200 yards warm up, 1700y non-stop freestyle, followed by a 100y backstroke and finishing with 100y freestyle with paddles.
A plus 2000 yard swim practice works me pretty good.

[flying]

Jett your the man, looking good. 2000 yards is a long swim for just about anybody.

Steve you and Arndog sure have a lot of toys. Guess I'm going to have to get some more just to keep up. You know what they say "who ever dies with the most toys wins". So Steve, after your SCI did you find it harder to hit the white water in your short kayak? I know that it is a lot harder to hold my upper body in place with my wimpy legs. Your kind of my gage as to what I can do, because we are about in the same boat (limited walking, full upper body) not that I will ever be a big water guy like you, but at least I can paddle around in some slower water.

Just got back from Northern California where my brother and his supper fast kid and I rode up to the top of Shasta damn. 37 miles with 1400 of climbing, sweet.

[flying]

At 602 feet Shasta damn is the ninth tallest in the USA, makes for a nice climb

[arndog]

flying - that is one big chunk of foam you are on. And a Roho on your back? Is it for raising your position and /or butt protection/prevention of pain? Hey, your not paralyzed... you are standing up ! ;-) Have you 'recovered'?
jett- like the ski mountain plus the pool. Looks like your on holiday but you actually live there.

I'm one week down out of 4 for this hernia surgery. Haven't gone crazy yet.

[cripwalk]

Purchased a Tri shorty wetsuit to use in an upcoming open water event in June.
Today was the first time I have used it. Worked very well!
200 yards warm up, 1700y non-stop freestyle, followed by a 100y backstroke and finishing with 100y freestyle with paddles.
A plus 2000 yard swim practice works me pretty good.

Holy shit that looks cold...shoulders are looking good! What's your routine

[flying]

Arndog I'm glad your not "crazy yet" hope you can say the same in 4 weeks. The foam under my butt is for comfort, this was a four hour ride after all, it has a big hole cut out in the middle. The Roho on the back is for an old injury to my back area. No madder what I did the seat back hurt my old injury, I tried moving the seat back up and down and nothing help. Was just about ready to give up hand cycling when it occurred to me to use the Roho off of my standing frame. The Velcro even sticks to the seat back, and I have not had any pain since. As for standing, this last bit of return has helped a lot. Having just a little pull from the tensor fascia lata, and more gluts on the iliotibial tract has made it much easer to stand for longer periods of time.
Well hang in there, I'm sure that many more adventures await you in just a little while.

[steve garro]

So Steve, after your SCI did you find it harder to hit the white water in your short kayak? I know that it is a lot harder to hold my upper body in place with my wimpy legs. Your kind of my gage as to what I can do, because we are about in the same boat (limited walking, full upper body) not that I will ever be a big water guy like you, but at least I can paddle around in some slower water.

Oh, for sure.
I can't roll, my shoulders just are not up for it - that hard on the rotators.
I just did another 9mi paddle a couple days ago, what you see here is a tandem IK aka "Duckie" it has more flotation.
Anything above ~ class III and I want to row a real raft like a 16-18'er
I get too cold as well!
Bad circulation and all that.................
Mostly I use the 10'er for fishing or as a loaner for AB relatives.

[Dan F]

First post, glad I found this site.

Today I spent about 2 hours in the gym lifting weights, walking on treadmill, rowing on rowing machine. I had a baclofen pump put in ~ 6 weeks ago, so I'm just getting back to my routine. So far, it's been helpful. I've weaned off my 120 mg a day of oral baclofen and am much less dopey as a result. Also have less tone and spasticity. However, I am a little more wobbly than before. I'm back in PT working on my balance, so hope this will improve.

Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful, so I hope to get out on my recumbent trike (Catrike 700) for 90 minutes or so.

Arndog - since getting my pump I've spent a lot of time researching forearm crutches. Partly because of your videos, I ordered some side stix and can't wait to get them. I can wobble around on a cane fairly well and a little bit without the cane in my house or office, but I think I'll be able to be much faster and tolerate more varied terrain with the side stix. Appalachian Trail's my goal this summer ( in bits and pieces).

[arndog]

Welcome Dan F ! I had a Catrike too back 10 years ago - My friend here in Reno swears by the baclofen pump and also was happy to get off the oral.

Glad you are getting the Sidestix to aid and replace canes for anything other than ADLs, short ambulations from the car to the Kmart shopping cart , etc.

[Surf_Sister]

Hi Guys,

I'm been MIA (grad school) for a while, but I logged a 60min handcycle day in the sunsine on an old, heavy freedom ryder twistshift. The handcycle is an inexpensive rental.

I was wondering has anyone tried a fixie handcycle?
For city commuting today, I hardly used more than 2 gears.

[gvinton]

5 more days until Warrior Dash. I've been battling a calf strain for weeks so I've decided to shut down the running until the event. I'm not sure if it is caused by the imbalance of strength in my left leg or just not giving it enough healing time...

Transitioning from a walking quad to a running one has not gone smoothly.

[cajun]

5 more days until Warrior Dash. I've been battling a calf strain for weeks so I've decided to shut down the running until the event. I'm not sure if it is caused by the imbalance of strength in my left leg or just not giving it enough healing time...

Transitioning from a walking quad to a running one has not gone smoothly.

I've been wondering how it was going with you since you told us about your injury. I bet that bike riding is the best thing for you now, easy on your body but great cardio. Good luck.

[Dan F]

70 sunny beautiful degrees here in VA. Went for about a 16 mile ride on the Catrike and flipped over 800 miles since getting the trike 6 1/2 months ago. Overall, the ride was great. However, felt a little weird today, slightly off balance - almost fell in the parking lot of Verizon running errands with my son - and tight at the same time. Everyday is different. I'm generally due for a fall every few weeks, so maybe it's just one of those days.

This AM did some focused exercises on my weak points: everything in my right leg, especially hip flexion, ankle dorsiflexion, and hamstrings. Sometimes hard to tell how much change I'm getting, but keep chipping away at it. I do know that I definitely feel worse if I'm not moving.

Spent more time today reading through this thread. You guys are awesome and provide a lot of insight, motivation, support, new ideas. As someone said somewhere in the thread, it takes a 30 minute conversation for an AB to begin to understand what SCI is like.

I am intrigued about how many of you have gotten back to road biking. I was an avid road biker before my injury; I put in ~ 6000 miles a year for the 2-3 years pre SCI. I could probably get on a road bike and ride now, I'd just be awfully leery of my balance and ability to reflexively respond to a fall. I'm riding my road bike on a trainer, but I've only ridden the trike on the road or trail. The trike sure beats sitting at home, but it's pretty slow, or, at least, I'm now slow. But my feet and legs aren't cramping as much with the baclofen pump and I don't get the whole leg clonus I used to get after a longer or harder ride.