My Olympic Legacy 29/09/2012

Back in the autumn of 2011 when Michaela said she would raise money for me by entering the BIRC competition, she didn't realise the beast she was unleasing (nor did I for that matter!!). Spured on by my gold medal and watching the Olympics and Paralympics, I decided to investigate rowing... which led me to Evesham.

Evesham rowing club is our nearest club that has adaptive rowing facilities. Earlier today I had my official adaptive classification assessment.  A very nice, smiley lady askedme to sit on the plinth amd within seconds I had to ask "are you a physiotherapist?" She had that evil smile that only physiotherapits have!.
She put me through my paces: lift right arm,lift left arm, right leg, left leg etc. Soon, I was huffing and puffing and grunting. Lots of measurements were taken and then the time came for me to get on the rowing machine . I havent sat on one in quite some months now but like riding a bike, it all came flooding back. As did my problem with my foot:

As I row and as I get faster, my left foot comes out of my trainer. We stopped,tied a velcro strap around the back of my foot and started to row again. Another couple of seconds and I had to stop again. Shove foot back in my trainer again and this time we used a pilates rubber strap to tie my foot to the pedal another few seconds of rowing and yes, you guessed it my foot came out of my shoe again.

Discussion between the medical and technical assessors about whether I should be in the TA category (able to use trunks and sarms but not legs) or ro remain inthe LTA category (able to use legs, trunks and arms). They secured the seat so it couldn't move and I set off rowing again. Very odd experience as I still felt I should be moving my legs. It felt wrong not to be doing so. My upper body strength wasn't sufficient to get me into the TA category so I am definitely in the LTA category BUT. they decided I am in a wholly new LTA (Jan) category as they havent come across my foot problem before. They took videos to send to the adaptive guru. Hopeully he will have some ideas to resolve the problem and stop my foot falling out of my trainer. Meanwhile I have my first rowing session, ON THE WATER in 2 weeks time. My 14 yr old has decided that she may as well join the junior rowers so we will both be on the water soon, just hopefully not in the water but have to admit feeling ever so slightly apprehensive.

I hold Michaela wholly responsible for all of this :) THANK YOU MICHAELA XXX

Next indoor rowing competition: Sunday 27th January 2013

The

next British IRC has yet to confirm details so the  next event will be the English IRC will be held  on

Sunday 27th January 2013 at the Manchester Veledrome

Michaela has "suggested" that we enter......

January seems terribly soon gulp!

For me to enter will mean gettingover some tricky hurdles. For a start, the NHS discharged ,e as an outpatient at the end of March 2012, stating that there was nothing more it could do for me. I have to admit that 6 weeks later I returned and smugly showed them my latest trick - my twitching ankle. Now it may not seem much to you, but everyone told me I would never regain movement in my ankle and I would have to waear an orthotic splint for the rest of my life. They obviously had never come across a girl determined to wear her heels and flip flops again! 
My physiotherapists did refer me to the community gym on a wellness programme, so I wasn'y unduly upset at saying farewell to outpatiernts. Unfortunately I couldnt get on and off the gym equipment without  help so bang went my plans to go to the gym three mornings a week. The gym manager was wonderful and arranged times I could go when she was on duty so she could help me but this meant I had to fit with their schedule and meant gym at 4pm on some days, which didnt fill me with enthusiasm.
I did go and it was good to be exercising. The equipment was of course general gym equipment and I had no helpful physio ensuring I was moving correctly. Upshot was that I dislocated my shoulder again. Very painful indeed. My hip also started to hurt as again the equipment and exercises weren't designed to help me recover movement and function. After a couple of months, the gym sessions were causing more harm than good so I had to stop.
I do have a treadmill at home but I have fallen off and hit my headtoo many times. It is up for sale and I will use the money to buy an exercise bike which I will be able to use on a daily basis.

As for rowing training, I will look at hiring a rowing machine for a couple of months before the competition.

The rest will be up to me and my self motivation and Michaela's encouragement. She too can share my pain and we can both enter the next competition in January, in Manchester.  We will post our training  updates once we actually start doing some :)

Your Donations - Watch how I am using your donations

This short video shows me using the Saebo flex which was bought with your donations. The glove helps me grasp objects eg a ball, pick them up then release and let them go. I am supposed to do 2 x 45 minutes sessions every day and in this way my brain will re-learn how to move my hand and hopefully one day I will be able to do this myself without the Saebo.
The plastic splint is to  keep my arm straight - as my muscles have contracted my arm tends to be bent at the elbow and is difficult to straighten on my own. The plastic splint feels a little like having your blood pressure taken as it is simply inflated. Yes it can be quite painful and most definitely hard work.

This activity also helps my balance to improve.

How your donations were spent

Thank you so very much. Your donations totalled an amazing  £2770  and we can't thank you enough. I am overwhemed and appreciate every single one of you; now my hard work to recover my hand and arm function begins..... This is how we used your donations:

 Following advice from Jon Graham of physiofunction  I orered a splint to stretch my fingers, which are curled and tight. The Saebostretch arrived about 3 weeks ago.
 I started using it for an hour a day and slowly increased my tolerance enough to be able to wear it overnight. It itches and by the morning, it is a huge relief to remove it, but it does seem to be working as my fingers are noticeably more relaxed. I can make a gripping movement but cannot release or straighten my fingers myself (yet).

 Initially I had aimed to use the more expensive electronic Bioness H200, but after assessing my tone and fingers again, the slightly cheaper mechanical Saeboflex was the option for me. This is a mechanical device that needs to be fitted to me. Physiofunction measured my arm and fingers.The kit looks a little like a giant meccano set.

My Saeboflex will arrive on Tuesday June 12th and will look similar to this:

I will need to use this for 45 minutes twice a day. I will concentrate on using the grasp movement i have to pick up a 4" diameter soft ball from one side then the springs will help my fingers release the ball on the other side. You will imagine just how riveting this is- especially doing it for 45 minutes twice a day!!! To aide my motivation, I will be joining some saebo group sessions. Nothing like a littlefriendly competition to encourage me to do better :).

Once again thank you as I would not be able to afford the device ir the sessions without your support.

BUT that isn't all. I wanted to give something back to the Royal Leamington Spa Rehabilitation Hospital where ~I spent 3 months as an in-patient and over 15 months as an out patient. Talking to the staff, we felt that rather than buy one piece of equipment that could only be used by one patiernt at a time, small items of equipment were much needed: Items such as hand weights, pilates type straps, medicine balls with handles and pedals - where patients can simply sit and pedal, providing much needed exercise. I ordered 4 or 5 of each which means that several patients can benefit at any one time.

The boxes started to arrive, some were very heavy. opening the boxes was quite good fun.

We arranged to deliver the equipment to the hospital. Michaela came over  and she and my carer, Kelly, helped to carry the equipment to my car and to unload them at the hospital. Kelly took the photos.

The hospital staff also pass on their thanks and appreciation...

and that's not all: A similar amount will be donate to the Charity " Different Strokes" to cooincide with the launch of its new website later in June

Your donations have not only helped me but many other people too. THANK YOU AGAIN and most of all a HUGE THANK YOU TO MICHAELA  who had this mad rowing idea in the first place. 

Maybe I will try to regain my title next year.... maybe!

Meanwhile I have had an article published on my experience of the benefits system. First in the Spring Edition of Working Brief, the quarterly publication of the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion in April and on 30 May, an edited version published in the Society pages of the Guardian.

THANK YOU ALL

Jan and Michaela 

29 April 2012 Donations update

We set an ambitious target of £3,500 and thanks to your generous donations we have raised £2,700, which is amazing and absolutely fantastic. Thank you all so very much. I am truly overwhemed. Thank you so much to Michaela who had the mad idea of entering the rowing competition in the first place!
So what has happened in the past month since the event? Well apart from the weather deciding to become freezing cold and us experiencing the wettest drought.....
Michaela's husband Graham ran in the London Marathon  and completed the course in his personal best and Michaela has entered a park run due in June, what a couple. I am full of admiration for their determination, motivation and stamina.

Meanwhile, on April 18th, I had an operation on my left eye as I had a macular hole which if left alone may have caused blindness in that eye. I was petrified at the thought of needles in my eye - I will spare you the gruesome details - so they sedated me (I later heard it was the same drug that killed Michael Jackson). My carer removed the patch the following day and I was excited to see her shadow. She wondered why I was so excited as she still needed to remove the inner gauze! Once that was removed I was amazed to be able to see through that eye. I had expected my sight to be blurry but it was better than before the op :) I had my post op check up last Thursday and my eye is healing fine but as I now have silicon oil rather than vitreous liquid in my eye I have to take eyedrops 4 times a day to regulate the pressure. T'his also means I am not allowed to go to the gym  or drive for the next 3 weeks. So I am effectively housebound until after the 17th May. I can read for just a few minutes at a time, though each day I am able to focus for longer periods before it hurts. So I would be grateful for suggestions as to what I can do over the next couple of weeks, but I am sure I will still be able to cause mischief and mayhem :) :)
So what happens next?
We are closing the donations page at midnight on Monday 30th April 2012 when we will have our final total.
By the end of May, we will circulate a final update showing how we used your donations.

Sunday 25 March - the Day

 Went to bed early on Saturday night with a stomach full of butterflies. First hurdle and moment of indecision - do iPhone's update time automatically? The clocks went forward that night and we absolutely had to be in Solihull by 8:30 am to catch the minibus that would transport Ali's trainees from Seal Personal Training. So we set various alarms from about 5 am onwards....We did wake on time  (and yes iPhone's do update automatically) had porridge for breakfast ands set off. Arrived in Solihull and met the rest of the group, helped onto the minibus and set off to Nottingham. The event was held at Nottingham University's Sports Hall. So many people. I don't think I had realised how huge this event was. So many languages spoken; before we had gone through the open turnstiles we heard English, Polish, Italian and German. There were several very big people with very big muscles..eek! Michaela's race was just after 11:00. I was allowed to have a seat at the side to watch as I couldn't get up the steps to the spectator area. I hadn't seen Michaela in training for some time and as she sat on the rower I noticed that over the past few months of training, she had developed muscles. I was impressed and also deflated - I looked at my still very flabby arms  and was not impressed .

 The competitors were allowed a few moments to settle in and then they were off "Go Michaela" we yeled, oh how we shouted. The large screens above the competitors showed the progress of each competitor . Michaela was aiming for a Personal Best; we cheered so much as she reached the end of her 2000m and saw that she had achieved her goal. Hooray...:) Well done Michaela.It took me a while to find herbut she looked so full of energy and so happy. She also looked exhausted! What an achievement. Fantastic.

WELL DONE MICHAELA

My race started at 14:05 so second moment of indecision: what to have for lunch? I am still not sure that sitting on a concrete step in  the car park(as the few benches were full) eating a hot dog and chocolate bar was the best preparation for my race but.... the sun was shining and despite the uncomfortable seat, I felt quite relaxed and sleepy.... all too soon it was my race time so I headed towards the preparation area to meet Ali. Hehelped me to sit down and strapped me into the rower which took time and meant we only had two rows before we had to go to the main competition  arena.
Ali helped me onto the rower - I am getting better at sitting on the rowing seat, but it is still quite a scary experience as I am afraid of over balancing and falling over.

Ali strapped my left hand onto the rower, using the special glove donated by Active Hands  and strapped my left foot onto the foot rest. Now I haven't yet achieved the time or the distance without incidence but we were hopeful that the velcro strap around the back of my heel would hold my foot in place... The race started and the velcro strap did keep my trainer in place  but my left foot fell out of my trainer... Ali shoved it back in; It fell out again;after five times, Ali simply held my foot in place - we decided that superglue was the answer for future!

All I could see was the screen in front of me; the hall was noisy and the commentator was describing the different races. I was determined to finish, but I felt as if I had been rowing for a very long time.

 Michaela had had to row 2000m: I only had to row 1000m but it felt like a million metres.I was huffing, puffing and sweating I could hear Ali's words of encouragement but all I wanted to do was reach the end.

 I saw the last 100 m appear on the screen, and watched as it slowly reduced to 50 m, then 10m and finally 0. Phew! I had finished and despite my left foot I had stayed on the machine and hadn't fallen off. Ali held out his arm to help me off the rower, my left leg felt so heavy. Ali lifted me over and I started to walk. Myleft leg didn't seem to want to come with the rest of me. I was very tired.

Michaela and my daughter came to find me and we were all laughing and smiling as we had both done it and survived. Hooray.

 Ali disapeared; I thought he was going to met his next competitor but he returned with the news I had won a medal....

Apparently I won Gold am now the Women's LTA British and European Indoor Rowing Champion 2012!

Ali has already muttered that I will have to return next year to defend the title.

Wednesday 21 March - Just 4 days left

The week started fairly well as my local community gym referral finally came through. I arrived at my assessment full of excitement. The good news is that I could do the exercise programme recommended by my physiotherapists but the bad news is that my idea of going to the gym 3-4 mornings a week isn't going to happen as it soon became obvious that I need help getting on and off the equipment. This means I cannot go to the gym when I feel like and my local authority gym doesn't offer personal trainers :( The lovely manager has booked me in for two sessions next week when she is on duty but can't guarantee any future sessions. Hmmm.

Today Ali from Seal training offered me a final session on the rowing machiune before Sunday's event... The first 5 minutes were fine but then my left foot slipped out of my trainer again. I managed to keep going but my technique was definitely unorthodox!

So with just 4 days left to go and no more opportunities to use a rower, I haven't managed the distance or time without either my hand or my foot slipping off the machine.... Wish me luck as I am starting to feel quite apprehensive.

Well prepared?!

Since deciding to take on this rowing challenge I have followed Ali's advice. Ali is from Seal Personal Training http://www.sealpersonaltraining.com/ and puts me through my paces every week. Sometimes I end up terribly sore other times only a little but I always have fun training with him and feel that I am making good progress with my fitness in general and my rowing in particular. His predictions on what I can achieve have so far been pretty accurate and therefore I trust his guidance and even though I sometimes feel the need to challenge him I basically do as I am told. I'm happy with the results; I feel fitter and healthier. But am I ready for the British Indoor Rowing Championships in 9 days time?

Aside from enjoying the training and its results I am motivated by my desire to raise as much money as I can for Jan. If you would like to donate please follow the link   https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=TTSDYLAW264E2


But another key driver that spurns me on (I'm just a little embarrassed to admit but we are among friends here aren't we?) is being terrified of coming last. The vision of long rows of concept 2 rowing machines all having fallen silent whilst I have still not made it to the finish line is currently my worst nightmare. So I tasked Ali to do whatever it takes to help me avoid coming last.


Yesterday was my last big training effort before the race. The task was to compete in a mini team race rowing 9k in 30 intervals of 300m together with a partner. My target was to row all of my 15 intervals below 2 minutes/500m. Your perhaps guess it already, I did not make it. In fact, I missed the target by a long way, a very long way. And yes, you guess that right also, I did come last. And yes, it did feel exactly how I thought it would only that it only lasted for about 15 seconds.

And guess what? I survived. In fact, my legs were and are so sore that I do not care about anything other than finding a comfortable seating position. So perhaps I am not well prepared to avoid coming last but with a few days rest my legs will have hopefully forgiven me for last night's maltreatment and I will be the best I can be for next Sunday. 


Now that I have proven that coming last is perfectly survivable, I am ready for anything.

Jan's update 6 March 2012

Direct cranial electrical stimulation

Oh dear, I am entering panic mode - I haven't been near a rowing machine in 3 weeks and there are only 3 weeks to go to the competition. Week 1 my physiotherapist was ill so my hospital session was cancelled. During the last 2 weeks, I have been a gunea pig for a research study conducted by Oxford University at the John Radcliffe Hospital which left me too exhausted and worn out to do anything else!
The good news is that my left arm can move a whole 1" more than it could at the start of the study.
My next rowing hospital physio session is scheduled for next Monday...
I am still waiting for my community gym referral to be approved as then I will be able to go to my local community gym 3-4 times a week to train as they have limited supervision.
Trying to keep up with some fitness I use a pedalsizer at home for my arms  and had intended to use my treadmill. My hoispital physios came for a home visit on 14 February and approved me to use the treadmill so long as I had someone (my daughter) hovering over the stop button. In hospital I had been acheiving 10 minutes on the treadmill (on the slowest speed setting) and had been looking forward to using the treadmill at home on a daily basis.
On my first attempt my brain forgot to tell my left leg to move and my ankle went over...as did I, smashing my head on the handles on the way down. My headache lasted all day.
My next attempt was better - I stayed upright - but could only manage 3 minutes at a very slow setting. Left a little demoralised, I decided to do 3 minutes each day and build up my time, but my brain doesnt seem to want to cooperate as since then I have only been able to take 2-3 steps before my left leg stiffens up - almost as if it has stage fright!. The stop button use is in overdrive. :(
I keep persevering as I am determined to be able to do 10 minutes daily before too long.

Jan

Michaela's update 6 March 2012

Looks are deceiving....or 'we don't see things as they are, we see them as we are' Anais Nin

I have finally left the long 10km plus rows behind me and have entered a new phase of training for speed. Short bursts of 500 or 300 meters at sub race pace interrupted by short breaks. This does not sound too bad, I thought, and the pace Ali, my trusted rowing coach from Seal Personal Training http://www.sealpersonaltraining.com, suggested seemed achievable. That the idea is to do 10 of these so called intervals my conscious mind had conveniently glossed over and by the time I realised the extend of the task I was already committed. 

The first 2 sprints were fine but then the clock during the break seemed to run faster and faster and I did not get enough rest to even catch my breath. By Interval 4 I had convinced myself that it was impossible to keep rowing at this speed and promptly missed the target by a smidgen. For interval 5 I had gathered myself again and steamed along annoyed at missing the target and furious at Ali for setting such an 'unrealistic' goal and in doing so rowed too fast leaving me even more exhausted. Interval 6 and 7 were a constant stream of negotiations with myself interspersed with Ali's alternating tone of encouragement and military commands. Interval 8 and 9 are just a distant memory of intense pain, internal arguments, bullying, urging, persuading, intense anger and self pity. How I got through the last one I cannot remember however Ali filmed my rowing effort so I could have a look and find out.

After I enjoyed a long stretch, a hot shower and a cup of tea I felt ready to watch the video of my row. I still find it hard to believe what I saw. 

There I was gliding along in rythmic strokes the sound of which makes me want to go to sleep as I watch. There is a face showing intense concentration, the occasional flicker in the eyes or the slight raising of an eyebrow indicating some happenings which are otherwise invisible. I think I can make out a little moan which is drowned out by the background music in the gym. I can see the shoulders tensing and then relaxing again in response to Ali's reminders. The sun is shining through the large windows, the sky is bright blue and the birds are enjoying themselves on the lake in the park outside. How could I have missed all this whilst I was rowing? The scene that unfolds on the screen is that of serene harmony and is in stark contrast to what I remember.

How can this be? None of the turmoil, the excruciating pain, the debating is visible. My internal experience does not seem to be reflected in what can be observed. So which picture is true?

You choose! You can see me struggle to earn your donation or you can sponsor me in admiration for making it look so easy. Either way, please support my effort to raise funds for Jan.

Thank you.

Jan and Michaela

Jan

Michaela

Michaela and Jan met a few years ago when they both worked as consultants for PwC.
Jan had a brain haemorrhage on 13 September 2010 which caused a severe stroke that has left her paralysed on her left side. Michaela followed Jan's facebook postings made when she was in hospital and has followed and supported Jan's continuing journey of recovery since. Encouraged by Ali of  Seal Personal Training, Michaela and Jan have entered the British Indoor Rowing Championships due on 25 March 2012, in Nottingham tohelp raise funds to buy equipment, not funded by NHS, to further aid Jan's ongoing recovery with surplus monies shared between the Charity "Different Strokes"   and to purchase physiotherapy equipment for the Royal Leamington Spa Rehabilitation Hospital where Jan spent 3 months as an in-patient. Rob Smith of Active Hands has kindly donated a velcro glove that helps Jan's left hand to grip the rower.
17 months post-stroke,  Jan can walk, with difficulty and needs a footsplint and walking stick, but she also continues to need care and support (provided through adult social services)  to enable her to live at home with her 13 yr old daughter. Jan is working hard on her recovery so she can once again live independently and return to work. Your support and donations will enable Jan to buy the eqipment and associated training not funded by NHS that she needs to recover movement and hopefully some function in her arm as well as contributing to the on-going work of the RLS Rehabilitation Hospital and Different Strokes. I the past month alone  we have raised just over £1000.00, which is a fantastic start towards our target of £3,500.
 Please support us and help us to reach our goal by donating via  paypal.

Michaela in training

Jan in training

Our thanks and appreciation

Michaela and Jan

Donald's blog

If you are interested in learning more about my journey, do read Donald Clark's blog:

http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/2011/10/facebook-saved-my-sanity-remarkable.html

My book will be published later this year

Jan

Our targets

Our target is to raise £3500.00 which will  enable me to buy suitable devices and associated training to help me regain movement and function in my left hand.

All surplus monies will be donated between the Royal Leamington Spa Rehabilitation Hospital Physiotherapy department  to buy equipment that will benefit other patients


and the Charity Different Strokes which is aimed at younger and working age people who have had a stroke.


Michaela has entered : Women 40-44 Hwt Entrants and is aiming to complete the 2000 metres in 8 minutes, 20 seconds. The record was set in 2005 at 6 minutes 58.2 seconds.

19 women in total  have entered this category so Michaela has a tough challenge to undertake.


http://concept2.co.uk/birc

I have entered the  LTA open category: The 1000 metre LTA class is for indoor rowers with disability but who have the use of their legs, trunk and arms and who can utilise the sliding seat.
The record for this category was set in 2009  at a time of 7minutes and 23.4 seconds. I am aiming to complete the 1K distance in 10 minutes without my hand falling off! So far I am the only entrant in my category and the closing deadline for new entrants is just 3 days away on Wednesday 29th February. so no pressure on me either!!!!

Please support us with your donations which you can send via paypal

or contact Michaela or I directly.

THANK YOU

Our thanks

Michaela and I first announced our challenge on Sunday 29 January and in just 4 weeks we have raised over £1000.00 which is nearly a third of our target amount
We both thank Ali Seal of Seal personal training for his support and encouragement;

to Jon Graham of physiofunction , who will supply an fit appropriate devices, suitable for my specific needs;


to Rob Smith of active hands who kindly donated a velcro glove that enables me to keep my left hand on the rowing machine

Jan's story

A very warm thank you to everyone who reads our blog. In September 2010, at the age of 50 I had a brain haemorrhage which caused a severe stroke.  During the first 24-48 hours no-one knew if I would live. I did survive but was left with cognitive and visual damage and completely paralysed on my left side.  No-one believed I would recover - the statistics are scary - my haemorrhage accounts for only 15% of all strokes and of those 15%, over 80% die.
I have beaten the odds simply by continuing to live.
I spent 3 months in the Royal Leamington Spa Rehabilitation hospital where my initial prognosis continued to be poor - that I would need 24/7 care for the rest of my life.
Three months after the stroke, on 20 Dwcember 2010 I walked out of hospital. :)
I walk with difficulty and need a stick but I do walk. In July 2011 DVLA returned my driving licence and I now drive with the help of a wonderful gadget that enables me to drive one handed as my left hand and arm remain non-functional.

I miss my left arm and am determined to regain as much function as I can. This will involve intensive physiotherapy, helped by various equipment. Unfortunately NHS funding constraints mean that quite simply there are not enough physiothertapists to provide the intensive support  each individual needs. All the equipment that could help improvement is expensive and the wireless functional electrical stimulation devices are not funded by the NHS.
There is no magic pill to regain my lost physical abilities  and even with equipment, recovery will only happen if I put time and effort in. I need to do at least 3-4 hours of physiotherapy every single day to enable my brain to develop new neural pathways, to re-learn the lost funtions.
I am training my brain to learn new ways of doing the old functions. It is bloomin hard work!
When Michaela said she wanted to raise funds tohelpme buy the essential equipment to help me regain my arm function, I was deeply touched and thought it a wonderful idea so I asked my physiotherapist if I could enter the competition. My first challenge was to see if I could get on and off the rower. I could (with help) so why not? I entered the competition along with Michaela and have been in training ever since . In my case this means once a week in the hospital  gym under physiotherapy supervision.

Michaela's February update

a photo showing what I look like when I see all the great support and encouragement pouring in. 5 more weeks to go til the big day...just another 15 or so training sessions, 55k on the rowing machine and at least 200 more generous people donating to this cause. (read more about the cause at the bottom)

I'll do the sweating on the rowing machine, please be one of those donating?

You can donate here via Paypal:

10K is a long way on a rowing machine - Michaela's row

"You have to get a few more miles under your belt", Ali tells me. Ali is from Seal Personal training http://www.sealpersonaltraining.com/ and my trusted rowing coach. This is like rowing from home to Birmingham; a completely crazy idea!

Unconvinced I still promised I would give it a try. So at the weekend I set off to the gym equipped with my ipod and the latest soundtrack from podrunner http://www.djsteveboy.com/podrunner.html to see how far I would get. I noticed that the warm up alone is nearly 2k and began to wonder whether it would be cheating to count the warm up as part of my row to Birmingham? 

A few more stretches and I off I went. It turned out that music as entertainment is completely useless. The idea is to let the mind drift away with the music whilst the body continues on its own but sadly, in my case, the body started drifting too and I eventually got so slow that I would not get past Sparkhill within the hour. So off came the headphones and the wondering how to keep my mind occupied continued with urgency. 10k is a long way on a rowing machine!

I counted strokes to check on the rowing machine's accuracy, tested how long I could avoid looking at the control panel, I tried mental maths: How many meters will I do in the next 2 minutes? What time will I finish if I keep going at the same speed? go faster? or slower? Eventually all these roads led to the same question: "Why on earth do you do this?"

Because.....I can!

I have a healthy, able body. It's easy to forget how precious this is until it is no longer there. Meeting Jan reminds me not only to be grateful for my plentiful health but more importantly to enjoy my bodies abilities. Jan is partly paralized since her stroke 17 months ago but she makes good use of the parts that still work. Although she needs help to get on the rower and can only grip the handle with one hand she started rowing herself. Even better, thanks to the generous donation of active hands http://www.activehands.co.uk/ she now has a special glove which means that she can now join me in rowing at the British Indoor Rowing Championships in Nottingham on March 25th using both arms. 

Only 5 weeks to go now, about 15 more training sessions, over 50k on the rower and at least 200 more generous people willing to sponsor our rowing effort. Please be one of them!

Make your donation at  https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=TTSDYLAW264E2

We are raising money to purchase equipment, not funded through NHS, that will help Jan regain movement in her left hand.

Jan's first row

Donations update

Wow! Gosh!

Michaela and I have been overwhewlmed by all the kind messages, support and donations received over the last couple of weeks. We have raised over £700 already. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far.

Michaela and I continue with our training for the British Indoor Rowing Championships due to be held on 25 March in Nottingham.We are both rowing novices so this is a challenge for us both.
We are raising money to purchase equipment, not funded through NHS, that will help me regain movement in my left hand and arm, which 17 months post stroke remains paralysed.

Any surplus will be donated to the Royal Leamington Spa Rehabilitation hospital where I spent 3 months following a brain haemorrhage in September 2010 and to the charity Different Strokes.
Active hands www.activehands.co.uk has kindly donated a glove that enables my left hand to stay on the rower; one of my many difficulties is preventing my hand from falling off, which reduces my time. The glove has made a huge difference.

Michaela and I will launch our blog which will go live 25 February. We will post weekly updates on our progress and you will be able to see photos and videos of us as we train - though I amnot an attractive sight as I go bright red, huffing and puffing!! We will post daily updates in the week leading up to the competition and will of course tell you how we did!

If you wish to donate please use the link below or contact me directly.
Once again, huge huge thanks to everyone for your support. I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am to have your support and wishes and the difference having this equipment will make to me.


Best wishes
Jan


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British Indoor Rowing Championships March 25 2012

Imagine you lost the use of your leg and arm over night? How would you cope?

This is what happened to me when I had a brain haemorrhage 16 months ago. Initially my entire left side was paralysed leaving me in need of 24/7 care but I have since been battling my way back to independent living. Still partly paralysed, I am desperate to regain the use of my left arm, an effort not funded by the NHS.

Michaela Muller and I have entered the British Indoor Rowing Championships in Nottingham on March 25th to raise funds for a device (Bioness H200) that can help me with moving my arm again. 


http://concept2.co.uk/birc/info

"This is a huge challenge for both women", says Ali Seal from Seal Personal Training who supports their training efforts, not least because they are both rowing novices.

All moneys raised will go towards the cost of the device and any additional funds raised will be donated to buy physiotherapy equipment for use by the Royal Leamington Spa Rehabilitation Hospital where I spent 3 months in recovery last year and to the charity Different Strokes.

The past 16 months have been quite a journey and I thank each and every one of you who has sent me messages of support and encouragement, every single one has been so very much appreciated. Michaela and I will post details of our targets and our progress over the next few weeks and you will also be able to follow our weekly blog nearer the event date. With thanks and appreciation.

Please click on the link below if you wish to donate via paypal.

Jan and Michaela

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