Friday-donations-are-keeping-me-afloat-and-cycling-rocks-Update!

FIRSTLY a Big Thanks for your donations - my stress levels are sooo much less right now, as financially I am fine for 1.5 months because of them. Which gives me time to find a job and Not Stress and maybe even one that I like! I had been denied for unemployment because "since December 2012 you have been on voluntary leave" - what?? So I have to appeal that too. And there's appealing social security, figuring out what to do about the guy that hit me, figuring out about my job at UL, and my custody battle. So, 5 court cases at once? I didn't know if I could handle it, and financially I definitely couldn't, but your support allowed me to. I can't be thankful enough. Hooray!!

My training log has been more sparse this week, but my improvement is still awesome. I'm up to 1.8 miles walking and will break 2 hopefully today, and my hip is reacting much quicker, bringing my walking speed up to 55:45 min/mi which is about a 33% improvement from last time and almost a 50% improvement overall!
This is also evident in my elliptical speed. I took my heart rate after the elliptical last time and it was 148bpm. This is Great news because with spinal cord injuries sometimes hearts can't beat quick enough to sustain a heavy workout. I'm going to see if I can get it over 150bpm next time, but this is a really great sign.
Swimming is doing great too, I swam 750 yards and could do 100 yards at a time, probably more but I didn't want to push it just yet. I also filmed it for my PT Wulf to see and he had some ideas on how to improve. My right let is still not bending well at the knee under water, which is why my legs sink. Also after a while I can't keep my fingers straight, they're not strong enough yet. So I'm going to try some things.

The biggest news of the week is about BikeLafayette and the "Ride of Silence." I'm way more involved with cycling now that I've been smashed up on one than I had ever been before! The reason is that this happened to me at the time where Lafayette got large enough as a city to qualify for more federal funding, and since we're a fast-growing city many people here started pushing for growth of safer places to cycle, and It's Working. The city is working hard to make this happen, and along with public forums inviting people to learn and vote on the way they want the city to grow, I see great things for cyclists on the horizon!
BikeLafayette is a cycling advocacy group run by responsible (and incredibly nice!) people that attend government meetings and such to, well, advocate cycling. They've been a key part of decision-making for the city, they're becoming better known all the  time, and I'm incredibly proud to be a new member of their board. AND, boy do I have a lot to learn, HA! And I can't even ride yet!

They hosted Lafayette's "Ride of Silence," which is a world-wide event honoring cyclists that were hit on roadways. We had more than 100 people turn up! Here's some links to some local coverage:

KRVS radio show with Jen Steele and Tommy W - this one I got to share my complete story of getting hit, and we touched on every subject that I thought was important - I really love this one!

The Advocate Meh, I don't even drive a car much less having trouble getting out of it, but great article!

Happy Friday ya'll!

>1 Mile Walkering Friday Update!

Well if ya hadn't heard the news, I'm training for a half marathon! In Feb 2014. I'm keeping my training log HERE if you want to keep up!! (my post on it is HERE) This is on top of 2 hours of therapy 3x/week, and the regular stretching and strengthening that I do just about every day.
Average walking speed is 17-20 min/mi, and I'm at about, oh, 80 min/mi using the walker, a bit slower with the cane, so I'm at 25% average. SO slow, ha! But it's all about form and not about speed right now; as my form improves I naturally get faster. My limiting factors are still my right quads over-firing, and my balance due to lack of feeling in my right ankle.

This week is a big change for me. I walkered over a mile for the first time in over 6 months! I now know that I'm going to be able to walk again, maybe even race again. Have my hands full functioning again. Lots of ya already *knew* this, but I did not. It was always a big IF and I had to try anyway, but now it's when. WHEN.

And you know what? I'm Already doing better than people that are fully functioning. USA Today just yesterday put out this report that most people aren't meeting the federal physical activity recommendations. I know people that can't walk a mile because they simply don't try. I'm not one of them. You're not either. We've got this.

Not to say there's people that can't. There was a time that I didn't know if I could or not, but the point is you work with what you have, do what you can. Life sucks and it ain't fair. But it still feels better to make the most of it than sit around and let the bad stuff define you. Doesn't make it fair, just better than the alternative.

LAFTTA - ha! Good acronym!

I Need Money! Sheesh. The HR department at UL gets a big "F" as far as I'm concerned. It's not even a question of whether I'm able to go back, literally they questioned whether the right doctor signed the therapist's documents and if they falsified information before they faxed it. What?? And instead of asking me to help them figure it out, they decide to just file it away and wait for the "correct" information. And are being evasive about what really is the correct information. So I called their boss, we'll see!
I want a job. I'll go back to school if that's what it takes. I would honestly do anything (legal!) for a good quality of life and enough money to pay off my debt. So so tired of being so so stressed all the time.

UPDATE: HR called back this morning, super sweet, and I have a meeting on Monday...maybe this is a good break!

Have an awesome weekend!

NOLA RnR 2014 Training Log

My colleague Dr. Julia Bates is a veterinarian in Madison, Wisconsin. She started a Facebook "event" to invite people to come race the New Orleans Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon with me on Feb 2, 2014.  She posted recently in it, reminding everyone that it's now less than 10 months away. Wow. I'm about 6.5 months post neck-breaking, and I can walk a mile in the walker, so no pressure for doing 13.1 miles in 10 months, right?

WANT TO JOIN MY EVENT? Cross the Finish Line with Monique

(warning: there will be a lot of animal docs!)

So I figured I should start training. Most of the training plans I know start 3 months out if you have the ability to run 3 miles a few times a week, so I'm shooting to be able to do that October this year. I don't have a coach, heck I don't know if anyone would know what to do with me. But I've got a game plan.

I'm posting my training log. I'm anal about it when I do it, a "data whore" if you will, so it'll be kept up to date. I started today.

One thing to remember! I'm  reminding myself more than you. While walking, speed is not the key. Form is. Bad habits, suck as hiking my hip, are hard to avoid and I have to keep focused. So i'm timing myself but that's not really a  good measuring tool.

Also, the loop around my house is 0.45 miles, so I'm using that to start with.

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO: Click HERE to link to my training log

Is it possible? No one can answer that but me. And, beats me! But damned if I'm not going to plan on it.

RnR nola 2012

RnR nola 2013

RnR nola 2014