A New Ski Season Is Ahead - How Will You Prepare?

It's been really hard.... but I was a mess. Physically and mentally really worn down.

It's terrible I got that way...just trying to reclaim what I have left of life!

Adam, I can't WAIT to see just how aerodynamic I am now. I still am a weakling, at least I don't have as much weight to haul around.... Working on strength too.

I hope family and work schedules will allow me some Mini times.... As part of my new plan, I want to go visit my CCFan buddies. I am goin to start regional and work national.

Look out y'all! JMurph is first on my list. Then, a trip to the Indy/Chicago contingent is on the wish list. Wanna ski and foil with Quinner and Hollywood and watch my man Zach barefoot! I am sooooo looking forward to warmer weather!

Donald? Wayne? JMurph? You guys up for 2 days at Coble's? ........Anyone?

Dang Steve......we won't recognize you if you've dropped 42 lbs or more. Guys will be asking..."Hey, whose the new guy?" oh, wait that's Steve...Good Job Brother.


Since we're on a what's your health condition thread I'll toss in mine. As many of you noticed at Mini's this past year you didn't see me on skis too much. That is because I had been diagnosed with Rheumetoid Arthritis and basically it was hit or miss if I could ski depending on how my hands and joints were. I noticed something was wrong two years ago at River Run while at breakfast with Reid and Laurie as I could barely hold the glass. I chalked it up to fatigue.

I had gone to a Arthritis Doc who put me on meds and after 2 visits I quit seeing her as she was the worst Doc I had ever seen. She was about useless. Once the meds she had me on ran out I never went to a new doc as the good ones recommended had a 3 month waiting list to see. The RA had gotten so bad that some days I could only lift my arms parallel to the ground. I couldn't open a can of vegetables with a can opener nor simply pull open a bag of chips. The only way to get back in the boat was put my forearms on the platform and roll up on it like a beached whale. The flexability and strength in my wrists was non existent not to mention it hurt like hell to try using the method we all use to get on the platform. I was popping ibuprofen like tic-tacs and the final straw that sent me to the doc was the last Lanier gathering with the crew. It was all I had to get up on a slalom and it was a quicky as I fell cutting. I tried 5 times to get up and couldn't cause I just didn't have the grip strength to hold onto the handle.

"Ok, that's it! I'm going to a Dr cause this crap is interfering with my ski time!" Got an appointment with a nonrecommended Doc and went. I was very impressed with the guy as he went down the list of everything I was experiencing as if he were living with it himself. He kept nodding his head and typing in the laptop as to what was going on. A few X-rays and he said "We'll get you fixed up.......you'll feel better in about 3 days." Boy was he right, the meds he has me on worked and I was able to lift my arms over my head without fail or pain in 3 days. I'm taking a couple of meds and a handful of vitamins everyday. Yep, I'm one of those guys now. Feel fantastic for the most part but my feet are lagging behind a bit. They are somewhat weak and can roll easily but I'm hoping they'll be back in time for ski season.

The x-rays did show some minor joint damage to the joints in my feet as a result from having RA and not doing anything about it. Doc said it could have been prevented if I had come to see him earlier and asked me why I hadn't. Told him about Doc A and he lambasted her. He commented that she is the worst Dr. he has ever seen and doesn't know why she is in the field of RA cause she stinks.

So back to the topic of discussion. I gave up soda's for the most part and only drink water even when I hit the Fast Food which isn't too often and have a salad or yogurt for lunch as a norm. Still on the meat market for one and 2 the less Arse I gotta pull up on a ski then the better off I am. Besides..... I wanna look good for guys when we're out skiing.

Steve,

I doubt that I'll have time to go to ski school with you, but through some dates out and I'm glad to try to make it work.

Tim,

I'm glad to hear you found the right doctor. They have made a lot of progress with the RA stuff in the past couple of decades. My grandfather got RA in his twenties and they didn't know much. He lived a crippling life because of it. the kick in the gut this past year for the Murphy's is that our son Reid was diagnosed with a form of Juvenile Arthritis and we've spent MANY hours with countless doctors over the past year. He was in a wheelchair from early November until last week. He's back on his feet now (with crutches) and enjoying the heck out of it. Moral of the story for us is to enjoy every day.

I'm getting ready to jump in the car for a swim meet with Grant (8 years old) where he'll probably do pretty well. He is hoping to break a club record in butterfly today. Even though he is eight years old and those successes mean very little in the big picture, I will praise the heck out of him and make him feel like a champion. Reid was fourth in the state in gymnastics two years ago and I was in a different parenting scheme where I didn't want to make too big of a deal out of there successes. I now wish I had gone nuts for him too.

Love people. Enjoy life. I hope I get to see some of you this year.

This was not the intent of this thread when I started it but I am glad that it took the turn it did. Kind of seems as though it has become to easy to pull up to that Chick-fil-A (for those in the south) or McD's, BK or .......and have let other demands provide either an excuse or justification for eating poorly or not taking the time to take care of our bodies.
We all have a tremendous amount of things to be thankful for (family, freedom, friends, our beloved toys etc.). I am sure we all know of someone who has suffered either a serious injury or set back that has effected his or her life in one way or another - for all we have that is good, there is nothing more important than your health and to be there for your family.
For those on the journey wooohoooo, for those on the fence jump to the other side as you do not want to get caught straddling that picket fence.

Steve, like Murph said, throw out some dates for Cobles and see what happens.
If there is any interest I can reach out to John Gillete and see if we can get him out on. Saturday morning on Lake Davidson (by Lake Norman). I have also asked if he can make it to the White Lake Mini this year.

Funny how threads start out one way and end up going on a roller coaster ride of sorts but since it is dealing with us staying healthy then I too am glad it's run off on a tangent.

Sounds like many of y'all need to put down the IPA and pic up a silver bullet light instead!

Murph, thanks for giving us the scoop on little Reid.... It's got to be hard and heart wrenching as a parent to see your child hurt and deal with such a life changing event. Great to hear he is out of a chair and on his feet again. I'll keep y'all in my prayers for hope for smoother roads ahead. Thanks for letting us know and keep us posted on Reids progress.

Larry
I would do my very best to rip that up.....Most likely that would happen from all the falling and repeat starts

Morfoot wrote: Sounds like many of y'all need to put down the IPA and pic up a silver bullet light instead!

75 wrote: they do let you out at night, let me know and I'll stop by for a Lite beer with you.

And you guys probably thought I was kidding with my first post... I smell bacon, time to get up for breakfast.

Hollywood wrote: I smell bacon ......

HW - That bacon smell is me burnin' fat in Virginia - What a salted hog I was....!

Haha, good thread guys! I like hearing all the positives for the start of 2015 so far! I feel like I need to get on the fitness wagon but I have other stuff taking up all my time at the moment

Aerodynamic Steve can pull me with the brown boat on the river when you stop in haha.

Breathing is a good thing!!! Yes of course the 98 Sport is always available for a tug.

phatsat67 wrote: I mean IMHO Steve does own the best looking sport in existence.

Ahhh Shucks...

Happy to give you a pull anytime, actually, I'd love to get you, HW, Jonny and my neighbor Ron (the "socks" guy) and see if we could do a 4 man run (BTW, HW, the other socks guy joined me on the permanent NO SKI list, he had a retina come completely detached about the same time as my accident...)

The other socks guy, we call him Uncle, did his mowing the grass... Should have been skiing with us, he would have been fine!

Sounds fun - I am not familiar with them.... Are they the Irish/Mormon ski family?

Steve,

Having lost 60 or so pounds starting in 2006, and with weight loss a major focus of my practice, I know how hard it is to do. Congratulations. I would love to hear all of the gory details sometime (the medical community has yet to figure out how to replicate that kind of success outside of individual patients).

Put Lake Orange on your list, and if you are going stag somewhere and need a copilot, give me a few weeks notice...

I am going to visit April in April. I would gladly go again with you. I want continue to improve as much as I can and be a better coach for the kids.

As for prepping for the season, hand and forearm fatigue have been a problem, so I have been working on trying to improve that. I would like to be around 175 (currently 185), which will require getting more regular with the running, getting back on the bike, and shaving a few extra calories, 1 beer instead of two. I have been focusing on body moves (pullups, pushups, situps). I would try crossfit if we had a gym close by; there are too many of the lifts I am not familiar with to do on my own. I should swim, but I am just so bad at it that it is hard for me to force myself to do it.