2002

I was looking once again at the series of photos I took with my work buddy when running in the hills in 2002. And they tell me that ALS had not begun to affect me in 2002. The reason is that after running for a few miles in the hills, my buddy and I came to a killer hill, a very steep one, and we punished ourselves by running to the top. I pushed with everything I had, and got to the top before he did. I felt my body groan, but I also felt it dig in and respond. My buddy was no slouch. He's currently winning races.

I remember a later run (probably summer of 2003), in which I thought I had heat distress. I just could not go on. We had to stop. I had these rippling cramps in my buttocks. I think it was the first sign of ALS. I remember trying to get my running back in gear after that, but each time I went out, I still seemed to have lost my edge. I was then, and remain now, very willing to wait, rest, and recover. It's not like I was pushing too hard and thus staying fatigued. I kept resting and I kept finding that I had lost my edge. Even weeks later.

I think that was the beginning of symptoms. I thought I had written about this heat distress incident before, in this blog. But now I can't find that account.

Left grip is 42 pounds (39, 42, 42), right grip is 94 pounds (86, 88, 94), left leg balance is 12.4 seconds, and inhale volume is an amazing 4950 mL.