Training so far....

With the race chair secured, having worked out how to load and unload, 'chopper guard' flag attached and volunteers holding up their hand to help me; training has begun. The first couple of pushers were just around local streets in Ashburton with a bit of frustration trying to sort out the steering.  With some tweeking the steering was improved.  After awhile a 7.5km circuit was established along some of the quieter streets.  What did become evident is that even though you might consider Ashburton flat there is definitely some streets that climb which certainly test you. It is also quite interesting dealing with traffic and cornering frequently.  Through out all my training so far I have continued to swim which I find is a form of therapy, both for my body and my mind.
After a number a pushers in town a friend living in the country invited to meet me on a quiet sealed country road to do some more full on training. The route we tackled was basically there and back, a long straight road with only one bend - typical Canterbury plains road.  The road headed to toward the foothills and although it looked flat it actually climbed and climbed some more.  It wasn't that steep, but the constant nature of the climb was testing. On this first push it took 38 minutes to get to the turn around, but the return trip downhill took only about 20 minutes. The distance covered was12.5km.  After this session I definitely felt I had 'pushed' myself (sorry about the pun).
Over Easter I did more trips around the Ashburton streets working on technique and fitness.  The school holidays brought the assistance of my teenage children with my training.  Last Wednesday I returned to the country road and managed to get to the turn around in about 29 minutes, a real improvement. During this session I started to get my breathing organised, it is very hard to breathe with the hunched position in the racing chair.
I completed my last session in the racing chair this morning with my friend Denise riding shotgun.  We journeyed out from Ashburton into the country with pleasant north west conditions prevailing, both warm and dry. This session lasted about an hour and we covered over 15km. With a shoulder starting to play up I plan on taking a couple of days off with other activity planned to supplement the training. Ciao for now,Terry.

1st Posting - Training has Begun

My journey to the New York marathon has now begun in earnest with training underway.

The journey first began when I was visiting the Burwood Spinal unit for my 18 month check up. During the check up I discussed my problems with neuropathic pain that had been troubling me. I explained how physical activity seemed to help with the pain. Rick Acland the doctor then chip in and suggested that if I wanted to get active then why not train for the New York marathon? He then explained how he was a patron of the Catwalk Trust. Catwalk funds spinal cord injury research and one of its fundraisers has people going to the New York marathon. Brilliant, I can get fit and reduce my pain while raising money for spinal cord research and go to New York!!

From here it would have been easy to dream a bit and then let things slide and not do this amazing thing. However within a few days of my visit to Burwood I found myself doing a presentation at the Z Energy safety days in Wellington. My task at the safety days was to tell my story of being a very active normal bloke one moment to a T10 paraplegic the next by falling out of a tree. Putting together and telling my story was a really good experience for me which was made even more special with the feedback I got from the people I spoke to. Z Energy then insisted that they would like to show their appreciation in some way and it was then that I suggested that they might be able to help get me to the New York marathon. What happened next blew me away; Z Energy launched a give a little page and people who attended the safety days donated almost $3,000!!! Z Energy then matched this and all of a sudden I had 5800 reasons why I should go to New York! Thank you to all the people who donated and thank you Z Energy - I don't intend to let you down.
Since then I have managed to secure a racing wheelchair from Parafed Canterbury that I will be hiring for my training. I have also managed to launch my training with the help of my new friend Denise and others. Due to the position in the chair I require assistance to get in. I also have had my helper travel along side me on a bike to guard me from the traffic.

More will follow.....