Team Parkinson®

So last week’s total mileage was 14 — just one mile longer than the half-marathon I intend to run in a few weeks.  But I’m not really concerned about that.  Tuesday’s 3.2 mile run (mentioned in my last post), Wednesday’s hill run in Runyon Canyon (about 4 miles up and down a fairly steep hill) and today’s 4.7 miles (48:30, well within myself — i.e., I had plenty of juice left at the end) put me at about 12 for this week, and Sunday I’ll do at least 3 more.   More importantly, I just feel good about my running — mentally and physically. 

I’ll do my next — and arguably first —  long run (an 8 miler) on Monday rather than on the weekend, because that’s when my running guru is available.  His name,  by the way, is John Ball, and he and his wife Edna are Team Parkinson.   It would take a ridiculously long blog post to do justice to them and to their work, so I won’t do that.  But here are a few things that you should know:  John and Edna are two of the most generous, selfless, committed people I’ve met.  They founded Team Parkinson, with guidance and funding from the indefatigable Carol Walton of the Parkinson Alliance (Carol is a force of nature, and I’m so glad she’s on our side!), and with brainstorming help from the amazing Mary Yost, in 2000.  John has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s for at least 25 years, and he’s dealt with it by running, running, and running some more.  Edna essentially runs the business and operations side of Team P (Edna  and John — I hope this is accurate!), while John runs and trains and speaks and writes and inspires.  John got me to  acknowledge my illness openly, rather than try to hide it.  John  got me into distance running.  John helped me change my attitude  toward PD and running.  I recall vividly my first long training run with him.  I must have been griping before, during and after the run about how hard this was, how I couldn’t do this, etc.  John finally said, “somewhere within you there’s a runner, but you really need to change your attitude.”  I was taken aback, but attentive.  He explained that this negative “self-talk” was pointless and counterproductive.  He urged me to replace it with positive thoughts — I can do this, I’m going to do this, I’m running 8 miles with Parkinson’s, for god’s sake! 

I still get discouraged and negative sometimes, but I believe in myself and my ability to fight this disease, and I attribute much of my attitudinal (is this a word?) growth to John and Edna and running for Team P.  Unlike Michael J. Fox (for instance), I cannot say honestly that I’m glad I have Parkinson’s, and wouldn’t change a thing if I could turn the clock back to my pre-PD days.  I actually would rather not have the disease!  But that’s not an option.  And I have derived some benefit from P.D. — and among the greatest benefits are the remarkable people I’ve met, and John and Edna are at the top of that list.

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