Proponents of running include Professor Gavin Giovannoni, Chair of Neurology at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. He maintains that running is not only mindfulness, but it makes you think clearer and lifts your mood as endorphins and serotonin are released throughout your body. It is also linked to recovery mechanisms, stress reduction and neuroprotection in MS. Despite knowing the benefits, I still lacked the impetus. School bleep ‘fitness’ tests and the resuming fear of loathed PE teachers meant I was less than enthused to get started. Plus, given my proclivity to moan about pandemic runners pounding the pavements, it was an unexpected shift and I felt mildly hypocritical.
As luck would have it, two of my friends messaged me to say they were signing up to do the 5km Sandymount night run on 8th March. I had run out of excuses by then and I knew it would be easier to get going if I did it with friends. Since women are disproportionately affected by MS, it seemed fitting to raise money for MS Ireland on International Women’s Day, which happened to coincide with the day of the run. It also meant that if people donated, I really did need to train.
As luck would have it, two of my friends messaged me to say they were signing up to do the 5km Sandymount night run on 8th March. I had run out of excuses by then and I knew it would be easier to get going if I did it with friends. Since women are disproportionately affected by MS, it seemed fitting to raise money for MS Ireland on International Women’s Day, which happened to coincide with the day of the run. It also meant that if people donated, I really did need to train.
Instead of downloading the couch to 5k app, I established a rather ad hoc training schedule; I ran four days a week at my own pace and built up my mileage incrementally. A 5km run may not seem like a big deal to some but for me it was challenging as I have never particularly liked running. This, coupled with the sporadic fatigue that accompanies MS, meant it was hard to motivate myself at times. The first week of running was fairly brutal. My run would inevitably simmer to a slow shuffle, a bit like walking on waxy wooden floors with slippers on. Overtime, depending on my energy levels, I began to adjust and found it relatively meditative, before keeling over to catch my breath.
I was unexpectedly nervous on the day. Most likely residual PTSD from the last time I attempted a 5km race. As a then fairly lazy 21-year-old college student, I hadn’t bothered training so I came fifth last, which did little for my athletic appetite. It turns out actually training for a run works much better and I completed the 5km this time without too many stops and uncontrollable wheezing. Part of the race was across the sand, which definitely felt like my (infinitely less impressive) ‘marathon des sables’ moment.
Thanks to the generosity of family and friends, I was able to raise over €1000 for MS Ireland. They have all been incredibly supportive since my diagnosis three years ago and understand how important MS support is to the thousands of people living with MS. As a result, my brother’s company nineDots is donating to MS Ireland as one of the main sponsors for the upcoming HELL & BACK obstacle course run in June. HELL & BACK is an extreme endurance challenge consisting of ice baths, a barbed wire crawl, swimming, sliding, 10ft walls, ramps, and a whole host of equally uninviting obstacles. It makes my 5km run look like a duck waddle in the park.
Although many people living with MS are unable to take up running or extreme exercise, challenging your limits can be done in all areas of life and it is always better than limiting your challenges, as trite and unappealing as it seems. You may surprise yourself.
nineDots are donating 14 tickets for HELL & BACK to MS Ireland fundraisers so if you are up for the challenge you can contact melaniec@ms-society.ie.