[Sportsandrec] 'Exercising Your Right to Fitness'

Mon Jun 27 13:52:51 UTC 2016

You're very welcome.
My Boston Adventure appeared in the Running Room magazine.
Here it is.
Feel free to email me, as you wish.
Gaston

Boston from my perspective

by Gaston Bedard
Running Room magazine, July August 2015, page 56.

I am a deaf, blind runner from Aylmer, Quebec. I ran and completed the
Boston Marathon on April 20th.

It was a super team effort led by Team With a Vision, a group of blind and
sighted athletes who run the Boston Marathon every year to raise funds and
awareness for the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually
Impaired.

Running Boston is everything they say it is. I'm told there were a lot of
very fit-looking runners in and around our hotel. You could feel the energy,
the excitement in the air everywhere.

At the start in Hopkinton, it took nine minutes just to cross the start
line. 

It was wet, cold, and windy most of the way. My two guides, Christopher Yule
and Melany Gauvin, did a great job and kept me going. I feel we ran quite
well through the Newton hills. When things got really tough in the last 12
kilometres, the knowledge that my son Marc would be at the finish line kept
me focused. We crossed the finish line as a team, holding hands, with arms
raised.

Marc was super helpful the whole weekend. He took photos of us around
Boston. This was a special father-son adventure, and we pulled it off really
well. I like to say, "When you have good people around you, it is amazing
what you can do."

This was my 16th marathon. I would love to run Boston again. I am now
looking for sighted guides to train with and to run the next Boston in 2016.

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/37f5d06c#/37f5d06c/58>

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/37f5d06c#/37f5d06c/58>

end of article.

-----Original Message-----
From: SportsandRec [mailto:sportsandrec-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of J
Steele-Louchart via SportsandRec
Sent: June-27-16 9:34 AM
To: Sports and Recreation for the Blind Discussion List
Cc: J Steele-Louchart
Subject: Re: [Sportsandrec] 'Exercising Your Right to Fitness'

Gaston,

Thank you for sharing your story. I'm headed to the gym in a couple of
hours and I'll spend some time talking to staff and exploring the
layout.

I'm feeling much more at ease about it now. Thank you, Gaston and
Michael,  for helping.

J

On 6/27/16, Robert Moore via SportsandRec <sportsandrec at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Re reading my post I see that I ran Bramma's marathon, it was actually
> Gramma's marathon. It  is not considered a difficult marathon by
> comparison.
> Pretty flat for the most part
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SportsandRec [mailto:sportsandrec-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Robert Moore via SportsandRec
> Sent: Monday, June 27, 2016 7:49 AM
> To: 'Sports and Recreation for the Blind Discussion List'
> Cc: Robert Moore
> Subject: Re: [Sportsandrec] 'Exercising Your Right to Fitness'
>
> Good morning Gaston,
>
> I applaud you for your efforts and your accomplishments.
> I ran Bramma's marathon  in 1979 when I was just 18  and have never run
> another one. I ran cross country when I was in high school but after that
> and having completed one  marathon, I was burned out  on running. Just did
> not want to do it anymore. I played beep baseball for another  several
> years
> but have been athletically pretty dormant since the early 90's My wife and
> I
> now  have a tandem recumbent trike so I have  been trying to put as many
> miles on it as I can. I have always enjoyed getting out and moving.
> I think the biggest restrictions in sports and reck for the blind are
> self-imposed. I am not pointing fingers at anyone, I have been guilty at
> times myself. But have also done a lot of sports as a blind guy. Keep up
> the
> great work.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SportsandRec [mailto:sportsandrec-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Gaston Bedard via SportsandRec
> Sent: Monday, June 27, 2016 6:02 AM
> To: 'Sports and Recreation for the Blind Discussion List'
> Cc: Gaston Bedard
> Subject: Re: [Sportsandrec] 'Exercising Your Right to Fitness'
>
>
> Hey guys,
> I know the feeling and difficulties of making a fitness comeback after
> going
> blind.
> I was a sighted runner for many years, then gradually lost all my vision.
> I had never been in a fitness gym when I was a sighted runner.
> In December 2008, I connected with the gym owner, of a local gym, 2 blocks
> away from here.
> In his 20 years as a gym owner, Ken told me that I was the first blind guy
> to purchase a membership.
> Today, June 2016, I am still the only blind guy in the gym.
> It took me a few weeks, to memorize the entire layout of the gym, the
> location of the machines and equipment.
> I am totally independent as I move around from machine to machine in the
> gym, the other gym participants know me quite well, which helps.
> I am a runner and cardio guy, so I do treadmill sessions, and work on the
> weights, also do sit-ups.
> I started my running comeback in local road races in May 2012, with
sighted
> guides.
> I have now completed more than 30 road races from the 5 km, to the full
> marathon.
> I ran and completed the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon in May 2014, with 3
> sighted guides.
> It was a great run, I qualified for the Boston Marathon, at age 61.
> I ran and completed the Boston Marathon in April 2015, at age 62.
>
> When you have good people around you, it is amazing what you can do.
>
> Gaston
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SportsandRec [mailto:sportsandrec-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of J
> Steele-Louchart via SportsandRec
> Sent: June-26-16 10:15 PM
> To: Sports and Recreation for the Blind Discussion List
> Cc: J Steele-Louchart
> Subject: Re: [Sportsandrec] 'Exercising Your Right to Fitness'
>
> Michael,
>
> Thank you! I have a Planet Fitness literally right around the corner.
> Stopping in will be on tomorrow's to-do list.
>
> Just curious, what's your system for knowing how much weight you have on a
> rack/machine?
>
> Warmth,
> J
>
>
> On 6/25/16, Michael via SportsandRec <sportsandrec at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Good afternoon,
>> I was a bodybuilder for ten to fifteen years in my younger years so I
>> am very familiar with gyms and fitness equipment.  When I lost my
>> vision completely over several years I went into a complete withdrawal
>> and, once
> I
>> got through the grieving process, picked myself up and began to plug
> myself
>> back into as many things I could do as a sighted person, and even some
>> I couldn't do sighted.  I called the manager of the gym I had worked
>> out at and he encouraged me to come in.  So I called the vocational
>> rehab O and M person and met her at the gym.  We spent about two hours
>> getting a good mental map of the gym floor and equipment location and
>> tips for using the settings on the equipment.  By the end of this
>> session I could move independently in the gym.  I asked the manager to
>> allow me to mark a few
> of
>> the pieces of cardio equipment with bump dots and met no resistance.
>> The only section of the gym I have a challenge is the free weight
>> area, and,
> as
>> the article indicated, is not due to my lack of knowledge, but more
>> due to other individuals who don't put weights back when finished with
>> them.  The dumbell rack stays out of order.  I generally work out with
>> a partner in this area as much for a spot for safety reasons as for
>> the general condition of the area.
>>
>> The article referenced is fairly complete if not a bit too complicated.
>> For
>> general fitness, there doesn't need to be complicated algorithms for
>> working out.  For example one of the most popular techniques is
>> interval training.  Just set a piece of equipment at a comfortable
>> resistance and alternate between thirty to forty five seconds of as
>> fast as you can go
> and
>>
>> then the same amount of a normal pace, doing these intervals over half
>> an hour.  Not complicated.  I now work out at Planet Fitness.  It
>> isn't the hardcore gym I worked out in the past but meets my needs at
>> my stage in life.  It costs ten dollars a month and has over 1000 gyms
>> now across the United States.  The manager of my gym tells me that
>> they encourage blind individuals to come in.
>>
>> Michael
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: J Steele-Louchart via SportsandRec
>> Sent: Friday, June 24, 2016 2:30 PM
>> To: sportsandrec
>> Cc: J Steele-Louchart
>> Subject: [Sportsandrec] 'Exercising Your Right to Fitness'
>>
>> Good afternoon, Everybody,
>>
>> I've just found this excellent article for blind gym-goers. I have to
>> admit, I'm intimidated by the gym and I'd love any additional tips or
>> tricks you've found to do it independently.
>>
>> The link is:
>> http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw080603&Mode=Print
>>
>> Warmth,
>> J
>>
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