[Sportsandrec] 'Exercising Your Right to Fitness'
jenny hwang
hwang_jen at msn.com
Mon Jun 27 14:53:53 UTC 2016
That is awesome. I hope one day to run in the Boston Marathon.
Sent from my iPhone
> On Jun 27, 2016, at 9:54 AM, Gaston Bedard via SportsandRec <sportsandrec at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
>
> 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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