Four States? Is it possible?

Joseph Kenney here with a crazy idea. Is it possible to create a route for September's 75 miles for RLS run that would cover the states of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska? Could it be created to still finish in Omaha? I will do a little research and get back to you soon.

This mornings training for the RLS run focused on strength training the upper body. We started with the bench press and moved into Lat Pulldowns, Bent Over Rows, Incline Flys, Shoulder Presses and leg raises for the ab work out.

One change in nutrition includes switching to a slow release protein for the night time snack. This will prevent the body from going "catabolic" and causing damage to the muscles.  The nutrition is going well overall as it is closely monitored by Rye Roberts of Rye Fit Nutrition.  I have reduced my weight from 187.7 to 170.8 in the past 10 weeks. My fat % has reduced significantly and my lean muscle mass has increased dramatically.  We will continue to monitor the weight loss and if necessary begin adding additional "good" calories back into the diet.

I'm scheduled for physical therapy and brain balancing tomorrow.

Visualization of 75 miles

Joseph Kenney here with another 75 miles for RLS update. The morning started at 4:15 with a warm up jog soon to follow. I was scheduled for a lower body and core workout.  The exercises included Squats, Good Mornings, One Legged Romanian Dead Lifts, Step Ups and Crunches.  We added a new twist to the crunches today.  I discussed with Rye the integration of visualization training into the core work-out. It explained the necessity to start drawing parallels from the training room floor to running on the road.  I suggested the "sets" add up to 75 but Rye had a much different thought process. After making my suggestion Rye agreed and started me off with a set of 75 crunches with my legs raised at a 90 degree angle. It didn't stop there and we continued into yet another set of crunches. The next set consisted of 75 crunches with my legs raised straight into the air. Many know these crunches as toe ups.  Neither set was particularly fun but I was certainly able to feel the pain that will be similar to being on the road for 12 -14 hours.  The visualization and counting of each rep up to 75 was just another reminder I have much work ahead of me.  It's now 6:45 in the evening and we (the family) are heading to the track for a sprint work out that will include 100 meter sprints. Tomorrow we will work on the upper body and again.....the core! What's your extraordinary?

Re-balancing

Howdy! Joseph Kenney here with another 75 miles for RLS training update. I have not blogged due to being in Eastern, Iowa for the weekend. We had a relaxing weekend full of fishing, kayaking, & paddle boating. The physical training included moving hundreds of pounds of boulders from the fields into trucks, out of the trucks and back into landscaping areas.

Today wasn't a normal day of therapy / training. My left side has been and still is my recessive side. Many complications have originated on my left side.  It was evident in today's therapy session that my body needed re-balancing. Much time was spent utilizing the Logan Technique in an area near the Sacrum. Additionally, we re-balanced the left and right sides of the brain using the low level laser. Next, I dawned a pair of "Oakley" like sunglasses for my knee therapy.  These glasses had a series of blinking red lights on the inside of each lens. The glasses assist in the re-balancing of the recessive and dominant sides of the body including my eyes. I wore these glasses during the electrical stimulation therapy of my knee. The Dr. Millard feels good about the progress I'm making and indicated I would experience a huge body shift soon. I had to clarify.....a shift in which direction! She laughed. She's very interested to know if the additional laser therapy and brain rebalancing therapy has a positive impact on my RLS symptoms.

Tomorrow's training for the RLS run will include a core workout and a 7 mile High Tempo run.  

Switch in Training

Good evening from Joseph Kenney. An executive decision was made this morning to switch the training session from Hypertropy System Training or HST to traditional strength training. Rye felt this was necessary for today's workout due to missing a leg workout earlier in the week because of the knee injury. Today's 4:15 wake up call included Bench, Chin Ups, Lat pull downs, Squats, One legged Romanian Dead Lifts and an abdominal workout.  We increased the weight and lowered the reps in each of the three sets for the lifts. Changing the objective allowed us to include lower and upper body workouts which is critical for long term sustained growth.  One of the key objectives is to keep the hamstrings, glutes and quads stretched out which will help prevent further injuries.  The core workout included traditional crunches and three sets of some "crazy" abdominal exercise that targets the obliques and the transverse abdominals. Finally, the day's training finished with a 7 mile medium tempo run (slightly under 7 minute miles). I focused my attention on the RLS run in September. The temperature during the run was 85 degrees and used it as an opportunity to work on my form.  Form often deteriorates in under these conditions.  Additionally, I focused on the numbers 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75 during each mile of the 75 miles for RLS run. I mentally placed myself on the final 7 miles of the 75  mile race and envisioned what it would be like when finishing those final miles. Tomorrow I have Electrical stimulation and low level laser therapy on my knee.

Tempo Run early on Father's Day

Joseph Kenney here with another 75 miles for RLS training update. I changed this morning's training from a long 5 hour run to a much shorter 2 hour tempo run. I left my home at 4:30 and kept a quick pace until 6:30. I kept a consistent 7:00 minute mile pace which is considerably faster than what's planned for late September. It's necessary to put in these types of miles during the training program. These runs really help reduce the lactic acid buildup late in the race. It also served another purpose. My knee is still feeling the impact of last Saturday's run and my hamstrings are extremely sore from the mid-week workouts with Rye.  I continue to stretch and ice the knee as a management tool only.  I'm scheduled for physical therapy, heavy metals detox and visualization training tomorrow. What's your extraordinary?

Flexibility . . .literally

I've learned to be flexible in my training and today was no different! I met Rye early this morning and we quickly formulated a new game plan. My knee hasn't recovered well from Saturday's run and I was unable to perform the normal Lower Body work out. Rye expressed his concern that my hamstrings will begin to tighten up and thus putting me at risk for more injury in the coming weeks.  He created a new exercise that stretches the hamstrings but with very little weight for resistance. The additional benefits include but are not limited to increasing balance, working the core and giving Rye a pretty good laugh.........I didn't look very athletic doing them. The exercise was extremely awkward.  I will upload pictures tomorrow so you get the idea. I'm scheduled for visualization training tomorrow. 

Today's Therapy

As I've mentioned, I have a partially torn patellar tendon that needs surgery. Due to the nature of the injury I'm in a tough spot. Surgery will prevent me from running in September due to the recovery time and not having surgery puts me at high risk for further damage to the knee and being unable to run period. I've opted for intense physical therapy with traditional and non-traditional means. Today's therapy included Electrical Stimulation of the knee and low level laser therapy. The low level laser therapy helps repair the knee at the cellular level. It's not your traditional therapy but is gaining popularity due to Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods making it part of their recoveries in recent years.  I've made tremendous progress in recent weeks. Five weeks ago I could not run around the block and on Saturday I finished a 20 mile training run. I will be working on the strength of my upper body & core at 4:15 tomorrow morning.

Sharing my story

Hey, Joseph Kenney here. I wanted to let you know why I created this blog. I did it in hopes of increasing awareness for RLS or Restless Leg Syndrome. I have suffered greatly from this and other conditions. RLS specifically dealt me a rough hand of cards from 2001 - 2004. My life as I once knew it to be was turned upside down.  I was a very active husband, father and athlete.  All of this came to a dead stop in June of 2001 when I was diagnosed with RLS, PLMS and exploding head syndrome. I've been searching to find a purpose for this cross in my life and I recently discovered it. Last September I ran from Lincoln, NE to Omaha, NE in the dark of the night to help raise awareness for RLS or Restless Leg Syndrome.  I completed the RLS run on September 23 in 8 hours and 54 minutes.  The response from this event was tremendous and I decided to raise awareness again this year.  I've made a decision to run 75 miles for RLS on September 20th, 2008. I created this blog so my supporters across the country will be able to follow my training for this year's run. I really  hope you check back from time to time to learn more about my training and the syndrome that impacts thousands of great people every night! 

  

Training officially started on April 10th. I will catch you up on the challenges of my first 8 weeks of training soon. Tomorrow's training starts at 4:15 with a lower body workout with Rye Roberts of Rye Fit Nutrition. I am also scheduled for physical therapy at 11:00 on my knee. I suffered a partially torn Patellar Tendon in week 3. The prognosis isn't good and my options are limited. The Dr's advised against running and suggested surgery with a recovery period of 9 months. Obviously neither option works for me and I have opted for intensive strength training and physical therapy utilizing non-traditional means.