Friends,   

My heart continues to go out to all of you who would love to join us but can’t.  I don’t want to mention names for fear of forgetting someone.  As we all know, MS can be devastating and we need to keep learning more about it.  If you can’t make it by us, please know that you are missed and loved.  It’s your challenges that keep me and so many others so passionate about learning more and helping in some way.  Please find a way to smile and believe that better days are ahead.  We need to keep believing, right?  I hope to see you back soon!

I feel I need to share a personal experience that happened the weekend before last.  Do you know how I always encourage eating healthy and how critical it is?  Well, we had some nieces and nephews come in from out of town.  We picked them up at the airport and guess where went.  Directly to Kopps for custard.  It sure tasted good!  They were back for a baby shower and we were all invited.  Guess what we had to eat.  Brats, burgers, potato chips, potato salad and more custard for dessert.  Hmmm…that was good too!

This went on the whole weekend as we celebrated a nephew’s graduation and Father’s Day.  They were to fly back out on Monday so we took them back to the airport.  Guess where we stopped on the way back.  You guessed it, Kopps for some more custard.  It STILL tasted good!  By this time, it didn’t make me feel so good.  I’m sure I packed on a few extra pounds too.  It’s a good thing I don’t weigh myself. 😊

Do you remember Alison telling us how quickly we can feel different from the food we eat?  Both ways?  Well, I experienced it firsthand.  After that weekend, I just felt like sleeping and eating even more.  I didn’t even feel like exercising until Thursday when I finally walked with Cal.  That’s very abnormal for me but I just felt sluggish and unmotivated.

After I walked with Cal, I felt like moving again.  Our Friday morning bike ride was awesome and I began to get back on track with my nutrition.  I behaved pretty well this past weekend and I’m starting to experience just what Alison said; it works both ways.  I’m more energetic again.  I just thought I would share this experience as it was drastic and it’s something we do have control of if we choose to and are disciplined enough.  Nutrition and exercise are critical to living an active life with MS…at least for me.  

Speaking of having more energy again, yesterday morning Todd, Jerry, Mike, Judy, Lowell and bunch of other friends who volunteer at our indoor triathlon did our annual Judy 2.0 half ironman triathlon or at least a variation of it.  I think Mike is the only one that finished the whole thing this year.

Other than riding bikes in the rain, it was awesome.  Believe it or not, Todd swam the entire 1.2 mile swim and rode the entire 56 mile bike ride on his hand cycle.  He did this after he raced the Tour of America’s Dairyland four evenings this past week going all out.  Amazing!  I’m out of shape for swimming so I cut the swim short…not Todd.

Todd and John represented us impressively well this past week as they raced their hand cycles four times.

I look back at both of them when they first started coming here 5 or 6 years ago.  They sure are active now despite their challenges of living with MS and the neurological damage they live with.  They’re “showing” us that we can do as much as we want and push our bodies as much as we can and we’re not going to make our MS worse.  That theory is now scientifically proven.  We still need to listen to our bodies and realize that when we shut down, we’re done until we rest a bit and recover.  Once we recover a bit, we can get right back at it.  Be not afraid…right John and Todd? 

Nice job racing this past week John and Todd!  Thanks to all who came out and cheered them on.

Two people that I’ve had the pleasure to ride with and witness the progress they’re making on our Friday morning rides are Shane and Rick. 

These two are working HARD and we can see the progress each and every week.  The first couple rides, a few blocks were a real challenge.  Now they’re up to 5 or 6 miles with some hills and doing amazingly better than the first few rides.  It’s amazing that each year, we get to experience more people making incredible improvements due to the HARD WORK they’re putting in.

Sue and Donna are also making incredible progress and having fun each week. 

Who would have thought this would be fun?  We all have fun!  That doesn’t mean it’s easy.  We can have fun while working hard; can’t we?

Let’s ride again Friday morning @ 7:00am.  We meet at Nettesheim Park on the SE corner of Hwy SS and Oak Street in Pewaukee.  If you would like to ride a tandem or a trike, please let me know ahead of time so we bring one for you.  I hope you’ll join us!  We will not ride if it’s raining.

We all need to “Just Keep Moving”!  It doesn’t matter where we start.  We can start with laughing which is great exercise in itself.  Other than that, we start with the body parts that will move and keep moving them as much as we can.  Let them rest and then move them again.

I know there are still many of us going through other life challenges in addition to our challenges with MS.  Let’s stick together, keep our chins up and keep sharing our journey.  Better days are ahead.  For those of you who haven’t been able to make it by us on Wednesdays and Fridays lately, please know you are missed and in my thoughts and prayers.  I hope you’re able to make it back soon!

I hope you’ll join us both Wednesday and Friday again this week.   Remember…consistency is key.  With MS, it takes a lot of consistent effort every day to make small improvements.  Yes, it’s frustrating so be patient and consistent and you’ll be amazed how your quality of life will continue to improve.  It’s been about 17 years of exercising just about every day for me and I’m still making improvements (encouragement, love, support,nutrition and proper rest help immensely too).  It takes time so please be patient.  It sure is better than MS getting worse.  I really don’t know what my life would be like if I didn’t do this (nor do I want to find out).  I’m so thankful you are all joining me on this journey of making progress with our MS and quality of life…THANK YOU!  We’ll continue to learn together…there’s so much power in the love and support we all share with each other.

In the past, I’ve been telling you to bring a friend.  Unfortunately, we’re going to need to start a waiting list for new people.  Please feel free to continue to share your experience and what we’re doing together.  Let me know of anyone who would like to join us.  I’ll communicate with these people through e-mail or phone and help them any way I can.  When we have room for them to join us, I’ll encourage them to do that.  If you’ve joined us in the past, please continue to join us.

We are here to help you and anyone with MS…no strings attached (well maybe an occasional story about the progress you’re making, smile, high five or a hug).  I remember how challenging life used to be when my MS was bad.  I get great joy sharing what I’ve learned and feel blessed with the progress I’ve made.  I hope you make progress in some way too!

Place:  W228N791 Westmound Dr.
Waukesha, WI

When:  Wednesday morning from 9:30am – 12:30pm (open gym concept, come for all or part of it)
Friday morning from 9:30 – 12:30pm  (open gym concept, come for all or part of it)

Any questions?  Give me a call.
Dan Erschen
Cell:  414-305-0418