Interesting Facts on Fast Walking

  1. Before I was diagnosed with Pd in 1992 I went to the gym for one hour, six days of the week.
  2. For the next two years between 1992 and 1994 I increased my gym time to one and a half hours.
  3. Also between 1992 and 1994 I took sinemet 25/100 and symmetrel (I don’t know what qty) tablets three times a day
  4. On 1994 I stopped going to the gym and started to do Fast walking for twenty minutes, every second day. That was increased by five minutes every second week until I was doing one hour, three times a week.
  5. Also in 1994, I stopped taking Sinemet and symmetrel and started taking selegiline 5 mg twice a day, which the manufacturers claimed could possibly slow down the progression of Pd. My neurologist wanted me to test this theory.
  6. In 1998, my condition had improved so much that other people, who had not seen me for six years, noticed how well I was looking and told me so, in an accusatorily way, because they had expected me to be lot worse and possibly in a wheelchair.
  7. In 2002 my neurologist said he was going to put me on 3 x 25/100 sinemet a day, because I would be needing it after nine years. I took those sinemet for three months, but because I had noticed no change in my symptoms I decided to come back off them.
  8. Early in 2002 I came off my selegiline for six months, with no worsening in my symptoms, but six months later I went back on the selegiline for 3 months. As I had managed quite well for those six months I decided to try to come back off the selegilne to see what happened.
  9. I have not had to go back on any Pd medication since the end of 2002.but I have continued with the fast walking ever since 1994.
  10. I have experienced several injuries since 1998, when I started to walk every day. I tore a calf muscle in my right leg, tore a ligament in my right foot and tore a muscle in my left buttocks.
  11. At the age of 82, in 2017, I started taking part in the weekly five kilometre Parkrun, although I only walk, while most others run all the time or walk and run. Very few people actually walk all the way as I do. I don’t know where I came amongst the walkers, but i do know I am not the first but I finished all the races in the top 75%, That meant that in one of the races I finishes at 710 among a field of 994 contestants. I was the oldest there so everybody I beat was younger than me and they were not all walking only.