Guts to Glory

Controlling the Terror of IBS Through Walking

By Kie Ho

Kie with his coach Claudia Lane

Eight years ago I never thought there could be a correlation between colon cancer surgery and walking.

After undergoing surgery in 1998 at age 58, symptoms of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) have become daily occurrences for me: Abdominal pain, cramping, flatulence, and rectal pressure, accompanied by alternating diarrhea and constipation. Dashing for a bathroom 20 times a day is not uncommon.

In my case, even radical dietary changes did not help. I had consulted five gastroenterologists but decided against taking the antispasmodic and sedatives they prescribed. I found that while the drugs would alleviate some symptoms, they were woefully inconsistent, with side effects that left me feeling lethargic and depressed.

Six years ago I discovered the panacea. While temporary, it was fast-acting and relatively long-lasting. I had been dealing with bouts of bloating, nausea, and diarrhea. I had tried everything — peppermint oil, soaking in a warm bath, even a cocktail of Gas-X and Imodium AD. Rather than curling up with a heating pad pressed against my stomach, I decided to take my tennis racquet to the nearby park and hit some balls against a wall.

For more than an hour, I vented my anger against this disease. I furiously slammed the ball against the wall, satisfied to see it return with equal blaze. I grunted like tennis champion Monica Seles, no longer the stereotypical IBS patient who “suffers in silence.” When at last I stopped, dripping perspiration, the catharsis was complete: The pain had magically vanished, just as if a genie had puffed into smoke. The terror did return, but only hours later.

However, the prospect of a daily workout facing a blank wall was not attractive to me, so I decided to resume running. I learned this could also terminate the throes of my IBS. Unfortunately, intense running took a heavy toll on my body. I developed various injuries, including plantar fasciitis and IT Band syndrome. Motivated to keep moving, I joined the SportWalk group at the Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA in Encinitas, CA.

Claudia Lane, an American Walking Association silver-level coach, heads this group and teaches various training classes.

I learned how to racewalk, which, to my delight, allowed me to walk pain- and symptom-free. When I walk between 4.5 and 5 miles per hour, especially uphill, I can get my heart rate up to 85%.

One of my doctors suggested that racewalking, like other forms of aerobic exercise, could trigger the wavelike contraction of the colon’s muscle, relieving the spasms that cause so much misery. Another thought is that racewalking increases the production and release of endorphins, which reduce pain.

I discovered that the results from racewalking are only equal to my dedication. A 10-mile racewalk could delay the onset of the terror up to six hours, while a marathon ensured my bowels would relax for as long as two days after the event.

My doctor agrees that racewalking allows me to control my disease, rather than having it control me. Not once have I emitted gas or cringed from piercing spasms while walking at my targeted heart rate.

Walking also blesses me with a positive self-image. When I don my shorts, strap on my heart rate monitor, and walk proudly with my shoulders back and chin held high, I no longer feel like a sick old man. Instead, I feel like an energetic athlete ready to compete.

I am grateful to Claudia’s group, which has introduced me to a workout that could be intense, yet still very forgiving to my knees, heels, and ankles.

I still have IBS, and it returns during periods of rest. However, its behavior is far less wicked than in my pre-walking era. Now my abdominal pain is much less, and bowel movement frequency has been reduced. I want to believe that something good must have happened to my digestive tract because of walking.

Now I know how to rein in the disease, while in the past it had a full rein on me.