(Long and Less Long) Runs - 1/20 to 2/4

[Wahine]

Trigirl, it's really easy to strain quad just by having to work harder to stabilize yourself while running on poor surfaces. For this reason, I just won't run on ice. As much as I hate it, I will run on the treadmill on those days. Better hope you've got a good movie.

And, the crosstraining of triathlon, does give you increased muscle strength that can help ward off injury. I switched to triathlon from a running background because of knee and hip problems. I added yoga to the mix and now I almost never have hip or knee pain.

Let us know how it turns out with the Ortho.

[Bluetree]

Sorry to hear that, Tri Girl. Rets up, heal!

I did a soft week. No running until today. I have a 5k race on Sunday so I downloaded the route and ran it this morning. Rolling hills... yuk. Did the time in 36:11, not the greatest, but at least I am now familiar with the terrain. Ditched the iPod today, too... it's hard to run without music!

[alpinerabbit]

Today was the first run since Saturday. I did not do anything this week, last thing I did was swimming Sunday morning.

I did some speed variations and the same little hill 8x in different styles - felt nice and strong in my legs, but then the lunchtime run is maybe 4K.

[tattiefritter]

4 miles today, was supposed to be 5 with 3 at pace but my legs are so knackered from the weeks riding and running that I barely managed to shuffle round. Need to remember the pacing for Saturdays long run as it was quite easy to maintain. Right calf is really not happy still which is worrying me as if it doesn't get better then I will not be doing the half.

Had a chiro session today and he said my feet are really really stiff (rest of me pretty good though) so maybe that'll explain things

[Wahine]

TF - most people with really stiff feet and who do not pronate a lot, will naturally have tight calves and yours are probably still tight from the footwear issues. I would recommend stretching and seeing a massage therapist for some deep tissue work. It may be enough to get you headed in the right direction. A link for a good stretch is below.

http://www.dcdoctor.com/pages/rightp...k_st_calf.html

The one key thing that is not mentioned on this link is to ensure that your toes and heel are in line and that the midline of your foot (second toe to mid heel) is perpendicular to the wall.

I recommend hoding the stretch for 20 sec, repeat 4 times on both sides and do this 2 per day, until you feel better. Once you're better, you can go to doing this only after activity or every other day (once per day), whichever is more frequent.

I hope this helps.

[tattiefritter]

Thanks wahine I do both those stretches regularly after running but should fit it into my normal day (off to the ladies with me then). My chiro was looking at my feet because of my ankle sprain but he was quite shocked at how stiff they were as he was sure they were ok last time he checked them. He did some work on them and has freed up my left ankle noticeably which has helped and my calves don't feel at all sore today, just tight.

They have a sports massage therapist attached to the chiro practice - did I remember to ask about it - did I heck! Need to give them a ring today

[Kimmyt]

3 miles yesterday! (3.5 if you count my walk warmup/cooldown).

I took an abs class too, and I'm completely wrecked. The woman who has taught class for the past two times I've attended has been a monster. I have a pretty strong core, and after these two 15-minute sessions I am left feeling like I've just been run over by a truck.

Has anyone ever gotten physcially sick from too much ab stuff? Last night I began feeling really bad after I got back from the climbing gym, and I still feel horrid... not sure if it's the abs class or the sushi (hoping it's not the sushi, i like the place i went and would hate to have to stop going!)

K.