Monday, June 30, 2014
Rethinking Everything . . .
Knock on wood, I am in a very good mood this Monday about the weekend workouts. It cannot overcome my anger about Hobby Lobby, but for the purpose of this post, I'll change the subject. As I mentioned, I ran 8 miles with light speed work on Friday. Saturday I did 30 miles at a moderate level on the bike in Prospect Park. Sunday, M__, J__ and I went for a 12 mile run at a steady 10 minute pace, and today I feel fine after a spin and swim. I'm not sure what's going on, but the tightness in my left hip has let go, and I'm even walking barefoot without pain. The suddenness of this makes me want to analyze what is going on. Here are the three things I've changed in the last two weeks: (1) I did two bike workouts on an actual bike, instead of a spin bike; (2) I switched shoes to the NB 980s which have a lower heel drop and wider forefoot; and (3) I buckled down and did 75+ crunches on the the balance ball and 2 minutes of plank as part of my stretching. Thoughts?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
First reaction: who knows, so just go with it!
ReplyDeleteSlightly deeper: While all of the above might well be helpful over a few week or month-long time horizon, to my lights the shoes are the most likely explanation for such an immediate benefit.
Agreed that cycling can have loosening benefits, but I'm a skeptic that they are realized that quickly. Strengthening is a huge benefit but not immediately, although if the crunches are causing your core muscles to engage while running (planting a subconscious seed) perhaps that might have an impact. Another possibility: the core work improved the stretching by warming up deep muscles that are otherwise hard to target. Another possibility: planets in alignment(!).
Your thoughts pretty much mirror mine. Something is in better alignment. Not sure what.
ReplyDeleteI am very jealous! No improvement seen here; I haven't tried running in a few days except for a couple of painful miles on the treadmill on Sat. Finally saw the orthopedist this morning; he confirmed my diagnosis of "a touch of arthritis" in the midfoot. Suggested carbon fiber insoles, not much else.
ReplyDeleteI have a pretty high pain tolerance. I didn't have any narcotics after my C section. Would a touch of arthritis really be causing me this much trouble?
I am also going to see a very highly recommended but inconveniently located PT tomorrow, just to get a fresh perspective. Not very hopeful though as I've been through this three other times in the past 18 months...
Oy!! Try Traumeel. You can get it at whole foods. . .
ReplyDelete