Well day 2 is the easy day of the week's training...and conveniently was what I did 2 days ago...so I did it again, but pushed myself a bit for a faster pace and really watched my breathing. 2 minutes walk + 7 minutes run 5 times was no problem at all, although I did have to do some extra stretching, as my legs were reaching "jelly" stage by the end, from being off running for a week or so.
It was a beautiful morning..a bit chilled and only just above zero, but the sun was rising over the river, which was covered with mist. Beautiful. And the pelicans are back! I counted 22 as I ran, and took the river path down by the geese to have a closer look...it's the little things like that that reward me for crawling out of bed at 5:15. Next week I have to start getting up at 5...hoo boy.
I've been looking to find stretches for the muscles that I have that keep getting stiff and I checked out a weblog I have linked to on my site for stretching ideas...and found a few. The website is quite inspiring...the guy has been running over 35 years...he's over 70 and still runs 10K regularly. He really stresses running for fun and proper stretching so you learn to listen to your body...I've learned a great deal from him, using his illustrated stretching guide to enhance my stretching to about 10-15 minutes at a time, with good results...I'm rarely stiff now. Besides adding a second type of ITB band stretches, I've also added a few yoga poses to better stretch out my butt and upper/inner legs. The running weblog has a few excellent isotonic exercises and stretches for working the muscles on the front and sides of your lower legs...I've been trying them out for a few days and hope they will help. Apparently a lot of knee issues arise because the calf muscles are stronger than the muscles on the front of the shins...so I'm trying to keep them limber and strong too. I figure if I do back exercises to go with situps it's the same idea. I'm also quite excited, as my left shoulder has been pain free for nearly a week, so next week I will go back to doing my exercise ball DVD every other day...I've lost some tummy and upper body muscle tone from stopping, but I don't want to turn a bit of a strain in to a full out rotor cuff injury, so I've given my body the time it takes to get better. I figure I have my whole life...a few more days won't hurt.
I'm excited...only 4 and a half weeks until the 10K. I hope I can muddle through it.
I'm getting excited about exercising again...
1 comment:
Hey, thanks for stopping by my blog! Thought I'd return the favor... and I like that stretching link you posted, that might be useful for me!
My water aerobics instructor insists on us doing some dorsi-flexion exercises consisting of lifting our toes up that she says help keep the front of the legs strong and prevents shin splints. Hard to say if it's working, since I can't walk much at present.
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