Thursday, March 12, 2009

Different exercises, different effects

All day yesterday, my quads were sore. After an intense day at work, I was mentally beat and really didn't feel like running. I was sure my quads would feel terrible while I was out there. And, to be honest, I felt like going home and drinking some wine while I cooked dinner.

But, I forced myself out the door. I had my wife go home without me. We work together and once she left, I had to get home on my own power, including a steep 500' climb in the last 1.25 miles.

As I started running, I was surprised that my quads felt OK. Not great, but not terrible. If my quads were this sore from doing a tough downhill run, more running would hurt a lot. But, they were sore from lunges in the gym, andd they felt fine while running. I'm sure there's a lesson in there somewhere about how lifting might help a little bit with running, but lifting can't replace actual running in my training.

Even after a visit to the chirpractor last week, my left hamstring and piriformis remain tight. I'm stretching as much as I can, but my stride isn't quite right. I'm hoping I can get this area to loosen up before I end up with some sort of overuse injury.

Today, it's colder here than the past few days and it won't go above freezing. But, I'm still planning a 2-hour run after work this afternoon. I think I'm going to pick a nice day next week and take half a day off work to do a 22-25 mile run. Then, by the start of April, I can move my long runs to the weekends.

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