A lacrosse ball and The Stick live in the crack of living room sofa. A foam roller sits near the TV. A roll of hot pink vet wrap, with black flamingo print, is in my gym bag. Recovery, prevention, and fixing have become regular parts of the week.
Freeing stuck fascia became a way of life for several weeks. Many evenings, when we sat down to decompress with some TV, I’d start absentmindedly groping my feet, calves, and thighs, looking for tight spots and pain. Sometimes the foam roller came out to work out tight spots during a show. (Charlotte’s used to the grimacing and occasional grunt of pain.)
Then out came the lacrosse ball to hit the soles and heels, slowly undoing some plantar fasciitis. Followed by The Stick, working any knots in the calves or quads. When lifting a leg towards the ceiling, digging the roller into a hamstring or glute, she might even get a show.
Then there are the exercises to free some sticky parts and retrain muscles and joints after a few injuries. I’ve been working my way through Jay Dicharry’s Running Rewired. It’s mostly been targeted at an old ankle injury, restoring mobility. Proper motion there has led to a cascade of fixing smaller compensations. And it’s begun targeting the glutes as the main drive. Like way too many runners, I’ve been over-reliant on my quads.
All the work has not been fun. It’s time consuming. It has been surprisingly painful. To work out the PF from a few months ago, I held stretches for 4-5 minutes, occasionally crying out in pain as the tendons and ligaments lengthened. The latest ankle exercise looks simple—keeping the big toe on the floor, raising up on the toes, rolling the ankle out, in, then in a circle. Twenty of those kill me.
[Note: The Stick is apparently no longer made???]
Weekly Summary
Overall a good week. The Keyser run and Piney ridge run surprised me. My HR was higher than I’d like—plenty of time below AeT, but plenty of time near LTHR, too. Climbing felt fairly effortless. Since the glutes have taken over most of the work, HR has been higher, pace slower, but I’ve yet to feel my quads burn while climbing.
Weekly Log
Mo: 9.9 on Woodward. It was overall on the slow side. The climbs went very well—muscularly, they felt effortless. Any slow downs on the hills had more to do with HR & breathing. I could really feel the glutes taking over, driving the climbs.
Tu: Unplanned zero. Had to drive to Baltimore for work. Got back with time to spare, but the forecast has gone from a decent mid-80s and tolerable humidity to 90s, full sun, and oppressive. Five hours in the road didn’t help either.
We: Cool and relatively dry, so headed to Keyser Run & Piney Ridge for a nice 17. Everything felt good, even climbing Keyser for the second time. Tried to hammer down the last three and happy with the overall effort. If I can feel like this at MMTR, things will be fine.
Th: An easy 5 on Swindler to keep everything loose, with some run/walking to keep my HR hovering on the border between Z1 & 2.
Fr: Intentional rest day because of travel to Hampton for an old friend’s bachelor party.
Sa: Had serious plans to run. Woke up to a cool, breezy morning in a place with sidewalks and zero elevation. But then got talking to several guys I’ve known for decades. Ditching a run to enjoy friends is a worthwhile trade.
Su: Not a wild bachelor party, but definitely too much alcohol, cannabis, and fried food. Combined with too little sleep, a muggy morning, and saying byes, a run just wasn’t going to happen.