It's been a month now, and so far I can say I love everything about marathon training. This is good news for me and bad news for Larry, who now has to buff and polish his will to stay married to me while I chirp incessantly about the joys of endurance training.
I especially love the Saturday morning long runs. And I say this in earnest. I love them. I look forward to them all week. The early wakeup call. The frosty weather. Having 10, 11, 12 (next week it will be 14) miles under my belt before most people have finished their coffee.
I love how it feels to run with a pack. I love learning from more experienced marathoners, and watching our group leader sashay through the streets of Cool Springs crying "WHAT'S TWELVE MILES AND 28 DEGREES BETWEEN FRIENDS?"
I love it all.
If you live in the Nashville area and want to train for a marathon (or a Half), I can’t say enough good things about the Fleet Fleet training program. In addition to highly organized training runs, they provide all kinds of support and resources—from gear clinics to nutrition guidance to injury screenings.
Speaking of which.
Last Saturday there was a team of physical therapists from Results Physiotherapy on hand after the run. I’ve been experiencing a lot of tightness in my hamstrings since … well, since birth, really, but it's been especially uncomfortable since I trained for the half. And no matter how well I stretch, I never feel like I've stretched.
I figured this was simply my lot in life, but just in case there was a recommendation I hadn't yet heard and failed to execute properly, I filled out a pre-consult questionnaire.
Pain/Issue: Extreme tightness in hamstrings
When do you experience the pain? When moving my legs.
When do you notice an increase in the pain? When I am conscious.
How often do you run? More than any person would ever guess just by looking at me.
When it was my turn, I explained to PT Steve that I have always been very inflexible and that I don’t really think of the hamstring issue as an injury so much as a chronic and annoying aspect of my personality.
When he finished evaluating me, he asked me to lie down on my side. “This is going to get a little up close and personal,” he said.
And then he jammed his elbow so far into my ass cheek that my eyeballs popped out of my head.
And then I asked him to be my wife.
OH. MY. GOD.
You guys.
HE CURED MY HAMSTRINGS.
Well, he cured one of them. The left one. I felt greedy asking him to do the other side, since it was a free clinic and everything, but then later that night Larry volunteered to jam HIS elbow into my ass until my eyes popped out, and wouldn't you know it? THE RIGHT HAMSTRING WAS CURED TOO!
Apparently the pain had something to do with the piriformis muscle, which you can google for yourself if you are so inclined, because I am not about to pretend I understand anything about anything other than YAY! YAY! I KNOW THE ELBOW IN THE ASS TRICK!
And that has made all the difference.
I especially love the Saturday morning long runs. And I say this in earnest. I love them. I look forward to them all week. The early wakeup call. The frosty weather. Having 10, 11, 12 (next week it will be 14) miles under my belt before most people have finished their coffee.
I love how it feels to run with a pack. I love learning from more experienced marathoners, and watching our group leader sashay through the streets of Cool Springs crying "WHAT'S TWELVE MILES AND 28 DEGREES BETWEEN FRIENDS?"
I love it all.
If you live in the Nashville area and want to train for a marathon (or a Half), I can’t say enough good things about the Fleet Fleet training program. In addition to highly organized training runs, they provide all kinds of support and resources—from gear clinics to nutrition guidance to injury screenings.
Speaking of which.
Last Saturday there was a team of physical therapists from Results Physiotherapy on hand after the run. I’ve been experiencing a lot of tightness in my hamstrings since … well, since birth, really, but it's been especially uncomfortable since I trained for the half. And no matter how well I stretch, I never feel like I've stretched.
I figured this was simply my lot in life, but just in case there was a recommendation I hadn't yet heard and failed to execute properly, I filled out a pre-consult questionnaire.
Pain/Issue: Extreme tightness in hamstrings
When do you experience the pain? When moving my legs.
When do you notice an increase in the pain? When I am conscious.
How often do you run? More than any person would ever guess just by looking at me.
When it was my turn, I explained to PT Steve that I have always been very inflexible and that I don’t really think of the hamstring issue as an injury so much as a chronic and annoying aspect of my personality.
When he finished evaluating me, he asked me to lie down on my side. “This is going to get a little up close and personal,” he said.
And then he jammed his elbow so far into my ass cheek that my eyeballs popped out of my head.
And then I asked him to be my wife.
OH. MY. GOD.
You guys.
HE CURED MY HAMSTRINGS.
Well, he cured one of them. The left one. I felt greedy asking him to do the other side, since it was a free clinic and everything, but then later that night Larry volunteered to jam HIS elbow into my ass until my eyes popped out, and wouldn't you know it? THE RIGHT HAMSTRING WAS CURED TOO!
Apparently the pain had something to do with the piriformis muscle, which you can google for yourself if you are so inclined, because I am not about to pretend I understand anything about anything other than YAY! YAY! I KNOW THE ELBOW IN THE ASS TRICK!
And that has made all the difference.
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