September is already moving along. Tawny autumn is coming to the northern hemisphere as spring begins to unfurl in the southern. Wherever you live, stretch out and challenge yourself. You'll be pleased you did, come Christmas.
Sunday - an hour or so in the garden (mowing, sawing, kneeling, lifting). And 4.3k steps.
I breathe this very quietly to you but I could be strong enough in my lower back and legs to move things on a little. More work on the calves and feet should see it by the end of the month.
Jen, I thought of you yesterday as I ordered a foam roller from amazon. My hamstrings are perpetually sore and I'm hoping that will help? Do you have any suggestions? Are there certain things to do with it?
Birchie, well done with the title. This reminds me of the end of a John Cheever short story, whose title I don't recall, in which a suburban husband, stirred by the sound of rain, rises up in bed and exclaims to himself: “Valor! Love! Virtue! Compassion! Splendor! Kindness! Wisdom! Beauty!” An American playwright, Terence McNally, paraphrased that in the title of one of his best plays, "Love! Valor! Compassion!"
Sunday, Sept. 1st:
45 minute spin class, and then, since I felt up to it, afterward:
60 minutes shoulders, biceps & triceps routine, with me dropping the weights a little on the biceps. I'm suspecting that strain on the inside of my right arm is partly due to bad form, with me not holding or using my wrist correctly
Monday, Labor Day Holiday
Ran 4.27 miles, a few minutes faster than I've been doing it, though this was a slog, with the humidity levels at 90%. Less jouncy but still exhausting. Whenever a good runner with a smooth stride goes by, I pick up that beat, but only for a few steps, then lose it again. I am starting to wish I could run with someone who knew what he or she was doing. But it was hard today, anyway. It's that tropical weather that heralds hurricane and storm season, which I hate with all my heart.
Jen, I thought of you yesterday as I ordered a foam roller from amazon. My hamstrings are perpetually sore and I'm hoping that will help? Do you have any suggestions? Are there certain things to do with it?
For me..
Sept 1: 60 minutes Zumba, 100 minutes bikram yoga
Totals:
2 workouts
160 minutes
Sept 2: very difficult bikram class today 100 minutes
Thanks, saef. It came to me as I lay in my own bed this morning, as it happens, with the sound and feeling of cloud that is not yet rain outside.
Saef, it's interesting how you can pick up another runner's rhythm for a little. In "Running with the Kenyans", the runners at St Patrick's College spend a lot of time running in a file, one after the other, with the aim of matching the previous person's rhythm or learning to do that. You can see the Kenyans and Ethiopians do it so beautifully on the track. It can be learnt.
MBF exercises this morning and only 2.6k steps (just under a mile) as the afternoon was devoted to sorting out and labelling new school uniform.
I'm starting to think about foam rolling for my calves and feet.
Jen, I thought of you yesterday as I ordered a foam roller from amazon. My hamstrings are perpetually sore and I'm hoping that will help? Do you have any suggestions? Are there certain things to do with it?
There are a TON of you tube videos out there as it seems like foam rolling is THE thing now. But basically, you want to just roll out the muscle. It SHOULD hurt in a good way, but the first few times - at least for me it just HURT, HURT. You will feel when you have hit a knot - when that happens HOLD yourself there are just relax into it - the foam roller will squish out the knot.
For hamstrings, I lie on the floor and put the foam roller under my hamstrings. Then place all your weight on your hands and lift up - like a reverse plank. Use your arms to roll forward and back with your hamstrings firmly locked on the foam roller. Make sure your weight is on the hammies and hands only.
15 minutes Stairmaster, resistance at nine, random intervals
60 minutes chest, shoulders & triceps routine
60 minute spin class in the evening
Jen, I'm not very observant about anatomy, as I'm not sure I can see what is different about your Achilles tendons. Maybe because I don't know what they usually look like. Also, it's a foreshortened angle. Are your legs swollen?
7.3k steps, 2.8 miles. Quite pleased with myself as I scheduled a walk to the doctors' surgery to collect prescriptions. Had I not done that, today would have been fairly stationary.