Quads beat a Full House

Quads are great when you are playing poker but they are a different concern when you are running. For the first time they decided to talk to me on the run. I was really tight when I started out and ran nearly the whole first 3/4 mile before things settled in. I was using a 5/2 pattern of run/ walk for the first mile. I was able to do that in just about exactly 15 minutes. I dropped back to a 4/1 for the second mile. About 1/4 into the second mile, I started to feel tension in my left quad. I thought it was due to the lack of glycogen in the muscles and figured that the legs were just tired. I continued past the 1 1/2 mile point and noticed it was not going away. I walked 3 minutes instead of 2 as I had gone 4 1/2 in the running part. That left 5 minutes to complete the run in 30 minutes. I had decided to run only 2 miles since it was so late and I was feeling my legs. I had part of the leg of the outer horseshoe, the bottom and the inner leg almost to the apex to go. I watched the time and when I rounded the bottom and came for the run up the last part my leg gave me a new signal. The right side of my left quad was pinching me. I looked at my watch as I started to walk again and said" Well there are 2 minutes left, I probably won't do 30 minutes but will be close."

After about 20 seconds of walking, I started to run again. This time the quad was quiet so I used my arm motion to help propel me and got up to a (and I use this term lightly) sprint for the 2 mile mark. The heart rate had been under control the whole way so I figured that I could try. I crossed the foot of the driveway at exactly 29:58 keeping the 2 miles under 30 minutes. Heartrate never went over 133 even in the "sprint".

Now my heart is doing better than my muscles.

Before Jenn gives me her medical opinion, I am going to take a stab at it. We have had many good discussions about the body since she has become a Certified Massage Therapist. I believe that since I spent the whole day in the car with my front plane folded up, that the muscles decided that they like the more fetal position and wanted to maintain it. Also I have been concentrating my stretching on lengthening the back plane with Calf Stretches, Toe Touches, Bent Leg Toe Reach Fors ( I am not sure that is the correct terminology). Thus with the back looser, the front needed to contract even more to keep me upright when I got out of the car. Now when I ran the front muscles, Quads and Abs, complained because they had been contracted all day and now I was asking them to pull my legs forward for way too many steps. How do they solve that problem? Pinch Pinch and I slow down.

When I came home tonight my first stretch was to kneel and try to settle down on my lower legs. The muscles across the top of the foot relaxed and the lower leg melted into the carpet. I could not get down to sit on my legs but I did feel alot of stretching across the top of my knees.

I then did some tilting backward to try to open my abdomen and that also responsed nicely by allowing me to look toward the ceiling directly overhead. Then an arm stretch over head with a lifting of the head (puppet String being pulled from above.) with some relaxing breathing.

I feel pretty good now and am ready to go to bed. Judy is still fighting with her computer.

Good night...Tomorrow I will be 3 hours later in California. That means I can run at 10:38 and still be at the same time. That should be easy...coming back will be the problem. Even the morning running with be 3 hours later.