Muscle memory (noodling about running).
Aug. 10th, 2004 04:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
e_julianaI should put all of my running-related stuff in ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nanookracing, shouldn't I? Maybe later.
I have a very strong muscle/sense memory. A certain cologne, a specific location, and I'm overwhelmed with memories. Often, the emotions associated with the memorable experience come back. For close to a year, I've gotten choked up whenever I cross Summit Avenue, because it's part of the final 10K of the Twin Cities Marathon. The singular determination I felt in the people around me, the group effort of runners making it up the hill and spectators cheering them on.... gah. I can get choked up just typing about it. It's part of why I love the Olympics so much, because it's both a singular effort and a group one. They play or run or swim or skate for their team, their country, but there is also a collective effort to be their own personal best, and that effort spurs everyone else on. That feeling of accomplishment, of determination... It's like no other. Everyone who wonders why I run, where I find the drive? It's right there.
In muscle news, I let my PT beat me up today, and she sent me home with a hard foam cylinder that I can roll my outer thigh on, thereby stretching the IT band. She showed me other leg and back stretches I can do with the foam, some of which are quite nice, but holy fuck does the IT stretching hurt. It's not a sharp stabbing pain or a cramping pain. It's more like a muscle is deeply out of place and you're trying to wrench it back in. I was rolling around on the floor, my legs supported by the foam, my arms getting a good workout, laughing because it hurts so bad and trying so hard not to swear ('Crimeny!' got used a LOT). A picture for the ages, it was.
The PT also taped up my right knee again and informed me that I will probably have to wear the tape constantly for at least the next two weeks, if not through the marathon. Grump. I will not be wearing if for the wedding.
I need new shoes, because the ASICS are too soft for long runs, and my left arch collapses too much in them. Must find that balance of cushioning and stability.
I think I might not run a marathon next year, in order to concentrate on 1) speed and 2) form. If I'm going to run Boston within the next 10 years, I need to drop 45 minutes off my time. That means dropping 1.72 minutes per mile, to run a 8.6-minute mile. I can do it, and probably within 18 months, but I need to be able to concentrate on speedwork. If I weren't planning on directing at least 2 shows next year, I could probably do the speedwork & train for a marathon. But, I'd rather direct. The marathons can wait. (Watch, I'll try to do all of it.) (Well, if I started speedwork training in mid-October, right after the marathon....) (I am planning on joining a gym this winter.....)
nanookracing, shouldn't I? Maybe later.I have a very strong muscle/sense memory. A certain cologne, a specific location, and I'm overwhelmed with memories. Often, the emotions associated with the memorable experience come back. For close to a year, I've gotten choked up whenever I cross Summit Avenue, because it's part of the final 10K of the Twin Cities Marathon. The singular determination I felt in the people around me, the group effort of runners making it up the hill and spectators cheering them on.... gah. I can get choked up just typing about it. It's part of why I love the Olympics so much, because it's both a singular effort and a group one. They play or run or swim or skate for their team, their country, but there is also a collective effort to be their own personal best, and that effort spurs everyone else on. That feeling of accomplishment, of determination... It's like no other. Everyone who wonders why I run, where I find the drive? It's right there.
In muscle news, I let my PT beat me up today, and she sent me home with a hard foam cylinder that I can roll my outer thigh on, thereby stretching the IT band. She showed me other leg and back stretches I can do with the foam, some of which are quite nice, but holy fuck does the IT stretching hurt. It's not a sharp stabbing pain or a cramping pain. It's more like a muscle is deeply out of place and you're trying to wrench it back in. I was rolling around on the floor, my legs supported by the foam, my arms getting a good workout, laughing because it hurts so bad and trying so hard not to swear ('Crimeny!' got used a LOT). A picture for the ages, it was.
The PT also taped up my right knee again and informed me that I will probably have to wear the tape constantly for at least the next two weeks, if not through the marathon. Grump. I will not be wearing if for the wedding.
I need new shoes, because the ASICS are too soft for long runs, and my left arch collapses too much in them. Must find that balance of cushioning and stability.
I think I might not run a marathon next year, in order to concentrate on 1) speed and 2) form. If I'm going to run Boston within the next 10 years, I need to drop 45 minutes off my time. That means dropping 1.72 minutes per mile, to run a 8.6-minute mile. I can do it, and probably within 18 months, but I need to be able to concentrate on speedwork. If I weren't planning on directing at least 2 shows next year, I could probably do the speedwork & train for a marathon. But, I'd rather direct. The marathons can wait. (Watch, I'll try to do all of it.) (Well, if I started speedwork training in mid-October, right after the marathon....) (I am planning on joining a gym this winter.....)
