I have mentioned the effectiveness of foam rolling in past blogs and here I go again. My spouse and I have been foam rolling each other 2 to 3 times per day for the past three days; her for her ITBS and me for my mysterious calf condition. Her ITBS is still bothering her, but my calves are showing remarkable recovery. Ran 1 mile on Jan 1 and 3.5 yesterday after a 1/2 hour bike spin on the back patio (hey Adam--that's a brick isn't it??). Ran today with wife and HJG (in jogging stroller). She could only go about two miles before her leg started to hurt, but I was able to put in 2.5 miles including a 8 min/mile stretch for about 1/2 mile. I didn't want to get to far away from her and I don't want to push my recovery.
I got in a nice cool down and stretched after the run. I'm going to keep stretching and cross training and running, and I feel that RnR AZ is once again achievable.
Foam Rolling allows us to personalize a deep tissue massage to the injured areas and work the pressure to meet the pain threshold. Most advisors will tell you to hold the pressure at the pain threshold for 20-30 seconds before letting up. This loosens stuff in legs and backs and causes a stretch to happen that speeds recovery. I have also used a frozen bottle of Arrowhead water to roll under my plantar faciitis'ed foot. The other tool that is a must-have is the Stick. I don't have one, but use Maria's rolling pin which seems to work ok. Go get a foam roller if you are having any kind of leg pain. There are countless websites that give illustrations and narrative for effective use.
I will continue to train this week and next and be ready for PF Chang.
5 comments:
Hope the leg shapes up soon!
I just got the Stick on Saturday... decided it was more portable than a foam roller. So far so good. Glad to hear you're back on track for RnR AZ. I hope to meet you at RunningLaur's blogger get together.
I am so excited to hear your calf is feeling a bit better :) Keep us posted.
I have a love/hate relationship with my foam roller. I know it is helpful if I use it but it hurts so bad on my ITB.
...& I got queezy just reading your comment about needles and giving blood/bone marrow...not gonna happen, Jeff :)
Yeah! BRICK Those things are painful.
Speaking of painful - glad your calf is cooperating. Hope to see you at RnR AZ!
So glad to hear your calf (prob soleus) is getting better! PF Chang is going to be fun!
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