Eye of the Tiger (Lindsey)

For efficiency sake I'll cut to the chase... recent knee pain finally got the best of me and I had a minor freak out last week that I wasn't going to be able to run the marathon. After being assessed by my friend Rachel's trusted trainer, Adam, I am back on track... with probably more pain that when I started but at least I know it's good pain.

What I've learned this week...

Adam has rocked my running world. Basically from one session he determined that I'm not running off of my toes, utilizing my gluets and hamies like I should, but instead I hobble around in a half stride, using only my quads. Seriously, imagine an old man, hunched over, shuffling his way over the finish line - that is me in a nutshell. yikes! This completely makes sense. I've been wondering when my line on my thigh would return (the line I used to have in high school when I ran track) and if I would ever get any definition in my legs with all this training. Turns out if you aren't using muscles, they don't just suddenly appear. oops. I'm glad this was caught but now it's an uphill battle to fix my stride and get me in shape in the next month for the marathon. (cue the Rocky music). I am on a mission though and Adam has given me the tools to kick my own butt (literally).

Something else I learned this week - I've been stretching all wrong. Double oops. Static stretching shouldn't be done before a run as it can actually weaken your muscles. Before runs you should warm up with "dynamic stretching" to get and keep the muscles warmed up. see video below:

Better late than never I say. We still have our 20 miler up in a couple weeks... ek! But I'll be glad to be running with my buddies again. I missed them this weekend for the 18miler. Kudos to them for completing it!

We are getting close... I feel like we are at the part in the movie where the music plays and then there is a montage of scenes of running, lifting weights, etc. I'm actually getting excited for the part where the movie transitions to the epic last battle (marathon) and the hero(s) overcome great physical challenge.

Song of the week - Eye of the Tiger by Survivor 

32 days to go