Because i'm a lazy bum, i got out on my run late this morning. I was watching the Tour De France online, but after a while, realized that i was working myself into a tight corner — i had to leave soon if i wanted to be back in time to watch the sprint to the finish line, or i had to wait and run after the stage was complete. But, that spelled trouble because i could see the red of my thermometer climbing with each minute.
Figuring that the stage would end at about 11:15, and working backward, i changed clothes and headed out, knowing that i was going to have to have a very good run in order to be back in time. And i did.
I only had to run 8 miles, and even though i run an out-and-back, up-and-down, hilly course from start to finish, the only real hard part is the Col de I355 (the overpass they built over our new local interstate highway), which, for some reason, they built tall enough to leave room for double height trucks to drive under. It is so tall that you can see it from a mile away, once you clear the last other hills on the approach. It's a monster.
Because i'm playing cat and mouse games with a sore right groin muscle, the 4 miles out had to be pretty slow while i warmed up, even though the gap between me and the peleton was growing with each stride away from home. Once i turned around, though, i knew it was time to drop the hammer in order to get back in time.
The Col de I355 is at about mile 3.5, so once i turned around that was the first thing i had to deal with. Going out i took it slowly; going home, i pounded up and over at a fairly good clip — i was chasing the peleton to the finish, and i had no time to lose. Once past that hurdle, while it would be hilly all the way home, it is a net drop in altitude, with the final half-block a downhill sprint to the finish.
Even though i am absolutely against performance drugs, i admit that i wanted to get home in time badly enough that i broke into my performance enhancing stash. I keep 5 pretty hard (for me, anyhow) rock songs on my mp3 player for just such emergencies as this. I almost never listen to these 5 songs, but they are loud enough that they can drown out all but the worst complaints my body can raise as i run when i'm in a hurry. With these now blasting in my ears, i powered home.
To make a long story short, i ended up with a very acceptable 9:33 pace for the run, and a very good morning run, but still walked in the door 1 minute after Cavendish had crossed the finish line. The race finished 10 minutes before they were supposed to. Sigghhhhh...... I guess these guys are faster than i thought. Maybe that's why they are pros? But, i blame this all on Hincapie for pushing the breakaway that put Columbia-HTC up front.
I'm not a superstitious person. Never have been. Can't think of one superstition i believe in. But......
A month ago, in order to get rid of the white, untanned, band around my left wrist that i get from always wearing my watch on that arm, i decided to wear my watch on my right arm half the time. It's incredibly uncomfortable, but you do what you have to do when you train for a marathon.
Shortly after starting this practice, my right groin muscle really, really started to bother me. It springs up each year to varying degrees, but always at the end of the training season. This year it is early.
Now, the only thing i am doing differently compared to previous years is this thing with the watch. Superstition would tell you not to play with a routine that is already proven to work, but since i'm not superstitious, and refuse to believe that this simple change in my training routine could cause the groin problem, i analyzed what is going on.
What i figured out is that by moving my watch to the right wrist 50% of the time, the extra weight on the right side of the body is causing me to tilt ever so slightly in that direction. To compensate for that, my hip and core muscles need to tighten up in order to pull my body back to the vertical. In particular, it is the right hip/groin that is doing most of the work, and this is causing the pulled muscle.
When i leave my watch on the left wrist, like i did today, all seems to be well. I still need to be careful as it heals and returns completely to normal, but it is definitely getting better.
So, while no one may believe the physiological explanation, and i don't believe the superstitious explanation, the watch is staying on the left wrist where it belongs.
Don't play with proven strategies.
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