More circuits – 26th January 2012
A cold wet run around Bedminster Down. Grass was pretty water logged which slowed things down a bit. Rain stayed away which was at least one plus.
Tough Ten number neighbour of the beast – 25th January 2012
Got my entry through for the Tough Ten next month and a what a little treat. 665 – the neighbour of the Beast.
Round the vale – 25th January 2012
A five 5km on and around the streets of Ashton Vale
Towpath 22nd January 2012
A bit of towpath with the dog
Circuits
5 km of circuits up on bedminster down. Pretty sticky going up top so not an ideal surface for speed work but it’s always good to get out.
Ashton court 10km cert
Got my certificate through for the Ashton Court Off Road 10km and was surprised to find that a photo of me had made it into the artwork
Why stretch?
An interesting debate on why stretching could actually make your running worse.
The thought that stretching relaxes and is therapeutic for tight muscles is not only a misconception, it has never been proven. It actually weakens muscles, and that’s definitely not a good thing. Muscle tightness is due to an imbalance. The imbalance lies within the neuromuscular system – so it is a reflection of the nervous system via the muscular system. The idea that many physicians, therapists, coaches, and athletes have that you need to stretch a tight muscle to relax it and exercise a neurologically weak muscle to strengthen it is incorrect. It sounds nice, but your body doesn’t work that way. Clinicians who evaluate muscle function in athletes observe that stretching a muscle could make it longer and increase flexibility but this resulted in a reduction in function from a loss of power. “There is a neuromuscular inhibitory response to static stretching,” Malachy McHugh, the director of research at the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, told the New York Times. “The straining muscle becomes less responsive and stays weakened for up to 30 minutes after stretching, which is not how an athlete wants to begin a workout.”
http://sock-doc.com/2011/04/stop-stretching/
Back on the road – 29th November
Taking advantage of the lack of bad weather, but still damp from the weekend, today was about getting a bit more distance on the flat in preparation for my 10k race in a week or so.
I went the road way up to the A38, down onto Yanley Lane and back through Long Ashton and into Ashton Vale. A mainly pavement route which meant for a faster pace than the mud sliding last weekend.
