Ruminations over a French Press...
My wife left this morning to see an old friend back east. There was a time when her absence meant day after day of pizza from the local joint, followed by a frantic hour of cleaning up the pile of takeout boxes before she came home. The boys and I ate so much Ballpark that I should have bought stock. But it's just the Raptor and myself here at home now, so he's got his dog food and I've got my low carb diet, which means no pizza.
Well, maybe once.
Anyway, this is that time of year when I tend to take my eye off the ball. I'm concerned with last-minute preparations for the big track meets and scrutinizing the edit of this book or that, so little things tend to get overlooked. Fitness can be one of them. Which is why I'm taking the time to make a checklist of the fitness items I've been focusing on the last few months as a reminder to make sure I don't let them slip. Among them:
1) Mobility: In this world of fitness crazes, with spin classes followed by jiu-jitsu followed by crossfit followed by whatever the next new trend might be, the growing awareness that mobility is vital to our longevity, ease of motion, and overall feeling good may be one of the most underrated activities to pursue. Google Kelly Starrett and Chris Sommers GB for more info. Painful but effective.
2) Hip strength: I've written one too many times about my knee surgery, a procedure I'm now convinced might have been unnecessary if I'd taken the time to strengthen hips and hip flexors that had grown week from one too many days/weeks/months sitting in a chair while I worked.
3) A simple run: Sometimes it seems like the motivation to squeeze in an hour of running is superseded by the motivation to write for an additional hour. But something as simple as just telling myself I'm only going out for twenty minutes invariably turns into an hour once I get out there and feel the rise and fall of the trail beneath my footfalls. A caveat to this is that diehard endurance athletes tend to either their OCD their way through workouts on days they don't feel like doing it, or muscle through by pretending that their love of running is so great that the idea of taking a day off is appalling. Whatever. Prevent burnout/run longer/be emotionally stronger by taking a day off now and again.
4) Swim: I can't remember the last time I felt the cool of the pool. Need to get back to it.
Today's Workout
First round of championship racing. Time to build in a little more rest. An easy five followed by mobility and strides. My Tuesday Evening adult track group will not be as coddled.