Showing posts with label calf raises. Show all posts
Showing posts with label calf raises. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Sunday Runday

Sunday morning, she wakes up knock knock knock on her door. [britney spears quote of the day] I heard her new song on the radio and now I have assorted BS songs running through my head. It is a rather sad state of affairs....anyways, i got up Sunday, fed the kitty, put on my running shoes and hit the streets. black tights under black shorts and an underarmer sweater with a bright blue skiing headband. I look like a rock star. Outside, it is somewhere around -4 degrees. My fingers and toes are instantly bitten by frost. I decide to do a 10km run. This was prompted, as most things are, by the slight competitive streak I may have. Wendy mentioned she entered an 8KM race on January 1st- yes New Year's Day- and finished with a time somewhere around 45 minutes. I hadn't ran that far in ages or timed any of my runs to see what my pace was at, so i decided to go for it. At about three kms i could feel the burn in my calves. I haven't loaded up my new iPod yet so i'm running naked (music-wise). Every car that drives by sends a gust of freezing air right in my direction. so awesome, I am having a great time. I finally get down near my  half way point where there's no sidewalk. there happens to be snow in this part of town and the side of the road is super icy. I near-bail a few times. I hit the 5k mark with a smile and turn around and head home.  I started to scuff my feet which is a sure sign my legs are getting tired and lazy, so I ran a bit harder because I heard a rumor that makes your body work harder which makes you less tired. Sounds crazy but it seemed to work. I always get excited at 7-8 kms becuase it's my downhill stretch. The sun had come up so I got a beautiful view of the mountains and ran super fast down the hill. Obviously this was tarnished by the side cramp i got. I stood tall (that opens up your stomach and lung area which helps the cramp to ease) and it went away super fast. the last stretch is always the hardest for me. I basically hobble down the street and make it to my building in a slight rage. For some reason it always makes me feel better to swear when i'm done my run. I can barely move at this point, my legs are seizing up. I practically crawled up three flights of stairs. I checked the time as soon as I got in, I had been gone 1 hour exactly. Not bad for my first ten kms back on the running scene. I will note here that I was in major pain for the rest of Sunday and most of monday.  I brought out Foam Roller for the first time in months and went to town on my legs. It hurt like hell but I felt great today. Please note that I have incorproated calf raises into my morning and night teeth brushing routine. Credit is due to Wendy on that one. I can't wait until I'm old and smart like her!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

head & shoulders, knees & toes

Sara: I’ve decided if I have a child, I’m going to teach it the proper names to the muscles and bones. K.. why do we lie to ourselves and our kids from childhood with made-up general names for things...? up until a week ago I thought the elbow bone was called the humerous.. no.. the whole upper arm bone is called the humerous. And biceps are biceps brachii.. and don’t get me started with the “calf muscle”. – end note.

Shelly: Haha lol. U can start with teaching ME the proper names for things!!!

Sara: No probs you can point to things and I’ll tell you what they are called in real life. I know all of the main guys. And I’m pretty good at figuring out which muscles control which movements. I’ll teach you two things for now. The biggest and strongest bone in the body is the femur. (the “thigh” bone.. if you will) it can take up to 600 lbs of vertical force. And the second strongest and most stout bone in the body is your “chin” bone, called the Tibia. Stay tuned.

Sara: Hahaha not CHIN but Shin rather..only I have a big strong chin.. not everyone is so blessed.

Shelly: Haha i was like CHIN? REALLY? Shin though, that makes much more sense. My shins take a lot of abuse from running. Can you tell me a bit more about shin splints?

Sara: The bottom of this page has some good exercises you can do to strengthen your shins/ankles for running. www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/0161-shin-splints-treatment.htm

Sara: Dorsi flexion is when you bring your toes toward your shin (like flex your foot) – the muscle that does it is called the tibialis anterior (the muscle you can feel in front of your shin bone). Plantar flexion is when you point your toes or stand up on your toes – acting muscle is the gastrocnemius and soleus (calf muscles)

Shelly: Lol i feel stupid for not knowing all my body parts now. the song “head and shoulders, knees, and toes” should totally be altered to... uhm, well u know...

Sara: I know, especially when they throw in strange explanatory words – see, if our parents taught us properly we would know these things! Cranium, scapula’s, patella’s and phalanges.....patella’s and phalanges... patella’s and phalanges.. doesn’t have the same ring..

Sara: Lol go right ahead.. you may want to know that the scapula is actually the shoulder blade.. don’t think the shoulder has a name.

Shelly: Mmm i don’t think it matters for blog purposes. I’ll check with my editor though.

Sara: HAHA do you really have an editor?

Shelly: Bahahha. No! Just being facetious.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, brings us to WORD OF THE DAY:

fa·ce·tious   /fəˈsiʃəs/  [fuh-see-shuhs]  –adjective
1. not meant to be taken seriously or literally: a facetious remark.
2. amusing; humorous.
3. lacking serious intent; concerned with something nonessential, amusing, or frivolous: a facetious person.