njc65 Mentor Group CLOSED (Page 3)

Hi Gang

I've closed the door now and we have our team, really looking forward to working with you all and helping you all achieve your goals. Looking at where you all are and the goals you have set, you can all achieve, indeed I include myself in that as I have my 1st half ironman this year a big challenge for me. I'll start to post some longer ramblings about training and racing as we go along, but lets make this interactive and support one another. I have redrawn the team table, please add eachother as friends and please please please use record your training logs on here if not doing so already!

Neil x

(Go to Settings -> Training Blog Customization -> Friends

Ok folks here’s a bit on stretching, very important after a workout.  Stretching is really important we all know this, your body knows it, but somehow not all of do it consistently and well.

When you exercise is that your muscles tighten, they contract when running, biking, swimming, doing crunches and pushups, lifting weights, or whatever else it is you do to keep in shape. Often people spend a lot more time making their muscles tighter than they do lengthening them. When this tightening of muscles becomes imbalanced, certain muscles are stronger and tighter and start pulling at areas of your body which leads to pain. For example, if your quads and hip flexors are tight from biking or running, they can pull the femurs further forward than they want to be which can lead to back, hip, and knee pain. Often the muscles on the front of the shoulders are tighter and stronger than those in the back, pulling the head of the humorous (upper arm bone) forward which can create shoulder, neck, wrist and other pain.

To get us started below are detailed a few basic and vital stretches that will work the major muscles that are used in running and cycling. Do these each time you have been out, hold for about 30 seconds, and remember to breathe when doing them!


Thigh (Quad) Stretch - Stand with your feet slightly apart. Bend your right foot back and up toward your buttocks, and grasp it with your right hand. Balancing on your left leg, pull your right foot up with your right hand. To help you balance, pick a stationary spot in front of you to stare at and lift your free arm out to the side. You should feel the stretch in your thigh. Release and switch sides.



Hamstring Stretch - Stand with one leg just in front of the other, bend the back knee and rest your weight on the bent knee, tilt the hips forwards, as if sticking your bum in the air!

Calf Stretch - Stand with right leg straight and behind you. Your left leg should be bent in front of you. Place most of your weight onto your left leg. Push the heel of your right foot down toward the ground, and slightly shift your weight back keeping your torso upright. You should feel a stretch in your right calf. For a deeper stretch, you can face a wall and push against it for leverage. Release and repeat on the opposite side.

Groin Stretch - Sit with your feet in front of you. Place the bottoms of your feet together, and let your knees fall to the sides. Grasp your ankles and pull your feet toward you, as close as possible. While holding your ankles, place your elbows on the inside of your knees and push them down. You should feel the stretch in your groin area.



For those with ankle/heel (achilles) pain this could help. - Stand facing a wall at about arm's length away. Stand with both feet facing straight ahead - parallel - not turned out, even a small amount. Put one foot on the wall at knee height. Press that heel toward the wall. Look down and see if the foot you are standing on is facing directly ahead. Make that standing foot straight, not turned out; not even a little. Do not lean toward the wall. Lift your chest until you are standing straight. Don't let your hip curl under or your standing knee or hip bend. Smile, relax shoulders, and breathe.



For those with a 'pain in the butt' the glute muscles need to be stretched. These are big muscles and can often lead to pain in the legs and lower back, its important to stretch these as well, I suffer with bum pain and are part of my regular stretching routine. Here's a good one.

Lie on floor or mat. Bend knees with feet on floor. Cross lower leg over thigh of other leg. Grasp back of thigh of lower leg with both hands.  Pull leg toward torso. Hold stretch. Repeat with opposite leg.

Gary,
Well done on beating your goal.  It great that you were able to run all of the last half of the run stage.  The transition from bike to run is the most difficult (in my limited opinion).  I stretch briefly before starting the run andhave found that it helps a lot.  I think the reason is that on a bike you don't stretch the muscles as much as you do when running.  Stretching then without putting a load on them can help ease you into the movement required for the run.  

Good luck on beating your time in another month.  I'm sure with another four weeks of steady training you'll be able to do it. 

I've cycled using both clips and pedals and have switched from one to the other.  It is easier with clips as you can use your leg muscles all way through the revolution both pushing and pulling.  This takes some practice and technique to be able to do this.  I think the biggest thing to get used to early on is the concern of fixing your feet to the bike and simply not being able to get them out when you stop and falling over.  As with most things only practice helps build confidence.  I wouldn't do it for the first time in a race.

Well done again 
Ray

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Thanks Suzie. 

We find with sunburn, lotions with aloe vera in are amazing.  Most of them act as a coolant ( although it sounds like your sunburn is quite a few days old ) but it helps in you not peeling and restores the skin quicker.

Regards
Gary