So, So Tight

My muscles are so so tight today after some really hard interval sets on my bike trainer and treadmill this week. Glutes, hams, quads, calves – all are so sore and so tight! I haven’t felt this sore in two years!

Oh my, I just searched Google images for the word “tight” to find an interesting picture to put here. Um, well, I guess I won’t be using any of THOSE images, yikes!

2005

I remember when I first started running in 2005, my brother, Mark, told me to be sure and stretch properly. I did stretch alot during that first year. I never really felt much tightness in my muscles, when I stretched, but I did it anyway, because my big brother told me to.

2006

During 2006 I got really ambitious with this triathlon stuff, and ramped up my training. I was doing hard workouts on the track that really left me gasping for breath at the end. My best time for a 400 meter was 1:41, and my heart rate sometimes got up to 180 bpm. I was sore and tight back then alot, and the stretching was definitely worthwhile. I could FEEL it.

2007

During 2007 I was following a 1/2 marathon running plan that was pace based, not heart rate based. I wanted to be able to run a goal pace of 8:45 in the Duke 1/2 run. Hahahaha. That didn’t work too well. My track workouts were done at the right pace, or even faster. They didn’t leave me gasping for breath, but I figured all was well because I was on target with the pace on my plan. My longer runs were slower than the pace outlined in the plan, and I blamed it on all the hills, and told myself that the Duke 1/2 run course was easier than my training grounds. I was wrong about that!!! And I didn’t figure in just how much slower I would l run after a choppy swim and a long hilly bike ride. I wasn’t wearing an HR monitor that year, but I’m pretty sure I ended up running in the grey zone all the time.

As for the rest of my training, I was following a 1/2 iron triathlon plan. It didn’t have much in the way of speed workouts – mostly alot of long slow distance stuff. I did a Spinervals DVD bike session once a week, just so I didn’t lose my speed on the bike. I think I was mostly just maintaining my current fitness level that year.

And, my muscles never felt tight, ever. I actually hardly ever stretched, because when I did, it seemed like a waste of time. Stretching became a once a week thing, sort of a test to make sure I could still touch my toes.

2008

Fast forward to today. Ouch – I am so tight now I cannot touch my toes, not even close. I spent about 20 minutes stretching last night, and still cannot touch my toes. I’m debating whether I should skip my interval bike workout until I can get my muscles loose again.

Conclusions

#1) if you don’t feel the need to stretch, then you probably aren’t working hard enough in your interval training.

#2) don’t follow running plans for triathlon training. Stick with a triathlon plan! I thought because running was my weakness, I should train like a runner. But that is wrong. As my blog buddy, Jonathan, from Inside Triathlon wrote:

When I started out in triathlon, my first club coach said that it is a different kind of running. He called it muscle running.(Running when you are tired)

I had to have some picture, so here ya go. Click image to find out what it means!