Monday, December 26, 2011

Weekly recap (Christmas!)

Monday:  1 mile walk after lunch.
Tuesday: 30 min bike with 15 hard-ish (100+ cadence), lower body strength training
Wednesday: 20 min bike
Thursday: Off
Friday: 30 min ellip, 20 min bike with 6x 30s at 17/20 effort 100+ cadence, recovery to 110BPM, upper body strength training
Christmas weekend: OFF!


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I'm getting much better and doing the eccentric heel lowerings...I can do 2x20-25 and I'm doing them much slower too.


In the beginning my muscles trembled and quivered (especially my right let) after a few when I tried to let down slowly (i.e. over a couple of seconds). Now they do the full 20 ok.


Surprisingly, the day after doing these exercises my calves are not sore at the bottom part where the tendon meets the soleus muscle..instead the soreness is up top in the 5-6 inches below the back of the knee....that part is the weak part! Not what I expected at all.

4 comments:

  1. One thing I notice for us mid-50'ers is that soreness often comes up in places that we don't expect! :-))!

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  2. Hey, Paul. Today when running the Mississippi Blues Marathon, I thought I saw you in front of me. The runner looked to me just like the picture of you on your banner. He even had a Marathon Maniacs shirt on. I ran up and asked the guy where he was from not expecting him to say Indiana. Our local paper featured a picture of him. Take a look. I think you'll see the resemblance. http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20120107/NEWS/120106032/Marathon-runners-ready-tackle-Jackson-streets

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    Replies
    1. Nope, not me! But yes sorta does look a bit like me...8)

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  3. I you are doing STRAIGHT-kneed heel (calf)-raises (concentric)/heel-lowerings (eccentric), you are engaging the Gastrocnemius muscle more than the soleus, so that is why you have the soreness higher up (and the soreness is/was undoubtedly more superficial than deep). If you do these exercises BENT-kneed (often done sitting with a machine or weights over the distal thigh but they can be done standing, too if you have a good back) then you will be emphasizing the soleus/soleus/achilles complex). Eccentric exeercise is important for both soleus and gastroc muscle/tendon complexes. Professional cyclists often get sore calves/quads just from running through airports/down stairs and always when first hiking down long trails because their cycling motion is ALL concentric. Let me know if this isn't clear and want to chat more...if you haven't noticed, I love talking about this stuff.....Ann

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