Boom Goes the Dynamite

Today I woke up stiff as hell! My calves, my knees, my hammies and my thighs all were tight and did not want to move! Turns out stretching is pretty important after running two time trials the day before, lesson definitely learned! Lucky for me I packet my yoga mat and a couple tennis balls.  I spent about an hour in the most pain I’ve felt in while, but after some precise placements of the tennis ball, some of the tightness went away.  I’m thinking that using the ball more often to release some tightness in my body will help in the long run.  I know for sure if I hadn’t forgotten my foam roller at the airport, I’d be hittin’ that up too!  Other then the soreness from this weekend, my body has been holding up pretty well.  I was worried at first that the plane ride over would jam up some things and make training difficult, so far so good though.  The club is looking into getting a couple cold tubs soon, and those will definitely help after some of the harder workouts.  I was told that the club actually already had a cold tub, but some how someone stole it.   The tub was even full at the time when it was stolen! No one is really sure how the thief even got it out, but  where there’s a will, there’s a way!

My workout for today eventually came to me last night, at 2 in the morning, sometimes I wonder about these hours my coach works.  So when I looked in the morning it was there waiting for me. Lately I’ve been trying to work on my mental training as well and getting myself prepared physically and mentally for workouts the following day.  Today’s workout was one of the regulars, and not one that I usually have problems getting my head around so I was ok with getting it late.  3(3x200), one minute between the reps, and 15 minutes between the sets.  Since I did time trials yesterday I didn’t have to do them as hard, just use it as a flush out my legs.  After a good warm up though, my body didn’t feel too bad, and I decided that maybe I could still hammer this one out hard.  The first set was done fairly conservatively at 30, 29, 31.  I didn’t feel too tired, and after the last one my body had really loosened up.  The next set I knew I would be able to step it up a notch.  I focused on the beginning to drive out hard, keep my shoulders relaxed and my feet coming out right in front of me instead of side to side.  The first 40 meters felt really nice, and as a I look up I could see a guy off to the side.  I see him, he sees me, we make eye contact.  Now back in Regina eye contact is enough for the guy not running either to stop or get out of the way.  I made a little noise, not really sure what it was, but it wasn’t enough.  As I tried to run around, he stops, then starts to go again, then Boom Goes the Dynamite! Head on collision, with no attempt to slow down.  I was baffled at what had just happened, part of me wanted to keep going,and a bigger part of me wanted to punch the guy.  Instead I turned around and walked back to the start.  Once I got back I realized my one coach had seen what had happened, and all he could do was laugh.  At first I thought he was laughing at me, but then he pointed out the guy that I had hit was still crouched down on his hands and knees behind me.  I guess that’s what happens when 140 pounds of pure muscle comes roaring at you! I took a couple minutes to recover, mostly from laughing, then I was on my way again.  There were two of the other quarter milers doing 200’s as well so I ran with them.  It helped to get my mind off of what had just happened to run with the boys and the second set ended up going pretty good, 29, 29, and 30.  Going into the last set I was feeling nothing in my legs from the day before, even the two sets prior, I knew this was my last one so I gave it all I had.  I didn’t think about how heavy my legs should be, or how tired my lungs might feel.  I relaxed my arms and my shoulders and just let my legs follow.  I relaxed, thought positive thoughts and let the times come to me.  29, 30 and 28,  an alright finish to the workout. I closed out the night with some rudiments and some medball ab exercises (gotta keep the tummy tight!). 

After some chatting I found out that one of the guys at the track is one of my cousins, and I was not surprised at all, he’s just like me.  I’ve been told that I can be heard laughing from a mile away, and this kid is exactly the same! I’m not sure what his name is, and actually, I really only know anyone’s names.  I think I should probably start working on that if I’m going to be here till March!