Lieann's Triathlon journey
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Stretch, Stretch and stretch some more!!! by Lieann Sep 3rd 2012About 2 years ago I damaged my back badly whilst lifting a large tent out of my roof box and twisting. I ended up with a severe circular prolapsed disc at the base of my spine. Since then I have had 2 flare ups, one last year in June that put me out of action for a while and then at the end of the year following a 2 month chest infection with a lot of coughing I managed to put it out again.......6 sessions of traction later and I managed to walk without looking like a decrepit OAP.
To aid my progress in getting my back into shape I took up Pilates last year and got into the pool in January to swim. I used to train regularly years ago and I would religiously stretch after every session and I do this now without fail.......except for last Thursday :( Went for my first proper run, did some interval training and took the dog with me. Was really pleased with my progress as I have avoided high impact exercise until now wanting to get fitter and stronger first. When I started to get tired in the legs I used my arms to propel me along which really worked. I was so chuffed with myself that when I got in I totally forgot to stretch and just started sorting dinner out and doing normal chores around the house. I woke up the next morning completely tied in the mid back region and could barely take a breath without it hurting.....and I was majorly annoyed with myself. So I have had to go 3 days waiting for my muscles to sort themselves out, taking ibuprofen and getting my husband to rub my back before I could do anything. So STRETCH I TELL YOU!!! Managed to get into the pool this morning and do 500m FC and have been on a 10km bike ride this evening and so far so good. I always do my stretches in the pool before I get out, even though I always feel like I look like a bit of a numpty as I never see anyone else doing it.....but if it stops me from tying up and helps my back a numpty I will stay. Happy stretching people!! :)  by member: sarahleonard, Sep 3rd 2012 22:07Oh no Lieann! That sounds awful and very frustrating for you :-(
On the plus side, it's good that you know that stretching works for you. It is certainly something that most of us tend to rush when there's so much benefit to doing it! With good intentions I bought the book Stretching to Win recommended by Bishman (one of the other tribloggers)on his blog but I've not had a chance to read it yet. Your post has just reminded me to dig it out!  by member: Bishman, Sep 6th 2012 10:27My ears are burning!
Stretching is excellent but I admit that sometimes I don't always stretch after a session, despite the blog post I wrote advocating it. Swimming for example... I'm not very good at swimming so when I get out of the pool I'm usually so knackered that even making breakfast or cycling home become difficult. What I tend to do is try and stretch after most sessions but I also do one big stretch session per week to really limber up. I put it in my training diary a rest day and then spend a good 45 minutes - hour making sure to get all my muscles. Works brilliantly! Thanks for your comments Bishman. I have now added a stretch day to my week. What a fab idea.
I did a boot camp session on Tuesday and could barely talk let alone swim yesterday like I was planning to do. So with all good intentions I was going to do some stretches in my lunch hour when I came home to walk the dog, but my friendly neighbour followed me in the house for a cup of tea.......so I ended up back at work walking around like an oap until I took myself off to the disabled toilet, kicked of my heels and pulled some stretchy shapes lol....felt much better afterwards. | Previous posts Tags Welcome to TriBlogs the free online training solution.Plan, record, analyse and share your triathlon experiences. Click here to join |
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