Monday, August 13, 2012

The week that ended with an Olympic Marathon and the Falmouth Road Race

Got up early to watch the Men's Olympic Marathon and then headed out to watch the Falmouth Road Race.     Meb Keflezighi ran an inspired race to finish fourth in London.



Never count Meb out like the Olympic organizers did at the start of the marathon.

One thing that upset Meb was being snubbed in the introductions before the race. Ten athletes stood in front of the rest of the marathon field and were introduced to the crowd and world-wide televison audience. The ten athletes were: Wilson Kipsang of Kenya, Ayele Abshero of Ethiopia,  Arata Fujiwara of Japan, Getu Feleke of Ethiopia,Scott Overall of Britain, Abel Kirui of Kenya, Ryan Hall of the USA, Marilson Gomes Dos Santos of Brazil, Rachid Kisri of Morocco and, surprisingly, the little-credentialed Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda, who would go on to win.Missing from the mix, Meb Keflzighi, the only Olympic medallist in the field and the US Olympic Trials Champion. The snub riled Meb after the race. "I was a little upset on how the introduction went. To be an Olympic medallist which none of those 109 people that started the race did not have and to be the New York City Marathon champion. ... I was very upset. Shame on (the) IAAF. ... None of those guys had what I had and to be not introduced like that definitely hurt," he said.


Last week:
Monday: 5 miles (3 miles Mine Falls Trail 5k- 4 seconds slower than the previous week)
Tuesday: 23 miles biking ( 20 miles on a group ride-lots of fun)
Wednesday 8 miles ran in Skechers GoRuns for the first time since February
Thursday 8 miles ran in Altra Provision for the first time since February
Friday 8 miles back to running in the Hoka One One Bondi B-my hip felt better with the more flexible shoes, but I need to transition slowly
Saturday 4 miles at Falmouth
Sunday 4 miles kickbiking to and from 3 mile mark of the Falmouth Road Race
Total 33 miles running- good week-but slow- the three 8 milers in a row is a good sign

One exercise I am getting back to that I have lagged off on is the BOSU Squat. I see that it was also part of Tyson Gay's recovery from labral tear surgery, too. He mentions it helps his stabilizer muscles that he often doesn't work. I hears some little pops and stuff in my hip when I do these. I wonder if it is the the little muscles activating and moving for a change as I try to balance. I do feel better after doing these squats rather than just regular squatting.




BOSU Squat
  • Stand on flat side of BOSU with feet shoulder-width apart and arms extended forward
  • Squat until legs are bent 90 degrees
  • Drive up to start position; repeat for specified reps
Sets/Reps: 3x15
Coaching Points: Keep eyes focused straight ahead // Fire glutes to explode up from squat
Tyson Gay: “The glute muscles need to be strong for sprinting, and doing the BOSU Squat really fires the glutes up. It also helps me work the stabilizer muscles to strengthen those smaller areas that don’t get worked when I’m doing machine exercises.”



3 comments:

Joe D said...

Jim - do you think the pops are could be the (tight) psoas/hip flexors passing over the hip capsule (scared)?

My hip does a similar thing when I flex, and this is what my surgeon told me.

Really love this blog, can't say it enough.

Jim Hansen said...

Hi Joe,
It could be, but I get it on both hips. I do know the flexors are very tight. I see my surgeon in a couple of weeks and I was told this may be the next thing he looks at working inside out (first the cortisone shot, then the hip flexors). This week I started foam rolling with more intensity and am hoping that will loosen things up some.
Jim

Jim Hansen said...

Just a follow up, Joe,
I asked the MAT (Muscle Activation Technique) therapist this question last week as I would get these little pops in my hip as I rotated my leg. He said it could be muscles that are overworked or inhibited having a tough time transfering the "work" of the muscle between fibers. I am not quoting him, but this is how I understand it. He said that when they are supposed to shift the load onto different fibers as you rotate, that it doesn't happen smoothly. The sound is the fibers "jolting" or something as they make that unsmooth transition. Does that make sense?