Pain, pain, go away

I woke up this morning in pain.  What a horrible way to start the day.

This time, it was my calves.  They were about as tight as a rubber band on the biggest rubber band ball.  I felt a deep, bruising ache that made it hard to want to get out of bed, much less walk the dog.  But as all dog owners know, there are consequences when you don't let them relieve themselves in a timely fashion.

I am guilty of maybe the worst crime in running circles.  Hi, my name is Anica and I don't stretch.  I've just never been a big fan of stretching or taking the time to stretch.  I have these old memories of sitting on itchy, new grass on a track infield while the captains (usually cute, older sprinters) led us through a stretching routine.  It always involved some bouncing (reach those toes, kids!) and counting to 10...boring! Plus, I had a cross country coach who also wasn't a big proponent of stretching.  Sure, we did some at the beginning of practice, but he never spouted wisdom as to why stretching was good for us.

I even did a stint with a physical therapist who showed me the correct way to stretch out my muscles.  And I have to say, even now, some of them feel really, really good.  And I can see the benefits.  But I've never been able to get into the routine of stretching at night before hitting the sack, or getting up five minutes earlier to stretch before running.

And now, I'm paying for it.  Getting old sucks.

So, today I went up to the gym during lunch and did a solid 30 minutes of stretching and lengthening.  I felt better afterwards, but was really craving my Stick and foam roller, both of which I have at home.  While static stretching can help, I really like the way my body feels after rolling out.  The roller can pinpoint tight spots very quickly and can help release that tension, something that's hard to do while reaching for your toes.  I will definitely put both the roller and Stick to work tonight and see if I can get more of the kinks out of my calves, especially.

I think it might be time to splurge on a massage.  I've found that when my body gets too tightly wound, stretching & rolling & self-massaging & icing just don't help.  My body needs a professional's touch.  It might be that time.