Thursday, March 28, 2013

5K and bike to work

The weather was absolutely gorgeous this morning. It's been unseasonably warm, and I'm not complaining at all! It was cold last week, so this is a welcome change. It was 44F (6.7C) and clear with a little breeze. I wore capri pants, long sleeves, and very light gloves.

Before leaving on my 5K walk, I did a set of step-downs on each side, with the PT band around my knees to activate my glutes, both med and max. I repeated this at 1.67 km and 3.33 km into my walk, along with some leg swings and brief piriformis stretch. I concentrated really hard on using my left glutes in particular while I walked, along with bringing my right leg through low so as to avoid bent knee problems. I also worked on keeping my core strong - lots to think about.

My right piriformis/hip was a little sore today. It felt better after the first stretch at 1.67 km, but it never felt quite 100%. All the same, it didn't really hurt outright, either. It just sort of ached and felt tight. Stopping to stretch helped it a lot, and I didn't have any problem finishing the 5K.

I'm in the habit of a fast cadence from the elliptical and the bike, and I think that is transferring to racewalking, as I walked pretty fast again. My heart rate was correspondingly high. I walked the 5K in 29:39, with average HR 153. Of course, stopping twice to stretch helped me keep going. I wasn't trying hard to go fast, but it happened anyway.

I also worked a bit on my breathing. I had read in Runner's World magazine that a 3-2 inhale-exhale pattern (3 steps inhale, 2 exhale) was beneficial. It is supposed to help you to have a more even foot strike and avoid landing harder on one foot than the other, which makes sense. I figured it can't hurt to give this a try, and might help. It's hard to remember to do it, but I think like anything it can become a habit if I work on it.

After my walk I took the kids to school, got ready for work, and biked to work. It was too nice not to!

Garmin data for the 5K here.

No comments: