Stretching and Flexibility

There was a time when I would stretch regularly and as a result could actually touch my toes, but those days are long gone. Given where I am today--that my current setback likely was caused by inflexibility--I regret neglecting the stretch.

From a very young age, the importance of stretching was ingrained in me by my baseball coaches. We never started a practice before loosening up. I carried that over to my running but somewhere along the line lost sight of that importance. In 2006, I lived just north of the Upper East Side, in Spanish Harlem, and belonged to the 92nd Street Y. There, I would always stretch out before jumping on the treadmill or bike. And I could touch my toes! Now, I struggle to push past my shins. What happened?

I increased my mileage and seemed to have time for only running. My chiropractor told me that to an extent tight muscles are a good thing. He said that we produce more energy from tightly wound muscles than we do from overstretched muscles. However, there's an ideal degree of flexibility that one must attain in order to maximize his/her potential as a runner and stay injury-free. There's no question that I have my work cut out for me.

On a more positive note, I got out on the trails for the first time since my surgery today. I hiked up/down East Rock in 50:44. Everything felt pretty good. I look forward to getting back out there on a more regular basis in the coming weeks. Depending on how I feel tomorrow, I think I could probably do that hike every morning.

There's no question that my right leg has atrophied significantly, so I measured around the fattest part of my quad/ham and got 19.5" for the left and 18.0" for right. Yikes!