Re: August 50 Plus Training and Racing
Fred, no I don't think anyone could get faster, unless their legs were so weak that they couldn't sustain long running exercises due to muscle fatigue, so I would say only if the race were some considerable distance, or an unusual race like Pike's Peak, or an ultra. I cannot imagine it would be a big deal for the mile to fiveK. On the other hand, strengthening the core muscles makes sense to me for being able to sustain hard workouts and prevent injury since they focus on the hips, back, abdomen etc.
Second, I used to get injuries when I stretched, so I don't stretch any more. Now I do exercises called by my PT "dynamic flexibility" which focuses on strengthening core muscles and muscles critical to running through the range of motion of the intended muscle. One quick example, I do bridges on an activity ball, lying on my back and my feet on the ball and lift the hips off the floor high as I can go, slowly, about 15 times, roll the ball toward me and away, about 15 times slowly, and then 15 more bridges with my toes on the ball. For those with weak hamstring muscles, this is a very useful exercise.
Third, keep in mind that my problem is sciatica, not a strain or a pull, so most of what I do has to do with alignment and strengthening muscles that might put pressure on nerves. As an example, I do an exercise that yoga people know as "cobra". I do this exercise a lot, because it puts pressure on the disks in the spine to "flatten" them and take pressure off the nerves that come out of each vertabra. In cobra, you are bending the spine backwards, as opposed to the normal forward posture of the athlete. Just about everything we do, from driving a car, to typing at a keyboard is with the spine curling forward. Spareribs
Hope your hubby is off to someplace less steamy than DC.