In a recent New York Times article on flexibility, I happened to chance upon this quote:
"But distance runners do not benefit from being flexible, he found. The most efficient runners, those who exerted the least effort to maintain a pace, were the stiffest."
Yippee for me. Yippee, I tell you. Yahoo.
The real gist of the article was that no one really knows whether stretching prevents injuries.
What struck me was that for most athletes stretching for hours a day is a foreign concept. There is simply no space in their regimen for the level of flexibility I'm accustomed to. Even now, as I'm training, I'll do a couple of quad and hamstring stretches, some calf stretches, maybe a few side lunges to stave off a recurrent cramp in my right inner thigh. But really, nothing to write home about in my book.
It's just weird to realize that what's important to me physically doesn't really register in a runner's world. I really do feel like a traveler sometimes in this process. Like an impostor. Maybe a tourist...
Thursday's run:
Distance: about 4 miles
Duration: 41 minutes
Time: 5:00 pm
Temp: 42 degrees (surprisingly cold again)
Wore: Sugoi, sports bra, black workout pants
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