Friday 11 May 2012

First Pilates class since the MDS finished, and my core is stronger than ever before

Good evening ladies and gentleman and distinguished members of the audience.  I just came back from a one to one Pilates class, and it is the first one I have done since the MDS finished.  I was worried that I would struggle a bit, partly because I haven't done any Pilates for over a month now, and partly because my body is still recovering from the MDS.  In fact I needn't have worried because my core felt stronger than ever before, and the teacher noticed that too.

I purchased an abo for 10 lessons so I have another 9 lessons left to help me prepare for the Ticino trail.  It will be hard to do it twice per week like I was when I wasn't working, and I think I will have to do it once per week now.  It might have been easier to do it twice per week if the studio was close to work, but it isn't.

My calves were aching a bit from the barefoot running in Irchelpark last night, but this didn't cause me any problems during the class.  My hamstrings nearly cramped up once though, as did the muscles in the arch of my right foot.  I was happy that my groin seems to be okay now and also my knee only clicks slightly from time to time and not loudly and regularly like it did a few weeks ago.  I am still going with my theory that tight quads caused the loud knee clicking, as post MDS my quads were extremely fatigued and tight.  With the gentle runs I have been doing the last week they have now loosened up.

I was using the Pilates class tonight as a tester to see if I have recovered enough to start the yoga classes again.  With a big thumbs up I am going to restart yoga next week.  I will try to do one normal yoga class on Tuesday lunchtime at UBS and one hot yoga class during the week at the Bikram School of Yoga.

My weekly training program will now incorporate the following:

1 class of standard yoga
1 class of hot yoga
1 Pilates class (one to one)
2 track sessions (one with Jeff Grant of Hillseeker Fitness and one with TV Unterstrass running club)
+ a variety of weekly solo runs (some in my Newton Sir Isaac guidance trainers, some in my Vibram FiverFingers and some completely barefoot)

If I manage all that and still have a little energy left over I will try to do one weights session per week in the UBS gym.

My Pilates teacher is going to help me with my aim of toughening up my feet by training me on a special piece of apparatus called a foot corrector http://pilates.about.com/od/pilatesequipment/tp/Pilates-Equipment-For-Foot-Exercises.htm.  She will also help me to strength my groin muscles further, so I don't have any more problems with groin strain during the Ticino Trail like I did during the MDS.

On my final closing note I just wanted to let you know that Anny purchased a pair of Vibram FiveFingers in New York, so we can have a lot of fun training together in VFFs.  I am happy that I was able to inspire her to try something new like minimalistic running.  I am also well aware that she will have to ease into them gradually due to her recent entry into the world of sport.

2 comments:

  1. Have you thought of getting an accupunture to help release the tension and tightness in your quad muscles?

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  2. Acupuncture is a good idea. In fact we even have massage and acupuncture on site at work. I probably should have done that last week or the week before as they are pretty much back to normal now. It would have helped speed things up though.

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