Hair of the dog

Today's workout (elliptical): 15 minutes

I know what's good for ya!

It was no surprise to experience a recurrence of knee pain yesterday after covering so much ground on Sunday. On top of that, my quads, hamstrings and calves felt uncomfortably tight every time I went from sitting to walking. I'd read an article about recovering from a half marathon that suggested that a short amount of moderate activity the second day after this long run would help restore flexibility to muscles. I think there's something to that claim.

Yesterday KWL and I went out for lunch and, afterward, walked over to SBR, a triathlete shop on 58th Street. KWL is riding the 100 mile Grand Fondo NY challenge on Sunday. This race starts on the GW Bridge in Manhattan and goes all the way to the top of Bear Mountain and back. He's thinking about participating in a run-bike-run duathlon the following weekend. After we'd covered some distance around midtown I noticed that walking made my legs feel much better.

With that reinforcement I elected to do a moderate elliptical session this morning. I kept my speed in check and set resistance to the low-middle range. After 15 minutes I felt like I'd accomplished the goal of activating my leg muscles, raising my heart rate and generating a sweat. I could have gone longer but I decided less would be more. I'm feeling very good after that. If this continues (and the rain holds off), I may go for an outside run tomorrow morning.