Just to let you know- this blog is no longer active. I'll be keeping up my 101 in 1001 list until its completion, but will not be writing new posts. You can read the post below if you want the long version. Thanks for the journey to all my friends in the blogosphere!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

I'm comtemplating "The Stick."

Before your imaginations get away with you, let me explain "The Stick" for any non-runners or those who have not encountered it yet. It is this, well, stick, that you use to massage sore muscles and help your legs recover. At least, that's my understanding. I've seen them in running stores and visited the website, but until lately, have never really felt the urge to buy/use one.

For the past month or so, I've been experiencing this kind of weird tightness in my right calf, at the beginning of my runs and after I finish. It's not exactly painful, just an odd uncomfortableness that stretching doesn't seem to help much. When I get into my running stride (even for 9 minutes or so) it goes away, but then it comes back to haunt me afterwards and sometimes even into the next day or days. I don't think it has anything to do with effort or distance because it's actually happened more often the less I've been running.

So, my question is: Do I need "The Stick" or another recovery tool or should I be stretching more or should I just be sucking it up? Advice, please!

9 comments:

  1. I've never used a stick but I've had that same feeling before and just make sure to stretch those muscles really good after runs! Also, I've found that icing helps and have also heard eating bananas are good for that - I'm not sure how true it is but I try and do it and so far have been feeling better! Hope this helps!

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  3. well, I have the stick, and I rarely use it. I use it on my shins sometimes but my husb. does a better job rubbing out soreness I find!

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  4. I own the stick and I use the stick. Just think of it as another investment in your running life.

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  5. I have the stick, and while I don't use it as much as I probably could, when I do use it it's pretty great. I've found it to be the most helpful on my calves/shins. I really like using it to loosen up my legs before a race or after a hard workout to kind of get the crap out before I have a chance to get sore...I recommend it!

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  6. I have a foam roller and love it! It is a great pre and post run stretch. I am not sure what the stick is.

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  7. I've seen a lot of people using them and talking about them online lately. I kind of want to try it out, or use a makeshift one..

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  8. I've never used the stick, but always want to buy one when I'm at the running store!

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  9. I love the stick! My calves get really tight after a run and the stick is really useful if there's no one around to give me a massage. It's really good with getting out knots if you have any.

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