I don’t know about you, but after a hard day of work — or perhaps a challenging long run — I enjoy spending my evening stretched out on the couch or reclining chair, watching TV or playing a video game.
This unwinding process can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours, depending on how fast my eyelids begin to drift into slumber.
While I savor every second of this “recovery” time, I almost always find myself making the tired march to bed with more soreness than I started with. There’s the back pain, of course, and more recently a crick in my neck.
I’m sure I can chalk up a lot of these physical nuisances to “getting older,” but I’m trying to fight back: By sitting on the floor.
I can already hear some of your groans from the back of the room, but I’m telling you, it’s been making a difference in my life over the past few weeks.
With remote or controller in hand, I’ll sit in front of the TV on my living room floor, just like a young child watching Saturday morning cartoons. As much fun as I make this sound, it’s anything but. I get so uncomfortable that I will flip my sitting position every four or five minutes. One moment I’ll be sitting cross-legged, and the next I’ll be leaning on one elbow, and after that I’ll be laying with my back flat to the floor.
It may appear fidgety, but it’s that constant shuffling on the floor that is the whole point of this exercise. Instead of spending my whole night in one position on the couch, I’m passively improving my posture, flexibility, and circulation while simply “relaxing” and watching TV.
For me the process usually takes about 30 minutes, before I allow my now-stretched body to retreat back to the couch.
It’s been hard to stick with the habit, I’ll admit, but in the instances where I’ve maintained consistency over a period of days, I’ve experienced several small wins. My body has felt much looser on my runs, allowing me to actually pursue ambitious paces instead of constantly trying to work through one sore muscle group after another. Even the simple day-to-day tasks that usually make me shout out in “old man pain,” like bending down to tie my shoes, have been easier to execute of late.
I’m eager to see if I can make a lasting change from feeling “beat up” all the time, to being in a place where I can play sports without looking like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz.
It’s not going to happen overnight, but if I can keep up this routine, who knows, I could very well be “sitting” on a mountain of health benefits.
1 STEP BACK, 3 STEPS FORWARD
Finding a race to run in the winter months can be a feast-or-famine kind of ordeal. You can occasionally find races in your backyard, but more often than not, it’s going to take filling up the gas tank.
We counted four runners from the Local.News area who have raced in recent weeks, with half of those runners traveling out of state to compete.
No runner logged more travel miles than Michael Schumacher of Chambersburg, who shipped out to Texas to take on the Austin Half Marathon. Schumacher made sure the trip was worth the trouble, blazing through the race in 1:28:57.
Waynesboro’s Chris Preschel jetted to Waynesboro, Va. to take on the three-mile Mad Anthony Mud Run, completing the race in 43:54.
Finally, the closest race featuring local runners was more than an hour away at Gifford Pinchot State Park in Lewisberry. The Squirrelly Tail Twail Wun Half Marathon featured finishes from Greencastle’s Matthew Smith (1:55:37) and Fayetteville’s Stephanie McBeth (2:56:08).
And now, a look ahead:
Hanover 7 Miler: Saturay, 9 a.m., in Hanover. It’s the final race of the York County Road Runners Winter Series. Learn more at yorkroadrunners.com.
Shamrock Shuffle 5K: Saturday, March 9, 9:30 a.m., in Manheim. Get those legs moving with this event, which starts at the Lancaster Junction Trailhead. Find the race on runningintheusa.com.
Jig Jog 5K: Saturday, March 9, 10 a.m., in Carlisle. Stone Ridge Park will serve as the backdrop for this race. Find the race on runsignup.com.
Also: Looney Leprechaun 10K/20K (Saturday, in Newtown); Naked Bavarian 20M/40M (Saturday, in Leesport); Pirate 5K/10K (Saturday, in New Cumberland); South Park Half Marathon (Saturday, in South Park Township); Ninja 1M/5K/10K/15K/Half Marathon (Saturday, March 9, in York); Run4Luck 4 Miler (Saturday, March 9, in Lancaster); Shiver by the River 5K/10K (Sunday, March 10, in Reading); SRG Half Marathon (Sunday, March 10, in Douglassville); Shamrock Shuffle 3.5M (Thursday, March 14, in Reading).
