Changing on the fly

Bare chest, black shorts and the seven pm setting sun mix with an enjoyable 75degrees. Breathing comes easy, and a reminder to not get excited is admonished. Hitting the “landmark”, a set of lights about 5min into the run, a good thirty seconds early I have to almost forcefully relax and continue rolling down Essex street. As the rendezvous approaches a reminder of a cramp brought on during last weeks workout rears its ugly head with a twinge in my calf. An annoying injury, brought on by improper hydration. Changing my toe off, and adjusting my stride to more of a rolling lunge I try and relax the muscle. This is a great technique used in races as well as at times like this. Maintain pace even though you change how you are running. Here it allows me to continue running, have blood flow to my calf and the pain subsides. During a race, being able to stay loose and maintain a stride as acid removes muscle coordination can be the difference of up to four or five seconds at the end of a mile.