Whether it's a favorite pair of shoes, a beloved set of mittens, or even a trusty thermos, we've all fallen in love with products that makes our running lives better. With Man, I Just Love This… we at Runner's World have decided to share some of our life-changing favorites.
Few people understand the phrase “hurts so good” quite as well as runners. Soreness is our body responding to a tough workout, letting us know with every step or bend or reach that we’ve pushed ourselves toward a new, formerly unreachable goal. Unfortunately, I also need to move around during the course of my day—walking to the office, carrying packed bags, shopping for groceries—and soreness can get in the way.
Given my sometimes erratic schedule as a journalist, I can miss runs and workouts for days at a time while traveling for a story, or as the stress of a deadline approaches. I’m not proud of it, and my aging body typically responds in anger, with knotted calves, hamstrings, and quads, and an IT band as taut as a guitar string.
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For me, there’s no better tool for treating tight and sore muscles than the Running in the Cold. I was first introduced to it in 2013 at the Chelsea Piers basketball courts in Manhattan, as Carmelo Anthony and trainer Idan Ravin put me through the paces of the NBA star’s daily workout. It was my 30th birthday, I hadn’t played pickup in a while, and the jumping muscles in my legs were immediately sore. So the two men showed me how to roll The Science of Foam Rolling.(The pain lets you know its working Runner's World's orange foam roller and included foam roller workout.)
As I lay across the TriggerPoint GRID in various positions—try them all!—supporting my weight on hands and elbows while moving my body back and forth, it massaged my angry muscles and (according to science) aerated the tissue, providing blood and oxygen that helped repair my legs, improve my circulation, and get me moving faster. Of course, like any good massage, it also hurt like hell. I was grunting and screaming my way through it all, but when it was over, the impact was immediate. I hopped up and ran a few more drills, my legs feeling almost fresh.
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I wish I could say I was fresh enough to dunk on Carmelo that day (damn it, I tried!), but no. Still, accelerated recovery was a nice consolation prize. I’ve now bought my own TriggerPoint, and I’ve used it ever since, before long runs, after workouts, or even when I just wake up sore. I’ve never felt better. I can tell from the screaming.
