Friends of the Devil News
Listen up!
FotD is launching a podcast! Next Saturday, March 13th, head over to your favorite podcast app to subscribe to Friends of the Devil Tri Pod. Our new podcast will give you an entertaining look into the triathlon stories of your favorite Grateful Dead loving triathletes.
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Elite Triathletes? That’s a stretch
If you do an internet search on stretching for triathlon, you’ll find opinions will vary and eventually you’ll find yourself down some dark rabbit hole of internet where some conspiracy theorist convinces you that the microchips that are attached to all Nuun tablets will take over your body so Steve Jobs can keep track of you when you’re on your bike for some reason (as if Strava wasn’t doing that for you already).
Nevertheless, quoting MayoClinic here, stretching does three things, increasing “joint range of motion”, improving “athletic performance” and lowering “your risk of injury”. So it might be a good idea to do some stretching to help keep everything moving the right way. It’s up to you, we’re not here to tell you what to do. But here’s how the Friends of the Devil look at it.
Elliott’s View
Stretching is of utmost importance to staying free from injury in triathlon! After landing in physical therapy for 6 weeks in the last two months before the Ironman, I can speak to how critical stretching is. I naturally have very tight hamstrings and hips due to sitting at a computer all day. Combine that with the repetitive motions in cycling and running, I was a disaster waiting to happen, and happen it did.
I stretch after every workout with one longer session on my off day to keep things limber. Some people say warm up then stretch then workout, but that doesn’t work for me, so I toss it at the end. I focus a ton on my lower back, hamstrings and hips as that’s where I have the most limited range of motion. Squats, lunges, pikes, they all help to stretch me out and keep me moving. The last thing I want to do is miss a race I’ve been training for all season because I didn’t take an extra 15 minutes to stretch.
| Training Update | Last 2 Weeks | Year to Date |
| Swim | 4700 yds | 9300 yds |
| Bike | 61.39 mi | 134.64 mi |
| Run | 18.61 mi | 43.14 mi |
| Strength | 6h 26m 34s | 15h 4m 59s |
Nate’s View
To say I enjoy stretching would be a stretch. To say I’m good about stretching, would be a bigger stretch. Most of the time, my after run/ride stretching involves reaching to the back of the fridge in my garage for an ice cold beer. The truth is I’m awful about stretching.
I have tried to get into a routine for a few years now, but it never seems to take. I have gotten a bit better about taking a few minutes after most runs just to loosen up my legs and lower back. I have promised myself that I will be better in 2021. I’m committing to 15 minutes of stretching every Thursday morning for this season. I’ll keep you posted.
Update: My pool is opening Monday 3/8!!
| Training Update | Last 2 Weeks | Year to Date |
| Swim | 0 yds | 0 yds |
| Bike | 113.5 mi | 254.9 mi |
| Run | 24.3 mi | 89.4 mi |
| Strength | 0h 0m 0s | 0h 0m 0s |
Friends of the Devil 