downsizing

As per doctor's orders, I have switched my entry for the Calrsbad Marathon to the half marathon.

Ever since the 20 miler, I've had persistant pains in my quads. It reached a zenith on my 23 miler, which I didn't really even run.

So I went to the sports medicine folks. They put me on a treadmill and analyzed my stride.

They discovered that I'm a total tight ass. No rotation in my hips. And I run in a kind of squat, with my knees and head out in front of my lap. As such, my quads are pretty much doing all of the work. My hamstrings are apparently just along for the ride.

So one of the docs did some deep tissue work to flatten out adhesions in my muscles. And then a trainer gave me a routine of exercizes for my hamstrings, abs and butt.

This coupled with copious stretching, icing and heat padding, I should be able to have a comfortable half marathon in two weeks, and (knock wood) a marathon four weeks after that.

So far so good.

My quads seem to be getting better. I'm going to try a run today.

As for the eercize routine -- good god it's hard. My hamstrings and butt cheeks burn like hell fire!

But I feel very hopeful. I think this is the beginning of a redirection in my running that'll pave the way for a long and very fun running life!