Yeah Butt

When I was a squirt my neighbor-lady called me "Bird-Legs" because my legs were basically a femur leading to a bulbous knee joint, leading to tib-fib spokes of bone, all wrapped in a casing of skin--very little muscle, and no fat.  I put those little legs to good use running all over the neighborhood and racking up the blue ribbons at my school's Field Day.  By 3rd Grade the combination of running so hard and growing so fast had my knee tendon pulling away from bone--they called it Osgood Schlatter Disease.  I had a stovepipe cast from groin to ankle for a month. I kept on running and playing various sports including a freshman year of Cross Country and two years of Track.  My running picked up living in Minneapolis, and now especially that I live in the (I argue) much more scenic, curvy, and hilly St. Paul.  I've been prone to aches and pains that have not always allowed me to run as much as my brain wants too--because my brain really wants to run, alot.

Anyway, as I looked toward taking the plunge into marathon training after a few years of consideration, I thought it was high-time for some good evaluation and advice.  I went to Sister Kenny Institutes RunSMART program for some videoed treadmill running and a good workup by a PT.  He gave me the go ahead but made it very clear that I need to strengthen my butt, big time!  I've done research since that says a weak butt and core (hips, super-low abs, and butt) is the main problem runners have that leads to many leg, posture, and back problems.

So, my first training task is to do some serious core and butt work.  I'll spend all of April focusing on core strength and flexibility with limited running of 10-15 miles a week.  I am also getting PRK (like Lasik) surgery on April 12th, so I can't run a ton in April for that reason as well.  Things will really heat up on Monday, May 5th when my 4-week pre-train starts.  This will involve more miles, more hills, and more cross-training.  No butts about it.