During Disney marathon last year, I was running along happily enjoying the sites of Animal Kingdom when BAM! A shot of pain in my knee put me down, literally. I had to hobble the remaining six miles to the finish line afterwards, and I did so with tears in my eyes.

Believe me, when you train and train and train and then get injured on race day, there’s no way to be happy.

I spent a lot of time trying to determine the problem. Should I have gone to the doctor? Probably. Did I? No. Why? I was afraid I’d be told not to run.

Sigh.

I began with a foam roller and numerous hours of stretching after each run. And it helped.  After cutting back mileage along with these therapies I felt much better, and my knee did, too.

For a while.

Then, when I would get higher into mileage, it would start to ache, even when taking it slowly.

Over time, doing a lot of reading, I realized this: My hamstrings and quads, the muslces in the tops of my legs, were weak.

I joined the Y and one day while there had my friend show me how to use the machines in the machine room. I’ve never been a machine girl. I’m a runner, right? I scoffed at machines (imagine my face scoffing here).

But think of it this way:

Your legs have a variety of muscles.

They use certain of these muscles when running.

Others, not so much.

These muscles being used become the alpha males. They think they are king. They rule.

The little muscles: Not so much. There they are, all docile, just watching and trying to keep up.

Have you ever tried to keep up with a runner that was stronger or faster than you? For a long time? What happens at the end of that run, or several hours later? You feel like you want to die.

Your stronger muscles overtake your littler muscles, and in the meantime they pull things in wrong directions.

My hamstrings were so weak I could barely lift ten pounds with one foot! Ten!

My hamstrings were pulling my knee out of whack, creating pain all the way down my leg.

How do I know this? Trial and error. I started using the machines and the pain in my knee went away, even with increased distances.

A few weeks ago, I stopped going to the gym. My schedule got crazy and I didn’t go. Guess what? A five miler wound up with me in some pain in my hamstring and, ta da, my knee.

My friend, they are all related. You don’t have to build up huge muscles when running, but you should make sure that your muscles are balanced.

It is all about balance, isn’t it?

Keeping this in mind, work out both front and back leg muscles, not just one or the other. Again, it’s not about making them huge, it is about keeping them in balance. You want them to be able to work together when you run, not work against you.

A few great gym exercises to try to build up the hamstrings and quads include the following. I have tried lunges and squats at home, but they hurt my knee. I know this is because i am not doing them correctly. If you can do them correctly, they may help as well.

You can also speak with a sports doctor, physical therapist or a personal trainer to determine exercises that might help strengthen the leg muscles and improve any imbalances your muscles might have due to a running-only type schedule.

Good luck!

This morning’s workout went well. I did a two mile run, but spent the second mile doing sprint training. I have to start sprinting and then continuing to run at a slower pace in order to keep my body used to going faster.

I did a bike ride next, going for six miles. I tackled the hill I ran yesterday and it was a heckuva lot easier to run up than bike up!

Came home, had coffee and breakfast, then headed to the gym with the girls. I did a thirty minute swim and then sprinted for about five minutes or so, resting in between 25 and 50 meters. I worked on form, and I think I am doing better with the continuous motion even when breathing that I realized I was having trouble with the other day (Thanks again Shirley!)

Today’s Stretch: Legs

As a runner I often get tight muscles, particularly in my hamstrings, as well as some knee pain when I do too many squats (which I probably shouldn’t be doing at all but simply can’t give up!) So, I do this stretch after my runs and also when I do my yoga routine at night to help stretch out my legs.

Place hands flat against a wall. Extend arms so that they are straight (don’t lock elbows). Place legs behind your body, so that you are pushing against the wall. Your legs will be about four feet from wall or so. Stretch! Do both legs together and then work one leg at a time. Remember, though, don’t stretch until your muscles are WARM. So, if you are going to stretch BEFORE a run, then do a three to five minute warm up job before you begin stretching. I generally stretch after a run and then in the evening with my yoga routine.

Swim Flip:
What the heck? I practiced today. I’m too afraid to get so close to the wall. I got it partially down. No longer do I get water up my nose and sputter and come up flailing like a dying fish, but I just can’t get close enough to the wall to push off, and then when I did at last, I couldn’t remember if I was supposed to immediately turn over or swim upside down for a bit!

I guess I’ve got a ways to go on this!

Yesterday I had hoped to post about my run with the lightning and my Monday exercise, which I plan to do each week: Kettle Bell crunches.

A few things happened, though.

I got back from my fantastic run, which took me through the streets of town for 5 miles. In the distance, lightning crackled against the sky every few minutes, peeking behind a large cloud. This was really spectacular since we never have lightning here in Southern California. I stared at it like a person in the desert who has just stumbled upon some water: In awe. I ran toward it, rather than from it. I know, stupid, right? But it was far away, I could tell that, and it was incredibly beautiful, filling up the night sky, and then the pre-dawn as the sun came up over the mountains in the east. I’ll miss these mornings. I love the mountains, and it is going to be hard to say goodbye to them.

I looked for a video or picture of the kettle bell crunches I have been doing and couldn’t find one, and then the girls woke and we got started on our day. Our day consisted of ordinary Monday stuff, like grocery shopping, a Target run and a walk after quiet time in the afternoon.

Then my mom called. You know how you can sort of tell when people are pulling one past you? She was being very evasive about what she was doing today with her day off of work, and did say her doctor, the one who has taken care of her since her stroke in December, wants her to go to an ob/gyn appointment today because she hadn’t been since she had her hysterectomy about thirty years ago.

I agree with the guy. I have this thing: I go to the doctor for regular checkups, get my skin checked once a year. I am terrified of the big C, as she had it when she was my age and others I know have had it too. I remember my girlfriend telling me when I was just seven or so that my mom would probably die while in the hospital because she had cancer and that’s what happens. It was the girl I was staying with as my mom had the cancer removed.

So I offhandedly asked about her mammogram, which I figured had gone okay. Being a daughter raised by a single mother, we are really close. Then she said, “Well, they found something. Just a little something. I forget what they called it.”

Later she remembered they called it a nodule and that she goes in today for a sonogram.

So, that news fairly stopped me in my tracks.

I had planned to find that crunch video or at least sit down and post last night, since my husband went out to a going away party for a coworker and I had the evening, and the remote, to myself. Instead I looked up breast nodules.

Then I began to watch Oprah’s story about heroin in a small Ohio town and I about lost it. The entire video made me sick to my stomach. Haven’t seen it? You should. It’s about this community in Richland, Ohio where many of the people, families even, are addicted to heroin. They showcased two families. One, a family of five. The parents and two teenage sons, addicted. The baby, thirteen months old, along for the ride.

Okay, I totally get the fact that they are addicted and need help, but why is that child still in their care? He was in the car as they shot up, as they drove to Columbus to get more drugs. I really felt sick after watching this show.

So, that is why the post yesterday never materialized. I was so busy considering breast nodules and heroin that I totally forgot the beautiful lightning I saw in the morning sky.

I’m heading off this morning to swim. I hope that the exercise will make me forget for just a few minutes about this nodule thing. My mom says they are often non cancerous, and that is my hope. She has had so many health issues since last December that I think it’s time she take a break.

My favorite kettle bell/ab exercise. I actually enjoy this ab exercise more than most others because I can really feel it later that day.

Crunch with Kettle Bell:

Standard crunch holding the kettle bell. I start off with a 15 pound kettle bell, and I hold it over my head and back just a little as I’m down on the ground. I lift with my abs up, pulling up the kettle bell and ending up with the kettle bell above my head. Down. Up. Down. You get the picture. Talk about a fantastic burn later that day! Hope you enjoy it. If you don’t have kettle bells you should really get some.