The more I study my form from the Colder Bolder photos, the less happy I am with it.  My legs are stiff, little bend in the knees.  My toes in most shots aren’t directed downward.  My form should look like the second picture below; instead it was mostly as shown in the third photo below.  I know this is from my high hamstring strains.  Like most injuries, the pain isn’t something I can’t run through; but my range of motion is limited.  And running with poor form will just lead to other injuries.  So I haven’t run all week and I’m prepared to rest until I fully recover.

This was an easy decision to make this week because I’ve been so busy at work that I didn’t have time to run anyway.  I know it’ll begin to bug me soon though.  I run more for my mental health than physical.  Of course I can turn to alcohol.  That always helps at the end of the day.  But I’ve become somewhat of a light drinker over the last couple of years.  Unless there’s a party in the mix, I meet a doctor’s criteria now as a light drinker.  Once you lose your tolerance at an older age, I find it’s tougher to increase my drinking than to get in shape.  Seriously.  Alcohol tolerance is almost in the same category as eye sight and hearing.  Can’t speak for you but it’s been my experience that I lose it with age.

I visited my Chiropractor again this afternoon.  After the acupuncture, he suggested some exercises to promote strength in the muscles that running tends to atrophy.  Exercising my abductors and adductors have kept my knees strong the last year.  This winter I will begin to focus on other muscles connected to the hip.  And I could always stand to work on my core.  If the elliptical doesn’t stress my hamstrings, I might workout on that to maintain my cardio.  Besides being low impact, it limits the range of motion.  I had an awesome summer of running massive miles.  This winter will be a time to heal and strengthen the muscles that running tends to ignore.