I haven't done any hill reps since my metatarsal (sp?) injury after the SHM half in May. So seeing that I'm feeling OK these days I decided that it was time to ramp it up a bit. Hill sessions seem to work good for me as they are lower impact compared to intervals and speed sessions. Rather than doing my usual overkill with this sort of thing and ending up sore or injured, I consciously took it easy. I ran a 3km warm up around Bondi Junction/ Woollahra, then did 5 x reps on Ruthven Street (which is about 300m long at about 30 degrees). I then ran the return 3km on my way home. All up it was about an hour on my feet. Next Thursday I plan to do 10 reps and maintain the 3km warm up and down. I'm thinking that my left foot/leg feels way too weak. I noticed when running that last 10km or so of the Striders half that my right leg was doing all the digging and the left was just enjoying the ride. Whilst I'm sure it is normal that one leg is stronger than the other, I'm feeling that its becoming an imbalance and that it may cause me an injury in the future. To be frank whilst I'm over the foot injury from May - which was fixed with the cortisone injection - I've never really dealt with the cause of the injury. I recall that my Sports Physician Doc Tom said at the time that there is a mechanical problem which has resulted in the bones of my foot taking too much weight and that most of the impact should be absorbed by the muscles in the lower leg rather than the bones. Last night before I ran I massaged the muscle on the outside of my shin which I think is called the tibialis anterior (cool webpage on leg muscles). I also did the rolling pin thang on my ITB. It felt much better when running but the weakness on my left side was still apparent. To test this weakness theory, I stood on my toes leaning on the outside of my forefoot on my right leg and it could support my body weight no probs. Doing the same thing on my left leg - it almost collapsed. Not good. I will ask Mr Google for some strengthening exercises or maybe go and see Larry the Physio next week for some advice. Mood: --->

This entry was posted on Friday, October 21, 2005 at 8:11 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.