Saturday, January 4, 2020

O.R.T. (Old Running Trick)

My knees have had that little bit of soreness that runners get. Over the last week I've tried some exercises for enhancing flexibility as well as muscle strength. I finally realized on Thursday night that I was missing an Old Running Trick that I've used before.

Pretty much anytime I've had knee issues it's because of shoes. My last couple of pairs from Asics have not been as consistent with what I've worn in the past. The previous pair has been too tight around the mid and fore foot, even with loosening several times, and the pair before that caused me some problems as well (too lazy to go back and look at older posts) So I used the O.R.T. and laced up this morning in an older pair. Muuuuch older. They've been my walking shoes whenever I need comfortable tennis shoes, and are probably 2-3 years old. The left one has a hole in the mesh just this side of the toes. My experience in the past has been that old shoes get me back into my natural gait. Today I went 3 miles and my knees felt just fine. The test will be in how they feel tomorrow.

2019 in Review:
In a word: inconsistent. Too many injuries kept me from races. Abdominal strain left over from 2018 to start the year, bruised ribs in April, bad back late in the year, and finally knee soreness to close out the calendar. I'm hoping to be smarter and avoid doing things where I could hurt myself this year (like riding a scooter on a wet street), and that needs to include strength and flexibility exercises beyond running. As I get older those are areas to focus on that I hope will lead to a better 2020 and beyond.

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