I Hang A Little To The Left

...it’s not exactly what you think, but I got you to start reading didn’t I?!?

This past week, I had a running evaluation with a new PT. When I hopped on the treadmill, she quickly saw my right foot flare out at the end of the stride - something that I’ve known about for years. The good news is that the little foot flare is not detrimental to my stride. The bad news: it still makes me look femmy when I run. She videotaped me running, and then we watched it frame-by-frame from every angle.

We learned something valuable. My left hip (the hip attached to my bad knee) drops much more than my right hip. The NEW theory is that my left hip / left knee / left ass-cheek isn’t as strong as the right, and therefore the muscles are firing later than on the right. So my left side goes lower before bouncing back, and that extra dip is putting more stress on my knee.

The prescription: build up my ass strength. I’ve nearly got a 3-ring binder full of “prescribed” exercises from the 2 PTs that I’ve worked with. All of them have great illustrations. This guy looks likes he’s trying to make a living modeling for exercise manuals even though he’s in the Witness Protection Program:

I didn’t put the bar over his eyes;
that’s the way it came!

Also, I want to give MAD PROPS to my high school wrestling team from USC in Wells, MN. They won their first match during the State Tournament 2 days ago, and Pharmie and I are headed back down to the Xcel Center tonight to watch the second round. Here are 2 sweet, sweet pics of Pharmie’s youngest brother, Mike, right before and right after his match-clenching pin:

GO REBELS!!