Running cross-country for Wheaton College back in the fall of 1980.
Besides the wonderful fall weather and beautiful foliage, it is also cross-country and marathon season. This is absolutely the best time of year to be a runner. Unfortunately this fall, I do not feel like much of a runner at all. I got my new orthotics two weeks ago and at first they felt great. I thought I would get used to them slowly and on the second day did 4 miles. I felt real good and did 8 miles the next day feeling even better. I then thought, I might have a long shot at finishing the Baystate Marathon on Sunday, even with the limited training over the past month and 1/2. However, the next few days found my muscles getting stiffer and stiffer as I walked around in the orthotics trying to get my body to adapt to them. By race morning on Sunday, I found it hard to even walk comfortably to the starting line. I stood around waiting for the start and when the gun went off, I let my brain win this one over my will. I knew it was not going to be a good day to run and any running I did would not be helpful or fun at all. I ran for 3 minutes and 12 seconds and pulled out of the race. It has not been easy sitting around for over a month and a half and not running, but I have realized that my body cannot handle it in a healthy manner anymore. Everything is out of whack and running this way just reinforces all my imbalances. But thank goodness the medical establishment is to the rescue, I think! The last doctor wanted me to set up an appointment with a physiatrist. I tried to research as much as I could, but could not find a sports related physiatrist in the local area. I finally chose one nearby, based on the qualification that he looked young and my hope is he is up on the latest sport injury rehabilitations. Getting an appointment is another matter. You have to have your records sent over to his office. After figuring out how to do that, I have to sit and wait for them to call me. I did call Friday and they still don't have my records. I have the feeling this could take a long time. Update: I got an appointment and the earliest I can go in is Nov. 30. Nothing like moving through the medical system at a breakneck speed!
I do have ideas of what I want to try if the physiatrist does not work, unfortunately all ideas might cost some money and I have a kid in college, so I have to be quite sure about what I might do. Here are my ideas: Resistance Stretching: Because my left hip is still unstable and pinching tight even while even walking around and my left adductors are tight and almost painful when running, I feel I need someone who can move and manipulate muscles and joints around. Unless it is a labral tear, the muscles around my hip need a lot of loosening up. The loosest my muscles ever got was when I went to a resistance stretcher, a couple of years ago and I could do that again. One thing I might try is to go down to Boston and get worked on by the originator of resistance stretching and author of the book,The Genius of Flexibility: The Smart Way to Stretch and Strengthen Your Body, Bob Cooley (mega expensive) or one of the other trained stretchers at his clinic (expensive). This would help the tightness in my muscles, but I am not sure if it would retrain the patterns of movement that I have. My hope would be that it loosens my muscles and allows my orthotics to work with the idea that I could then more easily generate new patterns of movement without the restrictions I now seem to have. Rolfing: I thought when I went through the entire rolfing series a few years ago that all my problems would be solved. It was an interesting process, however it did not last long. I never felt better than after a rolfing session. I had twelve. My thinking is that the rolfing fell apart for me because my feet, because of the hallux functional limitus, kept collapsing and I reverted back to my poor movement patterns as compensation. Now that I have orthotics to correct the FHL, maybe a rolfing tune-up would help my body heal and strengthen. I met a Gate City Strider this summer who goes to a rolfer about an hour away who is also a physical therapist. I was hoping that at the last doctor's visit, I would be allowed to pursue going to this PT, but the doctor wants me to see a physiatrist instead. I also noticed that the rolfer that I went to in the past is now a trained resistance stretcher. However, interesting that sounds, she never really fixed me in the first place, so it may be good to go to someone new for a fresh set of eyes. For those that don't know, rolfing is not really massage. Massage is for your muscles, rolfing is for your fascia, the covering around all your muscles and connective tissue. The goal is to give your body "space" so that it can go back to alignment. Retrain My Muscles Another option is related to a book that I started reading this week called Muscular Retraining for Pain-Free Living. I really enjoy the reading as it gets technical about muscles and functioning of the body, but it is written in an easy to understand way. What I like is that it talks about a kinesthetic sense to the body and how it moves. No matter how much therapy and things I have tried, I firmly believe that my mind has its own movement map of how to move, and that what it thinks is correct is actually incorrect patterns. This book explains all this and then offers a series of exercises to reteach your body for proper movement patterns. They exercises are simple enough and they seem like a mix of Egoscue and Feldenkrais movements. The descriptions of the exercise, what they hope to achieve, and the author's notes on what you should feel are all clearly written. This is something that is missing from many books I have seen. I have started doing some of these exercises and a few of them pull and loosen my muscles in all the right ways. If I think these have an impact, I could make an appointment with the author, Craig Williamson. It would be a bit of a drive as he is in Portland, Maine, but I am at the point where I really need to find the right expert to fix things. Gait Analysis Recently Running Times has been putting out a series of videos called "Fixing Broken Runners." There are two videos (video one and video two) of the UVA Center for Endurance Training. I found that there is gait analysis being done at the Boston Running Center in Boston. This sounds really interesting, but I would be worried that it shows me what I already know about my stride. I am not sure of the therapy to fix things. I need more than to just be told what I need to fix. An Athletic Physical Therapist Finally, last night I discovered some excellent videos from a website called Athletes Treating Athletes. The website has informative videos which they call the The A-Tx-A Self Treatment System. Currently, there are 13 videos in the self-muscle masssage section. I have only had a chance to preview a few of them, but I like the teaching style, the descriptions, and the techniques that are illustrated. I have a house full of trigger-point tools like regular foam rollers, The Grid, and most recently the RumbleRoller, and all sorts of other things I have tried. I also have some DVDs put out by Trigger-Point, but these videos look like they are the most thought-out and descriptive videos to learn self-massage techniques. It also seems that the Physical Therapist. Leigh Boyle, who is putting this website and videos together works out of Plaistow, NH. That is less than an hour away. She is also an athlete and Ironman triathlete, so she would know the endurance athlete's body. I also like the fact that she is sharing her knowlege and doing an excellent job at it. Here is the video I spent time with last night and then tried out. It relieved a lot of tension in the front of my left lower leg. I am a slow learner at figuring out how to work with trigger points, although I have been trying for years. I really like this book, Trigger Point Therapy for Low Back Pain: A Self-treatment Workbook, and have been slowly reading it. I worked my calf and soleus trigger-points for a few night a couple weeks ago, and that worked real nice. I did overdue it because I could not find them again the night before the Baystate Marathon and I think that is some of why I felt a bit off. Maybe it was time to work on other muscles like these: Anterior + Lower Leg from Leigh Boyle on Vimeo. I will be spending time studying the rest of these videos and maybe I can get a referral to get some work done someday. So even though I no longer feel like a runner anymore, when the time is right, I have some new options to explore. Choosing the right option is going to be a tough decision. The good news is that I only have my running idiosyncricies to complain about. This blog's purpose is to share ideas as well as to track my progress and ideas for myself. It is a lot of fun, but I would guess that someone reading it might think that I complain about running injuries a lot and that there is not much else going on in my life. I feel extremely fortunate that all that I have to complain about is running. It's not really complaining, but I enjoy the curiousity of trying to solve this running problem and I don't intend to give up. Otherwise, life is great: family, friends, and work are all great and so I have the energy and desire to figure this out. I would like nothing more to again feel the enjoyment of running fast, loose, and free. Finally, I also have to look at the obvious. At the top of this page is a picture of me running cross-country in college. At the end of my senior year my right hip got really sore and I couldn't run without pain days before my final cross-country race. Almost too late, I figured out the problem. I carried my wallet in the right hip pocket of my jeans. This was causing the problem. I kept the wallet out but it was slow coming back to normal. I ended up being in last place in the midwest regional championships race at the one mile mark. At which point, my hip started relaxing. I turned it on and passed runners throughout the race and ended up with my fastest ever 5 mile race. The obvious thing is my sitting posture. I sit a lot and this is not good. My computer chair is a horrible chair and I end up slouching and not sitting straight nor do I balance properly. The obvious is to find a better way to sit and a better seat. Duh! I better start working on that, too!
UPDATE: This is an old rambling post, but it is also a very popular one as people try to figure out their quadratus lumborum. Here is a recent ebook by Sean Schniederjan I purchased called Quadratus Lumborum Fixed: For Ultimate Low Back Balance, Strength and Comfort (Simple Strength Book 14). I have used many of Sean's ideas in some of his other ebooks and here he has the first book, that I know of that explains the purpose of the QL as well as gives ideas for controlling it:
Some experts say that as much as 65% of low back pain is quadratus lumborum related.Do you have quadratus lumborum problems? Do you feel tightness on one side of your low back that simply won't go away?This book delivers fast, easy to digest knowledge and fixes to quadratus lumborum imbalances using your natural movement for a healthier and balanced lower back. BONUS - also get enhanced super stretches to increase low back flexibility.
The Quadratus Lumborum is not a math formula or punk rock group! But first, I am happy to have had a great week of running last week totaling 85 miles.
Mon. 5 miles (5k trail race)
Tues. 8 miles
Wed. 12 miles
Thurs. 8 miles
Fri. 22 miles (planned on 16 but felt real good-had plently left in the tank)
Sat. 14 miles (planned 8 but felt pretty good-would have gone longer, but I carried no $ to get liquids)
Sat. 16 miles (planned 11 to get to 80 for the week but felt pretty good)
Two weeks ago I hit 73 miles and figured that might be the most for a week this summer, but the weather turned cooler on Friday and if the running feels good and fun, I say, "Keep running!"
After finishing the 73 mile week I took a day off, and the next day I felt "off" a bit in the mid back area and right side, like something was twisted wrong. I ran the Mine Falls 5K Trail race and that didn't help. I then ran the Gate City Striders Ultimate Runner track night 4 races (400m, 800m, 1 mile, 5K) and my right side was still bothering me. It wasn't a memorable event, but I made it through. The only fight I had was in the 5k when Karen P. caught up with about 3/4 of a mile to go. I tried to keep in front of her and that helped me pick up the pace and hopefully had her running faster too.
Thursday I did a new workout DVD that I had that combines the TRX with Kettlebells. It was a killer workout, but it didn't help my back and neither did the 8 miles I did after the workout.
Then I went to the Cape for a few days and my back and hips were just horrible. It was very uncomfortable to just move and I only pushed through one 5 miler. I did get some sun and surf in with the family. It was a completely horrible week of running, and I was looking forward to my offfice visit with Dr. Baroody on Monday.
On Monday, Dr. Baroody worked on the tweak in my back and that started clearing things up, but I had a follow-up visit on Friday and I told Dr. Baroody about my left hip-glutes. This seems to be the major problem now. The left glute gets rather tight and I feel really tight at the top of the left back pelvis. I told him when I run I can't rotate the left hip back and the femur sort of presses into the hip creating the pain and not giving me a hip rotation. He's a good listener and tried to make sense out of what I was explaining. He did a lot of ART work and finished on the back of the hip. He said it was the quadratus lumborum muscle.
The QR was already a muscle I was quite aware of, but it is a tricky one and one I never found a good stretch that would help it. About 10 years ago when I completed the Falmouth road race, I went direcly to the massage tent where I usually meet a local chiropractor. From years of doing this, he knows a bit about my hip problem. A couple of times, after having an uncomfortable race, he did work on my QL and I would feel great afterwards. In fact, I would feel better running a 5 mile cool-down to my parent's house then I did running the race! However, I never could find a way to stretch, release, or strengthen this muscle.
The quadratus lumborum muscles, together with the illiopsoas, are a common cause of lower back pain....Because most people sit for 90% of the day, their quadratus lumborum muscles are short, tight, and overused. The quadratus lumborum muscles assist in side bending and in back extension...If you have back pain that is only on one side of your lower back, there’s a good chance it’s the quadratus lumborum on that side...If indeed one of your quadratus lumborum muscles is causing you pain, the quadratus lumborum pain is due to habitual overuse.
With the constant tightness back there (and this is exactly where I used to press 25 year ago to "crack" my own back), I decided to target this area. Dr. Baroody showed me a couple of stretches. One looks like this (you have to go 52 seconds into the video to get the stretch).
Another is a stretch on a swiss ball. This video has a good summary on the quadratus lumborum.
Here is another QL stretch I found that I am doing.
He also said that doing kettlebell windmills will strengthen this area.
The problem with the stretches is that I don't feel them exactly where I feel tight, however something good must be going on as my hips are feeling a little bit better every run and I did run the equivalent of 2 marathons over the past three days.
I am sure the QL stretches are helping some. I'll give it a couple of weeks. In addition, I have started doing resistance stretching of my hamstrings in particular again. My quads and hammies are stating to loosen up some. I wrote tons on resistance stretching a couple of years ago (good place to start) and it still is a unique stetching program that works. I also had a massage a week ago and two weeks ago. That started the loosening process.
UPDATE I just found this book and am reading it slowly. It has a great section on the quadratus lumburom with stretches and trigger point areas for releasing the QL. I have had other books on trigger points, but this one seems very comprehensive with loads of information. I will report on this book later, after I have read and tried some of the ideas in it more thoroughly.
Finally, I noticed that one of my posts on functional hallux limitis got mentioned on a forum for Aikido (OK he did say my post might be like "watching paint drying" to some readers!). Josh mentions my posts on the stiff big toe and learning body wisdom. I know nothing about Aikido but read through the thread and wanted to find out more about what they were talking about. I do like the phrase "wisdom of the body" as that is what I am trying to figure out. The links sent me here, where I wanted to learn what Kua was. I found this video and found the movements interesting. My femurs often seem stuck and this actually helped me feel them rotate better.
There is an interesting New York Times article today found here: "Is Your Ab Workout Hurting Your Back?" by Gretchen Reynolds on core strength. It tells a bit about the history and popularity of many of today's core workout routines, particularly the emphasis on the transversus abdominis and "sucking in the belly button". It explains why this might be the wrong approach to developing a healthy core. Stuart McGill offers a more balanced approach to core stability. There is also an informative video on the web page that shows three good core exercises.
Here is a visual guide to some other core exercises: some like the crunches do not agree with the NYT article, at least as performed here. Others seem like extensions to some of the exercises that are recommended in the article. The article "Hard Core - Exercises to Strengthen Your Abs For Better Performance" by Justin Maguire can be found on beginnertriathlete.com here.
I haven't tried these routines yet, but I look forward to exploring new exercises as the school year ends on Monday. I was really tired tonight and exited the track workout halfway through. I was a bit lethargic and stiff from earlier in the weak. I did three 11 mile days in a row before Monday's Mine Falls Trail 5K. I am also tired from the end of the school year. I thought it better to stop than to push through to an injury. I was probably stiff from doing tons of kettlebell swings last night too, as I was workout until about 11:00 pm and didn't have a chance to run, but needed to get some exercise.
Some other things I hope to give a try after school is out is the new Resistance Stretching DVD I got two weeks ago, but have only viewed once. It is the second DVD by Bob Cooley, author of "The Genius of Flexibility". It is the intermediate self stretches DVD and more information can be found here. I also ordered and am looking forward to recieving the third Z-Health DVD. It is called S-Phase: The Complete Athlete. Here is the blurb from Z-Health:
Introducing the Newest Z-Health Educational Product We're incredibly excited to announce the release of the latest Z-Health Performance Solutions Educational Training DVD and Quick Start Guide.
We love it and are certain you will as well. Featuring Dr. Cobb and seven advanced-level Z-Health trainers, this instructional two-DVD set is a goldmine of information about the Z-Health approach to optimal athletic development. Here's a quick peek at just a few of the topics covered:
Static and Dynamic Stances. It all starts with a good stance 6 Visual Training Drills designed to improved field vision Plyometric Training for developing explosive movement skill and speed 4 drills for creating explosive Linear Speed 3 Ground Speed Drills. Losing your balance or being knocked to the ground is part of the game. Learn to recover quickly 6 Athletic Transition Steps for maximum speed and quickness
We've also included a handy, pull-out Quick Start Guide for you to take to the track or gym with general training tips and two sample training programs to jumpstart your practice and creativity.
Since my movement patterns are so messed up and I still am working on the Z-Health Joint Mobility R and I phase DVDs, this one makes me just more curious about where these drills and movement patterns are going. I am sure it is meant for better and more effecient athletes than me, but I am curious as to where this approach to movement leads. You can check out Z-Health here:
Before today's workout I took my Vibram Five-Finger shoes out for a warmup run on the trails of Mine Falls. They worked OK. I felt the rocks through the bottom, but there wasn't really rough going on the run. I like this observation by Matt Metzgar on changing running speed and stride length when running over different trail conditions. This relates to barefoot running. Here is a video of Erwen LeCorre of MovNat. Even if you don't want to run comletely barefoot-I don't want to either, this video is a lesson in how the body runs over different surfaces when unshod.
I did receive great news yesterday. After 21 years of teaching at Mount Pleasant School I have finally graduated from the fourth grade! Next year I am switching schools to New Searles Elementary School and will be a fifth grade teacher. I am very excited for a change of school and look forward to my new position. On a side note, this may even help my running and fitness. The school is about 2-3 miles from my house and I can bike, scooter, or run there and I won't have to get on a highway or go through a traffic light. It also starts an hour later than my present school, so maybe I can learn to be a morning runner next year. Most of all, I am just looking forward to the change and a new challenge.
Finally, here is a marathon that I would have loved to participate in. At this years Utah Valley Marathon they had a footbike (kickbike) scooter division. You can read about it here. Here is a video:
This is my 100th post on Recover Your Stride. I have worked extremely hard at becoming a better runner or should I say I have worked hard at becoming a runner that can run pain free, injury free, be more balanced, and run with a more correct running stride. I have tried a lot of different ideas throughout the year and at one point was ready to quit because of the ongoing problem with my hips and left side. The past few months I have have really progressed and I have put together some routines that have allowed my running to feel so much smoother and to start bringing back the balance that I have not had in my running stride for over 20 years. So this 100th post on my blog will begin to highlight the 10 best things I have learned, tried ,or discovered this year. A year that is ending on a high note as just about every run I do now feels so much better than I have felt while running in years. I am getting to the point where running feels fun and free again, rather than it being a daily battle to see if i can get out the door and run in a way that doesn't hurt or feel uncomfortable.
I will start with my two favorite things I have discovered this year. Both have given me a lot of control over how my body feels and responds to running as well as they have both left me feeling so much better in my daily life. My legs are already so much looser and smoother as I continue to implement the changes brought on by working on my muscles and connective tissues. My stride feels so much lighter and younger and my joints, particularly my hips, do not feel so tight, old, and stuck in place.
I will continue in further posts with recoomendations 2-10 as well as where I think I am going next year: as I have a few things in mind and am starting to generate a "plan" for next year. That would be a first because in most recent years I have just been trying to make my body recover my stride but it was always so haphazard and I had no control. I think I am now getting to where I have control over the imbalances in my body so that I can start building on that to further enjoy running (even into my 50's). And hopefully race fast too!
Number 1 The Ming Method found in "The Permanent Pain Cure" by Ming Chew
"The Permanent Pain Cure" is the most recent book I have read and I am using bits of it on top off everything else I am doing as well as still exploring everything else in the book. I wasn't sure if I should recommend something so recent as my top choice of the year. But I think that this book has the most bang for the buck.
What I like about the program that Ming sets forth is that it is fairly comprehensive in that he covers a lot of ground. It covers stretching, strength work, and eating and hydration, but what I find most noteworthy are the self-therapy releases (based on ART) , the spinal decompression work, and the stretches for the fascia. I have not seen these things put into a general book that make them easy to understand and use. Particularly I like his releases based on ART (Active Release Technique). These up the notch a bit for people who use foam rollers, tennis balls, or elbows to a different level because you move your muscles to achieve a stretch and break up scar tissue. It is so much more effective. It has done a great job on my hamstrings and quads and allows them to loosen up and improve my running stride.
I am still playing around with the releases as well as thinking up some of my own based on the techniques. For example there are no calf and lower leg releases in the book. Last night I took out my TP Massage roller and spent just a couple of minutes on my lower leg just beneath my calf. Instead of just rolling my muscle up and down the roller, I held my leg in place and twisted and turned my foot and ankle around and back and forth. This not only loosened my leg up, I felt the effect up into my hip and lower back as they loosened up also. The most interesting thing was when I did my right lower leg, I felt the stiffness at the bottom of my right heel in certain positions. This is where I thought I might be getting plantar fasciitis in the summer. So there might be a tightness in my lower leg's muscles and tendons that could be contributing to the problem near my heel.
Here are my previous posts where I reviewed or commented on this book. I consider it a great resource for athletes (or non-athletes) using some newer techniques that they might want to try.
Static stretching has never worked for me. Right at the point where I was about to give up on my running this summer I took out a book I had bought a couple of years earlier. The book was "The Genius of Flexibility" by Bob Cooley. I had quickly looked at the book when I bought it and tried a few of the stretches. Unfortunately I had never read "how" Bob Cooley wanted the stretches to work. I had never used resistance against the stretches. I tried a few stretches after "reading" some of the book this time and noticed something happening that was not happening with other stretches I had tried. I read more and realized this was the method used by Dara Torres on her incredible return to the 2008 Olympics. Upon exploring resistance stretching more (you provide resistance against the stretch) I found it started loosening up my hips and muscles so that running started to become easier again.
Besides reading through the book I bought two different resistance stretching videos. One was Bob Cooley's "The Genius of Flexibility 1.0" and then as soon as it was released I got the Dara Torres Resistance Stretching Video from Innovative Body Solutions. Both DVDs are cheap and go through a 20 minute resistance stretching routine. Some stretches are different on the two DVDs so I mix up which one I use.
I also went to a resistance stretcher named Janet. She worked on my muscles and gave me some stretches and tips on how to do the stretches. I have not had the opportunity to go back as it can be expensive, but I wish I could go for a few more sessions as it felt great to have this work done on my muscles. She was able to stretch my legs and hips in many different ways that I would never be able to duplicate on my own. Resistance stretching has worked great for me and it might be just the type of stretching and strength work (it helps in that department too) to get your body untangled and running smoothly again.
I found a series of 15 resistance stretches that Carole Childers has put online. As presented they can be used as both a strength exercise and a resistance stretch as you resist against your partner moving your muscle. These are not the stretches that Janet, the resistance trainer, used with me. Her stretches were more complicated and she had a good sense of what my muscles needed to do. These look pretty basic but they may make doing a resistance stretch easier if you have a partner to try them with. Here is the stretch for the hamstring:
Here is the abductor stretch (the stretch is when your partner presses your leg down and you resist the stretch. You are strengthening when you press up as your partner provides resistance!)
You can see all 15 videos including the upper body videos on the expert village website.
If you like the idea of resistance stretching (and it is working wonderfully for me) you should visit Innovative Body Solutions to learn more and order the DVD with Dara Torres. It is a bargain at the price they sell it for. You will easily learn how to do resistance self-stretching and strengthen. You can also go to Meridian Stretching and order Bob Cooley's DVD. The DVD is the same price and it has some similar self-stretches, but some that are different from the other DVD. Both will teach you how to self-stretch with resistance stretching.
Here is a short video from the CBS Evening News on the effect Michael Phelps and Dara Torres have had on fitness buffs from little swimmers competing to people wanting to know more about resistance stretching. At 1:35 you can briefly see Dara getting stretched as well as Luther Cowden who sent an email reply last week about running and resistance stretching.
Here is a CNN video explaing how Dara Torres does it. You can see snippets of some of her exercise routines, mashing (people use their feet to massage her muscles) , and resistance stretching (her secret weapon).
Here is an audio interview from Growing Bolder with Bob Cooley who invented resistance stretching and wrote, "The Genius of Flexibility".
Here are some more resistance stretches from an article in FitYoga magazine. It looks at the stretching from a yoga perspective but has some new variations of resistance stretching that I have not previously seen. There are stretches to loosen the quads, relieve pressure in the lower back, stretch the psoas, and unburden the shoulders. Hit the "next' at the bottom of the page to proceed throught the article.
Innovative Body Solutions now has an additional preview video up of their Dara Torres Resistance Stretching DVD. I ordered this a couple of weeks ago and they should be shipping it soon (they keep dropping the shipping date back: when I ordered they said it would ship August 22 and now it has been dropped back again and ships September 5). Then I will review it and compare it to Bob Cooley's "The Genius of Flexibility" DVD. They have an additional blurb that describes the DVD : "The Innovative Body Solutions Resistance Stretching DVD introduces a training technique that is beneficial for any age or ability with no equipment required. The DVD features a 25 minute full-body workout, a total body instructional section, and problem-solving tips for tight muscle groups."
I already posted this short video from the DVD that talks about balancing muscle groups. It shows two good stretches fro the quads and hamstrings.
This DVD is put out by Steve Sierra and Anne Tierney who happen to be Dara Torres' stretchers. According to their website, Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin also works with resistance stretchers.
Yesterday I went mountain biking. I tried a new trail off 101A and near Ridge Road on the other side of 101A from the Yuddicky Farms trails and by Lovewell's Pond. I read about a trail called the "spaghetti bowl" set up by mountain bikers. I have run by the entrance the the trails for years but have never explored this area and always wondered what was in there. Now I know! Here is a map of the place.
I biked the two miles from my house. The trail starts out nicely with an overgrown paved road and then some straighter trails and then (well look at the map) I don't know what happened. It goes all around the place. At first it was fun, then it was challenging, and then... I had no idea what it was doing. The route is tight singletrack and it is full of twists and turns and ups and downs and rocks and trees and then these man-made obstacles (bridges, seesaws, and all sorts of wooden stuff that looked fun and a bit dangerous (to beginners). I played around in there for over an hour and then tried to get out. I kept ending up on the same trails. Finally I just cut through the woods to try to intersect a trail that might lead me out. I survived. Maybe I should have read the online reviews better for this trail as it says it is not for beginners. I spent a lot of time stopping and getting off my bike and getting back on. I need to ride with some mountain bikers to learn how they do things. Do they quickly ride through these trails and jump these obstacles? I would have killed myself. Or do they do slow rides jumping up and over things? These are answers I will have to discover. I finally made it out of there with no broken bones but some broken skin on my lower legs and a bit of blood. Did I have fun? Yes!
.jpg)
, and most recently the RumbleRoller, and all sorts of other things I have tried. I also have some DVDs put out by Trigger-Point, but these videos look like they are the most thought-out and descriptive videos to learn self-massage techniques. It also seems that the Physical Therapist. Leigh Boyle, who is putting this website and videos together works out of Plaistow, NH. That is less than an hour away. She is also an athlete and Ironman triathlete, so she would know the endurance athlete's body. I also like the fact that she is sharing her knowlege and doing an excellent job at it. 
. I have used many of Sean's ideas in some of his other ebooks and here he has the first book, that I know of that explains the purpose of the QL as well as gives ideas for controlling it:
) and also started doing these exercises from Dr. Stuart McGill. 
DVD.
,shows a partner resistance stretch here.
