A pain in the butt

Since starting training with Pilates teacher Richard Rossiter last year to fix my back and get some ab muscles, I've learnt a lot of new stuff about my body. For instance, I never knew I couldn't fully straighten my right knee. Richard's classical Pilates, which often reminds me of circuit training and includes resistance work such as Sumo squats with a barbell, is gradually "calling my body to order". In the process, I get to experience a variety of transient aches and pains as muscles, tendons and ligaments strengthen, stretch and relaign. Lately, it's been this pain in my butt.

I'm pretty sure it's one of those "side-effects" of the physical reorganization that's going on.

It started up again in the early morning Drills session with Bobby McGee and our mixed group of marathoners, milers, triathletes, a swimmer and a surfer. Mind you, if anything is going to show up a glute "issue", it's the skipping, leaping and bounding we do, not to mention the strides with hand weights and the other fun stuff :)

Drills are fun: it's like being a kid again and discovering the joys of free movement. The only negative about these sessions is they start at 7.30am.

In this "return to base" phase, Drills counts as a substitute speed session, so I was planning to get a second run in when I joined Kyle at the Potts Field track to watch him perform in the Boulder Road Runners' 1500m. But I also had a massage scheduled.

How did I ever cope without regular massage? I'm managing to afford a treatment roughly every two weeks with ace sports massage therapist (and Ironman triathlete) Kim McCormack. After she'd finished digging out the gunge in my glute, I didn't feel much like running, but I did jog around a bit with Kyle after he'd toughed out a 4:58 1500m in conditions that were like the middle of winter: cold, windy and raining. He was actually getting COLD out there! You can get some idea of the conditions from my picture of the start, with mist covering the Flatirons in the background.

So.. Day 4 Restart Phase: am: Drills session at Centennial track with Bobby McGee and group. Jog there and back. pm: massage. late pm: jogging with Kyle at Potts field track. Still feeling good!