It could be argued that maybe the title of this post relates to this blog. After all, it does seem to fit with so few posts this year.
Unfortunately though, the “sideline” is about me and running. It’s been a strange year with all sorts of issues, both running-related and not.
Now I just have to plan the slow crawl back, hopefully in time for spring races. The doctor has told me to take some time off and to go to a physical therapist.
I’ve already limited my running, and I had already started to work more on strength and stretching, so the recommendation isn’t much different.
I’m going to try to hold myself to writing about progress on this blog. It could be an interesting journey back to running as much as I want to.
I suspect that some minor issue earlier in the year has caused a slight change in gait, which in turn has caused more issues. My calf muscles are tighter than they have ever been and there has been an impact on other muscles in my ankles from that. Interestingly, I’ve found that barefoot running is much easier and causes fewer issues for me than even wearing my minimalist shoes. Luckily, I also now have some Skinners socks. I will have to write a review of those soon (very soon).
Running in NJ 
I am curious if you received a specific diagnosis. A lot of times, multiple joints are affected above and below the affected area, so for you, ankle/foot/knee/hip/pelvis/lower back all come into play.
Hi Rolf, hope you’re doing well. I definitely have tight muscles in many of those places and I’m working on strengthening. I haven’t seen a PT yet so I’ll see what comes from that.
Hmm. You are strengthening tight muscles? I would not advise that to any of my patients.
I’m not working on strengthening the muscles that are tight, but some which will help with imbalances that may be causing the issues. I am supposed to go to see a Physical Therapist for a gait analysis, but haven’t sorted it out yet.
In my mind, you need a bilateral and static assessment of ranges of motions of all joints from toes to pelvis/lower back, as well as strength tests. Then, I would want to get a video of you running, slow it down and see what it tells. Muscles get tight for a reason.
Feel better soon. I look forward to your posts.
Thank you. New post coming today hopefully