Message posted by: Mark B.

According to a treadmill experience today, my physical therapist has finally verified what a running coach mentioned off-hand to me more than 20 years ago: I've got a really unusual gait.

Here's what happens.

My right leg rotates outward while pulling inward – that's caused by a very weak gluteus medius, the abductor that stabilizes the pelvis when bearing weight and rotates the leg inward. So my toes go out and my feet get closer together than they should — even while walking. My balance isn't so good that way (duh), I sometimes clip my left ankle with my right foot when I run; and, as the already weak gluteus medius muscle gets tired, my form breaks gets even worse.

My right knee doesn't extend all the way before footstrike. She's not sure why (we're still trying to figure it all out), but it means my knee and thighs absorb a lot of shock.

My right ankle "dorsiflexes" – which means the angle bends so that the toes point up before my foot hits the ground (which makes my big toe punch a hole in the top of my right shoe). She's not sure why, but she says it makes my heel strike first even though the rest of my gait would have me land more mid-foot. The significance isn't entirely clear, though it explains why I'm so hard on shoes.

"Master compensator" that I am (and when a physical therapist describes you that way, don't think it's a compliment, because it isn't), I seem to have found my own unique method of locomotion. I am recruiting muscles not normally used for walking and running while the muscles that are supposed to be doing the work are goofing off, apparently. This has probably been going on for a very long time.

And that whole butt pain issue that started this whole mess? Well, that's not even particularly related to this. Except it is. Her theory is my body has been working so hard to compensate for biomechanical problems that what was probably a slight muscle pull was enough to push it all over the edge of the cliff.

As to the muscle pull, both she and I are now starting to wonder if I actually had a high hamstring pull (I do remember a slight hitch while outsprinting my 6-year-old) – she says the sort of injury that makes people not want to sit down for any length of time involve either the hamstring or another of the deep butt/hip muscles. The tight hamstring we discovered two weeks ago may have finally given it away. Maybe.

And… in another terrific confidence-booster, she noted that it's pretty amazing to her that I've gone this long without the wheels falling off, which I guess shows just how adept my body has been at compensating. Lovely. I'm a human version of a bumblebee?

The good news out of this (and there is some) is that she thinks it's something that can be resolved over the long term by fixing the muscle imbalance. She also thinks there's no problem with me continuing to train for the Portland Marathon in October (indeed, she noted some improvement as a result of my training – I'm clipping my ankle less) as long as it's not causing me pain. With any luck, the strengthening work will make a much more efficient runner. That can't hurt.

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