That's Fit

Whether you have a fabulously consistent running schedule or just get out to run occasionally, chances are there are days when you could have gotten more out of your run. Sometimes you have a plan to go and just crap out on it, or maybe you make it out to run, but you find yourself just going through the motions. Slowly.

This is totally normal -- we can't all wake up every morning with a race day mentality, ready to go out and give everything we have. There are other factors involved, like time, stress, location, and muscle soreness. Runner's World has 27 suggestions for ways to run better every day, and I'd like to share my favorites of those tips with you. Check out the gallery, or, for all 27 tips, check out the original article.

Has a lower-leg injury kept you out of the race lately? Well, there's a good chance the cause of this injury is actually related to your hips.

Researchers from the University of Calgary found that weak hip muscles are to blame for 92 percent of lower-leg running injuries. Try exercises such as squats and step-ups to target-harden yourself against these sidelining injuries.

For more great running tips like this one, visit the Runner's World magazine website by clicking here. Here, you'll find a surfeit of information on topics ranging from new shoes and gear to races taking place in and around your hometown.

My fitness is positively influenced with visual motivation. As I write this four pictures are sitting around my desk of me and hubby camping, backpacking, rock climbing and standing atop a breathtaking Colorado Fourteener. Keeping outdoor pictures around reminds me to get outside and get busy in the fresh air.

If you like to run and cool pictures of runners have a way of pushing you out the door for a couple miles or more, check out Rave Runs -- free, downloadable desktop wallpapers at Runner's World. They feature inspiring photos of solitary runners striding down a path amongst a variety of breathtaking landscapes.

Each and every picture speaks to me -- I especially like June 2008's mountain shot as well as May 2008's meandering Southwest river shot. Which one is your favorite? Hey Runners World, if you need wallpaper photo models, my bags are packed and I'm non-union cheap! Thanks for the free motivation to get my rear off this desk chair and out the door for a quick run.

Running race bandits wear all sorts of hats. Despised by some registered racers, bandits join the course on race day without paying an entry fee. The most flagrant bib-free bandits run the race all the way through the finish line, reaching for as many bananas, gel paks and water cups they can suck down along the way. Other bandits pop into a race to run a few miles with a buddy for moral support. Others might run nearly the entire route, but carry their own sustenance and kindly step off the course before the final chute. Some bandits claim they are unable to afford the ever-rising steep entry fees -- banditing affords them the joy of racing.

Runners World is in the midst of an e-conversation about race bandits. The absolute zero tolerance camp compares bandits to cheaters -- thieves -- immoral pond scum. Others possess a little forgiveness for the low-impact bandit. Some share they've bandit-ed in the past. From the wide-range of responses, banditing reminds me of tax time. Some filers are highly honorable. Others might report 100 percent of their income, but over-inflate their charitable contributions to Goodwill. Then how about those who claim their taxes are on the up and up, but oh yeah, they don't pay their Nanny Taxes. Some never file a return.

Banditing is a hardly a black and white issue. What's your take on the masked road racer? I'm in the gray camp.

Right now over at Runner's World a bunch of runners are e-bantering on the pros/cons of race bibs. Considering the microchip is now recording racers' finish times, other than preventing race bandits or helping with photo identification, what's the point of printing bibs anymore?

Readers have weighed in with thoughtful and hilarious insights, including these choice replies:

• To increase wind resistance to keep speeds down.
• To have a safety pin handy to pop post-race blisters.
• Chip devices fail -- video records of bib numbers can determine finish times.
• Other than the race t-shirt, bibs are a souvenir to take home ... and perhaps pin-up on your garage wall with all those license plates from 1967?
• Like a baby bib, keeps the sports drink off your shirt.
• I.D. for medical purposes, you can also write your medical history on the back.

I once saw a guy puking in a garbage can after running a particularly hard race. I must say, if I ever overextend and lose my cookies post-race, a bile-blocking bib might save my favorite hot pink racing shirt.

What's the name of a person with one leg shorter than the other? Eileen. Sorry, couldn't resist. A chiropractor I visited several years ago stated I had uneven legs, and after a few back cracks and hip stretches they returned to their proper alignment a moment later.

Interestingly uneven legs are usually not the result of one leg bone shorter than the other. Commonly the problem emerges due to a tight hamstring (back of the upper leg) or iliotibial band -- the fascial sheath extending from the upper thigh down the side of the femur, attaching around the area of the knee joint. Runners suffering from muscle/tissue imbalance often overcompensate by favoring their longer leg, and this can lead to injury. However regularly adopting specific stretches can solve the problem and prevent future injuries.

Here's the test to see if your legs are uneven:

• Lie on your back on a flat surface with bare feet and legs together. A friend should place their palms on your hipbones (one hand per hipbone) and gently rock your hips back and forth by pressing left, then right, etc ... for one minute.
• After you're relaxed have your friend check if your anklebones are even. If they are uneven, do these 15 range-of-motion exercises offered by Runners World. Then immediately repeat the buddy stretch above.

If your legs are now even, an imbalance of muscles/tissues is the culprit, not a leg-length discrepancy. Keep up the exercises! If you're still uneven, you might want to seek further help from a sports medicine or orthopedic specialist to confirm and treat a true leg-length discrepancy.