Your problem may rest at the "core"

First of all, let me say I'm crazy excited about devoting more time to this blog.  I had to shed some negative stuff which is now in the past and I'm looking forward as the sun rises from the Rocky Mountains . . . no, literally, that's what's happening right now :).

Anyway, I've started to ramp up my weekly mileage (I have no idea where I'll stop but I'm interested in throwing in some 100 mile weeks but that will take work and time).  Anyway, I'm on track for 50-60 mile week (I've been in the 40-50 mile week the past 6 months or so) and while it may not seem like much of a jump, it is . . . trust me.  And, while ramping up, I was reminded about how important a strong core is to running and in fact, as I ramp my mile back up, I can feel the work being put on my core.  Lucky for me, I've always devoted 2-3x a week to core exercising but I may have to increase that in conjunction with the mileage increase.

I want to point out that if you have issues running and even if you are having injury issues, it may not be your running for per say as the root cause may be a weak core.  With a weak core, you can't run correctly, at least not for prolonged periods of time.  As skinny as elite runners may look, they have incredibly strong cores.  A strong core is like the trunk of a tree as it holds everything together allowing you to maintain proper balance and stability.

Before you make any wholesale changes, check your core . . . is it soft or strong?  weak or muscular?  If the answers are the former, get to work on that core.

Harry