I hate to nag, so let’s call this something else. Prodding? Pushing? Pestering? They all seem so … controlling, which is crazy considering I’ll I’m trying to do is prod/pester/push you out the door to take a hike. And there’s no better time and place to take a hike than the fall in North Carolina. Temperatures in in the 70s, low humidity, brilliant, crisp blue skies, changing color — what more incentive do you need to get out on the trail?
Few things get me as excited as stumbling across an area marked off with yellow tape. Not “Crime Scene” tape, but “Construction: Do Not Cross” tape, the kind that marks a greenway under construction. The kind Marcy and I found while exploring downtown Smithfield last month.
If you’re just beginning a exercise program — be it walking, swimming, cycling, whatever — and are having doubts, take a few minutes to read about the Yarn Harlot’s foray into running. She assures you you are not alone.
If you’ve ever made anything out of two needles and a very long piece of string, you probably know about the Yarn Harlot. If you buy all your sweaters, socks and toboggans at Penny’s, the Yarn Harlot is Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, a prolific knitter and an even more prolific writer-about-knitting. She’s written a number of books and writes an enormously popular blog.
“Squeeze your butt and take full steps,” Kpop (a k a Karley Poplestein), 02 Fitness trainer by day/walking coach by early evening instructed as we began walking from The Athlete’s Foot in Cameron Village to the nearby Rose Garden. That’s a … curious request, I thought. Fortunately, before I could reach behind and grab my buns while taking full steps I noticed my cowalkers were clinching their gluteus maximus, not palming them.
Finally, the exciting conclusion to our hamstring injury! (Guilty of hyperbole. Let’s proceed.)
OK, a hamstring injury isn’t glamorous. It doesn’t have the cache of, say, an ACL injury. But it’s common among weekend warriors. Don’t warm up, go out too fast — ping! — there’s a debilitating snap in the back of your leg. A muscle snap that if you ignore can hobble you for weeks. First, a look at how to avoid irritating your hamstring in the first place.