Go, you chicken fat, go away!

Hope you get feeling better... remember to ice and streatch! Golfers are just jealouse of you!

FORE!

Sorry about your crummy leg. I hope it gets better soon.

Requests: "Man of Constant Sorrow" is pretty old timey.

Golf: The only thing I like about golf is Happy Gilmore. Running through a busy golf course sounds kind of fun :)

Lori - Do you recommend I yell at them to try a real sport?

KP - shutup! I thought you were my BFF.

Miguel - I was thinking that or In the Highway.

I'll still pop your ovarian cyst. Therefore, we are still BFF.

Hi Burt. Sorry your leg is feeling crummy. Which leg is it, and how does it hurt?

You mentioned a few days ago that your hamstrings were giving you trouble; those fast miles you ran last week might've tweaked them. Try "gently" stretching your hamstrings after running (you don't want to be too aggressive stretching them when they're sore - it'll keep tearing the muscle fibers that are trying to heal. Ouch sorry!!).

PS: Nice fast pace on the 10K trail race! What a bunch of inclines to go up right off the bat!!

Cookie - I think you might be right. It's my right leg right under my buttock. I'm actually not sure if that's my hamstring muscle or not. I think it is. Should I not run for a while? And for how long? Or will the mild stretching allow me to run, and I should take it easy?

That sounds like piriformis to me... I had a friend that had it - very painful.

Hi Burt,

About 5 years ago I hurt my hamstring in the same area - right where it attaches under the glut. max. I initially hurt it playing soccer, then I kept aggravating it by doing overly ambitious speedwork to get ready for a 5k. It started to affect my form - ie, I was running by kind of swinging my leg forward without bending and straightening my knee as much as I normally would.

I finally rested it for a couple weeks, iced it some and took ibuprofen. Then I started running slowly and "tried" to gently stretch it after running. ("tried to" is in quotes because it hurt to stretch. It hurt to get anywhere near a stretching position, so I would just stretch as far as I could WITHOUT IT HURTING! I didn't want to re-tear those muscle fibers that were finally healing!!!) The bad news? It took a while.

The good news? It's fine now; I can run without pain, and can stretch both legs equally well. I learned my lesson, and now I diligently stretch after running. Not just my hamstrings, but also my calves, glutes, hips, etc.

I used to get really tight hamstrings when I ran alot, but now I don't get tight hamstrings since I've implemented by post running routine. I'm much more flexible than I used to be, and I think that really helps me keep those nagging muscle pulls/strains at bay.

Of course. . . it takes time to stretch after running, and who wants to add another 15 minutes to their workout?

Well, besides keeping me from getting injured, I think being limber is actually helping me run long distances faster. Think of "tight" calves & hamstrings as being like "tight" rubber bands. Think of "stretchy" calves & hamstrings as being like "stretchy" rubber bands. It takes a lot less energy to repeatedly pull on "stretchy" rubber bands than "tight" rubber bands!! So. . . think of your 15 minutes stretching as speedwork in disguise?

Some people might disagree with the merits of stretching (and there are a lot of runners on this blog who are a lot faster than I am!!!), so ultimately your course of treatment is up to your judgement. I do think if it currently hurts you while running, you would recovery quicker by reducing both your mileage and intensity of training. Then start up again by running slowly and wait until your hamstring seems fully healed before implementing speedier workouts. And stretch stretch stretch after running whenever you can.

Wow, what a long winded post I just wrote - I bet you never ask me another question again!! And now my lunchtime is over!! Hope you recover quickly and I bet you're super speedy next time around!

Burt - I knew a man Bojangles and he'd dance for you...in worn out shoes

Cookie gave some great advice and I'll second it. Let Bojangles do some dancin' for you for a bit :)

...he'd jump so high, then he'd lightly touch down...

burt, next time show the golfers how you like to PAS. that should be a sufficient expression of your hate for golf.

KP - I have a couple of friends that have that, too. Their names are Samantha Dean Howard and Marathon Missy. :)

Cookie - That sounds exactly like what's going on with me. Luckily I don't have any races on the near horizon. So I should be able to take it real easy.

RAD - that's a nice harmony.

allie - that's a good idea. I'm sure I could get a hole in one.

I don't like golf either.

Fore HA HA

your leg sounds like the hammy attachment too I did that last year, another injury to my 100 injuries list LOL rest up but do heat stretch stretch and ice :( sorry for you.

I dont like golf, but I do like to hit a golf ball really hard in the driving range when I am injured and frustrated ha ha LMAO

I want to comment on that pigeon chasing photo but peer pressure is stopping me. I don't want to be the first. Such a comment must be taboo.

I love golf, but haven't played in a few years. When I was playing for the HS team, we'd go to the driving range and hit casually until the cart would come out to collect the balls. We had a contest to see who could hit it more times in the short time it was out there. Sure, it said not to hit the cart, but it's just way too tempting! We tried to avoid unprotected people, but fowl are free game! A buddy of mine killed a duck as it took off out of the pond just as he hit the ball off the tee of a Par 5. Actually hit the bird in the head! It was unbelievable and a one-in-a-million shot. We gave him a mulligan.

Sorry your crummy leg is bothering you Burt.

I KNEW you could fix that picture for me! THANKS!

That photo is hilarious, especially since Scott's moniker is redrooster! But perhaps he won't think it's so funny?

wait... thats a photoshop? I thought it was the real thing!! love it!!! I feel honored to be included in Burt's artwork collection, now I feel like I really belong!! though he is still a bully for calling me ronald mcdonald.

fly - here's an article for you: http://www.worldhum.com/features/travel-interviews/odd-jobs-the-pigeon-chaser-20090408/

Scott - who said anything about photoshop? haha! Hey, I used to work for Ronald for 5 years. He's a great guy.

"...here in Rajasthan we consider pigeons very auspicious, so we actually want them around."

LOL!

Burt,

The picture was great. I LOL for 2 minutes. I am so naive because I actually thought some how you got a picture. When I looked at first glance (on my i phone) I recognized my shirt and tights.

I hate the cold as much as anyone (I just bailed on running outside tomorrow with a friend to run inside instead) I know.

Matt Dillon bares just enough resemblance that I had to zoom into to figure it out. My wife loved it.

Thanks