My Running Journal: 011111; or, "The Foot Bone's Connected to the Ankle Bone."

No running this morning. I’m currently “running” about once a week, if that. The reason is that I volunteered to be an alternate for the Affiliate Team for Crossfit Portland. The way that the 2011 Crossfit Games are shaping up, I doubt that I will be able to offer much even as an alternate, besides being a great cheerleader. But I’m going to keep up my current training cycle until February, at which point I am going to (probably) shift focus to races.

This morning I was thinking about what Kelly Starrett of Crossfit San Francisco said the other day in his Mobility WOD blog. Specifically, in episode 141 he addresses tibialis posterior. Tibialis posterior is a muscle of the lower leg, and it sits behind your tibia (duh). When talking about muscles, you can talk about origins (where the muscle starts), and the insertion (where it ends). And our friend tibialis posterior inserts, without getting too specific, into the bottom of your foot by way of some tendons that pass behind your inside ankle bone (medial malleolus). Here, take a look.



What tibialis posterior does, amongst other things, is work to invert the foot. Which means it helps to pull your footsie inwards. If you stand up, and then roll up onto the outside edge of your foot (the side where your pinkie toe is), you are technically inverting your foot. The opposite direction is “eversion,” but that isn’t important right now.

Why am I thinking about tibialis posterior? Well, I have arches that aren’t exactly the greatest. Even running in minimalist shoes. Tibialis Posterior is part of the chain that keeps the wonderful suspension system that is your foot in position. Strengthen the links in that chain, and you strengthen the whole. Since a stronger, more integrated body is what I am after, this is good stuff to know. And it has me thinking about other things, but more on that later.