Running is easy right? We strap on the latest in $150 shoes, get into our fancy new wicking fabric shirts and shorts, throw on a hat and get to work… right? Well, for many this is exactly what they do on any given year after a winter filled with donuts, cakes, cookies, sedentary living, lack of sunshine and the resultant Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) that follows! The dangers in doing it this way are many but primarily what I see in practice are symptoms like shin splints, calf and Achilles injuries, low back pain, painful knees, hip instabilities and pain that goes with it and a litany of other “stuff.” Instead, let’s take a look at what we may be able to do to prepare the body for the rigors of running and talk a bit about what needs to be done to prepare for it.