Join me in my November running goal + OUR HALLOWEEN!

Our caramel apples turned out great… I mean, they are no Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory apples but we were pretty proud.  We used THIS recipe.

Our assortment included a Snickers one, a Butterfingers one, an M&M one, a Twix bar one and a Skor bar apple.  Brooke voted the M&M one to win out of the five and I am undecided.

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For dinner we picked up Cafe Rio to take and eat at my parents’ house while we caught up with them.

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My sister and her family came over so we could all go trick-or-treating together.

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Andrew got to carry the little dude around.  We walked around the neighborhood that I always went trick or treating in when I was younger.

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She did quite well with her earnings.  I used to love to organize and categorize my candy afterwards and then my dad of course always took out Daddy Tax (aka any Milk Duds or Dots that I received over the course of the night).

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I liked what my mom gave out… glow sticks and sour heads that are delicious.  Also, I’m going for the half painted nail look these days;)

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PS THIS BEANIE will be on my head for the rest of the year.  I added the red to my Christmas list too;)

To finish off our Halloween Andrew’s one request was for me to watch a scary movie with him.

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I think a lot of my injuries in the past have come from lazy glutes.  Problems start happening when my glutes shut down and I use all of the other muscle groups in my legs to do what my glutes should be doing while running.  Those other muscles compensate for my glutes not firing during the run and boom… something gets overworked and/or injured.  It is pretty common for runners to have weak glutes just because of how much sitting we all do each day.  When we sit our glutes are stretched out and completely inactive.  Some of the major running injuries like shinsplints, IT band problems, runner’s knee and achilles tendinitis have been linked to being caused by weak glutes!

Anyone want to join me with a new November running goal——>  Strengthening our glutes and making sure that they are firing properly while we run!  This can help us to be stronger, more powerful runners and also prevent injuries big time!

We’ve gotta do 3 things to get going on this:

1.  FIRE THEM UP.  Reactivate them!  My chiropractor always worked with me on muscle reactivation (let me know if you want more information on how to work with him) which helped me a ton and you can also do things to wake them up yourself.

This article includes two glute-firing tests to help you see if your glutes are activated and the four ways to wake them up!  This one includes pictures of how to do these:

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This article  includes a great way to fix the wiring between your brain and glutes and also ways to strengthen them:)  I love that this article includes the side effect that may come from working on firing/strengthening our glutes:

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You can try these three moves before you go out on your run each day to fire them up before you run (these are really good):

2.  Strengthen them!!!   My favorite four glute moves are here!  And other great resources for runner’s strengthening glute moves are here, here and here!

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3.  ENGAGE THEM while you run!  This clip explains a bit about that.  There are times when I am running and I realize that my glutes haven’t been doing a thing for the entire run.  My glutes are being lazy and forcing all of the other muscles to make up for them not working.  Once I realize what is going on I really zone in on them and focus on turning my glutes on with each stride.  Think about pushing down with them and squeeze up with your glutes while you run:

Good luck! Work on this with me this month

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Happy November!! It is my first November ever with Andrew so I’m just going to go ahead and enjoy that;)

Anyone have a November bday? What day??

Need to work on activating your glutes?  Ever had an injury because your glutes were weak?  

Eat any Halloween candy last night?  What were your favorites?

Scary movies yes or no?  Have any favorites?

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63 comments

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Saving this post. I have the sleepiest glutes!
No scary movies for me.
I ate my fair share of Smarties last night.

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Cute beanie!! I definitely need to work on my glutes and strengthen them. I’m in for this November challenge!

I don’t mind scary movies but don’t want them very often. I LOVE haunted houses, though! Thankfully I got to go to one on Saturday night. Sadly, though, no Halloween candy for me this year. I’m thinking my niece will be old enough for me to carry her around next year, but she is going to need someone to eat all of that candy for her. :)

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Looks like it was a perfect Halloween! Caramel apples are my absolute fave..might have to make some tonight :)

I have so much candy left…we just moved to a new neighborhood and this is our first house, so I got really excited to finally be able to hand out candy and bought a few different bags to give the kiddies some variety. Waited by the door all night and didn’t get a SINGLE trick or treater. Eventually my husband felt bad for me so he ran around to the front of the house to “trick or treat”. Talk about a disappointing night!

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NO TRICK OR TREATERS?!?! Not one? Oh I love what your husband did!! HAHA! Feel free to send your candy here if you don’t know what to do with it!

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I do glute exercises but I have no idea if I use my glute when I run! I will have to see if they feel activated when i go out tonight. I never really think about it, but now I will!

No scary movies for me! After seeing SAW back in 2004 I quit watching scary movies cold turkey. That movie scared me so much I just thought, “why do I put myself through this?” My life is so much better now hahaha

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Love the beanie! I do not like scary movies at all!! Glad you guys had a fun halloween… those carmel apples look soo good!

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We went trick-or-treating with our neighbors and my 19-month-old daughter got a ridiculous amount of candy. She literally drug a hole in her bag from it being too heavy. I was super impressed.
I do a lot of glute work in barre. Barre has been my go to strength training to help with running, and I really think it works. I’ve had a lot less ankle issues and my back and arms are a lot stronger. I will say though, my glutes have been super painful this pregnancy. I can’t pinpoint what it is, running, barre, yoga? I think it might actually be from carrying my toddler.
Those caramel apples are insane! YUM!

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What scary movie did you watch? I love scary movies but always get so frightened I don’t sleep for weeks! Because of that I don’t watch them often :-)

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We watched The Shining (and used VidAngel to take out anything we didn’t want to see ha) and I still only lasted for half the movie. I don’t do well with scary movies but Andrew loves them!

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When I started running after a long hiatus that included having two kids, I strained my hip. The doctor said it was likely this happened because of lazy glutes–at the time, I sat in an office for 8 hours a day, and my commute was 90 minutes each way. That’s a lot of sitting. No wonder my butt was lazy.

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Last night our son dumped his load of goodies and the first thing my hubby said was, “Where are the DOTS?”…..and none were to be found. ;-(

Then after the sorting was finished the same boy said, “Mom, here are your Almond Joy and Milk Duds, I don’t like those so you can have them” ha!

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HAHAH what is wrong with Almond Joy and Milk Duds… I think those are delicious and I’m glad you got them:) NO DOTS THOUGH… that’s not right.

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My husband, my dad, and my uncle all have birthdays in November – on the 9th and 14th (my uncle and husband are both on the 9th).

I’m dealing with a lot of post-pregnancy lower-back and hip pain. I’m thinking adding in some glute exercises definitely couldn’t hurt!

My mom and I used to rent old scary movies to watch after church. It was our Sunday tradition the whole time I was in high school. We liked all the old, hokey movies that aren’t really scary like Friday the 13th and the Halloween movies. My husband hates scary movies, so if I get a hankering, I have to call my mom. :O)

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Oh yes, I love me some glute exercises! In addition to running I also lift, so squats and lunges are my friends! They make my running SO much better. Having a naturally big butt helps too. ;) Haha.

I looove scary movies! I can’t watch them alone, though. Not because I’m scared, but because it’s not nearly as much fun! I like classics like “The Omen”…. uhh, yeah, I didn’t sleep for weeks after watching that!

No Halloween candy, really, because we live kind of off the road in an apartment, so no trick-or-treaters showed up. :( I love Halloween but I always have too much work to do!

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my son got so much candy last night! I went with the Hershey bars and the m&m’s :)

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Thats the nice thing about barre is that I get the opportunity to work my glutes in class. I try to attend twice/week and then do another strength workout that involves plenty of glute action on my own. And yes, my birthday is on November 11. I’m turning 44 yrs young and I’m celebrating by running the Big Sur Half on Monterey Bay two days later.

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I really really want to try out barre. That is awesome that you go twice a week… way to go. AHHHHH HAPPY BIRTHDAY soon and I love how you are celebrating! So awesome and please let me know how it goes. We really want to do that race!

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Those caramel apples. I’m dyingggg

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I had a few pieces of candy yesterday! At the university where I work, a bunch of professors had a contents against the students to dress up and decorate the hallways of our building. Then, we invited little trick or treaters in the area to come by! THEY WERE SO CUTE!!!

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Those apples look awesome!!
My momma will be 71 this month!
No Halloween candy for me last night. We did walk the neighborhood with our littles, but I am on a fairly strict diet until after my marathon.
I love scary movies! I don’t care about gore but when things/people jump out it scares the daylights out of me!

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No scary movies for me:(

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It seems like a lot of people are having glute issues this year. My second marathon was essentially foiled by having weak gluteus. Now I just try and focus on adding hip bridges and clams into my routine. It seems to have helped.

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I absolutely will be working on glutes with you!!! I got a hamstring or sciatica (or both haha) injury from I think weak glutes last spring!

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Definitely need to work on glute strength! My only reoccuring running injury has been attributed to weak glutes and it has been lingering since November 2013, so it’s probably about time to fix that! Great timing!

Our Halloween candy was turned into candy bar pie for dinner with friends. So good!

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I’ve never seen sour heads before – are they sour gummies?

Another great exercise for the glutes are clam shells. I always feel kind of silly doing them, but it definitely works!

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Yes they are sour gummies and so so so good! YES, I forget about clam shells. Thanks for the reminder, I’m going to do some of those today!

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On November 19th, I’ll celebrate my last birthday in my twenties! Glad you guys enjoyed Halloween! Those apples look amazing!

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HAPPY BDAY THIS MONTH BRITTANY!! I have to say that 29 and 30 have been my favorite years of life so far:) Enjoy every second!

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I recently started doing barre workouts and it works out my glutes like no other! I could barely walk up and down a flight of stairs after my first class! Lol. I heard barre is a great workout for runners!

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AHHH that makes me want to try it out so so bad! I need to go in. Thanks for the motivation and way to go Polly!

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Great glute exercises!!

I also highly recommend barre for glute strengthening! I love it!! You tone all the muscles, including those little muscles that you forget you have. i also find I’m more likely to work on stuff like glutes if I do it in a class. Oh- and you plank a ton in class! So many benefits!

I’ve also been meaning to tell you that I got that Brooks reflective jacket you recommended!! I’m obsessed with taking pics of it to see the reflectiveness. It’s perfect! and not too tight in the arms so it will work great for layering this winter!

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I need to go ASAP! Thank you so much Tiffany… sounds like exactly what I need! Oh I am so happy that you got the jacket. Isn’t it crazy how reflective it is?! Hope you had a great run today!

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Great goal. I am on board. I have a stress fracture that may not ever heal. I need strong glutes if I want to start running again.

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Oh no Megan, that sounds awful! Where is the stress fracture? Keep me updated with how you are doing please!

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The stress fracture is in my left tibia. It was diagnosed 18 months ago. It won’t heal. My doctor said I could start running and to do what I want, the fracture is not getting worse.
Thanks for the concern. It has been pretty hard for me and feels a bit hopeless. I have done everything that the doctors have asked of me, I was in a cast for 8 weeks, a boot for 5 months and was unable to do lower body exercises except in a pool for more than a year. So much of my life changed and trying to see who I was and how I got to that point, was hard. So really……..thank you.

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Oh Megan, I am truly so so sorry. I would definitely feel hopeless also and very frustrated with all that you have been through. I hope that you do get to start running soon and please let me know how you are doing. Thinking about you!

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Hi Megan…has your dr ordered a bone growth stimulator to help heal the stress fx? I had one in my foot that would not heal…got the bone growth stimulator & it worked!

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He did. I used it for 5 months after my cast was taken off. My next move is to try a medication called forteo. It helps build bone mass. If that doesn’t work, I can try a doctor in bountiful that will take my blood, spin it down and inject the plasma around my fracture site. I should be happy that there are options, it has just been so long and I want to run as far and as fast as I can.

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Love it! I’m on board.

Janae, for you, how do you feel/ what do you feel when you realize your glutes aren’t/ weren’t firing? It looks like you realize it after-the-fact. Thanks!

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HEY LEE!! Yes, I just feel like they aren’t working. They aren’t doing their part of the run. It feels flat while my legs feel like they are working hard and my muscles in my hamstrings and quads are. Does that make sense at all?

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Thanks for sharing these insights. There is a connection between the glutes and the hamstrings. But, in all fairness, one might say it’s not necessarily your glutes – could be your gait…. I found this Runner’s World video on testing the glutes (when all else fails, test the thing you think is the source):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-5VD3rJTrU

Regarding gait, I think Katie (can’t think of her last name) puts some good information out (she has a channel). IMO there’s a lot to the pelvis and alignment. She’s a unique soul and she’s got some practical videos on carrying babies, some things to do on long road trips; and here’s one closer to your post today also involving hills and trails (some of your favorites):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDIeu_QL51U

There’s a lot to know and I’m always learning more in this area.

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Hey Janae!

I totally agree about lazy glutes being the root of many injuries! This has been a big problem for me in the past and I actually recently made a couple videos with my gym about how to get your glutes working properly. Do you mind if I share them? They’re a little amateur and I’m kind of awkward on camera but the info in them is really useful :)

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SHARE THEM FOR SURE!!! I WOULD LOVE THAT!

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Alright here you go!

The first one is about how to tell if your glutes are underactive/firing late, and the second is some more intense glute strengthening exercises.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pkH7dPbV4c

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Hey, I am absolutely signing up for this challenge!! I have had issues with my knees for the last yr, and frustrated because it’s the longer distances that are difficult to get to when my knees are like this!
I am wanting to do long distance again, so this is what I need. Thanks for the challenge!

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Oh I hope that it helps your knees out! Keep me updated with how you are doing!

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No scary movies for me! I can’t handle it.
I will totally be joining your glute challenge, I’ve noticed that the more I focus on strengthening my glutes the better my runs!

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Ugh, this is so over-hyped and mis-rated. Distance runners don’t need crazy strong glutes – hams strength is more significant. Sprinters? Yes, glutes. There is very little hip extension (which the glutes does) while running. This idea that are glutes are lazy is becoming annoying. Research might show that they are late to fire; but they are firing, otherwise you’d fall down. Just focus on overall strengthening and you’re fine.

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Huh? the glutes are really important, and if you do some simple research you can find a lot of articles about importance of glute muscles for runners :
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3418110/ (Lower extremity overuse injuries are associated with gluteus medius (GMed) weakness)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10959926 (The injured runners were then enrolled in a 6-week standardized rehabilitation protocol with special attention directed to strengthening the gluteus medius….Long distance runners with ITBS have weaker hip abduction strength in the affected leg compared with their unaffected leg and unaffected long-distance runners. Additionally, symptom improvement with a successful return to the preinjury training program parallels improvement in hip abductor strength.)

As someone who was injured from glute problems and fixed with medical advice and correction/ rehab of my glute muscles, I can attest as well.

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100% joining you on this!!! I have been struggling with ITBS & sore calves. I started IFL release but I know the root of the issue is weak glutes/ hips! Training for an ultra in March (with cray-cray vert 5000 ft) so best get my butt in gear.

Awesome idea!!

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Looks like a lot of Halloween fun! My favorite candy is sour patch kids and I may have stolen a package from one of my kids pumpkins. Shh . . . don’t tell! Great tips about glute activation! So important!

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I’m definitely in for the glute strengthening challenge, thanks kiddo!

I always organized my candy after trick or treating, and my dad always took all the licorice, which was fine by me. (ick) :)

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So what movie did you watch??? You guys are too cute: “It is my 1st November ever w/ Andrew.” I love that you’re able to go trick-or-treating w/ your sis & her fam in your old neighborhood. That’s awesome! My b-day is the 17th & my daughter’s is this Sat. Nov. is a big mo. for us! :) (not to mention my fave holiday is coming up this mo.)

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We watched The Shining!! I made it half way through before I said no more ha. I don’t do well with scary movies:) HAPPY BDAY THIS MONTH and to your daughter on Saturday:) Enjoy the entire month Julie!

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Yes I am in need of stronger glutes! Maybe by my birthday Nov 27 I’ll need a new pair of jeans to show them off! GREAT POST! Also snickers shudder at the sight of me, I unwrap and eat them almost before I know what happened!

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HAPPY BDAY THIS MONTH ELIZABETH… I hope that you celebrate all month long:) Hahaha Andrew is just like you when it comes to Snickers. I feel that way about Milky Ways. Yes, get the jeans for sure!

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Okay I have to know–how do you get the sticks to actually STICK into the apple?!

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I am a big scary movie fan! I watch any that come out. Those caramel apples look delicious by the way!!

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Those caramel apples looks AMAZING!! I never would have thought to make those myself, good work!

We only had one trick-or-treater last night, so disappointing. I made adorable candy bags filled with gum, candy, and chocolate bars in little frankenstein bags and had no idea how many kids to expect since we just moved into this neighbourhood so I had 60 treaat bags, and we got one kid. Devastating!

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I love any candy that sticks to your teeth! Dots, Milk Duds, Sour Patch kids, Swedish fish… it’s all yummy!

I LOVE LOVE Scary movies — but only if someone is there to watch them with me. If I’m alone, I’m a TOTAL CHICKEN! I’ll even mute the TV so that the creepy music doesn’t get under my skin.

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I have a November birthday the 24th which is Thanksgiving this year. I cannot wait to spend it with my extended family!

Never had a injury because of my glutes. I still love to run, but am balancing it with more strength training these days.

This was a weird Halloween, my youngest didn’t want to go trick of treating, so she helped me hand out candy. My high schoolers were crazy busy with homework since it was Monday night,and I’m missing my husband who is far away in a business trip this week :-(

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I just read something on self about lazy glute and thought I need to add these to my plank sessions that I do during commercials while watching TV. I’m definitely in.
No candy for me….kids guard it with their lives. I did eat some oreos.
I hate scary movies. My husband doesn’t suggest them and tells me NO! if I suggest one. They give me nightmares. Good luck with the movie! At least you get incidental cuddling when you’re burying your face in Andrew’s shoulder.

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I’m quite sure that my injuries stem from weak hips and glutes. I swear my glutes don’t fire at all! I actively have to think about activating them when I’m running hills, and I can immediately tell the difference. Thanks for the exercises!

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