As runners, we become very familiar with the look of our legs. Mine have changed over the years. As a teen, I had a sprinter's legs: big quads, well-defined calves and thin ankles.
In my non-running 20s they retained the shape, in spite of running an average of 3 times a week at 2-3 miles per run.
Fast forward to my 40s and I start marathon training. The legs become muscled--very much so--but the contour changes and they are thinner. Nonetheless, I'm familiar with the shape.

This season, I notices a sense of weakness and numbness in the left leg. It seemingly preceeded the back troubles. All spring and summer, I commented on how "tight" and strange my left knee and thigh felt. Then the back troubles started.

Now, I'm running most days on the treadmill, and going 4-7 miles each run. The legs feel OK, though the left leg is still faulty in some sense. I looked in the mirror and asked Heather to look at my thighs. It's become obvious that the left thigh lacks the muscle the right one has. It's probably been this way all year. Never before did I have trouble balancing myself on downhills and turns.

I'm trying to stay positive on this; it's a new symptom that is, almost certainly, connected to the back troubles. The cause-effect chain's unclear to me at this point. Where did the trouble start? It's hard to determine medically. But there is a definate cause for the weak leg--smaller muscles. So, there's something I can do to fix that: orthotic, chiro, more back treatments. Who knows?

So I can show this to the doc as well. It's good to know that it might be something specific rather than being worn-out by age. In the meantime, I'll go easy on the treadmill, do my exercises, and wait.

In time, I'll have a better plan.

This week, we're getting loads of snow. So getting snowshoes is next up.