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Congratulations Joe on completing your first Ironman triathlon last weekend at Ironman UK in Bolton!! Now you can enjoy a well earned rest before you plan the next event…..

It has been a real pleasure working with you over the last few months as you trained for this event, your dedication and commitment has really paid off.  It is truly a fantastic achievement to complete a full Ironman!!!

Congratulations to all runners who completed today’s 10k.  The Elmbridge Road Runners http://www.elmbridgeroadrunners.co.uk/ 10k is a flat, fast route along the Thames towpath, starting and finishing at the Xcel Centre, Walton on Thames.

The flat and cloudy conditions this morning delivered numerous PBs – notably with the first 2 runners finishing in 30.20 and 30.25, well ahead of the previous course record which had stood since 2004.  A 30-second PB saw Sean Renfer of Elmbridge Road Runners take the Elmbridge Resident Trophy.

This is a terrific event suitable and welcoming to all abilities, with several runners taking part in their first 10k races.  Well done to all those involved in the 10k, organisers, marshalls and runners alike.

I’ve seen a couple of clients recently and I thought it may be worth just highlighting the need to look after the small intrinsic muscles that support the joints and initiate movement. We all see and recognise the obvious muscles of the body but these are just a small part of the picture.

Underlying these are the small supporting muscles – the muscles that start and control movement. An example is the shoulder: many people exercise and do activities that involve large, expansive movements.  However they do not always benefit the smaller muscles and this can occasionally lead to deep shoulder pain as those muscles become fatigued and the tendons attaching the muscle to the bone become strained.  This can easily be prevented with specific conditioning exercises that improve the strength of those deep muscles.

This applies just as much to your back and many of those aches and pains we all feel. The deep muscles of the spine that stabilise the joints become fatigued due to a lack of conditioning; abdominal workouts without specific exercises to strengthen the muscles of the back are only half the solution.

I do not intend to try and describe an endless list of exercises here in this blog, my suggestion would be that whatever your lifestyle choices you will enjoy them much more if you don’t have these annoying little aches and pains deep in your joints. You can avoid these with properly directed exercises.

Speak to a conditioning coach http://www.uksca.org.uk/uksca/Common/practitionerSearch.asp, try Pilate’s http://www.pilatesfoundation.com/newsite/index.php or get the personal trainer at the gym to show you specific exercises. Finally if none of that appeals look up a local sports injury therapist, physiotherapist or other equally qualified injury rehabilitation advisor on the web and they will give you very good advice.

Just don’t ignore it because many little aches and pains can be avoided if you look after the bodies basic infrastructure.

Huge congratulations to Shahid!

He has just completed his debut performance in a ballet at the Watermans Theatre, Brentford http://www.watermans.org.uk/theatre/along with the rest of the company from the Pam Howard School of Dance.  After just six months of ballet training he is dancing a piece from Le Corsaire and the arabian piece from the Nutcracker. The first two nights have gone superbly well, with friends, family and others wowed by his strength and form. The performances will run for two more nights and I am sure it will be a massive success.

I saw a regular client very recently who I treat bi-weekly for general preventative massage following the birth of her first child last year. Normally treatment is focused on easing the strains caused by lifting and carrying her little one each day. This time she asked me to look at her neck and shoulders which have caused her trouble in the past when spending long periods on her laptop.We discussed what had changed in her routines recently and was just about to remind her of the need for good posture and to remember to use laptop stands and remote keyboards when she said ‘I wonder if it is because I have been spending time on my iPad’ . I asked her to show me how she was using it and she appeared to be slightly hunched over – very similar to another client that I had seen just a few days previously. It got me thinking about how we use the wide variety of modern technology such as desktops, laptops, Blackberries, iphones etc. We all enjoy – and rely on – using these and will spend many uninterrupted hours focused on what we are doing without realising what we might be doing to our bodies. If you are using any of these gadgets then you need to take regular breaks, change your position and occasionally look up. Most people typically slump when using such equipment, thus our shoulders become rounded, putting greater strain on the joints and muscles in your neck and back, and shortening the muscles in  your chest – not ideal!

Remember – take a break, sit back, straighten up, hold your shoulders back push the chest out a bit. If you have a habit of forgetting, build this into your day by using calender reminders and make an appointment with your body.

Just a quick post to congratulate Joe who this weekend completed the Weymouth Middle Distance Triathlon organised by http://www.conceptsport.co.uk/ This is his third year completing this tough event and this year he smashed his PB by a whole 14 minutes which bodes well for his training towards his ultimate goal in 2010  - UK Ironman on the 1st of August.http://www.ironmanuk.com/ironmanuk

I have just read a very interesting article on the BBC website under the science and environment link that reports on a study that has been carried out on the effects of barefoot running versus the very cushioned shoes that we all wear. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8483401.stm Not sure personally that I would go running barefoot myself, far too many sharp things on the roads and tracks around here on my soft feet . However it certainly builds on the debate about the perceived benefit of this type of running.  One of the alternatives to sore and cut feet could be the five toed running socks I wrote about in an earlier post. http://www.rangeofmotion.co.uk/archives/425

There is certainly much more to be gained from mid foot and forefoot striking rather than the energy sapping heel strike. The mechanics of the foot with the distribution of the bones, joints and muscles certainly indicate that we get much more power in each stride by a mid foot strike. A few words of caution though; you cannot just change styles overnight after years of heel strike running. Your body will have to learn to adapt to the change. I have worked with some clients using preventative massage treatments and a programme of stretches to facilitate an injury free transition. This has seen them take minutes of PBs and be less susceptible to impact injuries.

This is the time of the year when many of you will be setting out on your marathon training and it is does not matter if this is the first one you will do or you are an experienced long distance runner. The risk of injuries are high, the volume of running  will potentially pre-dispose you to picking up those aches and pains that could hinder your carefully worked out training plan. They are all preventable if you include within that programme regular maintenance sessions with a manual therapist who can iron out any difficulties before they hit you. You will take the time to consider what you eat, what you wear, your running shoes; but will you think about your body and what you will demand of that? Running has an impact through the whole of your body not just the legs and feet; it will effect your back, your shoulders and your neck. Good quality sports massage and joint mobilisation can minimise those impacts and make your whole marathon experience more enjoyable.  Your massage therapist can give you excellent injury prevention advice and most of them have experience with training and sports activities so will know what you are experiencing at first hand. You can also find some excellent online advice at the following website and link that I saw today, http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/sports/marathon_tips.php

I’ve just spent three days watching and supporting my wife and a couple of hundred others run or walk their way across 79 miles of Cornish coastal path in three days from Padstow to Lands End as part of the Atlantic Coast Challenge organised by those very fine folk at VOTWO.  http://www.votwo.co.uk/votwo2007/events-and-adventure.php In addition to the aches and pains caused by running 3 marathons across 3 consecutive days, the main injury appeared to be blisters, with the event medic was spending a great deal of time managing these, however there is a simple preventative solution. Most of you who run or walk any distance are aware of where your footwear press against your feet. Generally this does not result in blisters when on regular flat surfaces, however off road terrain and its uneven surfaces cause greater movement of your feet inside your shoes, with these pressure areas at risk of quickly becoming points which develop into blisters. The simple preventative sloution is to put some sort of protective covering on those parts of your feet before you start each day or event. I have found that carefully applied layer of micropore tape across the vulnerable areas will prevent blisters. It is a very quick and easy idea that will reduce risk of blisters and ensuring you fully enjoy your chosen activity.

There is a great deal of information on the web about the science of these tights, shorts, shirts and calf supports and it is not my intention to go into finite detail. I am keen to share two very recent examples of direct experience of the effectiveness of these for post event recovery. A friend purchased a pair of compression tights prior to doing the New Forest Middle distance triathlon http://www.racenewforest.co.uk/ with the intention of using them the day before the event to minimise pre race fatigue and as a recovery aid afterwards. He was very impressed with the effects after the race claiming that usually, following a half ironman distance event he would be very stiff for at least a week. However, using the compression tights he was clearly able to move about easily and his overall recovery time was significantly reduced.

The second example of feedback was from my wife using a combination of gear over the three days of the votwo-organised Atlantic Coast Challenge http://www.votwo.co.uk/votwo2007/community/news-item.php?start=&offset=&item=172. At the end of each day’s run she put on compression tights immediately after finishing. I particulalry noticed the increased ease she had in moving around, climbing up stairs, getting in/out of transport; in the past, it had been very obvious she was stiff and finding all movement difficult. During the night she chose to sleep in compression shorts and calf supports, which she put on immediately after post-event massage and stretching each day. She told me she felt so much better than she had last year at the same event. This combined compression clothing and massage strategy certainly aided her recovery each day enabling her to feel less muscle soreness and fatigue and also getting into her running much more quickly on each subsequent day.

Both examples demonstrate compression tights as a great aid to recover and I would certainly recommend these following any event or training session.  Note that my personal view is that these should not be used in isolation but to compliment good quality stretching and regular massage.