Mount Famine

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Well, what a race. Brutal is a word you could use. We got over to Hayfield with plenty of time to wander up and have a quick look at the final run in- and also at the start. Which is quite a daunting crazy hill straight up the side of a hill with a large amount of rather lush vegetation. Changed and numbered up, I was running my first race in club colours- Glossopdale, and having had a couple of races in which I was put somewhat at a disadvantage by letting others charge off and waiting til the back … Continue reading →

Processes involved in healing a muscle strain

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The first aim of treatment in healing a muscle strain is to reduce pain, swelling, bleeding and secondary tissue damage by utilising PRICE (protection, rest, ice, compression and elevation). Encouraging circulation, after the acute stage, through gentle massage lymphatic drainage can help recovery. There are three stages to healing a muscle strain: inflammatory, proliferative and remodelling. Inflammatory: this is the body’s reaction to the injury and preparation for the repair phases. The inflammation stage is when the immune system increases circulation to the injury site, with the aim of producing edema (swelling). Pain will be felt at the site, which … Continue reading →

Burbage Skyline

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This was a fairly popular one. Managed to get there early and bagged a carparking space, and an entry form- which were in somewhat short supply as they had been forgotten by the race organiser.(He’d remembered EVERYTHING else, but of the entry forms, there were only 8). So got my number, and stood around waiting. Within a short time there was an almighty queue for race numbers, not going anywhere. However, it was soon sorted and there were people all around getting changed, pinning on numbers and generally prepping for the run.There were all kinds of runners there, from serious … Continue reading →

Swimming while Pregnant

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I have been researching swimming whilst pregnant and came across this article which is a good short read: http://www.sportcentric.com/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,,4716-1-1-84574-0-file,00.pdf The main thrust of the advise seems to be that swimming is good, particularly to counterbalance any postural changes that may occur by strengthening your chest and back muscles. This is important because the body’s centre of gravity changes dramatically as you gain weight and rather than let your muscles just adjust in an unbalanced posture you need to keep them healthy and strong by exercising. For someone carrying a baby the main benefit of swimming has to be getting into … Continue reading →

Crowden Horseshoe

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My second fell race of the season. I didn’t really think about entering it until a couple of days ago – I knew that Burbage Skyline was coming up, but this wasn’t really on my radar. Barely 6 miles from home, this was a good one to start getting used to a longer race. Herod Farm was short at 5 miles or so, this was a slightly more challenging 8(ish).Lynne kindly drove me over, and then wandered about the hillside taking rather marvellous photos of people plunging down toward the end. The beginning was fast – over road for about … Continue reading →

Shin Splints

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Having seen some interesting theories on Shin Splints and what to do about them in recent days, I thought I might write a little about them. There are actually 3 different conditions which are known as shin splints, so its quite useful to be able to differentiate between them. I’ll start scary and get less so as we go through. The first and most scary is stress fracture of the tibia (main weight bearing bone in the leg below the knee). If this happens, get it looked at asap. Stop running. Let it heal. There really isnt much that massage … Continue reading →