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 →

Breathing Pattern Disorders

 
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So in view of the fact today is National Asthma Awareness day in the UK, I thought I’d write a little on Breathing Pattern Disorders (BPD) and how they affect people and the human organism. There are a few misconceptions about oxygen, carbon dioxide and their relationship with the human body. When we breathe, we expel CO2, and breathe in O2. However, this does not necessarily mean that CO2 is poisonous to humans. No, we cannot live from breathing in CO2, but yes, we can have big issues from not having enough of it in our system. When a person … Continue reading →

Herod Farm Fell Race

 
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Entered my first fell race in the Peak today. I have run a couple down south, but never anywhere where there that actually been proper hills. The Herod Farm race is organised by Glossopdale Harriers http://www.glossopdale.org.uk/, and is famed for the “2nd hill”.Normally, short fell races are run on an up and back basis- so once you have got all the climbing out of the way, there is little else to do except run like hellfire to get back down to the bottom of the hill.Herod Farm is different. It follows all the usual bits, like running up a hill … Continue reading →