Have you gone mental yet? 

This is the question that has been asked of me (Tim) a week after getting achillies tendonitis following a couple of back-to-back long runs, loaded with a rucksack. The implication being that if I don’t run then I’m basically going to go out of my head. Interesting. And to be fair, something that a lot of runners seem to think will happen, it’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy. You get injured, you announce to the world you can’t run, and wonder how long you’re going to cope before you drive yourself crazy because you can’t run. How odd. It’s been a week … Continue reading

4 Key Issues to Avoid during Pregnancy

Staying healthy during your pregnancy is vital for you and your baby. Here’s a few tips that should help you have a healthier pregnancy: 1. Dehydration: your blood volume increases; fluid is needed for the amniotic fluid that surrounds the foetus; you lose more fluids if/when you experience morning sickness through vomiting (hyperemisis gravidarium in extreme cases – the NHS information on this condition is worth reading) and you need to supply your growing baby with good nourishment. Reduced fluid intake will affect all of these areas. 2. Overheating: there is the potential to affect the development of your baby if your core temperature is elevated above normal. During pregnancy your … Continue reading

Gym Jones Seminar – Level 2 – Day 2

Read about Gym Jones Seminar – Level 2 – Day 1 here. The next morning, we jumped straight into the classroom, no sudden early morning wake up call from Rob, and worked our way through some more advanced programming theory, while a Crossfit class went on in the Gym outside. There was an extended Q&A session, which included quite a debate as to why there are no Female “standards” at Gym Jones, despite the fact there are Male ones. I think the issue is still in debate, and there is no definitive answer as yet. Later on in the morning, we … Continue reading

Coping with Injury

Perhaps this is a good time to talk about injuries and coping with them, and maybe, how not to re-injure yourself through coming back too quickly. The reason for this is because I recently had my first DNF in a fell race, through an impact injury with a rock. A few days later, my knee was still pretty swollen, I couldn’t bend it so well… In fact I could barely walk up stairs. It was going to be a good couple of weeks, if not more, before I could actually get out to run, cycle, or even get on the rowing machine. … Continue reading

Strength training for running – a waste of time?

Strength training for running is a bit of a funny subject amongst runners. Some people say that the best training for running is running – which, to a point is true, but there are some processes which will help you run further, faster and more efficiently which you cannot improve just by pounding long miles. The main “reason” for not doing weight training (if we, for a moment , forget about downright laziness) is the somewhat long in the tooth “But I don’t want to put on muscle! – it will increase my weight, and that will make me slower” … Continue reading

Physiotherapy Year 2

Goodness. Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun? We are now into the 4th teaching week of semester 1 in my second year at Salford University studying Physiotherapy. The first three weeks passed in a flurry of information and work on pathologies and treatment of the spine, and we are already onto the somewhat complex subject of neurology. No time to sit back and take it easy, as once that is done, we are straight into a few weeks of cardio-respiratory physio taking me up to Christmas, and then exams in the New Year on all of the subjects above. The pace has certainly become a … Continue reading