Tag Archives: running

Oooh- don’t run, it’s bad for your knees.

By | |
Comments Off on Oooh- don’t run, it’s bad for your knees.

They look at you as if you’re mad and say: “Oh I wouldn’t run, you’ll ruin your knees” or “I wouldn’t lift weights – it’s bad for you back”. …. And so they sit down in front of the tv with a “sharing” size packet of crisps and proceed to devour the lot. Before heading to the shops in a car, to buy more food- making sure it is low-fat, of course – because it is healthier while trying to stop you from doing the thing that might drag you out of a hole. People feel guilty for not engaging … Continue reading →

My God, My Calves!

By | |
Comments Off on My God, My Calves!

As mentioned in a previous blog – and indeed in our last newsletter (sign up here if you didn’t get it), we really are into spring marathon training time now. 10ks and half marathons have been run as build up races, training distances will be getting longer, and time on feet will be increasing as the big day beckons. From about mid-February onwards we get calls from runners from all distances – from those just starting out on parkruns to experienced and dedicated racers, and to cut a long story short, the basic content of these calls boils down to … Continue reading →

Marathon time

By | | , ,
Comments Off on Marathon time

Ah – February. Marathon training schedules rule the roost. People counting miles, gradually building up the distance. Niggles appear, cold and flu rear their ugly heads, they get ignored, sometimes they disappear, but sometimes they grow more and more insistent. Occasional days get missed, sometimes a week but still the schedule grinds on. Some people, having not got on the bandwagon a month ago are now looking to start an “accelerated” marathon programme- get fit for 26 miles in less than 3 months. Yes. It’s February. Soon enough it will be March, the mornings are slowly getting brighter, runs will … Continue reading →

Is it possible to avoid running injuries?

By | |
Comments Off on Is it possible to avoid running injuries?
Global Therapies: Tim during the Coniston fell race

I was having a chat with another runner recently about running, injuries and the prevalence of injuries to runners of all types. The conversation mostly focused around chronic injuries rather than acute- “ow, I’ve run into a tree” type injuries. I did a bit of digging and a bit of thinking and ended up with something that turned into this blog. Interesting stat: The biggest predictor of being injured as a runner is not to do with mileage, climb, time on feet, running surface, shoe type or anything like that; it is the answer to the question “have you been … Continue reading →

Making A Better Runner – Stretch-Shorten-Cycle – BOUNCE!

By | |
Comments Off on Making A Better Runner – Stretch-Shorten-Cycle – BOUNCE!

So we’ve gone through the classic format of looking at different types of training that people tend to do and come to the conclusion that although there are some things that are more important than others on the training continuum for runners, a balance needs to be struck in order for progression and improvement to manifest itself. There is one thing that hasn’t been talked about, and that is Bounce, or the stretch-shorten-cycle. Essentially, it is the load response of a tendon, its brief amortization phase – when the tendon is no longer lengthening, and is not shortening, and then … Continue reading →

Making A Better Runner – Endurance

By | |
Comments Off on Making A Better Runner – Endurance

Yes, I know. This is perhaps the most obvious one of the lot. Fell running takes a fair amount of Endurance. Arguably its the thing that people concentrate on most. Getting out for longer runs in evenings. Getting out on the weekends and pushing the distance. As Julian Goater says in his book, people find it easier to improve on distance than on speed, hence why “progression” as a runner so often appears to go down the lines of 5k, 10k, half mara, mara, 50k, 50 miles etc as opposed to necessarily getting faster at short distances. I don’t really … Continue reading →