DUBLIN MARATHON EXPO

Hi to all runners/walkers/joggers, racers! With the countdown bringing us ever closer to the Dublin Marathon, it is time to pull back on those long runs and start working on really priming our bodies for the upcoming event. Speed sessions, fartlek, intervals....they are the last focus sessions for those of you who hope to get good times in Dublin. However, as the training is curbed to preserve glycogen stores and allow for sufficient recovery - so too is the flexibility work. I could count on one hand the amount of runners I know who build focused flexibility work into their weekly training plan. For all others, its what happens as part of a warm down at the end of a run. So, during the week where maintaining flexibility and mobility should be our focus, instead pasta, oats and protein shakes take over. Don't get me wrong- nutrition is key in these last two weeks (some people do tend to take the 'carb loading' process a bit too literally though!) - but some attention needs to be paid to our flexibility too. Spend 6 or 7 minutes working the legs and lower body to get warm and increase the heart rate gradually. Gentle stretching is key here. You are not looking to wrap your ankles around the back of your neck this week (we can work on that next week) - you just want to remain as flexible as you were last week. Breathing in to prepare, exhale as you gently lower yourself into a stretch - you should never feel pain, just a gentle stretch awareness. Breathe in again to release the stretch slightly, then exhale to lower yourself into the stretch again. Stretching in time to your breath is a great way to relax your tissue and allow it to lengthen. Counting the stretch out can be a bit stressful so just think about holding a stretch for 6 or 7 breaths and think about relaxing more every time you breath out!
Please please please get back to me if you have any specific issues and we will discuss them here on the blog - you may be asking the question everyone else wants to know the answer to!!!
Alternatively, see me at the Clonakilty Waterfront Marathon stand (no 18 ) at the expo, and Ill give you a stretch there.
Happy stretching, Fiona ;))

FREESTYLE DANCER

Hi all, apologies for the absence. Setting up the clinic in Ballincollig has been taking up quite a bit of my time. Everything is in place now and the 3rd clinic will be on Wednesday the 26th of October. This will be the final clinic before the Dublin Marathon as I will be in Dublin at the expo for the rest of the weekend - do come along as I will have the plynth with me and I will be stretching people at the Clonakilty Waterfront Marathon Stand.  Well, aside from all my lovely runners, I have treated some very interesting cases in the last fortnight. One case was a freestyle dancer who we will call Katie. Katie has been dancing since a very young age and is now close to leaving cert. Katie's main problem started just over a year ago with a pinching sensation in the front of her hip. This progressed to significant pain which impeded her ability to dance. Despite frequent visits to physiotherapists, tens therapy and visits to physical therapists, Katie just could not get relief from this hip pain. Over the year, the pain has lessened from where it was initially but she feels that her flexibility is seriously hampered on her left side and her ability to move without pain is impacting on her dancing. Katie had some very tender areas and while moving her leg through what should be a normal range of movement she was nearly hopping off the bed due to the pain in the front of her hip which was travelling into her groin and down her thigh. Following the first session (where there were lots of gasps - and so we had to move into doing everything in baby steps) Katie returned after a week. She was delighted to say that even after the week of walking to school and dancing, she felt much more fluid in her movement and while stretching at dancing, her range of movement had improved and her pain had drastically reduced. Throughout her second session, it was much easier for me to identify where her real issue were in terms of tightness and guarding as the tissue was much more relaxed. I will be seeing Katie at my clinic again on the 26th and will hopefully have more to report then.