Squats, stability balls and stretches

Posted on January 9, 2017 by Bo

The other day, a running friend of mine asked me how it’s going with my biokinetist? She knows all about bio’s because she often comes to track moaning about how sore she is and that her bio is a secret assassin. I blogged about my initial visit to Mari a while back. Mari is helping me to strengthen muscles and work on areas of my body which are not as strong as they could be, hoping this ultimately will help my running form.

Mari gave me some homework to do, which I have tried to do regularly. One is them involves rolling a ball under my foot to help with my collapsed arch. The other is to make sure I lift my head and not look down when I’m running. This may sound like an easy thing to do, but trust me, it takes concentration since I’m not used to running that way.

On one of my last visits to Mari, she realized that I am incredibly weak and even before I think of lifting my legs and knees when I run, that I need to work on strengthening them. She has given me a bunch of hamstring, glute, back and hip exercises to focus on.

I’ve been amazed at how difficult but also easy home gym is! Firstly it takes effort and discipline to do them. But they make me sweat like mad and I’m often stiff the following day so they definitely work.

To help me remember the exercise, Mari takes photographs of me at my appointment. Trust me, there’s no better image than seeing 1. Just how much weight I’ve put on, and 2. How tough simple exercises are such a strain for my body. I am seriously weak and have lots of work to do!

I giggle like crazy when I see the pics! I look like I’m in such pain and feel so awkard! LOL.

But yes, the bio is one of the best decisions I made. I am feeling stronger. I feel more confident and for the first time, I’m more in tune with my body and know and understand what I need to do to improve my running. I’ll keep you posted!

Friday’s on my mind…

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Bo

I skipped the whole Dr. Martens phase when I was growing up. As a nerdish teenager, I viewed anyone who wore ‘those’ shoes as rebellious, as wild and dangerous. To me, only skin heads, punks and goths wore Dr. Martens. It was the shoe for guitarists who played in heavy metal bands and for girls who shaved the sides of their heads and wore short skirts. Even my sister had a pair but she was always bunking class to go draw and paint in the Art studio in high school. You see what I mean?

I was a child of the 90’s when grunge was in fashion but somehow got caught up wearing takkies and jellies . As a result, I never had a favourite pair of cherry red or black 14 hole Doc’s. Until now…

20 years later and I spotted Dr. Martens shoes one evening last year. I was hooked. I had to have a pair! They suddenly appealed to me. I fell in love with them and finally (!) after two decades have bought my very first pair of Dr. Martens. I love them!

The company’s tagline is #standforsomething. Ironically when I’ve told people I’m buying Docs, many have laughed and recalled back to the days when they were young and used to wear their favourite pair. So why now? Well why not? It might co-incide with me turning 40. So that’s what my stand is going to be. 40 and fabulous!

Okay so who of you still have your ‘old’ Docs or great memories of them? I know some of you are smiling right now. I know I am.

Have a wonderful long weekend everyone! Docs

Not running in winter did me some good

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Bo

I hate running during the winter months. There, I said it. I always promise myself that I’m going to try keep up my training and run through until summer, but it never happens. My last race is usually the RAC 10km in June and after that, it’s downhill. As it gets darker, the excuses flow and the motivation wanes.

But it’s not all bad. This year, I have discovered some good that has come out of it.

I’ve rested my feet. All through 2011 and up until June this year, I have been battling with plantar fasciitis as well as Morton’s Neuroma in my left foot. I have bought every gadget I could find to massage my feet. I have been to Lyno sports massage. I have tried all the stretching exercises I could find on Google and Runners World. But not running for two months and resting my feet has done wonders. I know when (wise) people tell you to stop running and rest when you get injured, most runners go into shock and refuse to listen. But it works. My plantar fasciitis was healed with Lyno but the neuroma has definitely lessened and cannot be felt on most days. My feet feel strong and rested.

I’ve rested my body. I don’t normally catch colds or flu during winter. In fact, KK and I do not even have a house doctor and usually self-medicate with med-lemon and honey. But this year, we were both hit badly and it set us back for weeks. First him, then me. I had to stop all activity and was even bedridden for a week. No gym, no running. It can make you feel pretty miserable. But knowing that it’s winter made it okay. If it were summer, I’d be panicked that I was missing all the cool races. But the race calendar only really kicks into gear once spring comes along so I could safely use this time to rest as much as I could and recover properly. My body has rested.

I’ve rested my mind. Running can sometimes be all consuming. It gets to a point, especially before the big races such as Two Oceans, that that’s all everyone talks about. I get a bit obsessed about my running pace. I get upset about my race times. I get all worked up in good and bad ways after reading tweets, blogs and articles talking about running. But the less races I’ve run, the less running has been an issue. I’ve also been able to blog about other things that have been keeping me busy and so there have been some weeks where running has not even featured. It’s good to rest your mind.

Yet, I must admit that I even though I have rested my feet, my body and my mind, enough is enough. I am feeling niggly. My feet are starting to itch. My body is feeling heavy. My mind is starting to think about all things running.

The resting is over. I can feel spring is on it’s way…

If the (running) shoe fits…

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Bo

If you follow my blog / tweets / moans in the office, you will know that I have been struggling with pains in my left foot for a while now. Podiatrists and biokinetists have diagnosed a combo of plantar fasciitis as well as morton’s neuroma.

Two different treatments have been recommended. The podiatrist made me orthotics for my running shoe and sent me on my way. The biokinetist has been giving me exercises to strengthen my feet and has shown me different massage techniques to do. She also recommended a change in running shoe style and size.

I’ve been reluctant to say anything ‘until it worked’, being the sceptic that I am. But so far… so good. I switched from the Asics 1170’s to Asics Gel Nimbus, which is more of a neutral shoe. The other major change is that I went from wearing a size 6 to wearing a 7 1/2! I know! I feel like I have giant feet but Craig at Dunkeld Sweatshop (this dude is good!) ensures me that this size is right for my feet.

So? Is it working?

I ran the 15km Colgate race in May as well as the RAC 10km two weeks ago. During both races, my foot ached like hell, especially the section where the neuroma sits. But the plantar fasciitis is 90% gone. (As my biokinetist put it, it will take time for the heel to heal.)

I walk around at work some days and actually find myself wondering where the heel pain is. But it’s gone. It feels wonderful!

I’ve got a long way to go with the www.lynosport.co.za treatments but I can definitely feel that my feet are getting stronger. I just need to be good and carry on doing my exercises.

Now just to tackle that neuroma…