Meet Laura;
Laura... still smiling...just
Laura is our second sponsored athlete of 2010 and is running her first half marathon on 10th October. As part of our scheme we are training, guiding and consulting her to complete her goal. She is running on behalf of The Hospice of St Francis. You can keep up with her updates and sponsor her very worthy cause here: http://www.justgiving.com/laurae-j/ and here: http://www.laurahalfmarathon.blogspot.com/
As part of her training, Laura had an assessment with Ricardo our osteopath to assess her biomechanics and posture. She described the experience below for anyone interested in what this entails:
“So went to be prodded and poked yesterday on my first ever trip to an Osteopath (I’m getting to do all these exciting things thanks to Dave and The Foundry!) Didn’t really know what to expect; thought I might have to show him my running style or how long I could run for or something, so I arrived in my running kit, complete with running trainers on. Think Dave thought I was a bit silly at this point! Anyway, I met Ric who is a really nice guy, and we initially ran through my general health: am I pregnant, heart disease in the family, any major accidents, operations etc – answers to all were no. I am basically pretty healthy in general, so there was nothing exciting on my chart!
Next I had to stand naturally while Ric assessed my posture and looked at any muscular imbalances, postural issues from left to right side of my body. His assessment was that I am slightly squint – my right side is slightly higher than my left side (i.e. my right shoulder is higher than left). Apparently this is pretty common, especially as I am left handed and has to do with posture, how I sit, which side I carry bags on etc. As I am typing this I am now trying to make sure my posture is good and my feet flat on the floor.
After the standing and prodding, I had to lie down so Ric could assess my leg bones and muscles by moving my legs in any direction they could go. Found out I have good flexibility in my hips – woooo shake it baby! – however my calf muscles are actually quite tight, a trait normally found in men but I always liked to be awkward! This could be a reason why my legs get tired as the muscles are tight to start off with, so Ric gave me a couple of different stretches to do at least 3 times a day to stretch the muscles – already makes them feel better after doing them, though might look a bit daft stretching at work or in the tube!
The last thing I learnt was that I really am quite flat footed, especially in my left foot! Again something that isn’t great and could be affecting how I run and why I get aches and pains elsewhere like my knee. However this is something that can be solved by simple stretches too, and trying to do the stretches on the outside of the foot rather than letting the whole foot go flat on the floor. We also discussed barefoot running and Vibram FiveFingers in relation to this but decided because of the short time period it was unrealistic to try and start a whole new way of running this close to the event. Instead I’m going to try and walk around the house barefoot as much as possible.
All in all, I found it a really interesting session – I am slightly squiffy, have tight calves, and am flat footed – however everything can be fixed (or at least not made any worse) by simple but precise regular exercises. A very helpful hour of my day – thanks very much Ric!!!!”
Laura E-Jones. International Events Manager
Related posts:
