A Strong Body is Rarely a Painful Body

When you're not running, do you spend more time stretching or strengthening?  In my work as a physiotherapist at the Running & Gait Centre at the Pan Am Clinic, I have had the opportunity to perform many running gait assessments since we launched in November.  We have been performing assessments on injured athletes and on those who simply want to identify any “red flags” within their running biomechanics that could lead to injury in order to prevent any down time.  Already, I am starting to see some patterns and themes develop that confirm what many coaches and successful runners already know.  A strong body is rarely a painful body.

I have been known to say that if runners would spend as much time strengthening as they do stretching, I would see a lot less running injuries in my practice.  Coincidentally, lately I have found myself prescribing far more focused strengthening than stretching exercises to the keen runners who have come to our centre seeking solutions to their running injuries. Don't get me wrong.  Spending time stretching is good, but we can't forget strengthening as well.

Strength needs to be balanced and it needs to be functional.  A joint needs to be supported on both sides, side to side and front to back.  Multiple joints need to be able to work together as part of the whole lower kinetic chain in order to produce the desired motion for any sport.  Strengthening exercises for running need to replicate the desired muscle, joint or lower kinetic chain function as closely as possible to result in optimal biomechanical function and performance.

As your running season progresses and you find yourself spending more and more time logging miles, it’s easy to neglect your strengthening regime.  However, even a few short strengthening sessions per week can create better balance in your body and protect you from injury.  Here are some suggestions when choosing your strengthening exercises:

1. Make it functional.  Always ask yourself, ‘why am I doing this exercise?’  Keeping in mind this article is intended for runners, try to do most of your exercises standing up.  Better yet, consider standing on one foot as much as possible, as 100% of running is spent with either one foot or no feet on the ground.  You will improve not only in strength, but neuromuscular control, balance, proprioception and your ankle and foot cannot help but get stronger.
2. Go minimal while strength training.  As long as it is safe and allowable to do so, wearing minimal shoes or going barefoot while doing your functional strength training encourages your foot and ankle muscles to work more.  You will be able to sense fine adjustments needed to stand stronger on one foot while barefoot than you will with your running shoes on.  Try to keep your arch engaged (pretend there is a pebble or tack under your arch) and your toes relaxed, while avoiding rolling onto the outer edge of your foot. This encourages the deep muscles in the sole of your foot to work optimally. 
3. Work multiple muscle groups at once.  Not only is this more functional, but it is more efficient and every runner knows that time is precious.
4. Don’t neglect eccentrics.  The eccentric or negative function of a muscle is a controlled lengthening contraction.  Running is essentially a controlled fall with every foot strike and your muscles need to slow the impact force of your body weight as each foot hits the ground. This happens eccentrically for most muscle groups and is where breakdown of the body and injury most often occurs.  For each exercise you do, try a 2:1:4 tempo, where you shorten the muscle on a 2 count, hold for a 1 count, and lengthen or return to the starting position on a 4 count.
5. Optimize your core for running.  We all know that having a strong core is important and there are dozens of great exercises out there.  Generally, while running the core functions to control rotation and derotation as we transfer energy from one limb to the other with our arms swinging in the opposite direction.  While you will be generally working your core if your workouts are functional, you should incorporate specific core exercises that involve reciprocal motions similar to running, such as mountain climbers, reverse mountain climbers, and the bicycle.

Bicycle

Mountain Climbers

Reverse Mountain Climber

Reverse Mountain Climber - TRX

If you have very little experience with strength training, consider asking for help from a professional such as a coach, personal trainer, or physiotherapist.  If you know your body is a little bit complicated or cranky, and you want a tailored plan to address your specific weaknesses, consider visiting us at the Running & Gait Centre for a comprehensive biomechanical and physical assessment. We’d love to help!

Kim Sénéchal is the lead physiotherapist at the Running & Gait Centre: Foundation Rehabilitation Services at the Pan Am Clinic.  She is also an ultra marathon runner and run coach.

**This article was originally published in the Manitoba Runners Association February newsletter, On The Run.

Ramping up & Ramping Down

A quick post for the record books.  I am into week 8 of my Grand Canyon Ultra training plan and just over 12 weeks out from my first big race of the season.  Mileage is starting to ramp up, which means some creative time management, efficient meal planning, and a constant struggle to find enough hours in the day to sleep.  I'm between about 70-80K/week for mileage now, and it's only going up from here.  I've been doing long runs out at Birds Hill Park on a nice meandering forested trail, which has nice variety but a noticeable lack of elevation as does every outdoor run here in Manitoba.

Still smiling...me at Todd rocking the running kilt!

So, once per week I've started making the drive out to a small town east of Winnipeg to run treadmill hill intervals with my training buddy Todd.  His gym kindly lets us prop one treadmill up on a step (~15% down grade) and we put another treadmill at +15% incline.  After 1 mile warm up, we have been doing 10 min intervals on each treadmill, trading back and forth.  We are now at 6 intervals.  With the warm up and cool down that totalled 2 hours 20 min and 12.5 miles (~20K) of running and trekking.  Argh!  Can we say stinky and sweaty not to mention brain numb afterwards?  However, after these runs I feel the exact type of DOMS and fatigue in my legs that I used to after mountain runs, and since that is the only time in the week that I can train for sustained climbs, those nasty treadmill intervals are going to get longer.  I (we) plan to add more variety to the intervals as time goes on, and try to start replicating portions of the GC course as closely as humanly possibly on a treadmill.

On another note, last weekend I volunteered for an 8 hour all night shift at the Actif Epica race.  It was very inspiring seeing runners and cyclists come into our aid station with 15 of 125km or 160km left to run/ride, in up to -40C wind chill weather.  My Sunday morning 30K run was at 5:30am on no sleep the night before.  Good training as I've never run that mentally tired before.  My legs were fine, but I almost nodded off mid step!

Finally, I tried a new nutritional supplement yesterday called UCan.  Thanks to a friend who told me all about it during the long night at Actif Epica, I think I may have discovered something amazing.  I hesitate to shout about it too loudly yet, but it's a slow release complex carb drink mix made from non-GMO corn that gave me seriously sustained steady energy for over 3.5 hours of running on only 2 servings of the powder (42g carbs!).  I can't handle gels for hours, and prefer whole foods, but they are heavy to carry and always have fiber.  Stay tuned as I experiment over the next few runs and try to further my body's ability to burn fat rather than sugar.

2015: Momentus Video

Before 2016 gets much more underway, I figured I'd better get my memories of 2015 recorded and encapsulated.  Here is a video of the year that was MOMENTOUS for me: because each moment was precious and savoured and special.  Because many were my last moments in places and with people I love dearly.  Farewell 2015 and BRING ON 2016!



Running Adventures 2015 from Kim Senechal on Vimeo.

Pay Attention

Two weeks ago today I was rear-ended at a stop light.  Had a sore neck for about a week, but last week felt "fine."  Two days after the accident I went to hot yoga after a run and struggled with poses that I'm usually rock solid in.  Hmmm.  Must be tired.

Then I ran an easy 10K in the COLD and felt my L iliotibial band starting to tighten up.  I blamed it on the cold, but it scared me because 10 years ago I had the same thing happen and it sidelined me for months.

A week later I finally got back to the gym for the first time since the accident and during my usual single leg stance balance and lunge exercises I could NOT stand on 1 foot for the life of me, especially the R foot.  I was struggling and looked like I was standing on quicksand.  It had been too long since my last workout and I left feeling weak.  I hate feeling weak.

Then yesterday I did my long run and after only 5K I felt the peroneal tendons in my L ankle start to ache.  After the run my L achilles seized up.  As I hobbled up the stairs to get food I wondered if I was falling apart a mere 3 weeks into my year long training schedule.

Then I looked in the mirror.  Those constant hunger pains had left me with some nicely developing abs.  No I do not spend long hours gazing in the mirror at myself.  But the trained physio eye in me did note that my abs were not symmetrical.  My R abdominals were more active, my L abs underactive, my hips were sitting at different heights.  A light switch came on.

My pelvis was out!  I did a few quick landmark measurements on myself and all of a sudden things made sense.  I was NOT falling apart.  I was just not quite together.  In my pelvis that is.

Way back in 2004 I struggled during my first marathon training season through severe left IT band syndrome.  I had tried EVERYTHING to treat it, but it only resolved when I discovered that my left sacroiliac joint was totally locked which made my pelvis dysfunctional.  Once that was treated, I ran the marathon (relatively) pain-free.

I could tell the same thing was happening again.  And it all started a few short weeks ago after being rear-ended with my R foot on the brake.  After a quick check-up by a coworker this morning here's a summary:

1) L leg longer 1/2"

2) L side of pelvis rotated forward

3) L SI joint very stiff

4) R SI joint very mobile (unstable)

5) hip flexors totally locked down

It is notable that since the accident I have not felt ANY low back or pelvic pain.  Upper back and neck pain yes, but no pelvic pain.  But there was a waterfall effect down my legs that started to create a mess all over the floor given enough time.

Result: A quick treatment at Foundation Rehabilitation Services @ The Pan Am Clinic where I work, and a lot of focused stretching and self muscle releases and I worked out today feeling like a rock.  Solid and stable on one leg and very much relieved that I had paid attention to the warning signs that something wasn't quite right.

My warning sign:  I know that I am rock solid in the single leg squat or stridder (click for video).  All the time.  After 2 workouts where I could not control my knee over my ankle I knew something was wrong.  This is a great self-check for any runner, as long as your strength is good and you can do a single leg squat during healthy times with no difficulty!

Moral of the story: Know your body.  Pay attention to your body.  React when you can tell something is not quite right.  I have the luxury of a trained eye and years of running experience to guide my instincts, but if you are not sure what's going on, get professional help.  I sure hope this is the last of my pelvic instability issues.  If not, my car insurance will hear from me :)

Winter Training in Canada

Further to my last post and in light of my race plans for 2016, I started my 20-week training block for the Grand Canyon Ultra on January 3.  Last week the temperature starting dropping and "real" winter descended upon southern Manitoba.  Up until that point, it had only reached approx -15C and my coldest run had been at -12C.

If one is to commit to an ultra-marathon, one needs to COMMIT.  Which means that runs need to happen regardless of your excuses, weather being the least of them.  When the thermometre started to drop into the -20's with windchill in the -30's, I started to question which I hated more: running on the treadmill, or running in the cold.

I have only done 3 seriously cold runs so far, so I am by no means an expert.  I am very fortunate to have some hardened and wizened Manitoban friends who gladly have been offering me all kinds of advice on clothing, hydration, face masks and general mindset, in addition to lending me gear.

One good thing about it finally getting really cold is that people have stopped telling me that "it's not cold yet, just you WAIT until it gets cold" every time I ran in a new personal cold record that didn't qualify as cold enough to the locals - sufficiently making me feel totally soft.

I was seriously initiated on Sunday when I ventured out to Birds Hill Park with Todd to do a few loops of the lovely winding wooded Bur Oak trail.  This is what I woke up to:

Gearing up to go outside - a tad terrified.  I lost the ski goggles quickly as they fogged up and were generally annoying.

Running Bur Oak - yes my mitts are off.  Sweat was dripping off my fingers.

So in my limited experience, the learning curve has been STEEP.  Here are a few things I've learned during my runs:

1) Listen to the experts.  And be grateful for friends who look out for you in your ignorance.

2) Layering is key. Up to -18C I need only 1 layer on my legs, and 2 layers under my wind jacket.  Colder than that I have experimented with adding 1-2 layers. Winter running can be expensive.

3) Do not wear waterproof wind pants when running in wind-chill of -36C.  The moisture will trap under them and you end up with a layer of ice and frost on your next layer.

4) Gortex shoes are a must.  I am in love with my Saucony Xodus 6.0 GTX shoes.  My feet have never been cold and they have awesome grip.  They are very stiff, but all shoes will be in cold temperatures, and they work ok for flat terrain. Not so great for hills.

5) I love the Cold Avenger Mask.  I hate face masks that stick to my mouth, get wet and then blow into my mouth with the wind, creating a feeling of suffocation.  The Avenger Mask fixed that problem for me, and warms the air before it enters my lungs.  I look like quite the crazy person running in it, but I honestly feel almost like I'm running on a warm day while wearing it.

6) You sweat a LOT more than when running in warm weather.  Sounds crazy, but it's true.  And you can't drink as much because your water freezes.  And then you would need to stop to pee, which would mean exposed fragile skin.  So I end up quite dehydrated after my winter runs and have followed advice to pre- and post-hydrate excessively.

7) I am told that you work 20% harder to run in the cold, and I would agree.  Possibly even more.  The energy expenditure to haul heavier shoes and clothing, run on slippery terrain and against the wind, and to simply to keep warm is enormous.

8) Do not stop once you've started.  It's amazing how warm I get while running even at -30+ but the instant I stop, the cold settles in really fast.

9) Mitts, not gloves.

10) It's all relative.  For every colder run that I do, I realize where the annoying comments telling me "it's not cold yet" came from.  Hence, gratitude for those days when it's only -10C!

The verdict: A sunny trail run in the snow at -36C wind chill beats the treadmill hands down.  As long as you dress accordingly, it's possible to run in the cold.  Is it my favourite thing in the world?  No, but any run day is a good day.

Now...when you're worried your car may not start after you've been running for a few hours, it may be time to reassess...but that wasn't me.  Nope.

Race Plans for 2016

In the 6 weeks since my last post, a few things have happened.  I've signed up for a few races, and winter decided to finally arrive for real in southern Manitoba.  Both things have brought out a little crazy in me.

Starting with the races, 2016 is going to be epic.  My best running year yet.  Two races on the calendar, both equally exciting and challenging.  Training for both to be done in a FLAT place.  I like a challenge.

1. Grand Canyon Ultra 50 Miler - May 21, 2016
I am so stoked to be heading to the Grand Canyon as it's a place I've wanted to visit for years, and the best way to see it is up close and personal.  Even better, my bestest running bud Sarah will be coming with me.  When I left Vancouver Island last summer, we made a pact that we would meet up for one race a year, and this was the race we chose for 2016.  I can't imagine a better way to see the GC than on foot, supported with food all along the way, emergency medical aid available, and travelling super light.  I plan to take many many pictures and savour the whole day.  A day or two in Vegas afterwards with Sarah won't be too hard to handle either!

That's going to be me in May!!!

2. Fat Dog 70 Miler - August 12-14, 2016
Since moving to Manitoba, I have made some really great running friends.  Somehow I stumbled upon Todd and Scott, a couple of amazing athletes and solid humans.  Scott had Fat Dog on his bucket list of races and decided this was the year to do 120 miles.  He convinced Todd to come with him, and when I heard about them going to BC to race, I joked that I couldn't let them go without me.  This led to an official invitation to join them, so I found myself setting my alarm for 2am Dec 15 to get up to register for the race.  And the Manitoba Dawgs were formed.

Just breathe...

I definitely am not up for 120 miles, but I do have a goal to do a 100 miler in 2017 (when I may or may not be turning a crucial age). So doing a 70 miler this year seems like the next logical next step.  And again, I am fuelled by gorgeous vistas, the smell of an evergreen forest, gnarly trails and long climbs.  I simply cannot wait to show the guys some BC mountains - up close and deeply personal.

Training for and and running an ultra marathon can easily become an all-consuming and frankly, selfish, endeavour.  Todd suggested that we give back and use our run to support a good cause.  We decided that we will be fundraising for Cancer Care Manitoba as we train to run a total of 310 miles combined.  Why?  Let's face it - who hasn't been touched by cancer?  We are in the process of registering with the organization, but please stay tuned with how you can donate to support Cancer Care.

I also plan to do a few shorter races, including the Spruce Woods Ultra as part of my taper for Grand Canyon, and if I'm not totally wrecked after Fat Dog, I plan to do the Lemming Loop again in October.

We are 1.5 weeks into January and I'm into my second week of my 20 week GC training cycle. It's winter in Manitoba.  Check out the rest of the story in my next post: Winter Training.

Running Strong and Injury-Free: Using the Off Season to Your Advantage

The race season is over.  There are no more race goals, no more training plans on the fridge.  The holiday season has arrived and it’s easy to lose focus and start running inconsistently, setting yourself up for a potential injury. Conversely, maybe you’ve been battling an injury all season and are hoping it will start to heal over the holidays.

The off-season is the prime time to check in with your body.  It’s an opportunity to be proactive rather than reactive.  

Some primary causes of running injuries are:

• Training errors: This includes too much too soon, poor planning and periodization, and overtraining.
• Sub-optimal biomechanics: This leads to less ability to absorb training errors.
• Poor body alignment: Sometimes you can change this, sometime you can’t.
• Muscle Imbalances: Imbalances in strength and muscle length can lead to an asymmetrical gait pattern which is a big predicator of injury in runners.
• Lack of variety:  Running involves highly repetitive movement patterns that can lead to overuse of key muscles if each footstep lands on the ground in the same way.
• Incorrect or worn out shoes: This is less of a factor if you have addressed biomechanical, alignment and muscular factors, but should be considered.

Here are my top five suggestions for setting yourself up to be injury free in the new year.

• Slow down and do a self assessment.  Pay attention to those niggles and pains that you’ve been ignoring all season.
• Identify and correct the risk factors you can on your own.  If your gut is telling you something needs to be changed, follow your instinct.  Make changes slowly and gradually.
• Cross train.  When the weather precludes you from getting outside as much as you’d like, the off-season can present the perfect opportunity to add variety to your training through cross-training.  Consider activities like spinning, cross-country skiing, skating, weight training and yoga.
• Make a plan.  Take the time to develop a training plan for the next season or race.  Hiring a coach can provide invaluable guidance, but there are many good training plans available online.  This will help you train smart by increasing your mileage gradually and intelligently, and balancing hard training days with recovery and rest days. Recovery is as much a part of training as running hard, and it’s important to build rest into your plan.
• Get professional help in areas you can’t correct yourself.  Attempting to make changes to your biomechanics, alignment and strength are best done in the off-season, not at the peak of your training cycle when your body cannot absorb those changes well.  Having professional guidance can help you focus your efforts in the areas you need to address most.

If you are a runner who has been dealing with an injury for a long time with no resolution, or a runner who wants to prevent future injuries from occurring as you reach for your next big goal, you might want to consider visiting the Running and Gait Centre at the Pan Am Clinic for a 3D Biomechanical Gait Analysis.  The centre is the only clinic in Manitoba to offer this highly advanced assessment in a clinical setting.

3D Gait Analysis

During the assessment you will have 16 sensors attached to your joints, and five sensor clusters attached to your legs and pelvis. As you run, six cameras measure your gait pattern.  A report is generated with 16 gait variables, comparing you to a database of thousands of runners.  This data is combined with a very thorough physical assessment that seeks to correlate your gait report with your measures of alignment and muscle strength and length.

You will then return to the centre for a second visit where you will be presented with a comprehensive report and plan for addressing your individual risk factors and weaknesses.  Specific strengthening, stretching, shoe and orthotic recommendations, and targeted physiotherapy treatment will all result in improved running form and efficiency. Research has shown this method to be very effective in helping runners perform pain-free, and to their peak potential.

The Running and Gait Centre is currently accepting bookings for January 2016.  For more information, visit our website or call 204-805-1912.Kim Sénéchal is the lead physiotherapist at the Running & Gait Centre: Foundation Rehabilitation Services at the Pan Am Clinic.  She is also an ultra marathon runner and run coach.

NB: This article was written for the Manitoba Runner's Association newsletter, Dec 2015.