My gait, my back, and my neck

I visited two “therapists” in Bristol the other day. Thanks to this website, I found a couple of oppotunities for some pampering, and took it as my responsibility to the afflicted of Bristol to check them out.

First, I should outline my various complaints:

• I have had a weird pain on the tip of my hip bone for a couple of months. It has faded slowly but quickly returns after a run.
• My upper back and neck have been stiff, sore, and twinging for a couple of years. Not a problem when I run, but when bad makes me afraid of running.
• I am prone to sore shins (and cramps in my calves) after running, although it should be mentioned I ride a bike every day, quite hard.

The chiropractor

First I visited a chiropractor, Bronwen Henley. We talked about all the niggles, and she was quick to identify the hip issue as something she felt wouldn’t justify time and effort on her part, which endeared me to her immediately. I’m always a bit cynical when practitioners of any type come up with reasons why their take on the world can explain everything. She did mention though, that she had suspicions my glutes were not doing their work as they should, and that this could be an issue for my running.

She then took a look at my neck and back. She reckoned that in the long run, I needed to strengthen my trapezius muscles. She did this weird thing where she moved my head around without letting me do the moving. When she did that, there was more movement than when I did it, which told her it was much more a muscular thing.

So I asked if she could do some massage on my upper back and neck, just to provide some temporary relief, but I said “no cracking”. I’ve had some nasty experiences with people cracking my back and neck - really bad spasms and weeks of pain.

Bronwen also did some “dry needling” in spots on my shoulders where I had very sore knots, and the effect of this was very marked - way less pain.

The impact of this was fantastic, giving me way more pain free movement, which was ongoing. I went back a week later and had another session of massage and dry needling, and things have been way better since. So, I recommend Bronwen, and if I have any setbacks I will definitely return. In the meantime Bronwen, I will keep up the exercises, honest …

The running analyst

So, next up, a trip to The Running School, based up in Redland. These guys offer a 6 week course in improving running technique. I just went for a taster.

So, onto the treadmill for some video making. I only ran for a minute or two at a relaxed pace, so part of me was left wondering what would happen if I ran faster, or for longer.

Anyway, I sat down with Amy and she took me through the videos. It was all quite damning really, and all very plausible.

I thought I’d been working really hard at not heel striking, but the video clearly showed I had a long way to go, and Amy thought this would be the biggest factor in my shin pain.

Also, apparently, I do not kick high enough. She showed me some video of other runners, before and after, and there was a marked difference. She felt I needed to strengthen my glutes too!

The last thing she picked out was that I place each foot directly in front of the other, swinging my legs out to the side and back in again. I’d been aware of this and thought it was quite cool - kinda running on a tightrope. Nope - not cool, and probably a factor in my sore hip.

Amy’s solution to this is 6 one hour sessions with her, one per week, in the gym, running, and being put through my paces. This sounded really good to me - hard work, and judging by her videos likely to make a big impact. I’m sure this isn’t just about looking good and being less injury prone, but also likely to help with speed and efficiency too.

I was very impressed. A pretty good Christmas present for someone, like me, if anyone hasn’t bought mine yet.