Year End Meetings

Hope you are all enjoying your year-end festivities. We here at www.OneMileRunner.com will be gathering next week in Phoenix to plan our 2011 schedule. We look forward to updating you on the changes to our 2011 event, “5 Wonders Under 25 Minutes,” in early January.

Have a great holiday season and thanks for your continued support!

Scoliosis

The last “stop” on our www.OneMileRunner.com recovery tour is Meilus Precision Therapy with Dave Wallwork. Dave uses his robotic machines to lengthen my muscle tissue. We use this therapy not only for treatment of injury or stiffness, but also as a regular program for body maintenance and injury prevention.

Here is Dave’s story on scoliosis and his treatment.

By Dave Wallwork

Meilus Precision Therapy

There are many causes for scoliosis. About 80%-85% of people with scoliosis have a type called IDIOPATHIC scoliosis. This means “no known cause”. Idiopathic scoliosis often runs in families and appears to be due to genetic or hereditary factors. It is not known what “triggers” the development of the curve, or why some curves progress more than others. Scoliosis may occur in children who are otherwise perfectly healthy.  Meilus Muscular Therapy Method works on the theory that the muscles on one side of the spine are shorter than the other and therefore pull the spine towards the shortened side, causing the curving and in some cases the rotation of the spine.


According to the Scoliosis Research Society, about 10% of the adolescent population has some degree of scoliosis. This means that about 1,000,000 children just in the United States have scoliosis. About one fourth of these children, or 2%-3%, will require medical attention which may consist of observation for further progression of the curve, bracing or surgery, depending upon the degree of the curvature at the time of its detection. Some scoliosis may be so mild that treatment may never be necessary.

During adolescence scoliosis usually produces no pain and may be difficult to detect. Mild scoliosis may be present for several years before it is seen. One of the easiest ways to detect it is by using the forward bending examination. Most importantly, the physician should check the child’s spine regularly until growth is complete since scoliosis may appear at any time during adolescence. The curvature may progress considerably during the last major growth spurt. The Meilus Muscular Therapy Method  can help limit the amount of curvature and in many cases of young adolescents reduce the curvature in just a few visits. The primary Muscle involved in scoliosis is the Psoas. The Psoas originates on the Transverse Processes of all Lumbar Vertebrae and the side bodies of the last Thoracic and all Lumbar Vertebrae. It inserts on the Lesser Trochanter of the Femur.  If the Psoas is shorter on one side than the other it can cause the spine to bend to the shorter side. Lengthening the shorter Psoas can provide significant improvement.

Can Scoliosis Be Cured?

There are currently no medications to treat scoliosis, nor can its onset be prevented. When scoliosis is detected, the doctor may refer the patient to an orthopedic spinal specialist for evaluation and treatment. This may consist of periodic examinations, including standing X-rays as needed to determine if the curve is increasing in size. If scoliosis is identified early, The Meilus Muscular Therapy Method can help to limit the curve as the child continues to grow through adolescence. The X-rays below show a 10 year old female who came to me with a nine degree double curve. She was treated five days in a row. Treatments lasted for two hours per day.  The pre and post X-rays show the reduction in the curve.  This girl returned a year later with increased pain and a mild lumbar curve. She had had a growth spurt of 3 inches. All complaints were resolved in four treatments. Her parents will continue to monitor her back and she will be seen as needed.

Before therapy                                            After therapy
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Severe curves may require surgical treatment. Early detection and treatment is the best way to avoid surgery.

Simple Home Test For The Early Detection Of Scoliosis:

  • Is one shoulder higher than the other?
  • Is one scapula (shoulder blade) more prominent than the other?
  • Does one hip seem higher or more prominent than the other?
  • Is there a greater distance between the arm and the body on one side than on the other when the arms are hanging down loosely at the sides?
  • Does the child have excessive “swayback” (lordosis)?
  • Does the child have excessive “round shoulder” or “roundback” (Kyphosis)?
  • Is there a larger “crease” at one side of the waist than the other side?
  • Does the child seem to “list” or lean to one side?
  • When you examine the child, have her bend forward with her arms hanging down loosely with the hands even and the palms touching each other at about the level of the knees.
  • When in this position:
  • Is there a prominence or hump in the rib area?
  • Is there asymmetry in the hips or waist?

If you have any “yes” answers or if the child has a brother, sister, parent or other close relative with scoliosis, consult your family doctor or orthopedist.

If you want to learn more about Dave Wallwork’s work and therapy please visit his website at www.SarasotameilusTherapy.com

One Cup, Six Continents, a Multitude of Uses

By Stacie Nevelus, Massage Consultant to www.OneMileRunner.com 

“Yeah David” the onlookers would yell in languages he didn’t even understand, but that’s not where this adventure begins. This adventure begins in Sarasota, FL where David visits me weekly for therapeutic and sports massage.  My job is to keep him ready for high performance and injury free.  This makes for a difficult task as he sets out around the world to accomplish his feats of speed.  The adventure, Around the World In Under 30 Minutes.  This entails running 6 one mile races in 6 weeks in 6 continents in under 30 minutes.   My challenge was to bring David the therapeutic and recovery effects of massage as he jet sets around the globe.  How would I do that when I’m here in Sarasota, FL and he is abroad?  That answer became apparently easy.  As a practioner and educator of Massage Cupping Therapy, I would instruct David on the many uses of a single silicone cup.  He would use this cup in the shower with soap before and after his events and training.  The true testament would be how his body felt when he got back and on my table.  David set out on a feat of speed Around the World in Under 30 Minutes with one cup, 6 continents and a multitude of uses.  This would be my contribution to this running endeavor of speed.

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Pre-race massage usually consists of some gentle rocking and/or shaking to loosen up the muscle and get some blood flow to the tissue.  What I would ask David to do pre-event is done in the shower.  The tool I had David use is a Russian-made bell shaped silicone cup that measures 3 inches at the opening.  While in the shower before each event or training, David would lather up the areas of focus with soap.  For David, this would consist of the gluteal area and the legs.  Taking the bell shaped silicone cup in hand, gently squeeze and release once on the lathered skin and begin gliding.  This creates a vacuum that lifts the tissue and penetrates deep into the muscle as it glides over the soapy skin.  Starting in the gluteal area, begin working in a circular motion.  The cup can be moved in any direction or parked for a few minutes over a particularly tight area.  For a runner, it is usually the piriformis and the gluteus minimus.  Then follow with the same suction glides over the thigh then lower leg and finishing with strokes towards the groin area.  The purpose of doing Massage Cupping before the event is to bring blood flow to the muscle tissue.  With this method, you can feel it warming the tissue as it brings the oxygenated blood into the tissue.  This blood flow is evident by the pink hue found in the skin.  This is particularly important prior to a one mile event.  When running at such speed, it is vital that the muscle be properly warmed up.  Using the silicone cup prior to such speed will effectively warm the muscle and prevent it from seizing up during the race.

After an event of this speed, the tissue is flooded with lactic acid, and very fatigued.  I find that using Massage Cupping with the silicone cup post event will effectively flush this out.  This simple process will clear out old debris and lactic acid that occurred during the race.  This allows for quicker recovery and the ability to get back to training sooner by decreasing the delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).  Once again, in the shower, repeating the same area and stokes to achieve the flushing of the muscle tissue.  With the function of the vacuum effect created by the cup, water is pulled from the cellular level into the muscle tissue helps to hydrate the tissue.  It is because of this that it is important to drink healthy amounts of water.  This is the same as in any post event recovery.

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As six weeks had passed, I am sure for David the flying, car rides, remote locations and time zones made for one great adventure!  David was successful in completing his 6 miles in 6 weeks in 6 continents in under 30 minutes . . . injury free!  Once back in Sarasota and on the massage table, I was amazed at how well his body held up.  David truly went the distance.  With one cup, six continents and a cup with a multitude of uses.  I know what will be in his travel bag when traveling far from home.  For David will be traveling the miles while going the mile.  I can’t wait for what adventure lies ahead . . . to be continued!

You can find out more information on Stacie Nevelus and her work at www.stacienevelus.com

Acupuncture

One of the ways I have been helping my recovery process is to have acupuncture sessions with Dr. Qinghong Han.

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Since our knee cartilage has poor blood flow, I have been using acupuncture to stimulate energy or “chi” in my knees and throughout my body. I am hoping that with the improved circulation in my knees that it will aid in the complete healing of my knee joints during this off-season and will bring my entire body to a more balanced state.

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Perhaps you can try acupuncture to reduce inflammation, relieve pain, or optimize your overall heath. To find out more information about Dr. Han and the benefits of acupuncture, please visit www.doctorhan.com.

Off Season Training

The second stop on our recovery tour is seeing your trainer to add to your off season workouts. My themes for this fall was to increase my flexibility and to bring balance back to my body after our world tour. The www.OneMileRunner.com Training Consultant, Juan Ruiz-Tagle, gave me new 3-D stretches that I perform at the conclusion of my workouts. Juan is very knowledgeable and has revamped my recovery. We train movements, not muscles. The western world is into isolating muscles in a stretch. However, isolation does not transfer to your chosen sport or activity. When moving, we use groups of muscles. If you look at the body, there are our layers of muscles in action in every exercise. Muscles are not one-dimensional, but multi-dimensional. That is why the 3-D effect works so great.


I wish you the best with adding to your off season program to ensure that you are not only recovered fully before your new training program begins, but also that you have made improvements in your areas of weakness. You can check out Juan’s blog entries at backtofunction.blogspot.com.

Recovery

The cool weather finally hit Florida last week. Local races are beginning their competitive season and runners are preparing for their Thanksgiving Day race. I, on the other hand, am treating these couple of months with recovery and balance. I begin my speed training on February 1st for the Chinese race in May. I have not had a few months away from running, training, and speed work for a few years, so it important for my longevity and health to take these short couple of months and recover properly. At www.OneMileRunner.com, we will begin a series of blog articles sharing some of the ways I will be recovering over the next couple of months. I hope you can find some of these methods useful in your training periodization programs.

Finding body balance is crucial before the speed work begins again. With my hips and pelvis being the platform of power, I am going through a series training exercises to increase my range of motion and my overall strength. Our first stop will be at Wellness Concepts (www.wellnessconcepts.com) located in Bradenton, Florida. A friend recommended I meet Dr. Greg Kotlarczyk to see if he could help me find the recovery I was looking for after our world tour this summer. Dr. Kotlarczyk, fondly referred to as “Dr. K,” has been instrumental in bringing my entire body back into balance. With his numerous PNF stretches, neuromuscular massages, and chiropractic adjustments, my body is beginning to hold onto some of the corrections.

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As we age and continue our hard training, more and more body work must be done to improve performances, avoid injuries, and optimize efforts. I spend many hours a week doing strength exercises and flexibility exercises, as well as hitting the tables for massage and other rehab work. In our upcoming series, we will show our all our stops on the recovery tour. Please treat this like a buffet – you can choose what you want to add to your plate of overall body balance.

Cool Down Program After Exercise

This is our final video clip from our photo and video shoot this past May in Monument Valley, UT. This final video clip in the snow shows a couple of our 3-D exercises that we do after our races. At www.OneMileRunner.com, we believe to elongate the muscles (also called “stretching”) only after exercise – not before. If you want to bend a piece of metal, you better heat the metal beforehand, otherwise it will crack and break. Our muscles are the same way. 

You should empty you lungs of all the air when doing these stretches. This will allow you to get as deep as possible into the stretches. Many people stretch on the ground. When sitting down, it does shut off certain muscles.  So this is why we do all of our elongation above ground against gravity. This will also transfer better to any of your sporting activities.

I hope you enjoyed our series training videos this year. We will be shooting our new fitness DVD in 2011. We are excited to share our entire new program with you next year. We will continue to post new blog posts each week for the rest of the year and then throughout the beginning of 2011 as we will start to focus on the training and preparations for our next event, “5 Wonders Under 25 Minutes.”

Perseverance

A series of emails from one of our www.OneMileRunner.com readers (Nigel) from England prompted me to ask him if we could share his story – I thought it was a wonderful example of perseverance in our athletic careers. This is Nigel from England …I am 44 years old and have a sit down job. I started running about 15 years ago mainly as a way to stop the sedentary lifestyle and as we wanted children I thought getting fit would be a good idea. Things went well 2 mile runs became 3 then 4 then I went to a gym to build up general fitness 5 miles went to 6 miles then I would run 6 miles to the gym then exercise for 2 hours then run home. I have always suffered from flat feet but was told there was nothing that could be done so I would put up with the foot pain. 6 miles very soon became 12 miles and now I was running 4 times a week 2 short runs of 5 -6 miles. 1 run would be a hilly run, the other a speed run fartlek at weekend. I would do another short recovery run (slowly) for 6 miles then on Sunday morning was my main run now 15 miles (depending on how I felt, if my feet were bad it would be 6 miles). My mind was in this 100% and as distance went up so did speed a slow 6 mile plod went to 7 then 7.5 then 8 miles per hour and then the back pain started. I was told to keep exercising and maybe run on grass. I went to 6 or 7 running shops for advice on shoes (I still don’t have a pair I like). Then it all went wrong – pain down my legs and in my feet and up my back 15 mile runs were painful.

One Sunday I battled the pain and ran 24 miles (this was a killer and a big mistake). The time was OK (well for me I averaged 7 miles per hour) but something had gone badly wrong and I was now in pain it seemed to be all over. Arms,  legs, chest, back, and legs. Stupid – I should have stopped. I went to  physios and eventually 2 surgeons. It was a bulging disc causing all my problems as it was bulging out to the right. The main pain was on my left side though and they said the operation would remove the pain as I was now on morphine and off work and not sleeping – so I agreed. It didn’t work and the pain got worse! Any help would be appreciated…I had bad pain for 10 years in my back sciatica and also flat feet, I did some of your stretches and this has helped me so much the pain has eased and I an now off morphine and codeine. Now I want to run again, however, I don’t know if I should change foot strike (I am a heel runner) if I continue will this hurt my back (the operation pain is still there after 1 year) should I change to midfoot? I went to a podiatrist who created some insoles for flat feet and to align my legs. I tried some short runs landing on the midfoot but this gave me plantar fascitis, but only in my left foot (the worse flat foot). I tried various exercises to strengthen the arch. What would you suggest? My answer…Heel striking has a direct correlation to lower back pain. You can imagine how striking the heel with an extended leg can create pain that travels up to your back. So heel striking will exacerbate your back pain. Midfoot striking would alleviate your back pain, but it will inflame your Achilles tendon, gastrocnemius, and feet. I know people that have changed their foot strike to a midfoot strike – but it took a year to develop the muscles, ligaments, and tendons in their lower extremities. I do recommend you changing your foot strike to a midfoot landing, but please take your time with it. Short and infrequent runs at first, then gradually increase the dosage. It will take you time – you do not have the structure in your lower extremities to support a midfoot strike now – but it will come and your back pain will go away as you land properly with a bent knee.

Nigel’s response…

OK I know its going to be a long recovery and will have good and bad days, but  I still haven’t felt this painless for some time. Just a mini update…

I have been doing some of the training exercises and went to a new physio. He asked where did you get these stretches from, so I said ONE MILE RUNNER he suggested keep doing them. I have been doing the stretching training every day and my plantar fascitis has now cleared also some pain from my back and legs has gone in fact so much I have gone from needing morphine to taking over the counter codomol. This has had the effect of helping me sleep better and so feeling fresher, unfortunately I now have the flu… I believe keeping a positive attitude has saved me from someone who takes pills to cure pain to someone who is removing the symptoms of why the pain started.

Next email from Nigel…

My physio suggested trying to run again. We decided that a 1 minute run 1 times per week would be a good start any pain and I back off and stretch of course I do a full warm up and cool down even for this 1 minute. I will do this for 1 month then add another minute, although it seems small I don’t want to start aggravating anything and the main concern is trying to get proper form, I keep stiff and upright and land on my forefoot running slowly to enforce form. I have been searching and keeping positive for 10 years finally my prayers are being answered, I knew there would be light at the end of the tunnel and it goes to show that you need to keep on pressing. My doctor said I would be on painkillers all my life and there is no other option! This was last month now I can virtually live without them all I needed was good advice. I downloaded the videos from YouTube and put them on a DVD I watch this at least once a week! Because although it sounds corny I want to run like you do. You should create a commercial DVD with these exercises. Thanks for the videos and the ONE MILE RUNNER. It’s keeping me positive and I have already set goals of running 5 minutes/ 10 then 20 heck I even have my goal back of a 3:30 marathon, I can feel it , running through the finish with the crowd cheering sweating and looking up at the clock 3:30 FINISH Nigel.

Here’s wishing Nigel a steady recovery. Thanks for the lesson on how perseverance can pay off…

Strength Exercises

We wanted to share with you this week a couple of our strength exercises in this video: the medicine ball squat and the punching matrix.

The medicine ball squat is one of the intermediate/advanced exercises as we add resistance to the basic squat. The punching matrix is one of my favorite strength exercises as we take the matrix on the ground (seen in the lunge matrix) and move it above our heads for the punching matrix. The punching matrix strengthens your shoulders and upper body in multiple directions.

As we age, the amount of training and the amount of body work to protect our bodies from injury needs to increase. This is why many athletes stop competing as they age. They get frustrated with constant injuries and setbacks making it difficult to perform at their desired levels.

I have had athletes in various sports say to me, “forget it – it is too much work to get massages and chiropractic adjustments, perform resistance training, flexibility exercises, and other protective activities – all for the sake of competing. It is taking too much time and is costing too much.” Unfortunately, this is the deal. As we get older, we need to spend the extra time to recover and to rejuvenate our bodies every week. Through body work on the table to resistance training in the gym, this time spent protecting your body will have huge benefits for your long-term performance capabilities.

Running And Competing With A Pacemaker

I’m Wayne Johnson and you might have seen me on some of David’s training videos at www.OneMileRunner.com. I am the other Headblader working out hard. I’ve been running for 32 years, and I’m 52 years old now. I’ve always been pretty competitive. I’ve competed in the 5k to the half marathon. Although my favorite of late has been the 5k and 10k. My personal record is 16:40 5k and 34:45 for the 10k. This last season was 18:30 5k and 38:30 10k.

I began noticing changes in my body and mind 8 years ago. There were times I would feel light headed and I feel like I was going to pass out. So I would take a couple days off from my training as I thought I was over training. This probably went on for at least a couple of years. It got to the point that I would feel these episodes coming on and move closer to the ground in case I would pass out.

There were other symptoms too, as I thought I was getting Alzheimer’s as I had difficulty remembering anything – very forgetful. My hands were always cold and I would wake up in the middle of the night choking. I’ve always had a slow resting heart rate (30bpm), but how slow needed to be tested as there were times I would almost fall asleep while standing up as my heart rate dropped to a dangerous level.

I work in a hospital as a radiologic technologist as I x-ray during surgery. One of the doctors always wanted me to wear a pace maker. But she being a anesthesiologist, I felt that she did not have the experience as a cardiologist who knew about the efficient athlete’s heart.

One day at work  the light headedness came on strong. So I asked one of the nurses if she would check my blood pressure and the anesthesiologist overheard me and volunteered to give me a thorough check. She hooked me up to a 12 lead ECG machine and the blood pressure cuff. To her dismay, my heart was pausing between beats a few times for 18 seconds! A pacemaker is suggested if your heart pauses for 2-3 seconds. She proceeded to tell me I should go to the emergency room. They put me in a wheel chair and the director of the operating room gave me a little ride to the ER. The doctor of the ER was looking at my ECG strip and thought I should have passed out.

After all this, I was set up to see a cardiologist. I was instructed to wear a heart rate monitor for a week to observe my heart activity. The monitor showed I had a resting heart rate of 30bpm, a sleeping heart rate of 17bpm, and up to 9 pauses of the heart per day that lasted up to 22 seconds! I was told that the only reason I did not pass out or worse was due to my efficient heart and the reason I was choking in my sleep was probably due to the reflex reaction to again start my heart when it had a long pause.

So I have had this pacemaker around 6 years now, and I take no medication except running endorphins. It was mentally hard at first to train all out and push my workouts. People think I am not supposed to be a good runner because I have a
pacemaker. However, I have competed well the last couple of years and plan to participate in the 2011 Senior Games.

I have had many inquiries from other athletes about my pacemaker and their concerns about their own slow heart rate. So even though you have an efficient heart today – keep a watchful eye on the symptoms of a dangerously low heart rate.  I am here to tell you that I am a living example that a pacemaker does not mark the end of your competitive days. Keep training and keep believing – the body is amazing!

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