Andrew receives the baton in the 4x 400m at the Penn Relays in 2022
In recent posts, I've discussed needing access to every joint movement in your body, why most running injuries don't generally occur on both legs at the same time (despite presumably running with both legs), and why strength training is unlikely to address the root cause of your injury. While I hope you've found these musings interesting and useful, I'm sure you may be wondering what this all looks like in practice.
Meet my amazing client, Andrew Baer, age 70, sprinter, middle distance, and ultra runner from Rhode Island. After reading a few of these posts, he wanted to share his experience of working with me so you can better understand what it's like to work on your biomechanics and improve as a result.
Here's Andrew:
"In the late summer of 2021 I was training for the Baystate Marathon. I hadn't raced in two years, due to injury and the pandemic and was excited to toe-the-line! I was working with a new coach, John Goldthorp, and training was going well, until one morning I felt a sharp pain in my left hamstring while doing strides.
I stopped my workout and made an appointment with my physical therapist, a friend and runner - the best PT in the area. He did range-of-motion and strength testing, massaged my hamstring, and gave me several exercises. He diagnosed the problem as a strain in the aponeurosis, a tissue that connects muscles to bone. I took a few days off, had several PT massage appointments, did my PT exercises and eased back into training.
Five weeks before the Baystate Marathon I ran the Surftown Half as a prep race. Well, ...I started to run, but got about four miles in and felt a pain in my left hamstring. Damn!
I emailed John - help! John asked that I send him some current pictures and videos. He sent clear instructions for 'gait assessment videos' and 'postural assessment photos'. My son took the videos and photos and John and I made an appointment for a Zoom call.
Prior to our Zoom call John sent me back my photos marked up with red lines showing an imbalance in my posture / gait. Basically, my hips were not moving correctly left to right, evidenced by John's analysis and easy to see when looking at his marked up photos. Somehow this lack of movement in my hips created a strain in the left hamstring when I ran, especially when I sped up (e.g. strides during my training run, and an acceleration down hill during the half-marathon).
John recommended exercises, watched me do them on Zoom and emailed two videos.
1)Weight Bearing 3D Pronation, left foot forward with written instructions breaking the exercise into three parts: Manage the mass, Drift mass sideways, and Rotation.
2) Left Suspension w/ Right Arm Reach. (see videos below)
I did the exercises twice a day and resumed training, cautiously at first. Two weeks before Baystate I ran a long training run and felt good and the next week I knocked out some 800s on the track. No problem - ready to go.
The Baystate Marathon was a success! I was overjoyed to line up in the corals and feel the excitement and camaraderie of a race! My time wasn't quite what I'd hoped for (is it ever?), but I qualified for both the Boston and New York Marathons. I was back!"
Thank you, Andrew, for sharing your experience! If you would like help overcoming a frustrating injury and you've already been evaluated by a medical provider, please don't hesitate to contact me.
PS: If by chance you're reading this and thinking, 'Hey, I've got an upper hamstring injury, will these moves work for me?' The answer is, maybe, or maybe not. These were created and customized for Andrew's needs in that moment. I don't prescribe exercises based on symptoms. Just because you have a hamstring symptom doesn't mean you get 'X' movement. We need to identify the movements you cannot access and then begin the process of experiencing them regularly.