Love of Running

What does everyone who is reading this column have in common? It's a love of running!

Running is the one sport which requires very little equipment nor is it restrictive due to lack of membership to a club or facility.

We can all be involved, no matter what age, locale or financial condition.

I remember when I first joined glirc; it was called the Plainview-Old Bethpage Running Club. I ran with their woman's group called "Fast Feet". I was in my running prime and had many wonderful races and PR's. the comradery was fantastic.

Many years have now past and I am still running although I now know that PR is a relative term! But I marvel at how things have changed, and yet not.

The Plainview-Old Bethpage Running Club is now the Greater Long Island Running Club and has grown exponentially. They still have their woman's running group called Fast Feet-but I now qualify for Senior Feet.

The wonderful thing about running however that is in the end-it's all about you. My times have changed drastically but the exciting part is I can still strive in my age group. Actually, the most important part is that I'm out there, enjoying the runs, the races and seeing many familiar people as well as many new ones

I have learned a few key things along the way, including no matter how you run - forefoot as in the pose method, or the conventional heel to toe method, the main thing is to build up slowly. our muscles and tendons need to adapt to the change imposed upon them.

Additionally, we must approach track and hill workouts with a purpose and allow them to build upon the prior stage.

We must listen to our bodies and make recovery days an important part of our plan.

Specific strength training, originally feared to interfer with performance, is known to aid in our endurance and speed and additionally helps to avoid injury.

Dynamic stretching is an important part of preparing the body for the task on hand, helping to avoid any down time due to insufficiently warmed up muscles and ligaments.

If however, we do become injured, we should not just try to "run through it". rest, ice, and proper care will lead to faster recovery so one can come back fully and not compensate for an imbalance.

At Jonas Chiropractic, we address your gait with real time video analysis, evaluate your imbalances and compensations with a "functional movement screen'" and apply various modalities to speed up your recovery and get you back on the road at 100%. we use active release technique, a soft tissue approach to help damaged ligament, muscles and tendons heal faster. we also utilize kinesiotape to aid in the healing process and allow support to the areas. other myofasial and trigger point therapies are used as well.

So don't let an injury side line you! Join me for a lifetime on the road!

by Holly Jonas, DC,CSCS,CKTP