Functional movement has its benefits

About 10 weeks ago I started going to a functional movement class at Blizard Physiotherapy after being convinced that it would lead to benefits with my running by my #runboss Dave Tune.

For the past 10 weeks I have been going along and mocked weekly for having no stability in my ankles. It was hard for this not to become a laughing matter when you wobble more than a plate of jelly as you balance on one leg and attempt to perform a single leg squat.

It has been a struggle and has seen me sweating profusely on a weekly basis but I have slowly been improving. What benefits this would have to my running I didn’t know until yesterday....

Yesterday I went for a 10 mile run along the Transpennine Way below my lactate threshold to blow off the cobwebs from my disappointing race on Sunday.

At three points during my run I hit a root or stone and felt my ankle start to give way but.....

then my new found stability and ankle strength kicked in and I righted my ankle without turning it.

Now for someone who used to turn his ankle regularly when he was growing up, this was a shock to the system. I know in my "heart of hearts" that I would have turned my ankle had it not been for these classes because as soon as I felt it start to turn I managed to correct it. Previously this would not have happened and I would have been in pain if not injured (one broken ankle and numerous sprains in my life to date).

Thanks to Blizard Physiotherapy for running these classes. They have had an effect and if that keeps me injury free running off road then it’s fine by me. And to think that I was starting to question whether they were having an effect?

Thanks for reading,

Michael