Run Culture Podcast

Episode 50 of the Run Culture Podcast: One of the most informative yet, for any keen runner trying to master the balance between optimal running performance and minimizing the risk of injury, this is another must listen! Last week I had a great yarn with good friend Kevin Craigie; an APA titled Sports Physiotherapist. Kevin has been part of the physiotherapy team for Athletics Australia since 2011 and is the current Lead Physiotherapist with the Pathways Program, physiotherapist for the Victorian Institute of Sport Athletics Program and a touring physio for Athletics Australia. Kevin has worked alongside some of the countries best athletes, coaches and clinicians to develop strategies for injury prevention, training, recovery and rehabilitation. He has also worked with St. Kilda Football Club on their running mechanics. Kevin was also a very distinguished runner himself over the past 20 plus years and has some very handy track 1500-5000m times to boot. His ongoing battles with a likely genetic predisposition for navicular bone stress injuries makes his running achievements all the more admirable and certainly has assisted his development into a well experienced/educated running physio! Have a listen, perfect for a long run or car trips; lots of takeaways from this one, almost split it into two episodes! Many thanks Kevin Craigie!

Andy Walling is not just the lead Endurance physiotherapist at British Athletics, he also has been a running coach since 1994 and was a respectable runner himself winning a couple of Wales National titles on the track and running a highly respectable 3:47 for 1500m. Since 2007 Andy has been a Physiotherapist for UK Athletics. He has been a physiotherapist at many Major Championships over this time. I first bumped into Andy in Iten, Kenya 2014 where he was the physiotherapist for the UK distance team ( a camp that included the likes of; Mo Farah, Laura Weightman, Charlie Grice, Michael Rimmer, Eilish McColgan, Alyson Dixon, Paula Radcliff etc) that was preparing for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. In this interview, Andy shares a wonderful insight into how he got into athletics as a youngster, his role models, his own running career, how he got into coaching and physiotherapy, his experience as a physiotherapist at major competitions/training camps and in the British Olympic Association's Intensive Rehabilitation Unit. I quiz him about, why Mo Farah and Laura Muir are so successful? Andy finishes the interview with a barb about Autralian rugby and he reluctantly answer my question about who he is most excited about in his running squad going forward. I’d personally like to thank Andy for how generous he was with his time in this interview, his detailed answers and how incredibly easy going he was!

A couple of weeks ago I caught up with Nick Cross; Aths Aus Physio and Director of MelbourneCBD Physio again and I was rapt with our chat! ‘The topic was; ‘Rehab versus Performance’ It’s certainly a topic that is close to my heart. So often I see runners while they are in pain and we rehabilitate together back out of pain. Once the pain goes away however, time and time again I see runners stop their exercise regime. I get it, it’s human nature. ....but if I was to say sadly more often than not I see this runner down the track with an exacerbation of that same injury again, is this really the right approach? Is an injury ever fixed? Or is it just well maintained? Should runners transition more to a performance/goal orientated mindset? What are some advantages in thinking this way? Is there a certain time and place when the whole idea of rehab and focusing on pain can be self limiting?

Wow, solo training can be hard, especially with no clear race in sight! It was great to catch up and chat to Damien Clark and Pete Dutton (a couple of guys I normally see face to face 3-4 times a week, they are key members of the group I coach, the Run Culture Owls!). It was great to chat about the challenges of this time but also the positives that can come out of it. We go over how/why we have changed the training we do over this COVID-19 period. Always fun catching up with these two!

Last week I got interviewed with Tyson Popplestone on the Relaxed Running Podcast. Here's the Brief. Dane Verwey is an Australian Running Physiotherapist. His mission is to help distance runners prevent common running-related injuries. In this episode, Dane talks about the common running injuries he deals with daily and his best advice when it comes to preventing running injuries . This is a great conversation that has the potential to save you many years of trial and error when it comes to navigating your way through the often injury-riddled world of distance running.

Today I had a great chat with David Costello better known as TheRightFitPT! Dave is a Strength Coach and avid runner. As you will soon hear he knows his stuff! In today’s episode we discuss topics such as; How important is plyometric training for the distance runner? We talk about the concept of core stability? How important are biomechanics when it comes to running? We talk about the anabolic effect strength training can have on our hormonal system. The importance of strength training for the older runner. As well as how to periodise and structure strength training into your running week. So much great stuff in this one, thanks again David for your time! David’s qualifications include; a Bachelor of Education in Human Movement. Certificate 3 & 4 in Personal Training and his Level I with the Australian Strength Coaching Association. He is based in Sydney Australia.

Today we are joined by Nick Cross, the director of Melbourne CBD Physiotherapy. Nick's experience professionally is extensive. He trained originally as a sports scientist, completing undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Exercise Physiology. He then went on to complete a Doctorate of Physiotherapy at the University of Melbourne. Upon graduating Nick has worked in Sports Medicine clinics for many years whilst remaining involved in professional sport. He is about to graduate from a Masters in Sports Physiotherapy and has recently embarked on the world of sports physiotherapy Research. Those who love running often run themselves, and it is no surprise that Nick is no different. Nick has won two Stawell 400m races himself, one of them a backbarkers. Nick still continues to train and compete, but has now found he receives just as much enjoyment from helping other runners succeed! Over the past month or so, Nick and I have collaborated together and worked out several podcast topics we as keen running physiotherapists, really want to talk about. Today we talk about the strong relationship between those runners that surround themselves with ‘Supportive/cohesive ‘Teams’ of people and Running success’. We detail: - The recommended ‘team’ for running on all levels: be it professional, semi-elite to the recreational athlete. - The team members involved and their roles in that space. - And we touch on our professional experience in “successful Running teams” across all levels.

It was an absolute honour/thrill this week to interview a man I’ve looked up to my whole running career! Chris Wardlaw/‘Rab’ is a runner and coach who’s impact/influence on the Australian distance running scene over the past 40 years is near on unparalleled. Chris came 12th in the 1976 Montreal Olympic 10,000m and competed in the marathon at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. He was the career coach/mentor to many, including Steve Monaghetti, Kerryn McCann and Craig Mottram(for the last few years of his career). He was the head coach of the Australian Track and Field team at the 2000 Olympics. In this interview Rab shares so much wisdom and great stories about his career and those that he has coached or been involved with. He talks about the the origins of ‘the pack’, ‘quaters’, ‘Mona fartlek’, the ‘Wardlaw System’ and some of his greatest inspirations! For any keen runner, it’s a must listen!

Today, I had a ball chatting to Dr Richard Hansen, head coach of Boulder Colorado’s @roots_running project! In this episode we talk about how the Roots running group formed, how they are going now, his coaching/training methodology (his learnings from Joe Vigil), sponsorship chat and how he tries to avoid injury and maximise performance with his athletes! Richard is a prominent Sports chiropractor, who specialises in treating distance runners. He certainly knows his stuff! So, like I said I absolutely loved everything about this chat, so be sure to tune in.

This weeks episode of the podcast is with renown Sydney physiotherapist, director of the Central Performance Physiotherapy clinic, head coach of the Central Performance Track group (an elite running squad in Sydney) and high level runner himself; Ben Liddy! I’ve known of Ben for a long while now and respected what he was doing from afar, so it was great to finally catch up and have a chat! Ben talks about his experiences as a runner, what he’s doing to prevent injury in the runners he is coaching, his ‘adaptable’ coaching philosophy, how his athletes are currently going and much more! It’s a great chat and follows on really nicely in a practical sense with Ben discussing many of the principles Michael Nitschke discussed last week when it comes to performance and injury!