Renegade Running Wellness Wednesday
Renegade Running is a retail running speciality store based in Oakland, CA. Their mission is to build a running community around diversity and inclusion. I had the privilege of leading the first Wellness Wednesday of Fall marathon season, for the Oakland community to learn about management and prevention of Achilles tendinosis.
Marathon season 2021 is insane, to say the least. Berlin. London. Chicago. Boston. New York. CIM. The past two years has been a boggling mind game for runners during the pandemic. We trained for races that went virtual or were completely canceled. The vaccine rolled out and we signed up for races again, unsure if they will really take place or not. I’m a strong believer that nothing can break a true runner’s spirit and resilience. As races reemerge, so are running injuries as individuals tackle 1, 2, or even 3 marathons! (And 6 in 7 weeks if you’re Shalane Flanagan, but most of you aren’t traveling with your own physio).
On Wednesday, September 29, 2021, I presented on “Don’t be your own Achilles Heel”. 30+ Runners arrived fully prepared in running clothes and many even brought their own yoga mats. Victor, co-owner of Renegade Running, provided resistance bands and lacrosse balls for all attendees to ensure full participation. Our community of attendees was a diverse group with various running experience levels. Some have never raced before and others have impressive road & trail resumes! Regardless, we’ve all had our own experience of the Achilles plague. That’s right, the injury that comes, lingers, and is notorious for taking a long time to fully go away.
My workshop was educational, informative, and hands on. I strongly believe if you understand the why to your injury, you’re more likely to do your exercises. We discussed the signs & symptoms, the causes, and age and running mechanics as a factor. Most importantly, we went over the how to’s of rolling out lower leg muscles effectively. The research supports that the BEST intervention for Achilles tendinosis is exercise, hence I taught all participants the best evidence based exercises to mechanically load the Achilles.
Knowledge is power and as a community, we can make each other stronger.
