Planning A ‘Run Smarter Workshop’ In Carrboro NC USA To Include Expert Training In FELDENKRAIS®, Continuum and GYROKINESIS® Methods

 

From left to right, FitOldDog's Gyrokinesis, Feldenkrais, and Continuum instructors

From left to right at Johnny’s In Carrboro, NC, USA, FitOldDog’s GYROKINESIS®, FELDENKRAIS®, and Continuum method instructors, Tara, Karen and Rebecca, respectively. For further information click on figure.

Hi folks,

Scooter, FitOldDog's trusty friend.

I’ve never injured myself running with scooter.

FitOldDog's logoThere are two main kinds of sports, those that get you in shape and those for which being fit is a critical prerequisite. For instance, as a teen-age boy in England I played water polo at a local swim club in the evenings, for which the training and matches were physically intensive – it kept me in shape. However, at school I was forced, literally, to play cricket, which I hated. It was slow, tedious, and involved long periods of inactivity, followed by a quick dash to catch (or avoid) a hard cricket ball – in fact it was the opposite of water polo, a sport in which my school, and especially the gym master, had absolutely no interest. Quick dashes between long periods of inactivity is a recipe for injury, unless you are fit in the first place. Just like swinging a golf club or tennis racket without recent training or a warmup, chasing the kids around the soccer pitch, or that impromptu frisbee session.

Cricket match on the football pitch at UNC CH NC USA observed by FitOldDog

Cricket, a strange, lengthy, and intensely boring game (for FitOldDog) that many people love – different strokes for different folks. Most of these players, on a pitch near our track at UNC CH NC USA, are from India, where cricket is very popular. Photo by FitOldDog.

Since then it has occurred to me that older people often become injured because of their continued love of a sport they enjoyed in their youth, that required being in good shape. Not having engaged in the sport for years, they are no longer in adequate physical condition to undertake it 15 or 30 years later. One of the commonest such case studies in my experience is the aging, overweight couch potato guy, dreaming of his high school basketball days. He realizes, or is told by his doctor, that he needs to have some exercise, so he joins a group of younger guys to shoot some hoops. Before you know it he has a twisted ankle, damaged knee, or something worse, and is back in the couch for good. This is all because he wasn’t sufficiently aware of the current (as opposed to past) state of his body.

Safe exercise for better health is all about body awareness,

especially as you age.

I’ve had my share of self-inflicted sports injuries in my 50s and 60s, mainly from running, some of which nearly had me sidelined for good. Finally, through personal contacts, I had the good fortune to encounter a great FELDENKRAIS® instructor, Karen Dold, who helped me to solve a chronic and troublesome knee problem, that no one else could fix. No one! Not doctors, physical therapists, massage therapists, yoga instructors, or chiropractors – not even my psychic sister. This story is laid out in a previous blog post.

Nickel, deceased, with Scooter, FitOldDog's lovely canine companions for years.

Nickel, deceased, with Scooter, FitOldDog’s lovely canine companions for years. I did break and seriously damage my shoulder running with Nickel, so take care when running with those long dog leads. Massage, Continuum, and Feldenkrais have helped that enormously, as did a bottle of beer thrown from a passing truck.

Since then I have gained valuable training using GYROTONIC®, Pilates, and GYROKINESIS® methods by Tara House, which help my core strength and posture. Then I moved on to the study of Continuum with my current dance and Continuum instructor, Rebecca Amis Lawson. With the help of these great instructors Karen, Tara and Rebecca, I’m back on the roads and the trails preparing for the New York City Marathon (don’t miss my fundraiser), and I’m signed up for two more Ironman races in 2013, one with my youngest son (and real athlete), Nigel.

Not bad for a guy close to seventy, and all thanks to improved body awareness. I talk to lots of runners online and locally, at Johnny’s and elsewhere, about running injuries, and none of them has ever heard of FELDENKRAIS®, let alone the other movement methodologies referred to above. So we are planning a combined FELDENKRAIS®, GYROKINESIS®, Continuum workshop for runners to run smarter and more safely for life. The target date for this full day workshop is January 19th, 2013. The location will be determined by the estimated level of interest – this blog is one of our first market research communications.

Please let us know your level of interest and likelihood to attend by commenting here or informing Rebecca at Evolving Therapies.

These methods kept my old bones moving, so why not yours?

-k @FitOldDog

GYROKINESIS® is a registered trademark of GYROTONIC® Sales Corp and is used with their permission.

 

Comments

  1. Rory Conolly says

    I’m interested.

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Disclaimer: As a veterinarian, I do not provide medical advice for human animals. If you undertake or modify an exercise program, consult your medical advisors before doing so. Undertaking activities pursued by the author does not mean that he endorses your undertaking such activities, which is clearly your decision and responsibility. Be careful and sensible, please.