A Lapland Arctic Ultra Adventure

An Arctic Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

On first appearance David would strike anyone as a quiet, thoughtful and lovely person with an infectious omnipresent smile. But as the old saying has it: looks can be very deceptive… as behind that friendly demeanour lurks a man with steely determination and an unbreakable spirit. And I was about to witness what it is like to work with an Ultra Endurance Athlete with the heart of an Arctic Wolf. To find out more about David’’s journey, continue reading…

David writes “I have always loved the freedom of running, as well as the challenge that comes with ultra and endurance events. Following a running-related injury to my groin which eventually required surgery, I was referred to Johnny at Nottingham Physio. At the time I had registered for the Lapland Arctic Ultra which was only 5 months away and I wasn’t sure I would make it… it was clear there was a lot to do to recover from the surgery and be ready for the event”.

A lot of work to do! Righto. The understatement of the decade. Here is a man who has had major surgery and in just a mere 5 months time will attempt one of the toughest multi day ultra endurance races on the planet. Well, for anyone who knows me, they will tell you that I am too cantankerous to turn down a challenge. So after a very honest and sobering conversation with no guarantees given, I agreed to take on David as a client to help him achieve his Arctic Ultra Challenge.

Every aspect of David’s Ultra Endurance Program needed to be addressed with meticulous detail. David comments: “Johnny was very supportive and we worked closely on rehab and training. He also provided a lot of advice around aspects such as race management, nutrition and recovery. I also knew that I wanted to run ‘happy and healthy’ for as long as possible, so I asked Johnny to analyse my running technique with the aim of becoming as efficient a runner as possible and minimising injuries”.

From a “running form” perspective we identified several opportunities to improve David’’s running gait to increase his ability to accept, transfer and generate force safely . We tweaked several aspects of his running gait such as:

In the above 2 pictures we can see several changes

1. A significant lengthening of his stride length
2. Increased cadence to circa 180 steps per minute
3. Increased vertical oscillation (maximal height reached when leaving the ground)
4. A change from a heel-toe gait to landing on his mid-foot during the initial ground contact phase.
5. Leaning forward at the ankle rather than leaning backwards
6. Pushing the ground behind him by focusing more on hip extension and pushing more through his glutes
7. Trying to be a more “bouncy runner” by relying more on tendon stiffness rather than trying to muscle his way through the run.

From the onset we used a conjugate approach where we focused on all the physical aspects needed to run pain free. David responded really well to this approach and immediately put into practice the running gait alterations which we had worked on. We knew we needed to nail 3 aspects of his running program if we were going to have any chance of success:

1. Load management: Carefully planning out the frequency, intensity and volume of his running sessions on a weekly basis.
2. Running Mechanics: Improve David’s ability to land and push off on a single leg.
3. Run Specific Strength: Athletic Posturing: Improve his running posture through targeted whole body complex compound single leg dynamic movements and also improve his jumping and landing ability through running specific plyometric work.

Following a comprehensive Physical Examination we began to construct an indivualised S & C program for David. A few words from David: “As part of this process, Johnny examined me and identified problem areas. He then provided me with tailored strengthening and mobility program which was constantly reviewed and progressed. We also critqued my running gait in depth over several sessions and this has helped me feel stronger and lighter on my feet”.

You can view some of the exercises David carried out as part of his Running Specific S&C program in the following Youtube links:

In the following video link we are working at improving the profile of David’s eccentric anterior thigh profile through Reverse Nordics which he carried out twice per week.

We also challenged his lumbo-pelvic stability while eccentrically loading his posterior chain through an exercise called a Nordic. It’s pretty tough exercise but is great for those who have suffered either hamstring, groin or acl injuries in the past.

The above is just a snippet of David’s S & C run specific program just to give you a little flavour of what he has been up to.

David did in fact complete the Lapland Arctic Ultra Race. However, there was a slight twist in the tale… . The evening before the race, David contracted Covid and there was grave concern that the race organisers would not allow him participate in the race. After some deliberation the race organisers agreed to allow David to race as long as he didn’t check in at any of the aid stations with the other competitors: David agreed, and against all the odds crossed the finish line despite feeling pretty poorly throughout the race: The Arctic Wolf shed it’s sheep’s clothing.

Enough from me… Here is a parting word from David “Importantly, Johnny also continues to spend time understanding my goals and aspirations to ensure the program is aligned with what I am trying to achieve and he is available between meetings to answer training questions and provide support. Thanks to all this I was able to reach the start line and complete the event.Working with Johnny has helped me understand training errors I was previously making as well ensuring that I am getting as much benefit out of each training session as possible. The confidence, passion and personal care which Johnny brings is very reassuring. I highly recommend his services”.

I’d like to say a huge thanks to David for allowing me to share his experience with you and if David’s story has inspired you to achieve your goal of pain free running then I would love to hear from you and help you to get up and running again.

And if you would like to check out the changes David made in his running gait you can see a before and after video footage.