About Me

As a youngster, I was pretty good at sports. I was one of the faster sprinters in my year and I could pick up most sports pretty easily. All in all, I was a pretty “sporty” kid. That was until it came to cross country. God, I hated cross country. I really sucked at it, which did nothing for my ego, but I also just hated it. I couldn’t understand how anyone could enjoy something so unpleasant!

So I grew up thinking “I’m no good at long-distance”. Give me 30 seconds to recover and I’ll run sprints all day, but ask me to keep it slow and steady and I’ll give up after 10 minutes. I stuck to what I was good at. When we did cross country for gym class I would walk at the back with the smokers. If I wasn’t going to be good at it, I wasn’t going to try.

Fast forward to me at age 25 and I still believed that “I’m no good at doing long distance”. I was working in the UK at the time. It was a private clinic in London and in the build-up to the London Marathon we would be packed out with broken runners. One of my colleagues was a running coach and I asked him to help me work on my running technique. I wanted to understand how to better help my clients. I would run a few times a week just to practice the things he had shown me. After a while I was surprised to find that I was actually enjoying it!

Becoming a “Runner”

The first time I did 10k I started to think “I wonder if I could run a marathon?”. Knowing that “I’m no good at long distance” certainly made this seem highly unlikely. In fact, it seemed pretty ridiculous. It totally flew in the face of what I’d always “known”. I think that’s why it captured my imagination “Maybe I could do it”.

Since then, I’ve never stopped. I eventually ran that Marathon and developed a passion for running and working with runners. Now I base my Physiotherapy practice around something I’ve come to love. Running.

I’ve had many an injury along the way and this has only fueled my curiosity to find the best strategies for rehabilitation. I also dove into the research on running technique and injury prevention. It’s all come together nicely.

Why I Love Running

The thing I love most about running is that there are no limits. I’ve never qualified for Boston or run a 100 mile trail race. Could I do those things? I don’t know, but there was a time I believed I “couldn’t” run a marathon because “I’m no good at long distance”. Running helps me challenge my beliefs about me. Running helps me commit to a simple goal and work hard to achieve it. Running gives me some quiet ‘me time’ to destress. Running gives me discipline and purpose. Running orientates my career. Running stops me getting fat from indulging my passion for craft beer. Running gives me social time with people who love it as much as I do. Running does all of this for me and a lot more, that’s why I love it.

Why I Love Helping Runners

I love helping runners because I get to find out what running means to them. Then we work together to get them where they want to be. I get to be a part of their journey and share a little in their successes and failures. More than that though, I get to keep people running. There is this awful belief out there that running is not good for you. That “running is bad for your knees” and all this other nonsense. I’m a passionate advocate for running and all the health benefits that come along with it. When people get injured, I get to help them get running again.

As I Physio I focus on what I do best, helping runners get running again. I summed it up in my mission statement:

I help recreational runners continue training while making them stronger and more resilient so they can optimize their performance and ensure their lifelong health.

My Qualifications

So this bit is a little more boring, but if you are looking to work with a Physio then you probably want to know their qualifications right? I have been working as a Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist since graduating from The University of Liverpool in 2005. I have worked in the UK, Canada and Australia in the public sector and in private practice. I’ve done loads of continuing education courses and read about a million articles. Here is a list of some the areas I’ve had training:

• Running Injury Rehabilitation
• Running Technique Analysis
• Running Injury Prevention
• Strength & Conditioning
• Dry Needling
• Taping and K Taping
• McKenzie Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy
• Mulligan Mobilization with Movement
• Maitland Manual Therapy
• Muscle Activation Technique
• Concussion Rehabilitation
• Vertigo / Vestibular Rehabilitation
• Chronic Pain Management
• Myofascial Release
• Clinical Pilates

Should you choose me to help with your running?

Well, that depends. You will probably be really happy working with me if some of these things describe you:

• You love running and you are awesome at it
• You love running but you suck at it
• You are a very fast runner and want to get faster
• You are a very slow runner and you don’t care
• You are just getting into running and want some help getting started
• You’ve been running a long time and you want to keep running for the rest of your life
• You have a bad running injury that is stopping you running as much as you want to
• You’ve had a niggly running injury for a long time that doesn’t stop you running but it doesn’t go away
• You’re not injured and you would like some help to keep it that way!
• You would like to improve your Running Technique in order to improve your performance and avoid injuries
• You’re wondering how you could incorporate Strength Training into your program
• You want Physiotherapy that focusses on addressing the route cause of your problems rather than temporary fixes
• You want a Running Coach with an extensive background in injury management
• You want to know exactly what you can do to help yourself get over an injury

If any of this sounds like you, then you will probably be really happy working with me.

If you’re interested or would just like to know more, just go ahead and get in touch.