Supporting the RAF Pathfinder March

You just can’t beat the atmosphere of a charitable event whether it’s a 5k run, marathon, or Race for Life.  Thankfully I don’t personally have to put myself through any of this pain, but I do like to do my bit for charity and provide massage support on these occasions.  Recently I did something a little different – a gruelling overnight event called the RAF Pathfinder March.

The Pathfinder March was inaugurated in 1997 to commemorate the Pathfinder Force which operated out of RAF Wyton, Gravely, Oakington, Warboys from 1942-1945.  Flying Halifaxes, Lancasters, Mosquitos, Stirlings and Wellingtons, the Force was instrumental in the outcome of the second world war.

The historic event is an annual 46-mile walk/run with a route taking in the four main RAF bases in the south east.  Walkers set off at 4am, and the masochistic runners get going a couple of hours afterwards.  It’s a gruelling test of strength, stamina, mud-wading and map-reading skills!

The swiftest runners chasing their personal bests started to come through to us at their second rest-base at about 10.45 am, where the majority of them took advantage of some relief to their aching leg muscles and backs.  Some of these guys were carrying full combat backpacks and were grateful to disregard them for a short while.  Also on hand were the RAF medics, thankfully relieving us of blister duty!

A fantastic 250 out of 300 of the walkers and runners made it through to the finish-line after lunch and into the evening.  What a brilliant outcome!

If you know of an event that would benefit from free post-race massage then you can make a nomination by contacting me with a brief outline.

Sunday - a day of rest?

I got thinking about the importance of rest and rehabilitation after speaking with a friend of mine this Sunday morning as he buzzed around the house hoovering…  I jokingly made the comment “but today should be a day of rest – quit the housework!”

Any personal trainer or coach will tell you how important it is to actually build rest into your workout/training regime - primarily to allow your body to recover from what you put it through, whether you’re an elite athlete or a devoted gym-goer.   But I guess that’s not really an excuse for the housework not to get done ;-)

What about rest after injury? 

Rest after injury promotes full rehabilitation and the safe return to sport, but it’s so difficult to alter the mindset and to actually take time out or train differently.  When all our friends are training together and there is the fear of gaining weight or halting development, the fear of “missing out” will often push people into continued training and further towards re-injury. 

So often an old injury will reoccur with more severity than before because rest and rehabilitation has not run its full course.  If you sprain your ankle for example, the ligaments that surround this joint will lengthen and loosen (and in some cases rupture).  Just resting and doing a few ankle rotations until it feels a bit better will only return its function and strength to a small percentage of what it was before, and six months later it’s highly likely to resprain or break.  A thorough rehab programme will go a long way to ensuring this doesn’t happen. 

Think of it like this – if you don’t complete a course of antibiotics, how often does the condition reoccur within a couple of weeks?

Better than 100% performance

Through rest and the adoption of a good rehabilitation programme it is normally possible to achieve an outcome of greater than 100% original performance.  This sounds a bit silly – but if you can make that ankle stronger than it ever was you can ensure that the risk of re-injury is minimal, and achieve the confidence to excel and push towards that new personal best without fear of reoccurrence.

Rest – it’s not just about stopping doing something

The reason that most of us enjoy sport is because of the sense of wellbeing, being part of a team etc that it makes us feel.  If you take that away from anyone that needs it in their life, they’re likely to experience a major downer.  Bearing that in mind, except in cases of a major injury or illness it’s nearly always possible to mix up your training by substituting what you ordinarily do, whilst still incorporating a rehab programme to improve the injury.  This type of rest keeps you involved, helps you see progression, and ensures that you’re doing your very best to return to your full potential as quickly as possible.

Remember the antibiotics analogy?  Rest up and finish the course so that you’re back to your full capacity for whatever sport/housework is your preference!