SportMedBC has two upcoming Sports First Aid courses – May 26th in Kamloops and June 3rd in Vancouver.
These eight-hour workshops serve as an introduction to injury prevention and on-site management of sports related injuries. Topics covered include recognition and control of potentially hazardous situations, injury assessment and the handling of life-threatening situations, management of common injuries, referral patterns and the development of a sports first-aid kit. A certificate of completion is issued.
REGISTER for Kamloops.
REGISTER for Vancouver.
SportMedBC offers a number of Sports First Aid, Athletic Taping courses and Concussion workshops throughout the year. For more details visit SportMed Safety, or contact Safety Coordinator Seb Hartell at 604.903.3884.
Be sure to check out The Province Sports Academy every Wednesday for SportMedBC's SportMed Soccer tip of the week.
This week’s tip is on using mouthguards.
Recent topics include blood management, energy/carbs and warming up & cooling down. Check out the The Province Sports Academy for our extensive list of health, fitness and injury prevention tips.
PacificSport Northern BC (PSNBC) has named Craig Noonan as their Interim Executive Director while Kristen Harrott takes her Maternity leave. Kristen has done a tremendous job expanding the reach of PSNBC programs and services and the Board is excited to have Craig continue the focus, hit the ground running, and lead the operations for the next year.
Passionate about developing and creating new opportunities for athletes and coaches in the region, Craig’s vast experience in sport will enable him to work with existing and new regional stakeholders to ensure PSNBC’s vision and values continue Powering Sport in Northern BC communities.
“Based on the history of the organization, I knew right away that this opportunity would offer me the freedom and flexibility to continue to improve the quality of the sport delivery system in the North,” says Craig Noonan. “We will continue to provide opportunities for Northern Athletes and ensure that the infrastructure develops across the entire region.”
Craig comes to Prince George from his most recent post as Operations Manager for the 2012 Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse, Yukon. Involved in multiple sports for most of his life, as athlete and coach, Craig has worked with many coaches and athletes from recreation to the elite level and is a strong promoter of the Canadian Sport for Life movement.
Craig’s academic background includes a Kinesiology degree, as well as certificates in both Leadership development and Business Communications.
PacificSport Northern BC is very pleased to welcome Craig to the team!
Congratulations to everyone who participated in the 2012 edition of the Vancouver Sun Run 2012!
Through SportMedBC’s Sun Run InTraining and Aboriginal RunWalk programs, over 4000 participants took part in the Sun Run!
For an excellent recap of the Sun Run InTraining experience, check out Tom Mayenknecht’s post at the Vancouver Sun.
Be sure to sign up for the SportMedBC RunWalk Online network for the latest tips, news and program information!
Event day is just around the corner and with that come plenty of details to take care of that can cause unnecessary anxieties. Join SportMedBC RunWalk Coach Lynn Kanuka for a SportMed Webinar on tips on how to physically and mentally prepare to Sun Run 2012.
Lynn's guest presenter will be Burnaby's long-time Sun Run InTraining Coordinator Rainy Kent. Lynn and Rainy will talk about everything from what to eat, to where to pin your number.
Join them at lunch on Thursday, April 12th!
REGISTER NOW!
Title: Tips to be Ready for Event Day
Date: Thursday, April 12th, 2012
Time: 12:00pm - 12:30pm PT
Watch SportMed Webinar #3 - March 29th
Watch SportMed Webinar #2 - February 15th
View our first webinar from January 10th!
Less than 4 weeks away from the Vancouver Sun Run!
While there’s plenty of focus on the physical side of activity, RunWalk participants must also consider the psychological aspect. This includes setting goals and targets, and visualizing your success through mental imagery.
By Sport Psychologist & SportMedBC Chair, Dr. David Cox:
Goals: Outcome, Performance & Process
1) Outcome goals focus on the actual results of an activity and usually involve a sense of winning, losing and crossing the finish line. In this context, very few individuals ultimately win. This means that we can perform to the best of our ability and we still lose in outcome terms. We need to be careful to not focus too much attention on outcome goals, as they can undermine our sense of confidence and belief in our abilities as we do not have complete control over the outcome - i.e. we can only compete to the best of our ability which may not produce the desired outcome.
2) Performance goals relate to “how we compete.” We can have performance goals in all domains - technical, physical and psychological. The importance of performance goals is that they are essentially under our control and are independent of the outcome - i.e. we can compete and be completely satisfied with our performance despite not having achieved the outcome we desired. The emphasis should be on performance goals as they help us develop our sense of confidence and belief in our skills as success is independent of the outcome.
3) Process goals relate to how we prepare to perform. These goals are very much under our control - sleep, nutrition, equipment, training behaviour, travel, etc. It's important to have process goals as they also help develop our confidence and belief in our skills. Again, we can be prepared to the best of our ability while not achieving the outcome we hoped for. In a somewhat paradoxical way, the likelihood of achieving an outcome is related to our ability to let go of the need to have it. Again, focus on the process and let the outcome take care of itself.
As we establish performance and process goals rather than outcome goals, our focus shifts to competence - i.e. how we feel about ourselves rather than competition, how we compare ourselves to others. The emphasis here is on intrinsic rather than extrinsic values which derive from the fundamental reasons why we take up activity like RunWalk - fun and friends, enjoyment and affiliation. In order to sustain commitment to activity, it's important that athletes experience these basic values.
We should also establish both long-term and short-term goals. Short-term goals can be daily goals like, "what do I want to achieve today?" Long-term goals may project well into the future. In this context, we can also have intermediate range goals and dream goals which express an ultimate aspiration.
Mental Rehearsal/Imagery/Visualization:
Mental rehearsal and imagery provides the opportunity to practice skills mentally as well as physically. This can be extremely useful in the development of skills. For many athletes, this is an underutilized skill that can have important implications in activities like RunWalk.
We make the distinction between first-person and third-person imagery. The latter is a passive, external, visual image of one performing skills, executing strategies and involves visual processes. You see yourself as an observer. First-person imagery is a more active, internal, proprioceptive process of actually performing the skills, and is a much more kinesthetic experience (i.e. the body may move in response to the image, it's in the muscles, it's a “feeling”). It's as if you are actually executing the skill.
A good example: Third-person imagery might be used to plan a response to a particular situation or executing activity through seeing one’s performance as a spectator would see it... Whereas first-person imagery might be used to experience a RunWalk or a workout routine in an active sense as if one were actually performing the necessary skills and could involve muscle movements, sounds, smells and visual experiences.
Imagery can be used at any time to prepare for an activity or event. It can create positive momentum but can be used at specific times (before sleeping, upon awakening, during transportation or as part of a pre-performance routine), helping develop a sense of momentum and enhancing confidence prior to competition.
Best of luck in your RunWalk experience and in the Vancouver Sun Run!
Volunteer at the 2012 BC Summer Games in Surrey! The Games will be held from July 19-22.
For more information and registration, check out the link - https://www.bcgames.net/sry2012s
Since it was first published in 1999, The Beginning Runner’s Handbook has helped more than 35,000 participants at community clinics across Canada - and thousands more runners around the world - realize their goal of running 10K.
BUY The Beginning Runner’s Handbook!
This easy-to-use, practical guide is completely updated in this fourth edition. It now includes a revised RunWalk program that gives runners a choice between running 10K or running and walking the distance, depending on their individual goals and fitness. Tried and tested by thousands of new and experienced runners, the thirteen-week program was developed as a training regimen for the Vancouver Sun Run by SportMedBC in conjunction with sport medicine doctors, therapists, nutritionists, and trainers.
Watch SportMedBC’s Lynn Kanuka’s interview with Fanny Kiefer on Shaw TV’s Studio 4.
A new chapter on preparing for 10K events, including charity runs, reflects the popularity of getting fit while giving back to the community. Expanded and enhanced sections include cross-training options such as trail running, group fitness classes, and boot camp sessions as well as information on running through pregnancy. In this updated edition, there are facts about barefoot running, minimalist shoes, and links to online sources of information and running communities.
Combining expert advice, handy training tips, and answers to commonly asked questions, as well as testimonials from runners of all ages who have met the 10K challenge, The Beginning Runner’s Handbook is like having a running coach in your back pocket.
With the start to the RunWalk and Sun Run InTraining programs and many others making New Year’s resolutions to start a running program, here are a few reminders on how to make it to the starting line of your event - injury free - and able to perform to the best of your ability. SportMedBC’s Manager of Performance Dr. D'arcey Musselman gives us her tips:
1. Focus on Good Posture
Good posture involves proper body alignment for maximal function and efficiency. If the body is not in optimal position, the muscles and joints must work harder for each action. This inefficient movement costs more energy.
Running with good posture and proper biomechanics will minimize stress and strain on the muscles and joints, which helps improve performance and decreases the risk of injury.
2. Proper Footwear
It is essential that runners wear the appropriate footwear for running. The biomechanics of running is vastly different to other sports, such as basketball or tennis, and as a result requires the proper footwear to meet the demands of the sport. Running shoes are designed to protect your feet from the road, cushion the landing and support your feet. Running shoes have highly specialized built-in shoe features which allow you to run many miles day after day more comfortably and with less chance of sustaining injuries.
Since runners are unique in their foot biomechanics (how much they train, their running style), there is no perfect shoe. One of the best ways to ensure you are getting the proper running shoe is to visit a RunWalk specialty store. They can help fit you in the appropriate brand and model for your needs.
3. Stretching
Stretching is an effective activity that helps enhance performance, decreases the likelihood of injury and minimizes muscle soreness. Stretching should be included as part of the training warm up and cool down with each having a different purpose. The purpose of stretching prior to exercise is to help prevent injury. This is done by lengthening the muscles and tendons which in turn, increases the range of motion. It also helps prepare the body and mind for more strenuous activity. Stretching after exercise is primarily to aid in the repair and recovery of the muscles and tendons.
As runners, tight muscles can contribute to poor dynamic posture and lead to inefficient running mechanics. Generally the body areas that require stretching attention include the calf, lower back, hip, groin, quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, shoulders and neck. These stretches do not need to take very long. To perform a stretch, get into the proper position and hold for 20 to 30 seconds. There should be no bouncing or forcing of the motion. Go as far as you can without feeling pain, hold and repeat.
4. Recovery Strategies
Running at any level of intensity depletes the body in many areas and requires a variety of recovery strategies in order to continue conditioning the body optimally. This is sports recovery - the conscious act to help the body return to its optimal exercise state. A few recovery strategies include cooling down, post-workout nutrition and rest.
Cool-down routines are important. These routines give the muscles a chance to keep the blood flowing through the body which helps reduce lactic acid buildup, allows the body temperature and heart rate to gradually return to normal and reduces the potential for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS).
Post-workout nutrition involves replacing the resources that were used during running. These are primarily water, carbohydrates and electrolytes. Rehydrating yourself after your run is the most important step you can take. If you neglect rehydrating, your recovery will be stalled significantly. Carbohydrates are your fuel and also vital to the recovery process. There is scientific evidence to suggest that the first hour after you exercise is the time that your body responds best to glycogen replenishment (i.e. carbohydrates). Electrolytes (sodium, potassium and calcium) are also necessary to replace before muscle recovery can occur.
Rest is an essential part of training and is just as important as working out. Rest is the key to preventing overtraining and the potential of injuries. Muscles break down with training and then rebuild to get stronger. This implies that damage to the muscle is the stimulus for change. So don’t feel guilty taking time out to rest, it is part of the training program!
5. Core Stability
The “core” is the term used to refer to the trunk or lumbopelvic region in the body. Muscular support in this region is critical to maintain the integrity of the spine and to support the body. When applied to running performance, strong lumbopelvic region will improve your form, reduce the likelihood of injuries and improve running performance.
On Wednesday, February 15th, SportMedBC RunWalk Coach Lynn Kanuka and Sport Physiotherapist Timberly George hosted a SportMed Webinar on the aches and pains experienced during RunWalk training.
The webinar addressed common injuries, and offered some great cross training tips to keep you healthy and fit!
Watch SportMed Webinar #2 - February 15th