Great North Run Conditioning Testimonial

I met Jack during my training for the Great North Run 2010 last year. I was running to raise funds for St Oswald’s Hospice and the hospice put me in touch with him and the team at NIHP (Northern Integrative Health Practice). My goal was to finish the race in under two hours, which meant shaving 12 minutes off my time from the year before.  As well as getting faster I was keen to avoid injury and improve my running style.

Jack gave me a routine of conditioning exercises for my core, legs and back, which he worked with me on at the clinic and then I did at home in between seeing him. He also taught me breathing techniques and showed me how to use a giant ball (swiss ball) to do more training on my core. We built up the routine so it got more challenging over the months before race day. In the final week, Jack showed me Active Isolated Stretching exercises for my quads and hamstrings to do the night before and on the start line.

The day could not have gone better. I finished in 1 hour 57 minutes and 45 seconds, which was even faster than my target time! I felt strong and stayed injury-free and I am sure that all Jack’s work with me really helped in that.

Hannah Bayman

BBC Look North Presenter