McConkey. Joseph M.D. - Pliability for Runners: The Breakthrough Method to Stay Injury-Free, Get Stronger and Run Faster

PLIABILITY: A GLOBAL CHALLENGE

A ddis Ababa, Ethiopia. The air hit the senses before I even got out of the airport, a combination of smells hinting at everything from the tropics to the desert, from farmland to street food. It is the first of many unique experiences one has when visiting the beautiful, vibrant, and resilient country of Ethiopia. Even though this was not my first visit here, this trip became more unique than any other.

I exited the gate and with just a few twists and turns that is the Bole International Airport, I found myself curbside at the passenger pick-up area. Here I waited, hoping my contact Renato Canova, a legendary figure in the world of running, was able to arrange a driver to take me to Sululta, a small village an hour or so outside Addis. I had met Renato during my last trip to East Africa and we had recently agreed to work together for a couple weeks at a High Altitude Training Camp (HATC). As usual, Renato had everything perfectly organized. Immediately, a local Ethiopian man approached me waving with a big smile of familiarity.

Joe, sir! Welcome back!

With the bright sun I could not immediately make out who it is, but hearing my name was quite a surprise. Maybe its a taxi driver, I think; one who just calls all Americans Joe.

It turned out to be Mersha Asrat: an Addis-based running coach who had attended one of the clinics I had held here two years prior. I was pretty excited to see a familiar face. It seemed like pure luck, and a bit surreal, to enter such a foreign area and have someone recognize meparticularly since it was not planned, and I am not famous.

Joe, sir, Mersha continues, I have been learning and practicing everything you taught us from last time!

He actually had a printout in his hand from the clinic, which reminded me how dedicated he was to coaching and learning.

Mersha and I left the airport and caught up on each others lives over the past couple of years while driving through the city. After an hour or so of weaving through the organized chaos that is Addis rush-hour, Mersha pulls onto the long, dirt road that weaves up into the hills just northwest of Addis, towards Sululta. We soon pass by Haile Gebressalasies Yaya Village (another HATC), which I look onto fondly, as that was where I had held one of the clinics during my last visit. The landscape is still immaculate, the building in great condition, and the little outdoor dining area, amidst meadows, running trails, and forests, is just as it wasa serene place for great conversations amongst diehard (aka crazy) runner people like myself. We cruise on past though, as we are headed to a place I had never seen and only heard about in recent newsthe newly completed training camp built by Kenenisa Bekele.

For those who do not follow the competitive and elite faction of running, which I recognize is most of the world, Kenenisa is the undisputed GOAT. He held the World Record for the 5k and 10k for 16 years (until carbon-fiber plated shoes took over in 2019) and is currently just two seconds shy of the marathon World Record with a 2:01:41 (How heart-wrenching is that!? Two hours of hard running only to miss the world record by two seconds!). He is one of the most famous people in Ethiopia and has a confident but humble personality that draws fans from around the world.

We pulled through the small gate to Kenenisas HATC, which looks more like a golf resort you might find in Arizona, and stopped just at the entrance to the main building. Mersha got out and walked inside to get logistics organized and I stepped out of the car. I walked onto the immaculate grass lawn, took a deep breath of the crisp, fresh air (much different from the airport), and just about tripped over a runner stretching on the grass.

Hello, said the man.

I looked down and it was Kenenisa Bekeleright there, right in front of me.

Hows it going? I casually replied, trying to keep it cool. Renato had mentioned to me that Kenenisa might be around, but I was not expecting to meet him, much less right away. Internally, I was not cool. Thoughts, heartrate, everything was 100 miles an hour.

We engaged in a conversation, with me answering Kenenisas to-the-point questions like Who are you? What are you doing here? etc. Kenenisa kept saying things like uh ha and I see to my responses. He has better things on his mind, I thought.

After a few minutes, Mersha returned. He and Kenenisa spoke Amharic to each other, while I stood there feeling a bit awkward, and then Mersha turned and informed me, You will work with Kenenisa tomorrow.

Say that again?! I thought to myself, now at 150 mph.

Renato and I had already worked out a schedule for me to work with a specific group of athletes he was coaching at the time, including the entire Chinese Olympic distance team. I could tell, however, that this was not a question from Mersha to me; it was just a statement of fact in terms of what will be occurring. This was confirmed when I looked back to Kenenisa who simply said See you tomorrow.

First, some backstory: unfortunately, Kenenisa at this point had been suffering perpetual injuries for over five years. The most recent, in his Achilles, was quite severe and had kept him from competition for nearly a year straight. Upon hearing what I focus on, which is basically helping runners create an injury-resistant body, he simply wanted to know more about what it is that I do.

The next day, after meeting with and coordinating logistics with Renato (who was 100 percent behind this change of plans), I was taken back to the city to Kenenisas hotel and into the hotel gymwhich was empty save for Kenenisa and Mersha. I then proceeded to work with Kenenisa on pretty much everything that is discussed in this book.

I first had him stand in front of a mirror and I immediately notice some pretty clear distortions in his standing posture. He is excitingly frustrated, I have noticed that too but nobody else sees it or mentions it to me.

I found other critical imbalances in his bio-mechanics when running on the treadmill. I took a video and show him. Finally, I had him do a series of stretches and after doing a simple knee-to-chest stretch he said he feels pain in the left hip. I took 12 minutes to show him the Targeted Self-Massage idea described in this book, a basic self-massage approach to help relax a muscle and increase circulation. He then repeated the stretch.

Any difference? Is that better? I asked.

Yes, that is better.

He continued, though, to hold the stretch for a bit longer. He seemed to be thinking (feeling?) to himself, fully concentrating on the feedback his body is giving hima type of communication that elite athletes tend to perfect.

He then looked over to Mersha and says quietly, Actually, there is no pain at all, it is like... a miracle.

I was immediately apprehensive of that word. I was glad Kenenisa was getting clear feedback from a simple self-care modality, but I quickly mentioned that just because the sensation of pain is gone does not mean the muscle is back to full health. With daily work, however, many of these miracle moments can add up in order to return his body to healthy running. He understood and was excited about the path forward: improve your symmetry of pliability to improve your standing posture to then improve your running bio-mechanics to reduce the asymmetrical load on your legs that has been contributing to the injuries.

After this session, Kenenisa claimed me for the duration of my stay. I discussed this with Renato and he was supportive of the collaboration. It turned out Renato had just started to coach Kenenisa for the marathon but was not making much headway given the injuries. I proceeded to work with Kenenisa for 34 hours each day over the next couple weeks. The hours and days flew by. Not only did we get a lot of work done to build his body back to health, but we also got along really well. I met his wife and kids and we had several meals together, at home and out. His celebrity status was visible every time we were in public, with all heads turning and constant requests for autographs and pictures. After a productive and engaging two weeks I wrote out a path forward program for Kenenisa and sat down with him and Mersha, who at the time was just starting to take on the role as Kenenisas personal running coach. They were very appreciative, with Kenenisa saying, I wish we had met 5 years ago. I did too.