Live Active Podiatry and Rebel Fit Balmain are pleased to introduce our sponsored 2015 Chicago Marathon runner – Giovanni Cirillo.

Giovanni will be sending us on going updates on his lead up to the big day..

Here is the intro to his journey so far…

“Well, its 4 weeks till the Chicago Marathon and the nerves are starting to set in. For those of you who have completed one, you know how it goes.

First, you start dreaming about race day. Then you start dropping mentions of your upcoming marathon into unrelated conversations. But then it gets worse, you start talking to total strangers about it. People start thinking you’re a bit of a nut. Then you start contacting all your running friends to find anyone to distract you on those lonely long Sunday runs. And so it continues…

Preparation for Chicago  been a bit of a fiasco, after needing neurosurgery for a bulging C5/C6 disc only 16 weeks prior to race day. I had taken 3 months off from running so was entirely unfit and carrying a lot more weight than I was happy with. It didn’t help that many ‘friends’ delighted in telling me how fat I had got! I gave myself 4 weeks to recover from the surgery and hit the damn road. The neck seems to be recovering well. I’m feeling a lot better now that I can run again!

Its not the first time I have had injuries in the lead up to a marathon. A few years back my left hand side glute-medius (a real pain in the side of the ar$e) was locking up and bringing me to a screaming halt over as little as 3kms.

After seeing my genius podiatrist Dom Salvemini at Live Active Annandale, he quickly found that my right foot wasn’t working correctly and my left side was overcompensating to stabilise me. In short, Dom got me back on the road within a few short weeks. I would not have believed it possible, but with some weekly adjustments, some new orthotics, some fantastic Brooks Glycerine runners, I hit the road again and have been there ever since.

I must also mention that I got fitted by Dom for some new Books Glycerine runners courtesy of Rebel Fit Balmain, and thanks to them both, I now have some of the best shoes in the business, and they will see me through 42.2kms in Chicago in a few short weeks. Watch this space ….”

Giovanni