Every run club starts with easy dynamic stretches, but sometimes us coaches run out of ideas and we end up doing the same routine over and over again. So one day during the Kaka’ako Run Club I learned that Motoki, an avid run club participant and fast runner, was also a Physical Therapist at JACO Rehab, so I approached him and asked if he wanted to share some exercises with the club. At that moment, he said I was doing a good job. I am not really sure if he really meant it or I just caught him a bit off guard when I asked him to lead some exercises in front of 50 plus runners. So that day, Motoki didn’t lead the warm up but we kept chatting and came up with the idea of creating videos to share simple exercises to stay injury free. So we did! We created four short videos about strength and four short videos about running drills that we’ll soon be sharing every other week, all the way to Honolulu Marathon to help you guys to stay healthy and motivated!
Actually, this initial idea started a whole conversation of getting not just Motoki, but the entire JACO Rehab Team involved with the run club. Now, once a month other physical therapists from JACO will join our different run club locations to share excellent warm up exercises and at the end of the workout, they will be available to answer questions and work on the participants that have issues bothering them.
Here a bit more about Motoki:
Day job:
Physical Therapist
Dream job:
Physical Therapist who also has time and money to travel half of the year.
Hometown:
Born in Newport Beach, CA. Lived in San Diego, CA most of my life. But “home” is Tokyo, Japan.
How long have you been running?
I ran for 3 years in high school. Then I had too much fun and did not run at all in college. I picked up running again after moving here in August 2015.
What do you love the most about the sport of running?
The community, the challenge, the award.
Why did you decide to become a physical therapist?
I like to help out individuals by using my own hands and doing exercise— without giving out medications or performing surgery.
What are the top three “little” things runners can do to prevent injury?
Have a consistent running schedule. Make realistic goals when preparing for races. Increase cadence.
How JACO Rehab Team can help runners to stay injury free & get fast?
We empower our patients by educating anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics of running.
What would you say to someone who never ran, but would love to start?
Come to Lanikai Juice Run Club. You get free smoothies. If you’re lucky, you might also get goodies.
We wholeheartedly appreciate what Motoki and the whole JACO team have done to help our run club participants stay healthy and keep running. We’ll be sharing some strength and running drill videos in the near future. Check back soon!
