Most of what we pursue in life is chosen because of something personal; it comes out of passion, challenge, failure, or growth.

My story for why I decided to become a specialized rather than a generalized Physical Therapist, was born out of failure, frustration, and lack of help.

I have been running since 2009. I started one day and never really stopped except for a couple of months spent aqua jogging after a stress fracture (that’s another story for another day).

In 2021, maybe the COVID crazies got to me, and I decided I should sign up for my first ultra race, which was the Oregon Cascades 100-mile race.

Training was going well until it wasn’t. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was putting way too much emphasis on climbing up and down all of the hills that I could find. Inevitably, that significant increase in hill work and spending more time running on narrow surfaces (single track trails) rather than on the nice wide roads I was used to led me to develop Iliotibial Band Pain (ITBP).

Now, as a Physical Therapist, you would assume I had this in the bag. Obviously, I know how to rehab this properly, insert eye roll.

Nope! Not only was I not equipped with the knowledge to rehab this injury, my judgment was also clouded. I was living the injury, experiencing the physical pain and the mental and emotional consequences that come with being an injured runner (insert loss of identity, questioning my self-worth, fear of losing my fitness and my body).

My injured runner identity took over and I couldn’t think clearly. I let others get to me, people in my life telling me I would never be the same runner again. I lost hope. I searched and searched for the “that was easy” button, but there was none.

At the end of the day, as a general Physical Therapist, I was not equipped to handle this running-related injury. In graduate school, I never learned specifics about how to work with runners; their training, specific rehab exercises, how to match rehab with the specific demands of running, or how to modify training, gait, and training parameters to get someone back to running ASAP.

So, what did I do?

I started taking all of the classes I could find to help me be a better Physical Therapist for the injured runner. After one online lecture specific to rehabbing the injured runner through IT Band pain, I was able to modify my gait to go from running 2 minutes with pain to 5 minutes without pain. This small increase allowed me to start workouts again, for example, 5x (5 minutes running, 5 minutes walking). Over time I was able to progress training alongside rehab exercises until I was back running for miles and miles at a time.

That experience humbled me, taught me, and lit a fire inside of me.

If I had never come out of that feeling of being stuck in the injury, I don’t know what I would have done, and that’s scary. I don’t want anyone to feel that way (lost, scared, stuck).

Like I said, I have been running since 2009 and I have been a Physical Therapist since 2014. I was always against mixing my passion, running, with my profession, Physical Therapy. It took a while, but I finally saw the need to combine them so I could help other runners who were struggling just like me.

There is nothing wrong with being a generalist; it is great to know about a lot of things.

But if you want that extra edge, someone who understands exactly what you are going through, who will have more tips and tricks to apply to your running-related injury, nuanced advice, and subtle changes that can significantly help you, then I suggest working with a specialist.

If you’re an injured runner looking for specialized care that understands your unique needs, contact me today for a  consultation. Let’s get you back on track!