I, Kristen, am undergoing running form re-training. (Insert collective moan from my running population out there.) No one, and I mean no one, wants to undo what they have naturally done for over half of their life, so between sleep and running form, I have in the past rarely liked to mess with what “works” for a patient unless the situation is dire. As a runner/physical therapist myself, I had not once before this year overhauled anyone’s running, but around February, I sta

Last fall, I volunteered my PT services at a weekly running group. I showed up early, ran with the group, and stayed late in hopes of doing injury screens and answering questions about running aches and pains. Runners are my people: I’ve been a competitive runner and have now graduated to recreational runner, and I was excited to help my people. The result? I was totally shunned by my people. All the while whispering to their friends about their low back pain, IT Band syndr

I wish I was built like some of the girls I ran with in college. They had symmetrical joints, dense bones, and solid ligaments. To this day, they can run 50+ miles a week and remain unscathed. Alas, I was not built this way; there was a time when I could catch a stress fracture like the common cold. Paradoxically, my brain and muscles are seemingly un-fatigable and were indeed made for endurance activities. And because brothers and sisters share a few genes, I’m not entire