She's the ATA Bomb!

Tonight's blog post is written from Austin, Texas.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to run. With minor exceptions, I'm interested in running pretty much any day, any time, any place...well, any place where there's a sidewalk, because I'm a cautious runner! 😊 If you've known me for some time, then you also know that I have been plagued by running injuries - mainly in the form of stress fractures. I have blogged about this many times - such as here and here. In 2013, I was recovering from another stress fracture, when my physical therapist said, "You know, your old physical therapy, Leigh, who moved to Austin...she's started an online coaching business. Maybe you should give her a holler." Boy, am I ever glad that he made that suggestion.

I started working with Leigh, an endurance athlete herself, though the auspices of her online training business, Athletes Treating Athletes, in summer 2013. Even in that brief lead-up to the 2013 fall marathon, Leigh revolutionized my running and training. She gave me guidance that was measured and thoughtful. It incorporated strength-training, stretching, cross-training, and recovery. That summer I realized that even though I was preparing for my ninth marathon, I had never had the proper foundation to be running marathons. I remember saying, "I had no idea what I was doing!" It was rough going and even though I ended that season with an injury, Leigh got me through it. 

What's remarkable is what happened next. In February, 2014 I was still having trouble with my running - an injury was threatening me at every turn. It was like my left foot was permanently in a vice grip, getting tighter with each step I ran. I emailed Leigh and said that I was thinking about walking away from running for a few months. She responded, "You can do that, but it's not going to help you. You need to start over from scratch with your running. I'll help you, but you have to be willing to give up distance running and only run 3-4 miles for a while." What did I have to lose?  

I have written about this before, so I'll just summarize here... Leigh essentially did four things with me: 

1. Gave me a strength-training program that was "sport-specific" (running, obviously)

2. Had me rebuild my form, including my stride and how my foot hits the ground

3. Gave me stretches that were tailored to my specific problems

4. She never gave up on me

Leigh sent me videos of her do strength-training exercises. I'd watch them, practice for a week, video record myself, and send them back to her in order to make sure my form was right. 

Some of my videos for Leigh from 2014

Leigh not only gave me different stretches to do, she isolated each of my body parts that is engaged in running and through video demonstration, showed me what to do. I'd work that area for 2-4 weeks and usually I'd email her back and say, "Sorry - no go. Same problems exist. Same vice grip around the middle of my foot." She's send me a video to work on another part of my body until we narrowed in on the problem. This went on for over a year. 

She put up with so much from me. When I was dying to run more than 3 miles, she said, "Sorry - no game." When I was pleading with her to run a fall 2014 marathon, she said, "Don't do it! NO FALL MARATHON!! You're not ready yet." When I was losing my mind and on the verge of tears, she'd send me reassuring emails and I always felt better. She should become a social worker, because she always knows to "start where the client is." 

Leigh is talented, knowledgeable, very skilled at distilling complex information into common language, and she is client-centered. Further, she is incredibly generous with her time. In addition to asking her about my running, I'd email her with questions about Neil's most recent physical ailments. She'd recommend a provider in our area or make a video for what Neil might want to do. Come to think of it, generous doesn't even begin to describe Leigh. She is a truly saintly coach. 

Until last night, I hadn't seen Leigh since the end of 2012 when she moved to Austin. But, true to form, she drove into the city, picked me up at my hotel, and almost protested when I said that I was buying her meal. But, she knew better. I've been injury free for about three years now. This isn't to say that I don't have problems here or there, but Leigh's given me the foundation that I need in order to do distance running. I run four days a week and strength-train three days a week. Like all runners, I don't stretch as much as I should, but, for me the difference now is that I know what triggers my injuries and how to stretch and switch over to strength-training for a few days when my symptoms start acting up. And, Leigh? She's always just a text message away, anyway. Could I be any luckier? I think not! 

Leigh and me at Torchy's Tacos in Austin. She's the bomb!