I've been a novice, very amateur runner for years, running for 3-to-5 miles (with a 5K here, and a 10K there), but outside of competition since high school--not to age myself too much, but I'm in my 30's. Late last year, I set a goal to run my first marathon in 2024, and signed up for the Big Sur Marathon (think beautiful scenery, with BIG hills) which happened this April. I started on a training regimen and sure enough, 60 days out from the race, I started getting some severe pain in my calf. I'd gotten shin splints when I was younger so I knew getting ahead of this early was key.
I went to a Sports Medicine doc at Advocate who referred me over to Vince, and he set me on a plan to heal and strengthen my legs. Being very ignorant of what PT does, I thought I was going to get a couple stretches and a massage, and go home with a couple exercises. What I got from Vince was actually someone who helped coach me how to improve my running form and heal not just my calf, but the muscles it had tired itself out over trying to support. With Vince's help, I was running faster and healthier than I had before I got injured just a few weeks out. He even gave me good advice in approaching pacing that marathon, given it was difficult a flat-lander like myself how I should strategize optimizing getting past those hills. I blew by my goal time and was feeling energized the next day. I'm already browsing the web to figure out marathon #2! Couldn't recommend Vince enough! read more