Running Clinic for Women

Come hear what I have to say on running injuries, prevention and footwear!
I'm giving a fun talk at Cosport Physical Therapy, June 16, 6:30-8:30 pm
We'll have food and some fun give aways. Spread the word

All the Right Ingredients

I really do like to cook. Its true. My family probably doesn't realize this fact because it doesn't happen as often as it should or as much as it did before kids. I can make homemade spaghetti sauce from scratch, chocolate cheesecake from scratch, lasagna, chicken enchiladas and more! I admit I skimp on it usually because of lack of time or lack of ingredients in the house (again lack of time to go to the store, Peapod.....please come to Elburn!) I admit there have been times that in a rushed attempt to make due, I have skimped on ingredients or rushed the process of whatever I'm cooking just to get the job done. The result...a fair resemblance of a spectacular dinner. It ends up being just fair. Not a true picture of what I am capable of if I had taken the time and used all the right ingredients.

The same is true with athletes and race performances. Motivation and desire might be high, but lack of time is missing or time management is missing. Or...the time to train is there, but skill is not. Or, time and skill is there, but motivation is not. To succeed in high level performance such as.... qualify for Kona, World Championships, Boston, or even just PR huge and beat the local rival it takes all the right ingredients. That means, all of it mixed and stirred to complete the perfect recipe for success.

All the right ingredients for a successful performance are:
1. completing workouts as written
2. not fudging or skimping
3. resting only when its called for
4. believing in your coach/ training plan and sticking to it
5. believing in yourself
6. learning from mistakes, and moving on
7. going out and getting the job done come wind, or heat, or cold, or power meter dying, or training partners bailing.....or insert any excuse
8. proper nutrition to get you through the day, the workout, and help recovery after. (what really are you putting in your mouth. does it help your performance?)

So my homemade recipe for successful performance is:
1. one mega doses of plain old hard work,
2. multiple cups of motivation and determination,
3. 100s of tablespoons of not giving in to fear or failure
4. 1000s of teaspoons of patience and sticking to the plan

Go on a shopping spree before your next big race. Take the time to invest in all the right ingredients to experience a spectacular finish vs. thrown together concoction of what you are truly capable of.

For Moms with an Endurance Habit.......

I’ve been a mom for almost 8 years. Before taking on this job, I had no experience other than caring for my 2 dogs that didn’t talk back, did what they were told and I could leave alone in the house for hours. My own Mom is the best there is and I have tried to follow in her footsteps, while at times continuing on the path of endurance junkie. Trying to be good at both worlds isn't always easy.



In only 8 years I have experienced so many memorable moments (good and bad) that it’s a job I wouldn’t trade this job for anything. With Mother’s Day approaching I have taken some time to remember some of the crazy things I have already experienced in my 8 yrs of motherhood.

It all started immediately after I gave birth to Jack when my doctor was stitching me up and I asked how soon I could run because I had a World Championship race to get ready for in 6 months……

I have:

Woken up at 3 in the morning to nurse a newborn before leaving to race at 10 weeks post partum

Done a track workouts 8 weeks post partum with swollen boobs that actually bounced and jiggled something I’m not familiar with (Gross!)

Gone to work with puke on my clothes and not known about it until an hour later when I could smell it

Sat in a pre-school size kiddy chair being served tea with trashed cycling legs so sore I could barely stand up

Driven around in the car solo with kids music still playing and singing out loud

Cried in front of strangers watching him go to kindergarten, and cried again when he graduated, only a mom would know.



Sat outside the school at the start of 1st grade to make sure he made it all the way in the door… for the first month.

Ridden my trainer watching Backyardigans, Scooby Doo, and more recently star wars clone wars, now that’s mental toughness

Used bribery to get him to stay in the jogger longer so I could fit in an entire run workout

Sat at soccer, baseball and wrestling practices so tired from getting up at 5 a.m. I could barely keep my eyes open, yet didn’t want to miss a minute

Skipped workouts or races because sometimes…….being a mom is more important.




Stressed more about figuring out how to fit in a workout than actually doing it

Been up for hours in the night with a sick kid and still managed to fit in workouts the next day

Tried to set a positive, balanced example for my kids that fitness, training racing and goals are fun and rewarding



Happy Mother's Day

Southern Style.....NOLA 70.3

Early season BIG races aren’t usually something I enjoy getting involved in mostly because of the environment we have to train in from Jan to spring. A change in venue for the 70.3 World Champs, some huge motivation that came from taking about 4 yrs very low key in triathlon and caving to some peer pressure from friends, i.e. Joe Lotus!!!!, convinced me to sign up for an April half Ironman! So I trained in the cold, and wind, and did the killer workouts, to get myself as fit as possible for a Chicagoan in April and headed south to the Big Easy to do the first triathlon I actually cared about in a long time. My goals were to qualify for Vegas. I hooked up with Joe and his gang, including several other TBC athletes for a race weekend southern style!!!! This included country music, a cab driver who didn’t seem to understand numerical order, and a new nick name for me……Quiet Riot.

When explaining to my patients at work who have been to NOLA that I was heading south, I got many tips and advice on where to eat like Emeril’s, where to go, and what types of drinks to order! Drinks with names like Monsoon, Hurricane, Hand Grenade….not Gatorade!.... I was really psyched to head somewhere totally new and different, and of course warm, to race. I laughed at my patients and told them Cajun jambalaya, crawfish, and Hurricanes probably wasn’t the best pre race nutrition. They also couldn’t believe we were swimming in Lake Ponchatrain!!

I did my pre race brick out at the lake and swam in the worst chop and white caps I can recall. I shook it off and assumed it would be calm in the morning, and figured if anything it would just be a rough swim. I felt amazing on my pre race bike and run. Adam let me use the Bontrager disc and front set up he had in Cali, and I of course was hoping for some of that 2:18 bike magic to come my way! LOL. I was a little concerned about the cross winds with the disc, and that I might be blown into the lake. I was also wondering why I felt so good on my pre race brick. Scary, because normally I feel lousy during a taper, and my motto had always been feeling lousy in taper workouts = a good race. So I didn’t know quite what to expect. I also mentally had the most confidence going into a race than I had in a very long time.

Race morning I woke up excited and psyched to race….no feeling of dread or ugh or what the heck am I doing! On the drive out to the lake, Joe got a text from someone already out there that the swim was canceled. I didn’t believe him, and neither did anyone in the truck! I actually didn’t believe it until I heard the race announcer saying it while I was getting body marked. I was bummed there was no swim even though its my weakest of the 3, wondered why they didn’t just shorten the swim, and disappointed they didn’t do some sort of 2 mile run first to break up the field and make the race harder. The wind was crazy, and someone most likely would have drowned, so I guess it was a safe call. But you can’t stress or be pissed about things like this. You take what the race gives you and that is the race, so race it. Of course it changed the dynamics of the race, but on that day the race was a bike/run so saddle up and race.

We stood around for an extra 30-45 min before the TT style race started. It was chilly, I wished I had a few more layers, but hanging out with this crew kept me laughing and entertained until it was my time to go.




The bike was windy and flat, it seemed we went for ever into a big killer straight flat headwind. There were 3, 180 degree turns, and 1 section into the bayou, 2 bridges over the Mississippi out and back. I don’t love flat courses, but this was fun! I felt strong and passed a lot of girls in the AG, but kept riding as strong as I could because with the TT start I didn’t know who was ahead or behind or doing what. We had the tailwind behind us coming home and I felt like I was sailing, almost wiped out on a downhill right turn I was going so fast before entering T2. My legs felt almost perfect right away running my bike through the grassy transition. I tried not to get too excited, put on my running shoes and Garmin and heading out for 13.1 miles from Lake Ponchatrain to the French Quarter. I felt great from the start and tried to follow the plan of starting the first 3 miles controlled before hitting race pace I have to say I loved this run course. It goes along the lake, then into a park. There are 4 maybe 5 out and back sections but through a park with tree lined streets, great crowds. After the first 3 miles I picked it up, took some risks and just ran. I caught several more in the AG including 1 who I know from racing over the years as a cyclist phenom. The last 3 miles were into more of the headwind and along a rough surfaced road as we got closer to downtown. A right turn and a long straight finish into the heart of the French Quarter and I was running with a huge smile because I had it a 1/2 IM run PR. Half Ironmans have not been good to me. For so long I focused on Olympic distance or Ironman throwing in a few halves here and there which never seemed to completely click until then.

In the end I finished 2nd in the AG, with a spot to Vegas!



The AG winner kicked our tails pretty good, so I don't think having a swim would have changed the results in the top 3 at least. All the TBC athletes had great early season races!!!! Sure I was disappointed in no swim and what could have been my best ½ IM ever…at the lovely age of 40 something! We all celebrated by heading to Port of Call in the French Quarter for burgers and Monsoons in honor of the Monsoon like weather we were treated with race weekend. I laughed so much my cheeks hurt. Would I go back to NOLA to race, definitely it is a very cool venue and a very fun destiation race to excape Chicago.

Thanks to my coach Scott Iott, who had me so prepared that I actually felt confident and like I could take risks and race for the first time in a long time, and to Joe Lotus for convincing me to sign up for the race and come to Tuscon and train, and to Adam for sharing his bike goodies and balancing kid duty when he is IM training. He actually started his long run on the TM on one of the nicest weather days, so I could go run the Dewey Dash 5k!

Next up. Recovery! Then re-group. The great part about all the winter hard work is getting to just train, and do whatever races sound good through the summer to prepare for Vegas.

Spring Cleaning.......

I recently had a serious need for a detox diet from the self indulgences and over connection of triathlon life, which prompted a trip home to Oregon to the foothills of Mt. Hood to clean the mind, brain, lungs, muscles fibers, and even my TT bike Scotty P got a daily cleaning as every time I saddled up to ride. Every ride I did, though, I was covered in rain, mud, road slime, and pine needles requiring a serious clean job after each ride. I try to take good care of Scotty P.






Even though seriously drenched I loved riding through the hills and green forests. Riding from my parents puts you in Mt. Hood National Forest along the Clackamas River within about 3 miles.



I was in heaven... even completely soaked or being pelted by hail. Running under these conditions was a bit easier, and luckily the skies cleared for goal mile day and I nailed my best goal mile track workout ever leaving me pretty excited for things to come. And thanks to the North Clackamas Aquatic Park for such an awesome pool. They have entire 8 lane regulation size pool designated just for lap swimming with extremely convenient times and, wow, it coast 2.00 each time I went.! Imagine that, no kids with floaties or water aerobics classes to fight with! There is a separate pool for that. Why is it other cities seem to get the pool/ aquatic centers right? And Chicago and vicinity seems to just not get it?

Yes, I trained, but then totally tuned out. I read a lot and 1 book I read was Apollo Ohono’s, NO REGRETS. This was an incredibly inspiring book. Did you know he could leg press like 2000 lb!, and I loved hearing about the ways he challenged him self to deal with discomfort, even in daily life situations like standing in a long line at the store, or …this is my favorite: ...he would buy his favorite candy which I think was Nestle Crunch, and put in out in a bowl to tempt him as he walked by, but he would teach himself to deal with the discomfort and not indulge! How about that for discipline and focus. For me it would have to be chips and salsa sitting out.  I had a new appreciation for focus and discipline after reading this!

Race season is upon us. Many have toed the line and crossed the finish line already testing themselves in their early season form. This is a good chance to re-evaluate, re-assess and then move forward with the rest of the season. Following an early season race you still have time to do some “spring cleaning” on the entire training plan. What needs tweaked, added, cut out? Do I need more strength, less sugar or fat, more power, less brain clutter, more speed, less poopy pants ( remember I’m a mom), more focus etc. You get the idea. If you wait until mid summer to test the waters, even in training, then that leaves little room for changes and more work to be done.

My first race is less than 2 weeks away now, it is early! Ouch. And, yes I want to do well my first race of the season. I’ve been working hard trying to be prepared to race and see where I am. Maybe I should have read Apollo's book in Jan. though!

Spring is in the air; my landscapers have shown up to make our yard pretty since we can’t. Races are approaching. Are you in need of some spring cleaning? Are you even aware that some spring cleaning in your training plan might be needed. Can you show up to race with “No Regrets?”

Open the windows, shake out the rugs, spring is here. Time to race!

I AM SO LUCKY!!!

Recently I have been dramatically reminded how precious life is, and with that realize how much I take for granted. I whine sometimes, and stress and feel too busy to stop and smell the roses because I need to get X workout in, or X thing crossed off my list. I take the path of least resistance because it fits better, works more smoothly and gets done faster. I'm a perfectionist and want to be good at it all. I know I miss out on some of the really good stuff when I do this. Sometimes I feel like I skate through life.... 1 task to the next without appreciating all the good things. So on my flight home from my 2nd trip from Tucson in 2 weeks(LOL/ oh my!), I decided to think about how lucky I am and came up with this:




I have 2 incredible kids who keep getting more and more fun. Its not like they weren't fun at 3 and 4, it just keeps getting better. They make us laugh, they remind me of how we used to be, they keep us on our toes. Jack and Kaitlin are 8 now. Where has time gone. They are amazing kids.



I am a successful physical therapist in a sports medicine clinic. For so many years, this was my dream. I studied like a psycho triathlete trying to qualify for Kona to get into PT school, and then get out. Now I get to help people walk again, lift something overhead, or run again. I also get the privilege of helping triathletes, and runners achieve their dreams through coaching. TBC is an amazing company to work for. And having putting in the time, the combination of both gives me the opportunity to periodically take off for the sun and mtns and train.




After "Xty" some years in the sport of triathlon I still love to go out and swim, bike, run, do pull ups, push prowlers, race, and do cyclocross. Some days or weeks I like biking more than running, while at other times I the reverse is true. There have even been times I'm excited to go swim. I still love that at 43 I still have the motivation and drive to go out get fit and want to race.

I have an amazing family that is so supportive of all the "unconventional" things Adam and I do. I have amazing parents and in-laws who have always encouraged me to chase my dreams. My family spreads from Oregon, to Illinois, to Georgia, and a few places in between. 3 amazing brothers, and 3 amazing sis in laws!

I have so many incredible friends who share the same dreams, challenges, ups, downs and crazy life as me. Where would I be without my friends to fall back on!


Last but absolutely not least, I have an incredible husband, who continues to amaze me and and leaves my jaw dropped in all that he can accomplish with racing and growth of TBC for sure.... but also as a husband and father.




Of course there are many more things I feel lucky to have...but, what things are you lucky for?

To Run or Not To Run.............

…..that’s the million dollar question I am frequently answering.

With years of experience treating orthopedic and sport related injuries as a physical therapist, years of training and racing myself, and coaching my own incredible athletes I am often helping coaches, athletes, and my own clients answer this question. Is it ok to still run?

Athletes invest a great deal of time, money, energy, sweat, heart and sole into following their dream and achieving their goals (if you haven’t noticed just signing up for Ironman isn’t cheap). When training catches up to you and your body starts to talk back in some way telling you with pain that it’s not happy, it’s hard to stop and interrupt the training. Athletes often push through the pain, keep training, ignoring the symptoms which often results in even more dysfunction.

Over the years I have developed some guidelines for my athletes, and clients in the clinic who find themselves in pain, injured or trying to train through an injury. I’ll share some of these generalizations here and you will see a lot of it is common sense, but when dealing with pain, the desire and motivation to keep training all rational thoughts and common sense is sometimes lost. My ultimate goal as a physical therapist and coach is to keep the athlete running or participating in their sport. However, there comes a time when resting is the smarter choice and will allow the injury to heal more quickly. When all conservative options, such as rest, ice, modifying training still results in pain, then use common sense and seek professional medical help to get some treatment. This will ultimately help speed up the healing and recovery process, and allow a quicker return to training.




Don’t Run When:

1 Obvious trauma: severe trauma resulting in exposure of bone, inability to contract a muscle or stand or walk. Laugh, but you’d be surprised! I’ve seen it all!

2 Limping or severe compensation: running with pain to the point where you are limping, significantly altering form, stride or foot placement to avoid pain. This will likely lead to tissue breakdown somewhere else only adding to the problem

3 Pain with ADLs: when pain (other than general muscle soreness) is experienced during normal day to day activities just walking, standing, sitting at rest; then likely running is not an optimal choice

4 Pain increases during a run: if experiencing pain and it worsens or becomes more severe and sharp while running, then stopping is recommended

5 Increased pain at night or when done running: this is your clue that you are dealing with some injured tissue and likely continuing to run without modifying the training or seeking treatment will only aggravate the condition.


Run When:




1 Pain decreases throughout the run: its ok to keep running when you start out
and feel pain or discomfort and after a short duration it diminishes and goes away, then it is ok to continue the workout. This may take 12-15 min. as the blood and oxygen circulates to all the muscles. Running for this amount of time will most often not worsen or aggravate a condition. If pain does not diminish during this amount of time, pain increases, or compensation/ favoring is occurring, then stopping the workout is the best option; when coming back from an injury sometimes you will feel it during the warm up. The injured tissue has to adapt to the stress of running again. As long as it doesn’t continue or increase then continuing the run is ok.

2 Injured tissue has gotten a rest/and or some treatment and pain has decreased: try the above option and see how the injury responds. If pain does not diminish or decrease during the warm up, then stop. Running for this short amount of time most likely will not set the athlete back.

3 Modifications have been made: sometimes injured tissue will tolerate running
at a slower pace, or decreased volume and still allow the healing to occur. If the symptoms are minor, then try slowing down and cutting back. If after trying that pain is still present then seek some professional help from a physical therapist, chiro, physio or medical person with some expertise to guide you through the injury and return to running.

Run Smart and Train Safe :)