What are the benefits of staying healthy and preventing injuries? Let’s take a look:
- More fun! Sitting on the sidelines, yearning for a good run, is every runner’s worst nightmare
- Faster race times by being more consistent (helping you run more over time)
- More freedom to run the races you want, the group runs with your friends, and every adventure that running brings into your life
I spend so much time showing you the benefits of injury-free running because it can be absolutely transformative.
Just ask Aimee, Rik, Pete, or DeAnne.
Stay healthy and you can enjoy running over your entire lifetime. Goals may change, but you can keep growing and evolving with the sport as your life follows a variety of twists and turns.
Today I want to introduce you to Christie. She battled an IT band injury that left her sidelined from running and frustrated with the lack of progress in her recovery.
She struggled with this injury for 10 months and tried everything. She told me:
I don’t think I would be running without you. I don’t think my ITB issue would have gone away. I was so desperate to save something I love doing when it seemed nothing else was working.
Her story is one of strength and resilience, and the most exciting part is that it’s only the beginning of a fantastic future of running.
Let’s discover how Christie finally got healthy when nothing else worked.
A Love Affair with Running Cut Short
Christie’s love of running began nearly 3 decades ago. She was an experienced triathlete and marathon runner, but over the years the intensity of her training decreased as she focused on other aspects of her life.
Before motherhood I was an endurance triathlete with a few marathons under my belt. Twenty-five years later my husband and I have four children but I have tried to hang on to running the best I can. I always try to run a minimum 30 minutes 3-4 times a week.
A little over a year ago, however, Christie and her husband set out on a run together but got lost. After running much farther than either of them intended, her IT band began to bother her.
Christie tried a number of different remedies, including rest, ice, stretching, yoga and physical therapy. But nothing gave her lasting, consistent results.
Unfortunately, this is a common trend. Over the last 5 years, I’ve helped thousands of runners treat ITBS and the common strategies almost always fail:
- Rest
- Ice
- Stretching
- Acupuncture
- Yoga
- Cortisone shots
The problem is that none of these target the actual cause of the injury! It’s like treating a cold with cough drops – they might make you feel better for an hour, but you’re only disguising a symptom.
Christie experienced this cycle of thinking she was healthy only to remain injured all too frequently:
I would be OK for a while, then out of nowhere my IT band would flare up on just a two mile run. I was now retired and had the time to run, and I couldn’t.
All I can say is that it was frustrating and really sad for me. I love to run. It’s my moving meditation, my dates with my husband, and a group activity with extended family.
So many of us have been there and know how hard it can be to lose such a vital part of our lives. But Christie wasn’t ready to quit. While researching ways to address her ongoing injury, she came across the ITB Rehab Routine.
As Christie explains, this is what started her on the road to recovery. She subscribed to SR but was still disheartened and worried that nothing would be able to heal her injury.
Even after discovering Injury Prevention for Runners (with its detailed, step-by-step treatment protocol for ITBS), she wasn’t sure if it would work for her.
But ultimately her desire to run overrode any reluctance to invest in the program.
My hesitation in buying the program was the fear that it might not work for me. Nothing else was working; however, and I wanted to run! I didn’t want to rest, ice, stretch, and pay for more physical therapy any more.
What did I have to lose?
With her 56th birthday approaching, Christie suggested to her husband that the program would make a great birthday gift. She said:
One story about Franzi really resonated with me. I sent Jason a few emails with questions and he always answered me. He was definitely a real person.
Then Jason offered the program with a Boot Camp perk and we were on board.
She soon jumped into the 5k training plan that’s part of the training plan library and was on the road to pain-free running.
Tackling New Challenges
Christie found that the program offered many new challenges: more structure, greater variety, runner-specific strength work, dynamic flexibility exercises, and different paces and distances.
The plan was exactly what I needed and wanted. I was surprised that I could feel myself getting stronger without spending a lot of time in the gym.
I also saw my training runs not only improve in time, but also how I felt during the run and after.
Christie admits that learning the strength routines was tough at first. But after watching the videos, printing out the PDF instructions, they eventually became second nature.
But what was more challenging was getting past the feeling that a recurrence of her injury was lurking around every corner.
Another challenge I had was “between my ears”. I was so afraid of feeling the ITB for the first month. I started to mentally repeat to myself that I just needed to trust the training.
When success started happening, I quit thinking about it and focused on other positive thoughts like pace, tackling a hill, my breathing, the beauty of the morning, and the nature around me.
While Injury Prevention for Runners provided the “road map,” Christie’s mental approach to training was as much of an asset as her physical training. She made the commitment to follow through with all components of the training plan, the running as well as the injury prevention work:
Jason had done all of the groundwork and planning for me; all I had to do was commit and follow through. That was easy for me.
Once the framework was in place, Christie consistently followed the 16-week training plan. She no longer had to worry about how long to run or what kind of warm up or cool down she should be doing – it was all in place for her.
Mentally and physically, Christie had set herself up for success.
So, how did she finish in her 5k race?
Christie’s 5k Race – And What Lies Ahead
Even with all of her hard work, Christie still had doubts as race day approached. Pre-race jitters made her briefly consider backing out.
The biggest challenge was just entering the 5K race at the end of the training plan. I tried to talk myself out of it, but ended up registering after realizing all of the work I had done over the last 16 weeks.
Her effort paid off, and race day was everything Christie hoped for and more.
When she started the program, her average pace was about 11:15 per mile. She made such rapid improvement over her 16-week training program that her race-day goal was to break a 9-minute mile pace.
Not only did she SMASH her 9:00 goal pace, she finished the 5k in 25:57, a blazing 8:21 pace-per-mile! And Christie had another amazing experience that day that was even more rewarding:
The best part of all: my 15- year old daughter was there to see me cross the finish line as the first woman runner.
Not only did Christie improve her pace by an incredible 3 minutes per mile, she also won her race!
But as satisfying as this was, it’s the future that Christie is truly excited about.
After using Injury Prevention for Runners for four months, my running totally turned around in mileage, time and pace.
My ITB doesn’t bother me anymore and I’m running farther and faster than I ever thought I would be able to. I feel hopeful, excited, and happy about looking into the future with running.
There isn’t a price on that.
Even with her incredible comeback race, Christie is just getting started. Next is a Thanksgiving 10k, using the 10k training plan from the Injury Prevention for Runners program.
After the 10k, a half-marathon. And after she gets that far, a marathon will be next in line.
With her attitude and commitment, the sky’s the limit.
How to Be Successful Like Christie
Like many runners, Christie thrived on the structure of having a training plan that was designed for injury prevention. She soon realized that the following principles were key to her success:
- It’s going to take some work.
- Focus on the process.
- The result and outcome will come.
- Be patient.
- Be consistent.
These are simple yet essential concepts for all runners, and especially for those recovering from a running injury.
Getting healthy from a long-term injury like Christie’s requires a very proactive approach. That’s why Injury Prevention for Runners includes detailed treatment protocols for the four major running injuries:
- IT Band Syndrome
- Achilles Tendinopathy (AKA Achilles Tendinitis)
- Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS or Runner’s Knee)
- Plantar Fasciitis
Within each treatment protocol, there’s detailed rehabilitation steps to get you back on the road as quickly as possible.
You’ll find what actual causes the injury, myths and Q&A about common problems and treatment mistakes, injury-specific rehab exercises and video demonstrations, plus advice on how to correct your training and running form to prevent each injury.
Today I want to give you the same advantages as Christie. When she purchased the program, she also got free enrollment in the SR Boot Camp – a 4-week course on how to make running a consistent habit.
So for the next 3 days, you can get the same support system as Christie with free membership to the Boot Camp course (this is the only way you can enroll in this program as it’s no longer available).
Here’s how to claim your spot at no charge:
- Buy ANY level of the program and forward me your receipt
- I’ll enroll you in the Boot Camp at no charge
- The deadline for this limited-time offer is Friday at midnight Pacific
You’ll get daily lessons on motivation, consistency, injury prevention, and how to plan smarter training. It’s like having me coach you every day – without the ongoing monthly cost of hiring a coach.
And of course, you’ll also enjoy Injury Prevention for Runners with the exact injury treatment systems and training plans that helped Christie not only cure a 10-month injury, but set a huge 5k PR.
Most importantly, you’ll have coaching material and proven training plans that you can use for life! Like Christie, you can refer back to it at any time you’re stuck.
You might just be SR’s newest succes story!
And Christie’s still going strong with her running:
These are my top results: I’m running again, farther and faster than I have in a long time and I continue to run with my husband and teenagers.
I get to enjoy a life-time sport that brings peace, contentment, physical fitness and rewards that I just can’t put a price on these days.
Most of all, I feel like I have a future with my running. I’m not an elite runner by any means, but a frustrating injury hasn’t stopped an average runner like me.
I want YOU to experience the incredible rewards of healthy, pain-free running. Look at some of the results runners like you have experienced. Email me if you have questions (support@strengthrunning.com).
If this isn’t right for you, no worries! But if you’re on the fence, learn more about the program details here.
Let’s not also forget to congratulate Christie for this absolute transformation. It took work, but it was worth every sacrifice.
Thank you for sharing your story with us Christie and best of luck with your upcoming 10k!
