The treadmill says 7.5, and I'm feeling good! Just a few minutes left in this run... maybe I'll push it up to 8.5 for a fast finish, then do some stretching. The machine whirs faster as the belt speeds up, my legs respond with extra speed and push, and I taste the familiar tangy metal of anaerobic effort.

Then I feel a twang of pain in my left calf muscle, and my gait collapses into a limp. I press the red panic button on the treadmill and dread comes over me. 

No, not again! The same calf!? Again!? 

I can't believe it. I was more careful this time, I stretched, did some weight training, gradually added mileage, and this still happened?

Defeated, I resign myself to another 6 weeks of elliptical training, stretching, rolling, massage appointments and watching other runners go by with bitter envy.

On the drive home, my calf aching, it hit me - this was going to keep happening. It had been two years already that I'd tried to get back into long-distance endurance shape, and I was going through the same cycle again and again. 

1) Run like I'm still 20 years old: Feel fantastic!

2) Develop chronic pain or injure a muscle: Despair.

3) Rehab and cross-train: Start to build hope again...

Then I gleefully go back to running like I'm a college kid and get hurt again! It was a vicious cycle that I felt trapped in.

It became obvious that nothing was going to change by doing the same things I already knew to do. I needed help. I needed a new perspective.

I needed a coach and other people who would see things I was missing. I needed to re-learn how to train in a body that was older, heavier and slower than I had ever been. 

That was February of 2016. 

It was a hard realization, but it has led me on a journey that has taught me about myself and my body, and I am now stronger, faster and feel better than I have since college.

I posted selfies like everything was fine, but dealt with chronic pain and frustrating injuries for years.

Over the next 6 months I changed everything about how I trained. I went to a sports chiropractor who told me my glut medius muscles had atrophied from years of neglect, and I needed serious strength training. 

I hired a coach and joined a national endurance team, started to talking with other athletes in their 40's, 50's and up, and listened to their wisdom. I got a full slo-mo gait analysis from a running-specific physical therapist, who told me all the bad news (your left side is weak, you over-pronate, your gluts are not activating, you're leaning back, and your hips are too tight). 

Three years later, I've had a full season of injury-free training, ran my personal best times since college, and I have more fun running than I ever have. I'm on track to complete my first marathon in 10 years this Fall, and have a coach who knows me and my journey, and is with me every step of the way. 

Your journey may be different from mine. Maybe you're not a runner, or haven't had chronic injuries; maybe your struggle is getting out the door to exercise, or using that exercise bike and set of dumbbells in your house that mostly collect dust. 

I don't know what you're dealing with or what you've been through, but I do know that you won't reach your fitness goals by doing the same things you've always done, or doing what you already know. 

What can get you there is a coach - someone who can see your strengths, challenges and opportunities objectively, who will hold you accountable for what you say you want, and who will partner with you to create a plan that works for you and your life. 

I would be honored to be that coach. Don't wait - contact me today and let's get started!