This Is Your Captain Speaking

It's human nature to crave certainty and relief. 

Most runners first encounter physical therapy in pain and therefore seeking relief. Naturally, they hope the clinican they're paired with during an initial evaluation has the certainty to match.

Unfortunately, that's not always how it pans out.

Recently I was remembering how I had an existential crisis right before my graduation from physical therapy school. 

I'd just spend three years slaving over text books, exams, and practicals. But when I began gaining real world clinical experience and attended conferences presenting new evidence on pain science, it felt like a world of certainty started to crumble around me.

Coincidentally, (but maybe not coincidentally at all...) around this same time I developed a severe, pathological fear of flying. 

I'd flown my whole life, never blinked an eye. Then suddenly I was gripping the elbow rests the entire flight, tears streaming down my face, and singing "Amazing Grace" like my mom does when she's afraid of heights.

I was certain that at any moment the plane's power would go out. Or that every "ding" was the captain about to tell us the engines had died or that we were rerouting for an emergency landing. I couldn't rest until we touched down.

The very worst was the ascent. 

That brief pause when the plane stops climbing for a moment, levels out, and then ascends again would send my brain into panic mode. 

But then I learned how that pause to level out during a climb is normal and expected. I was able to anticipate it and be less fearful when it came. Gradually, over the last few years, I've learned to have more trust in flying. But I don't think the memory of that feeling will ever go away. 

I think recovering from an injury or building back into running is like that.

Here's the truth: as a physical therapist, I cannot provide relief 100% of the time. As much as it might pain us, I think any good physical therapist can admit the same.

Because recovering from a running injury or building back from time off is never a linear line of perfect progress.

There are pauses and leveling off periods during your ascent. Stalls in progress where its hard to see how far you've come.

As a PT, the only certainty I have is that I will stick by someone to help them figure out the best path forward. 

That with the right questions and spirit of creativity, I can work together with my client to determine the best path forward to smoother sailing.

As you may know, we're very excited to welcome our second daughter this year in late September or early October.

I've decided to pause taking on new clients starting in August until November so that I can spend the next few weeks focusing on prepping my current athletes for the fall racing season!

So I'm offering a 15% discount on the Return to Run Program, or your first month of Run Coaching if you sign up by August 1st. 

If you've been curious about these programs, reply to this email or schedule a 1:1 Coaching Call to learn which service is right for you.

Questions about this topic? Just hit reply to start the conversation.

—
Dr. Erin Kennedy Dalisay, PT, DPT, OCS
Doctor of Physical Therapy & Run Coach