Posted in Blog, Featured, Rehabilitation, Running.
Patient Highlight: Michael Anderson
As we look forward to 2023, we want to take a moment to reflect on the past year as there have been a tremendous amount of performances by our patients in 2022.
FLPT Physical Therapist, Connor Hesselbirg, PT, DPT, FAFS, gives a special shoutout to his patient, Michael Anderson. He first came to Finish Line PT at the end of 2021 after having ITB syndrome during training for the NYC marathon. He wanted to address his knee pain since he had high expectations for his 2022 races which highlighted the Paris marathon in the spring, and the Chicago AND New York City Marathon in the fall.
INJURY: ITB syndrome
2022 GOALS:
- Training race – Paris
- A race – Chicago
- B race – NYC
Michael was set up for the year, with the game plan of coming in for PT weekly, working together to decrease pain in his knee while running, and to build back stronger. He had a strong yet conservative approach to training, with the idea to run the Paris marathon healthy and use Chicago as a goal race to run his fastest time of the year and NYC would be his victory lap.
PLAN OF CARE: Strengthen glutes and hamstring strength to decrease knee pain
With any marathon training program, the high mileage tends to bring on some new aches and pains. As the Paris marathon was getting closer, his calf began to bother him, so we adjusted to address the current pain while maintaining healthy running.
RACE #1 RESULT (Paris): He ran happy & healthy after six months of PT and was able to keep training for his A race – goal achieved (CHECK)
During the summer as training got underway for Chicago, we turned our attention to his calf pain which was the result of a lack of ankle mobility and calf strength. I also helped create a training program for him as a coach to have further guidance with his running to prevent overuse and overtraining.
RACE #2 RESULT (Chicago): PR CITY!!! Another star to his Majors collection and a great PR achieved! (CHECK)
With NYC on the horizon, we had a short plan in place so he got the the finish line of NYC healthy. We focused more on PT than running, since he was already in incredible shape from Chicago. Being able to build his calf strength and improve his single leg stability was the key.
RACE #3 RESULT (NYC): We can’t mention NYC 2022 without mentioning the weather but the goal was to enjoy the crowds and enjoy the victory lap of an incredible year running – goal achieved! (CHECK)
I couldn’t be more proud of how hard Michael worked over the past 12 months and his work ethic to get stronger, faster, and more educated through physical therapy and help him accomplish his goals, and continue to build new ones. Great work Michael!
2023 GOALS: BERLIN
I can’t wait to see what’s in store…
