NYC Marathon Training Begins

My NYC marathon training started with a trip to the physical therapist.  About 2 weeks after the Georgia half marathon I felt something “odd” in my left hamstring near the end of a 5 mile run.  After a few weeks of very light running, and mostly resting, the hamstring was still bothering me.  On a recommendation from someone I play soccer with I went to see Emily Yakes at PT Solutions.

Emily instantly went to work on the hamstring.  The first day she did this deep tissue massage that had she not been pregnant I might have slapped her.  Then she did acupuncture (or dry needling as she called it).  I was not a fan of either procedure but the combination of the massages and some strengthening exercises had me back up and running in no time.  After about 4 weeks I was able to stop going to see Emily.  I am not sure who was more relieved… me or her!!  (Honestly this is best physical therapist experience I have ever had so if you need physical therapy and there is a PT Solutions near you I would recommend trying it out.)

On my last day I asked Emily if she knew any good running coaches.  Turns out that her husband Dale is a USAT Level 1 triathlon certified coach.  I am not sure what all that means but since running is part of the triathlon I figured he could help.

Now I have a physical therapist and a coach so I guess I am ready to tackle the marathon on my bucket list.  The coaching process has been interesting, but I will write more about that later.