My daughter is currently a sophomore, but when she started at Athletic Republic she was an injured freshman from shin splints and bursitis, making a valid attempt to run cross country and dance (concurrently). There is no denying her running form was terrible; as a dancer, her muscles were very well developed, but as a runner she struggled. Athletic Republic helped her change that by not only showing her what she needed to work on, but also how to fix it. Once she improved her form, we began to work on speed. This was by far her favorite part, besides the Saturday morning ‘beatdowns’ Tim and Johnny put her through. She looked forward to going to Athletic Republic every week, and walked out a stronger athlete than when she walked in.
However, shortly after leaving the program, she was victim to another injury; a stress fracture on her left fibula from a bad pair of running shoes. This came to light after stepping in a hole at a cross country race in Chicago which rendered her invalid after the race. She was in a walking boot for 4 weeks, unable to run for 8, and had to build herself back up for another 6. It was tough, but she knew what she needed to work on, and based on her ability level, found alternate ways to train herself with methods she picked up on at Athletic Republic.
Her alternative to running was water running and swimming at first, which gradually came to include stationary biking, which turned into the elliptical, which turned into a treadmill that allowed her to control her speed. If she learned one thing at Athletic Republic, it was not to immerse yourself too quickly in something you are unsure of, especially coming off an injury. She did strength work three to four times a week, each time focusing on core, arms, and eventually legs when she was healed. She invested the techniques and exercises she learned from the trainers at Athletic Republic into her new training program.
Currently she is running track, distance 800m+, with her focus on the 1 and 2 mile events. She started the season running JV and she is now running Varsity. She has not had problems with shin splints or bursitis this season, which I attribute to the work at Athletic Republic improving her form.
