I would like to personally welcome you to this program, and also thank you for investing in yourself! Within the Start to Run program, I will be sharing my experiences as a physical therapist and runner that I have found to be the most effective ways to manage my training and prevent pain.

My goal for this program is to get you tools that you can use to manage pain, stiffness, and weakness before it becomes out of hand and keep you from doing the things you love. Before beginning the course, please complete the following:

PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU HAVE HAD A TOTAL HIP REPLACEMENT THE HIP STRETCHES MAY NOT BE APPROPRIATE FOR YOU. Please consult with your surgeon or a physical therapist to discuss if they are safe for you to perform.

**You can contact Becky directly through email at [email protected] if you have any questions about your specific issues or if you are having problems with any of the exercises. **

1. Download the Exercise Handouts and have them close as you are going through the exercise videos. You'll notice that many of the exercises are only performed on one side. The reason for this is that with most people, we see these compensations only on one side; however, it's always good to try the exercise on each side, see which one is the most difficult and do the exercise on that side.
2. Watch the videos in order. We've organized this course to first explain common weaknesses and compensations we see in runners, then we provide eight different exercises to help address these problems.
3. You may not need every exercise in this program. By first watching the Recommendations for Pain Free Running section, you can identify your weaknesses, and choose the corresponding exercises that are right for you. However, we do encourage you to do the entire program!
4. If at any time you experience increased pain or numbness and tingling into your extremities, please stop the exercise, review the instructions to insure that you are performing it correctly. If the increased pain or tingling persists, please contact your physician or physical therapist.

Best wishes,

Becky Pearson