Kate Mihevc Edwards PT, DPT

Living and running in Atlanta, avoiding hills is almost impossible. I frequently have runners tell me that “Hills hurt.” Sometimes my clients have stopped running hills completely because they assume hills are bad for their knees, Achilles, calves, hamstrings—or whatever happens to be bothering them. But hills aren't inherently bad. They are just a different training stimulus. Just like adding mileage or speed work, adding hills changes what we are asking the body to do. If we introduce that...

You made an appointment with a physical therapist because your knee hurts when you run. Then I start asking about your sleep, what you ate yesterday, your training schedule, stress at work, previous injuries, shoes, menstrual cycle, and whether you've ever had anemia. You may be thinking: Are we eventually going to talk about my knee? Yes. But first, I need to know more about you. When I evaluate a running injury, the conversation we have before I start testing strength, mobility or running...

When a runner comes into my clinic, one of the first questions I ask is pretty obvious: “Where does it hurt?” Where you feel pain gives me a place to start. Anterior knee pain makes me think about different structures than pain behind the ankle. Groin pain creates a different list than lateral hip pain. But after years of evaluating and treating runners, I can tell you that where you hurt is only the beginning of the story. Running injuries commonly involve the knee, ankle/foot and lower leg,...