Fiona McMahon PT, DPT Beyond Basics Physical Therapy has some exciting news. We are running the New York City Marathon for the third year in a row with Team Tisch MS. What makes it doubly exciting is that for the first time ever not one but two physical therapists will be running! Both Molly Caughlan and I will be running to raise $5,000 each, for a total of $10,000 dollars to directly support the work of Tisch MS Research Center of New York to help END multiple sclerosis. Over the course of the next 7 or so months, you will see blogs documenting our progress towards our goal as well as blogs highlighting the work Molly will be doing with her amazing physical therapist, Tina Cardenia, and Myself, and my awesome physical therapist, Jessica Babich. Molly will soon introduce herself and say why she is working with our girl, Tina. But for now, let me explain why I am so excited to return to work with Coach Jess, ( yes, I am calling her coach Jess now, it’s a thing). In 2017, together, Jessica and I managed to shave off 17 whole minutes from my last NYC Marathon. My dream of all dreams would be to seek out a BQ (Boston Qualifying time), which would require another time shave of about 13 minutes… and 2 seconds to be precise. Which… is a lot (like, a lot a lot). But shoot for the stars, as they say. So why did I chose Jess to help me with this lofty goal? Because she is a jack of all trades. In 2017 she was able to tie in visceral (organ based) approaches, with orthopedic and pelvic approaches. She is thorough from checking my sneakers to my head and neck control while running. Working with her two years ago, made me feel like I had a new body.
Working with Jess was a commitment, but one that I saw pay dividends in the end. I won’t lie there were definitely times I wished I could sleep in an extra hour rather than come into PT early, but the thing is, that extra physical therapy kept me injury free and helped me maximize my training. You can have the highest VO2max in the world (a measure of cardiovascular fitness) but if something is keeping you from running efficiently, you won’t be running at your top times. You just won’t. Jess has no tolerance for inefficiency and can spot it with a laser focus and then work her magic to correct it. Jess has been nerding out lately about new ways to facilitate or wake up the core for efficiency. She’s almost always playing with new techniques when she has the time to do it. Literally, she is always in the clinic gym playing with techniques. This is a major reason I love working with Jess: for her, it’s not just work it’s a passion. Stay tuned for more from Jessica, Tina, Molly, and Me as we work our way towards Marathon Sunday. Click here to Donate to myself or Molly. We’re competing to see who can raise the most… so if you’re team me or team Molly, make your donation count Click here to donate to:
