In college and graduate school, I worked out frequently – running, using the elliptical, and exercising on the weight machines.  When I moved to DC, I began feeling sharp pains around my knee that kept me from running, climbing stairs, and even stepping on a curb.  A doctor eventually diagnosed this chronic stabbing pain as IT band syndrome.  The doctor sent me to physical therapy, which partly solved the problem, but the physical therapists warned me that I needed to build more muscle in my legs to ensure the IT band syndrome did not reappear or worsen.  How would I do that, now that PT was done?

 Enter Jen.  In spring 2006 Jen worked at the gym in my office building, and my boss (a former athlete himself) had seen her knowledgeably train people and recommended her.  I set up an appointment and told her my goals – to run again and to complete a pull-up.  Jen tested my strength and endurance and patiently instructed me that she doesn’t just build muscle in one spot, like the legs.  You have to build strength systemically.

 And she did.  Jen pushed me.  It wasn’t pretty – still isn’t – but Jen strikes the perfect balance between challenge and capability, scaffolding the improvement from where I am to where I need to be.  She sees where my weaknesses are and helps me strengthen them.  Jen encourages me to try moves that I wouldn’t do on my own with her support, because I should do them, to increase my fitness, to improve my strength, and to ensure better health.

 When she moved to Fitness Together, there was no question that I was following her.  Jen’s focused effort, experience, and expertise as well as her real talent for training and instructing are too rare to lose.

Not only can I run again but thanks to her “you can run faster than that!” prodding, I’m running faster than I ever thought possible.  I’m also stronger than I ever imagined I could be… and I love it.  I can do squats and bench presses with weight that surprises me – and weight that I would not push myself to try on my own.  I can even do a pull-up! 

 A little over a year ago, Jen asked me to record my eating habits.  What we found shocked us – I was filling up on relatively healthy foods, but they were not providing me with the nutrition I need.  Since then, she and I have worked to strike a better nutritional balance for my needs, and I can honestly confess that my body and my energy levels have never felt better.

 Last year, I was married in a dress I never expected to carry off – strapless and close-fitting – but that was just a small reward from my fitness journey that Jen has led.   This effort wasn’t for a wedding, which lasts one day – it’s for my health, which should last a lifetime.  Jen has always understood that.