Looking For a Physical Therapist Who Specializes in Running in Jupiter, FL?

How Fixing My Foot Helped Me Run 4 Miles Again: A Personal Rehab Journey

For most of my life, running had been my mental reset button. So when I injured my knee playing soccer a few years ago and suddenly couldn’t jog a mile without pain, I felt like a part of my identity had been put on hold. The diagnosis? Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS). The underlying reasons? A bit more layered than I had expected.

Growing Up Hypermobile in Soccer Cleats

I’ve always been a hypermobile athlete. My joints move more than average, which was both a blessing and a curse throughout my 20 years of playing soccer. Hypermobile athletes often rely on end-range stability rather than mid-range control, and footwear plays a massive role in how efficiently we can use the ground for stability.

Soccer cleats, in particular, are not designed to help someone like me. The narrow toebox compresses the forefoot, reduces natural toe splay, and limits the ability of the foot to sense the ground. Add in the stiff plate under the cleat and you have minimal proprioceptive feedback, which is the exact opposite of what a naturally mobile body needs.

I spent decades performing high-level, multidirectional movement while wearing shoes that prevented my foot from doing its job. Over time, that shaped poor habits and compensated movement patterns that didn’t become obvious until the demands of adulthood, running, and injury recovery finally exposed them.

The Knee Injury That Set Everything Off

When I injured my knee playing soccer, the pain eventually evolved into classic PFPS. What is "classic PFPS?" Think of what physical therapists call "Theater Sign:" Just like sitting in a movie theater for 30-60 mins with your knee bent at 90 degrees; all of a sudden, a deep aching pain begins in the knee. It feels stiff, so you go to straighten the knee, which lets out a big "crack" and is briefly painful. Many notice this while sitting at work or in class, driving or flying on a plane, and even sleeping at night in the side-lying position.

However, the problem wasn’t isolated to the knee. My patella wasn’t tracking properly, my gluteus medius wasn’t stabilizing my hip, and I lacked rotational control at my proximal femur. Hypermobile athletes already struggle with controlling excess motion, and I had been unknowingly training those patterns for years.

Then there was the foot: unstable, overpronating, and disconnected from the ground.

All signs pointed to a kinetic chain that had been compensating for far too long.

Searching for Answers… and Coming Up Short

I sought second opinions. I wanted fresh eyes because it's hard to separate yourself objectively from your own biases. The therapists I saw were smart and well-intentioned, but the focus stayed on the knee and hip: strengthening, taping, quad work, dry needling. It was all part of the problem, but something was still missing in my rehab plan. I continued to experience knee pain when running. None of these physical therapists in Jupiter, FL specialized in running.

I wasn’t getting better. Every attempt to increase mileage or pick up my pace reran the same script: pain, frustration, plateau.

That’s when it hit me: if I wanted real change, I needed to take my rehab into my own hands.

The Missing Link: My Foot and Ankle

Once I stepped back and reevaluated my mechanics, the picture sharpened immediately.

The foot and ankle were the missing link.

My hypermobility meant I needed more sensory input from the ground, not less. But decades of cleats had trained my feet to be passengers rather than drivers. Without a stable foot tripod or ankle control, every foot strike collapsed inward. That overpronation spiraled upward: tibial internal rotation, femoral internal rotation, lateral patellar tracking, and, ultimately, PFPS.

My knee pain was never the true problem, it was the symptom.

Rebuilding From the Ground Up

The real progress began when I rebuilt my foundation:

• Foot intrinsic strength (short foot, toe spreading, tripod awareness)

• Ankle stability and proprioception

• Glute medius and deep hip rotator activation paired with proper foot posture

• Gradual load progression to retrain the entire chain

As my foot started functioning the way it was designed to, everything upstream improved. I felt more grounded. My hip stopped wobbling. My knee finally felt supported rather than overloaded.

The Breakthrough Run

Thanksgiving day Run 4 The Pies (4 miler with a 9:24 time, no walking)

It wasn’t an overnight transformation, but it was a steady one. The day I ran 4 miles at a 9:24 pace, without pain, hesitation, or fear, I felt a wave of relief and gratitude. Not because of the speed, but because I had rebuilt my body’s foundation.

I didn’t “fix” my knee. I fixed how my body interacted with the ground.

As A Physical Therapist Who Specializes in Running in Jupiter, FL: Why I'm Sharing This

As physical therapists, we talk about the kinetic chain every day. But experiencing that chain breaking down (and living through the consequences) gave me a deeper appreciation for how often the true root cause hides far from where the pain shows up.

PFPS isn’t just a knee problem. Hypermobile athletes aren’t just “flexible.” And cleats aren’t always benign.

My journey reminded me of the principle I now teach every athlete and runner who walks into my clinic: When in doubt, start with the foot.

If you're looking for a physical therapist who specializes in running in Jupiter, FL--please do not hesitate to contact me. I went from no running, no plyometrics, no lunges for years, and now I'm training for a 10k, jumping, and performing barbell lunges with 0/10 pain or discomfort.

Thanksgiving Run 4 The Pies in Tequesta, FL