Last year, my wish for 2016 was courage, an accepting heart, and new patients/clients. I just wanted to make it through the first year as a new business
owner. Well. . . thanks to ALL of you, I made it through the first year and am very excited for 2017.This past year has taught me that hard work, prayers,
good luck, and some really supportive patients and friends can help get a business get off the ground. I do not want to appear to be greedy with wanting
more next year. I have a loving husband, 2 happy children, an office manager who is outstanding in every way possible, family and friends who love
and support me, and patients/clients who love learning to move better. So when I think about what to wish for in this New Year, I realized that everything
I preach to all of my athletes is what I want for everyone in 2017: strength, flexibility, and endurance.

Strength: Strength comes in many forms – spiritual, physical, mental. When I talk to my runners, I tell them that they need to be physically strong
to withstand the forces of running. To gain strength, you will need to push yourself to use more weight or increase your repetitions. As some events
in the coming year may seem to make you carry more weight or struggle more than expected, know that the effort will help you long term. I hope that
all of you find strength, in whatever form, to get you through 2017 to achieve all of your goals.

Flexibility: Flexibility comes for a combined interaction of your joints and soft tissue structures. If one part of the system is off, the other
part will not be able to move efficiently. Flexibility does not come by forcing tissues past a certain point – it comes from a dedicated program to
move the joints through their range of motion and training the tissues to go along for the ride. So for this coming year, I hope that all of you will
challenge yourselves to push past a comfortable but understand that there is sometimes something else that has to give to fully achieve flexibility.

Endurance: I push my runners to tax their cardiovascular system not with long distance runs, but with sprint intervals.For example, they may have
to run 200 meters as fast as they can then they wait until their heart rate recovers to 120 bpm, then they sprint the same distance again. Sometimes
the distance is longer or shorter – but each time, they do it as fast as they can, wait for their heart rate to recover and then repeat. In 2017, I
know there will be times that each of us has to sprint through a section of our life, wait for our heartrate to recover and then do it all over again.
(This is how I feel every morning trying to get all of us out of the house on time!!!) I wish for you to build your endurance so that these sprints
lead to your ability to withstand longer distances with a strong heart and an improved ability to breathe in tough times.

Thank you for making 2016 a fun and exciting year for us here at Smith Physical Therapy and Running Academy. Here is to 2017 being a new challenge for
all of us that will push us to grow, celebrate our wins, and forgive ourselves for our losses. Happy New Year!!