Tales Of Inspiration!

It's easy to feel sorry for yourself.

To avoid plunging deeper and deeper into despair over the past nine months of my knee injury, I continually found sources of inspiration from my friends and fellow runners who faced similar and more daunting challenges. Their words and their actions helped me push through my frustrations and anxiety when I'd face setbacks or simply became impatient.

With dark clouds dispelled, I instead felt humbled with the realization that they - along with many of you - faced obstacles easily surpassing my own.

Hoping to help anyone dealing with their difficulties, I reached out to several individuals who graciously shared their stories. I know that you will find their stories as inspiring as I did.

Frank Knight

One of my oldest friends and a former teammate at Western Oregon, Frank has been inspiring me for decades. This guy has maintained a razer’s edge intensity since he was our top distance runner in college and done so sustaining only four injuries over those years! And nothing lasting beyond a scant two months!

Injuries & Treatment: That was until October 2024 when his knee uttered an unmistakable “ouch” during hyperextensions with 45 pounds on his chest. This was, of course, part of Frank’s resistance that followed a twelve-mile run.

After toughing it out for a few days, Frank realized the pain in the back of his knee wasn’t going to go away. Although initially diagnosed as Patellofemoral, later examinations determined the problem to be a very serious herniated tendon due to hyperextension behind the knee which turned out to be an injury to the Popliteus Tendon which included a Bakers Cyst!

Although surgery was an option, true to his nature, Frank opted for “Plan B.” meaning he wasn’t going to sacrifice conditioning - or lose time on the golf course! His treatment was RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression & Elevation) and not running until his knee could handle it. In lieu of running, Frank would walk. But unlike my wimpy walks, this guy walked for 2-3 hours - including a boatload of hill repeats to maintain his fitness level! Oh, and Frank also added on 45-minutes of daily stretching as well as another 20-minutes of stretching after each walk.

Motivation: What kept Frank’s fires burning was his intention to return to the gift of running! That and continuing playing golf which was actually his first passion in sports. Frank fully intends to maintain that high fitness level as absolutely long into his senior years! As it is now, Frank’s been back to thirty miles per week for the past ten weeks!

Fun Fact: Rooming with Frank for a meet at Eastern Oregon State College way back in the day, I distinctly remember him jolting awake, literally sitting straight up in the bed. He looked at me and said, “Get psyched! Gonna be an All-World Day!” With that, Frank was out of bed and several hours later kicked absolute butt in the 5K. As for me, I got up about 10 minutes later and had my butt kicked.

Leslie Alwiel

The best part of doing this blog is getting to know people that I’d otherwise never meet. A perfect example of that is Leslie. She’s an excellent runner living in Portland, Oregon. Leslie’s also someone who’s frequently offered her thoughts and delightful insight on my various posts. She was also kind enough to share her injury experiences.

Injuries & Treatment: “Experiences” is too mild a word for what Leslie went through. She endured not one, not two, not three, but five stress fractures! The first three alone chose 2021 to throw a wrench into her training. Leslie dealt with another one in 2022 and the last one just over a year ago, in January 2025.

Making it that much more arduous, each fracture presented it’s own limitations and challenges. Her first was in her heel. Number two was a more serious affair, being a tibial plateau fracture. The final fracture for ‘21 impacted a thoracic vertebra - which was an adventure in pain. Then came a fracture in a medial tibia with the final being in the fibula.

Leslie’s response to the first one was to purchase a stationary bicycle - something she confesses to being part of a “love/hate” relationship. With her running coach providing workouts on the bicycle, Leslie could maintain her fitness and allow the fractures to recover.

Motivation: Without question, Leslie credits her coach as the single most important factor that kept her going through each of these difficult challenges. Not only did this person provide workouts geared to her working through the injuries but also gave Leslie the knowledge that she would be successful in returning to running. Let me add that the proof is in the pudding with her scoring a personal best in a recent 5K!

Fun Fact

Leslie dared to actually admit that sometimes - only once in a great while - she dares to think that “running sucks.” And this is someone who came to from each stress fracture to place in her age group in every race! Imagine what Leslie would be like if she was as obsessed as the rest of us! 🙂

Todd Charnetski

I first learned about Coach Todd from several of his impressive clients on the Facebook group “I Love to Run Community". Hearing accolade upon accolade about this guy had me searching him out. Guess what? Their assessments were “spot on.” Todd’s an absolute dynamo. In 2022 Coach started his own businesses, SMART Approach Recovery, as a Recovery & Pain Relief Consultant as well as SMART Approach Training, as a Running and Marathon Coach. He’s also a beast of a runner and weightlifter himself. Enough that I couldn’t picture someone like him actually facing an injury. But, starting in September of 2024, that’s exactly what happened.

Injuries & Treatment: Following several weeks of wicked training, Todd noticed a sore ankle/achilles - something he’d experienced before. A bum heel joined in for fun. Working through the soreness in both, Todd persevered, adding in an injured hamstring and strained soleus (calf) that led to his first and only DNF (Did Not Finish) in May HALF of last year!

Working through those challenges during the summer and employing a variety of treatment methods (ranging from strength, red light, taping, creams, Marc Pro), Todd took on a tough marathon in October as well as a tough, hilly 5K in November that finally aggravated the heel enough that he sought out a sports medicine doctor. The initial assessment was a Plantar Fasciosis (chronic diseased plantar fascia). When shockwave sessions didn’t help after 5 weeks, it was time for a PRP injection in mid-January.

This hasn’t been a fun experience. But despite being immobile for two weeks, progress is being made - although it’s only now at the 7-week mark that the pain is easing. The final prognosis indicates 3-6 months for a full recovery.

Like any injured runner, one of the greatest challenges is missing that “fix” or “high” that comes with running. But fortunately, weightlifting scratches that itch for Todd as it’s a familiar part of his training past.

Motivation: What has also kept the fire in Coach Todd’s belly has been the work that his SMART Approach run team athletes bring each day. Whether training runs or races, he lives through them. As Todd put it, “When they have a great run or race it is almost like it happened to me. Of course they check in regularly too, so very motivating and therapeutic to me. All this helps my mental game and drive to get back at it!”

Fun Fact: With Todd living in Green Bay, Wisconsin, it's a pretty safe bet that he's a Packer's fan. And I've yet to let him know…. while I am not a Cheesehead, I am a Green Bay Packer's stockholder!

Once again, my sincere thanks to Todd, Leslie and Frank! Their stories as indeed remarkable. If you'd like to share your stories, let me know! As runners, we truly need to support one another!