About two years ago, Sonya, like many women in their late 20s and early 30s, was at a place in her life where things were just not clicking together in the way she had imagined. She began her story by talking about her college days.

In 2000, she had begun a promising academic career at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas where she planned on majoring in Dietetics & Nutrition. She was a part of the Women’s Cross Country team. After two successful years, Sonya developed stress fractures and Achilles tendonitis from over-training as well as unbalanced-training. Not having proper sports injury care available to her, she was unable to recover and was forced to give up her slot on the team. If this wasn’t enough of a blow for an enthusiastic college girl, she also lost her Athletic Scholarship. Reluctantly, she transferred to another school where she also changed her major.

She eventually graduated and later found a Personal Trainer position at 24Hr Fitness. Being back in that physical and energetic environment, Sonya discovered she needed something more rewarding. She needed to do something that would allow her to positively affect another person’s life. And, she knew she had to start with herself.

She began training once more in 2009 where she placed 6th in the Mary Kay 5K. At this race is where she met Ray Maldonado – a highly sought-after athletic trainer in Dallas, Texas. Noticing her skill and determination, he scouted her and they began training together the following week. With extra motivation and support from Maldonado, she began to re-condition her body once more into an elite running machine.

As part of Sonya’s training, Maldonado introduced her to Texas SportsChiro Care and Dr. Kelly. Sonya was taught the importance of maintaining a healthy, strong body by avoiding common injuries that plague runners such as:
• Knee injuries — kneecap pain, tendonitis
• Lower leg pain — shin splints, stress fractures, calf problems
• Foot and ankle injuries — ankle sprain, heel pain, plantar fasciitis (bottom of foot pain), toe injuries
• Pelvic and hip injuries — muscle pulls, growth plate stress injuries, tendonitis, groin pain, buttock pain.

Sonya routinely visited Dr. Kelly as part of her training with Maldonado . A preventative maintenance plan was laid out specifically for Sonya to achieve optimal performance while running. Her plan included LiteCure laser, Spinal Decompression / Traction to reduce disc compression, Active Release Techniques® (ART), and a Biotonix® evaluation that gave her a 10-week stretching- and strengthening- based program to help her running posture.

On a cold and rainy Sunday morning in December in 2011, she was physically prepared to take her place in the Rock’s history. Sonya successfully completed her run in 1 hour 21 minutes and 6 seconds –She had won 1st place.

Now, Sonya is focused on helping other people improve their fitness and health. She plans on teaming up with the American Cancer Society to serve as its coach for endurance events as well as introducing competitive running into their charity program.

I was compelled to share her story to inspire others who might be on the fence about taking on a physical challenge such as Sonya did. As Sonya reminds all of us -“It’s never too late to start & no one is too old to begin. You only have one life, so challenge yourself and see what you can do.”

Watch Death of Hockey ‘Enforcer’ Raises Mental Health Concerns for NHL on PBS. See more from PBS NEWSHOUR.

Concussions in Football from National Athletic Trainers’ Assn on Vimeo.