They Said I’d Never Run a Triathlon Again…With SSL I ran NINE That Same Year

My name is Julia Juliusson and I am a physical therapist specializing in sports
medicine and outpatient orthopedics.

I discovered triathlons at the age of 41 and have been competing in the sport for
the last three years. My specialty is as a sprinter and the majority of my races
are Olympic or sprint distances. I had qualified for national championship races
twice in my career as a triathlete until this year when I won my age group in a
National Championship and qualified to compete in the International Triathlon Union
(ITU) World Sprint Championship to be held in Brisbane Australia on Sept 13th 2009.

This is in spite of a debilitating injury I sustained just about a year ago that
should have taken me out of the sport. Yet instead, through alternative
rehabilitation including the Sport Science Lab, I was not only able to make
a comeback ...I came back this year stronger and faster than I ever was before I got injured.

In July of 2008 I fully ruptured my Achilles tendon while dismounting my bike
in a Triathlon. I had surgery to repair the rupture (mid tendon) on July 10th
2008. The surgeon told me it would be 9-12 months before I could compete again.
And even then, I would not be better than 90-95% of what I was before. I started
out with traditional P.T. for the first 8 weeks as well as deciding to accelerate
my own rehab with my own techniques. I included swimming at three weeks post, and
cycling at 4 weeks post (with a boot on).

I worked my core daily. I started running at 10-12 weeks post-op. I began SSL
training about 4 months post-op and competed in a local sprint Triathlon five
months after my operation. I won my age group, beating 700 entrants. I continued
to train at SSL. My second triathlon was at 8 months post-op (Olympic distance)
with 1200 entrants and I placed second in my age group. Then I competed in a half-Ironman
at 9 months post-op with 2000 entrants and came in 12th of 125 women in my age group.

I continued to race every few weeks and I competed in five more Triathlons…all with
first place finishes until the one year mark. My latest triathlon was in July
2009 and was the National Sprint Championship. I won my age group and was given the
chance to represent the US as the number one seed abroad for women 40-44 in the
ITU World Sprint Championship to be held next month. My goal is to place in the top
ten in the world in my age group just 14 months post full Achilles rupture.
My surgeon says he has never seen anything like it when it came to the speed of my healing.

I believe I am not an anomaly. I trained very hard and was very careful in my
rehab but i knew what to do and when. It made all the difference in the world.
I have SSL and Gavin MacMillan to thank as well…combining SSL techniques with
my knowledge, I was able to achieve great success in my sport.

Update 1: Julia finished 4th in her age group, knocking 11 minutes off her time from the previous year at the 1/2 Ironman in March 2010.

Update 2: Julia won her age group at the Quad Cities Triathlon in Davenport, Iowa on June 19, 2010.

Update 3: Julia keeps getting faster...she won another sprint Triathlon in San Diego in June 2010. Not only did she win her age group, but she was the fastest woman overall by 3 minutes.