How Pilates made me a Runner Again

By Laura Dunlop

I believe we all go through multiple iterations of ourselves. We move through varying times of our lives where our priorities shift and our focus sways. These changes can feel uncomfortable but I believe it is in the in between where we can find magic and ultimately continuity.

This is how I string together my relationship with running. 

In grade school, I was told I was slow - very athletic but not very fast. Noted. Running was, as it is for many at some point in their athletic lives, a punishment, not the goal. 

Fast forward to 2004 at the University of California at Santa Barbara. I landed in the most idyllic runner’s paradise with a mild climate, ocean breeze, mountain access and almost always sunshine. Add on 20 pounds of cheap beer, late night burritos and self-serve ice cream at the school cafeteria, and guess what happened next? I decided to become a runner.

This wasn’t totally out of left field. My dad is a “real” runner. He set track records at Priory, played Soccer at Cornell, and still clocked 20+ miles a week on his own. Maybe running is genetic?

I donned Nike Tempo Shorts (rolled at the waist) and a white, ribbed wife beater, Mizunos (because what else would an ex-volleyball player wear?) and just started running. Kind of like Forest Gump, I kept running and running and running - into my first 10k, alongside the men’s soccer team, into a half marathon and somehow upwards of 60 miles a week. All of it, just for fun!

In 2008, I moved back to St. Louis and kept running. Without a plan, without a real watch, without anything but my iPod Shuffle and a set of corded headphones. I ran more races than I will ever remember (I am not one for collecting medals or trophies). I qualified for Boston without knowing it until after the finish line. I ran Boston in 90 degree heat and also New York that same year. I am sure I am causing some of you to cringe - all of this success without a plan. Alas, worse than a cringe, I incurred severe back pain. The back pain laid me immobile on the ground for several days at a time - at the age of 26.

I wrote off running.

In 2016, I had Beau and then Blake two years later. The following year, I ran the St. Louis Half, without a plan, in 1:37. I threw my back out in the training process.

I wrote off running. 

But like a bad habit, I couldn’t shake running. I ran all throughout my pregnancy with Drew in 2020. I was also practicing Pilates 2-3 times per week and my understanding of the body and it’s mechanics slowly started to shift. I decided it was time to run again. But with more miles came more back pain. I had an MRI which showed disc compression in my low lumbar. 

I wrote off running.

I dove into Pilates with a vengeance. I just knew this was going to fix me. A year later, I hired Mark to help me hit my half marathon PR. During training, I incurred a stress fracture.

I wrote off running.

I put all of my chips on Pilates. I started working with a new Pilates mentor, taking two lessons a week (which I still keep to this day) and we focused solely on running - the mechanics of hip flexion and extension, breath capacity, head positioning, core engagement, footwork, hip mobility, essentially every movement we make and take for granted. My mentor watched and critiqued my movement for two hours a week for over a year. I was ready to implement my learnings on the road.

I joined Spewak Racing in May of 2023 and hired Mark as my coach. We have hit several PRs since then and I know we are just getting started.

So, that “magic” in the middle has been Pilates for me. It has been being knocked down and quietly refusing to quit. It has been writing off running but secretly working in the studio to get back to it. It has enabled me to dive into the mechanics of my body, strengthen my body from the inside out, lengthen my tightnesses, create fluidity where there once was tension, develop my weaker muscles, and balance out my many imbalances. 

If you have run with me, you know I herald the benefits of Pilates. It has made me a runner again and I will never take that for granted.