How Julie Donnelly made Woodard’s WR comeback possible

Julie put Allen back on track, literally.

Julie Donnelly put Allen back on track, literally.

After several email exchanges with M45 WR man Allen Woodard, I was still curious about the injury that forced him to quit track despite such great potential. His latest response is gut-wrenching but hopeful. Allen writes: “When I was young, my goal was to be an Olympian. I had the goods, but unfortunately a strange sciatic injury cut my dreams short. I woke up one morning with a pain that started in my groin area. I had groin issues before. No big deal, right? Wrong! This was no ordinary groin pull. I did the usual stuff when I pulled groins in the past. But nothing seemed to help. The pain just kept getting worst. The more I tried to run, the more the pain intensified. Then the pain started to move into my hips and glutes. … I went to several different specialists. I was told I had arthritis, possibly needed back surgery and all kinds of things.”

Allen continues:

Over time, the muscle in my legs started to deteriorate. My right side was the most affected side. Legs got real small and I walked with sort of a limp. In the first six months, it was so bad that sometimes when I would sit and try to stand, I would just fall to the ground.

My whole right side would just give. Needless to say, I was very depressed. 

But over 20 years later, I met a wonderful lady by the name of Julie Donnelly. She’s a therapist out of North Carolina. At this time, I was looking into the masters, saying to myself: It would be nice to be able to compete again. Even if I wasn’t 100 percent.

So through some friends, Maria and Carlos, I was led to the Athlete Lab in Cary, North Carolina, to train with Mike Young. This is where I met Julie.

I attended a seminar the first day I was there on self-treatment. Long story short: My problem the whole time turned out to be muscle imbalance, chronic muscle tightness. Can you believe that?

So after discovering the problem, this is where the second story begins in 2011. So I have to credit Julie Donnelly for the success I’m having. Not only a sprinter now, but a student of the sport.  

Thank you, Jesus, for second chances. Everything is about glorifying him!  

Amazing.

And it turns out Julie shares Allen’s story on her site.

Julie writes:

We spoke about how hamstring pain/strain isn’t necessarily coming from the hamstrings, but is more likely coming from the iliopsoas and quadriceps, both of which are on the front of your body. I had Allen lie down on the gym floor and I checked out the two muscles and sure enough, they were both tight. So I taught him how to do the self-treatments, he said “thanks” and then he left. That happens so much in my world that I didn’t think of it again until Thursday, when Allen called me.

Our phone conversation lasted for a half-hour, and I ended up crying because it’s so fulfilling to me when I hear that my work has made a major change in a person’s life.

Here’s Julie:

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April 12, 2016

3 Responses

  1. Tony Echeandia - April 27, 2016

    Great Story!

  2. Mary Sullivan - May 10, 2016

    I’m not surprised. She is truly gifted!

  3. Gina Carr - May 15, 2016

    What a great story. Julie has given him such a precious gift, just as she did my partner, several of my friends, and me. She is truly a miracle worker.

    I tell everyone about her. If you have any sort of pain, you should give Julie a call and/or buy her products. She can help everything – knee pain, back pain, shoulder pain, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome – you name it!

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