Finish What You Start
In this workshop Adam will share his first-hand knowledge of lower body injuries commonly associated with running. These conditions will be: IT band syndrome, Achilles tendonitis, shin splints, and plantar fasciitis. Even if you are not a runner you will find this workshop beneficial. You will leave this session with an understanding of what key areas may be causing your pain, a new perspective on how chronic injuries can occur and how to personally problem-solve your way to the source of it. Anyone who is seeking a way to enhance their performance as an athlete or is tired of living with chronic lower body pain should consider attending this workshop.
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Adam Bohach grew up in Northeast Iowa, spending weekends on his grandparents’ farm. He helped pick rock from the field at the age of four and refused to stop until the job was done. His toe nails fell off. Adam applies that same relentless dedication to his own training, stubborn to get the job done, and in his wiser days, a job done well and right.
Adam found his feet competing in cross country and track and field for South Winneshiek High School (Calmar, Iowa). It was only after working harder, by lifting and incorporating swimming, that he started to excel, going toe-to-toe with some of the era’s finest at Drake Relays, State Cross Country and State Track. Discovering his new identity as a runner, he advanced his running career at Luther College where he participated in cross country and track and field. In cross country Adam was a 4-time All-Conference athlete, 3-time Academic All-American, 2-time team captain, and an All-American in the NCAA Division III National Meet in 2006. He helped lead the team to a 6th place finish at the same meet.
While at Luther he oscillated between fitness and injury, which left him leaving college feeling like there was more to give in the sport. The desire to better understand the cause of these injuries prompted him to major in biology at Luther with the goal to someday become a physical therapist. Adam took all the required coursework to prepare him for this path, including Human Dissection and Anatomy and Kinesiology. Life’s course changed during his senior year when Adam felt called to join the United States Peace Corps. He took that instinctive determination to keep running to South Africa where he dodged lightening and wild dogs and hardened himself by running 12 miles to-and-from a school he was volunteering at. While there he competed in the Comrades 90k Ultra-marathon twice.
When he returned to Iowa, still uncertain about applying to physical therapy school, he taught and coached at Clinton High School (Clinton, Iowa). It was there that Adam jumped into a triathlon on a whim and soon realized that combining two sports he was okay at with a sport he excelled at, made him above average. After just one season of training he qualified for the Amateur World Championship Ironman in Hawaii. In 2012 he was ranked #1 Amateur triathlete by USAT. In 2012 he was recognized as a professional triathlete, traveling the country extensively to race among the world’s best long-course triathletes. At first he learned about the sport by trial and error, making a great number of mistakes with his own training. He enjoyed the process of self-discovery and learning, building a foundation of skills and knowledge needed to successfully coach others at the sport. In 2021 Adam helped two athletes qualify, for their first time, for the Amateur 70.3 and 140.6 Ironman World Championship races.
Eventually, Adam decided his heart and schedule were more aligned with running so he made it his goal in his 30s to qualify for the US. Olympic Trials in the men’s marathon. He has since attempted to qualify for the Olympic Trials twice and narrowly missed the sub-2:19 qualifying standard by 28 seconds (Twin Cities, 2016). At the age of 38, he has less than two years to qualify for the next Trials, which will be held in 2024.
In 2012, while living in Des Moines and training for triathlons, Adam realized he needed to get regular massages to cope with the 20-30 hours of training he was doing each week. It was here that he experienced a “real” sports massage and discovered its wizardry to promote or advance healing. He decided he wanted to learn some of this magic and attended Body Wisdom Massage Therapy School (Urbandale, IA). It was there that he fell under the tutelage of Brian Glotzbach L.M.T. Brian had years of experience working with NFL and NBA athletes in Atlanta, along with Olympians at the 1996 Summer Games. With this shared wisdom, Adam started to develop a new philosophy and outlook on using massage, in combination with other hands-on modalities to treat sports-related injuries. Adam has been practicing massage and refining his skills since 2014.
Adam’s number one day job is an educator. He has been giving presentations to crowds of all ages for nearly 20 years; daily facing 100+ teenagers in high school science classes. He has also taught adult-learners in continuing education courses for Luther College and a 100 hour clinical sports massage course at Body Wisdom.
Adam currently lives on a hobby farm, Tailwind Acres, outside of Cresco, Iowa with his spouse and two young children. Their home is an agritourism destination for visitors to discover and nurture the power of recreation and farming through real on-farm experiences.