Running With Autoimmune Disease & Rethinking Injury Prevention with PT Sammie Lewis

What's in this episode

Send us Fan Mail What if the real reason runners get injured has less to do with their running form and more to do with what is happening inside the body? In this episode, I sit down with physical therapist and endurance athlete Sammie Lewis to talk about runner health, injury prevention, and the systemic factors that often get overlooked. Sammie shares her personal experience managing ankylosing spondylitis, celiac disease, and life after a thyroidectomy for Graves' disease while continuing to run, and how those challenges shaped the way she approaches helping athletes stay healthy. Through her clinic, Golden Endurance, Sammie works with endurance athletes using a whole runner approach that looks beyond the site of pain. Instead of focusing only on biomechanics, she evaluates factors like sleep, stress, nutrition, and neuromuscular control. In our conversation, we also discuss common running myths including pronation, how to choose the right running shoe, and why strength training alone is not enough to prevent injuries. Whether you are dealing with recurring injuries or simply want to better understand your body as a runner, this episode offers practical insights into building a