Running and endurance physical therapy in Flagstaff
Harrier is a two-therapist clinic for distance runners and triathletes. We watch you run, test what is behind it, and build the plan around the training you already do.
The running assessment
It happens at the clinic, on a treadmill and a clear floor. Your therapist decides what to test from how you run and what you tell us, and explains each step as it happens.
You warm up the way you do before a long run, then run on the treadmill in your own shoes. We film from the side and from behind, then slow the video down and look at it with you.
Bring the shoes you train in
Wear running shorts and a top you can move in
Strength, range of motion and single-leg control, one side against the other, in the order your running suggests. This is where we find what the video cannot show.
Single-leg strength and balance
Hip, knee, ankle and foot motion
How each leg takes your weight
A written plan for your next stretch of training: what to change, what to keep, what to strengthen and when to come back. What decides how many visits is what we find and what you are training for.
Exercises for home or the gym
A word with your coach, if you want one
The gait room
A treadmill, a camera on each side and a clear floor. It is a way for you and your therapist to look at the same stride, slowed down.
Training calendar
Most runners come in at the same few moments. Tell us your race dates and we plan around them, not around ours.
Volume goes up slowly. An assessment now shows what to strengthen before the miles arrive.
Dec to Feb
Intensity returns and so do the first aches. We adjust your plan with your coach and keep you moving.
Mar to May
Long days at altitude, downhill and uneven ground. We plan strength work for the load the mountain gives you.
Jun to Aug
Half and full marathon training. We time strength work and rest around your taper.
Sep to Nov
Services
Each service starts with the same assessment.
Watch the stride, test the body behind it, and leave with a plan.
Load the tendon, the calf or the hip in the right amounts, with your running adjusted around it.
A step-by-step return after time off, built on what you can do now.
Three sports, one body. We look at how the swim, the bike and the run add up.
Where state law allows, with a therapist who has the training.
About Harrier
Trinidad Espino started Harrier because she wanted a place she could send her own training partners. She treats runners who race, runners who just run and triathletes working on the third leg.
Visits are an hour at the start and unhurried after that. You see the same therapist each time, and we tell you how fees work before you book.
Your therapists
You see the same therapist from your first assessment on.
Physical Therapist and owner
Trinidad opened Harrier so runners have somewhere that watches them run. She runs the trails above town most mornings and sees distance runners and triathletes at every stage of a season.
Physical Therapist
Ezekiel works with runners coming back after time off and with triathletes balancing three sports. He plans strength work around the training you already do.
From runners
“They filmed me from behind and from the side, then showed me the same stride slowed down. For the first time someone pointed at the thing I had only been able to feel.”
“My plan fit around my race dates. When a long run went badly, I called and we changed the week instead of waiting for the next appointment.”
“It was the first time anyone asked what my training week looked like before telling me what to do. The strength work made sense for how I run.”
Sample reviews.
Individual experiences vary.
Questions
The short answers. The rest are on the questions page.
In Arizona, you can start without a referral. Your plan may still ask for one, and our front desk will tell you before your visit.
We bill most PPO plans and Medicare. Plans differ in what they cover, so the front desk checks your benefits before your first visit and tells you what to expect.
Then you get a written estimate before your first visit, so you know what care is expected to include. How fees work explains the rest.
We cannot say before we have met you. What decides it: what we find in your assessment, what you are training for, how your body responds and how close your next race is. We tell you at each visit what comes next.
Running shorts, a top you can move in and the shoes you train in. Bring a second pair if you rotate shoes, a watch export or training log if you keep one, and your plan card.
Where state law allows it, a physical therapist who has completed dry needling training can offer it, and Arizona allows it with that training. Ask which of our therapists needles and which course they took. We explain the risks before any needle, and you can say no.
Tell us what you are training for and when you can come in. We reply within one working day.