PEAKS Running

07/29/2026

🚨 ATTENTION ALL RUNNERS 🚨

At Instride Foot & Ankle Specialists, our Winston-Salem office location is being revamped with the goal of being one of the premier foot and ankle clinics in the country, specifically catered to the needs of runners (as well as other athletes).

To help do this and confirm our intuition on what runners want from their sports medicine provider, we are asking the community to PLEASE fill out a brief 4 question survey giving us valuable information to help us serve you.

The future is now. Help us to form a better one for you today.

You can access the survey at the following link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/878FYWH

07/15/2026

Every patient wants real solutions.

This is especially true for runners.

The number of times I’ve heard from athletes that they’re hesitant to try a certain orthotic, take anti-inflammatories, or fork out money for some kind of therapeutic that they don’t feel is getting to the source of their issue.

The fact is, they’re right to feel this way.

Many athletes possess some degree of perfectionism internally. Tell them that they have some kind of biomechanical, strength, or mobility deficit, and they want to get that right.

And they will work tirelessly until they do.

That is our job. Identify the weak links, prescribe the protocol, and hand control back over to you.

This way you can get back to doing what you love, and have confidence that you’ll be doing it for the long run.

07/14/2026

The good ones know more.

Understanding the athlete both in the clinic and on the field requires extensive experience and repetitions that go beyond what most singular doctors or coaches have been exposed to.

One-dimensional approaches yield one-dimensional results.

You want to get fast? Great, but how can you do it while staying healthy?

You want somebody to treat your injury? Okay, but then what? What is your return-to-running protocol and how are you preventing the injury from coming back?

Understanding both sides of the coin takes more time and repetitions, but in the end creates the experience the athlete is craving for.

07/13/2026

At PEAKS we aspire to optimize our potential in every aspect of our lives.

This means personally, professionally, and athletically.

Training for races is more than just a hobby, and our 9-5 is more than just a job.

We have no interest in being a mediocre version of ourselves, we want to find out what can happen when we strive to live on the fringes.

For our families, for our patients, for own training endeavors.

If this resonates with you, we want to connect.

You can play a small role in helping cultivate this community both locally and remotely by sending us a DM, following us on social, and subscribing to our PEAKS Substack.

As the brand grows, so will the community engagement. Stay tuned.

07/10/2026

Separating fact from fiction, rebutting misconceptions, and staying up to date on the most current research on the topics that intersect between medicine and running.

We do all the hard work, so you don't have to.

Most importantly, our goal is to give that information over to you to so that you're equipped to heal nagging injuries, avoid future ones, and perform at your best.

For this reason, the PEAKS Formula was created. Head on over to peaksrunning.co to enroll today to have access to lessons on a myriad of topics as they are written.

07/09/2026

Performance can sound intimidating to some.

Most would picture high-level athletes on a national stage when hearing the word.

But in reality, all of us that are striving to grow, push the limits, and achieve personal athletic breakthroughs are looking to perform.

These are the kinds of athletes we work best with -- those that live to be in the arena.

Sound like you? DM us today or reach out via email on our website, peaksrunning.co.

07/08/2026

I never wanted to be "just" a doctor.

Playing basketball throughout my early years taught me the need to be multi-dimensional.

Seeing things from different angles, wearing multiple hats. This is where I thrive now.

This is what I believe runners want too.

We want the help of somebody with more than just a singular focus of treating our injury or making us as fit as we possibly can be. We want to be understood and seen in our totality.

And most importantly, we don't want to go on the journey alone.

We know we're stronger together.

These are our pillars. They are what we value and will strive to provide for our community both locally and abroad.

Stay tuned as we break down each of our pillars over the next week.

06/30/2026

06/17/2026

Have you always believed that high-top shoes, whether it's for hiking for playing high-speed sports like basketball or football, are key for protecting your ankles and preventing ankle sprains? The reality might be more nuanced than you think.

The most repeated ankle myth in sports is "more support = fewer sprains." In a lab, high-tops do limit how far the ankle rolls. But in real play, the sprain rates don't budge. Here's the part nobody tells you 👇

🦶 High-tops actually slow your peroneals — the muscles that fire to catch your ankle the instant it starts to roll. The collar feels safe, so your nervous system eases off the one reflex that protects you.

🩹 Tape loses ~50% of its hold within 30 minutes. After an hour it's basically decoration.

🦾 Semi-rigid braces are the real standout — 1.6 vs 5.2 sprains per 1,000 athletes in a 2-year trial. But wear one nonstop for 8+ weeks and your stabilizers start to fade, and locking down the ankle can push stress up to the knee.

So the fix isn't more armor. It's building an ankle that protects itself: foot strength, single-leg balance, and slow, repeated exposure to uneven ground. That's the difference between covering the symptom and treating the cause.

I rebuilt my left ankle after repeated significant sprains this exact way — and have put 10,000+ miles on it since, including 2,200+ on the Pacific Crest Trail, without a single ankle sprain.

Save this for your next season. 📌

Coming back from a stubborn ankle? Shoot me a DM and I'll help you put together a return-to-run protocol.

If you want to read the full piece with references to the research, enroll in my course at https://peaksrunning.co/courses and click on the lesson "201: Ankle Sprains: The Truth about Bracing, Taping, and High-Top Footwear"