Our Very Own Rachel Sengenberger

  Zoe Eisenberg of Bella Magazine recently wrote an article on our very own Rachel Sengenberger.  Please see Zoe’s article below:

“At Bella, we love to boast about the accomplishments of our readers, and Bella Girl Rachel Sengenberger has certainly given us something to talk about.  Rachel, who works full time as a physical therapist at the Orthopaedic Center of Central Virginia, spent six months last year training for the August 30th Ironman competition in Louisville, Kentucky. 
          The Ironman competition begins with a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride and ends with a 26.2 mile marathon.  Rachel managed to finish all three events in 12 hours and 58 minutes.
          To prepare for the competition, Rachel trained six days a week.  “During the week I would swim for an hour and a half in the morning before work,” says Rachel.  “Then I would run for 45 minutes in the evenings.”  The weekends gave Rachel more time for longer runs, swims, and bike rides. ” The longest ride I did was around 6 1/2 hours,” says Rachel.  Access to Bedford Lake meant that she was able to swim in open water, just as she would be doing in the competition. 
          Beyond that advantage, Rachel also had immense support from her coworkers, two of whom, Dr. Peter Caprise and Dr. Ashley McCowen, were training to compete in the competition right along with her.  “I work at such an unbelievable facility,” comments Rachel.  “We would come to work exhausted with goggle marks on our eyes, but everyone understood.  They were really supportive of what we were doing.”
          Out of the twenty-two people from Lynchburg and Bedford that traveled to Lousiville to compete, eight of them were women—an unusually high percentrage.  “It was great to see so many women involved,” says Rachel.  “It was really empowering.”
          The involvement of Rachel herself is extremely empowering, as she is currently in the process of obtaining her Manual Therapy certification through Great Lakes Seminars, as well as her Pilates teaching certification.  “I look at the total body,” explains Rachel, “and focus not only on core strength but on working the body as a whole.”  All of Rachel’s accomplishments tie into her passion for physical therapy, which she has been practicing for ten years. 
        Rachel lives in Lynchburg, Virginia, with her supportive husband, Peter, their dog and two cats.  The couple loves to travel and spend time outdoors, having moved to the area five years ago to be closer to the mountains.”  Written by:  Zoe Eisenberg

We are extremely proud of Rachel and all of our Ironman particpants from the Orthopaedic Center and Lynchburg.  Congratulations and thank you for for representing our area with such magnitude.