09/01/2026
LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER:
I have a love-hate relationship with September.
The dog days of summer lingerāhot, humid afternoons that leave us ready for a change. But September is also one of my favorite months. Friday night lights return, Saturdays mean college football, and thereās something comforting about settling onto the couch for a game with one of your best friends beside you.
In my case, that best friend has four legs, a very long nose, and an impressive rƩsumƩ as a former athlete.
If youāve been in the Functionize office recently, you may have met Eiffel, my 12-year-old retired racing greyhound. As she gets older, Iāve been bringing her to the office more often. She loves people, enjoys the attention, and has become our unofficial therapy dog.
Iām always surprised by how many people say, āIāve never met a greyhound before!ā So I thought Iād share her story.
We adopted Eiffel in 2019 after she retired from racing in Alabama. We named her Eiffel because sheās black, tall, thin, and demureājust like the Eiffel Tower.
When we were researching rescue dogs, greyhounds immediately stood out to me. Maybe it was the physical therapist in me. I spend my days helping people transition from one version of themselves to the next, and there was something special about giving a former athlete the opportunity to do the same.
Greyhounds are fascinating. They can reach speeds around 45 mph, yet theyāre famously happy to spend most of the day sleeping. They rarely bark, hardly shed, and Eiffel has never quite understood why anyone would waste energy chasing a tennis ball.
But let her run, and you see a completely different dog.
Eiffel was an accomplished racer. While many greyhounds race for only a few years, she raced for five. When we run together, she instinctively follows the lines of the road and keeps her nose just slightly ahead of meāas though she still needs to win.
I love that about her.
Because retirement didnāt mean she stopped being an athlete. It simply meant she had to discover what being an athlete looked like next.
In many ways, Eiffel reminds me of the people who walk through the doors at Functionize.
Maybe running doesn't feel the way it used to. Maybe an injury changed your golf game. Maybe menopause has made your body feel unfamiliar. Or maybe you're simply realizing that what worked at 30 isn't working at 50 or 60.
That doesn't mean your best years are behind you.
It means the next version of you may require a different approach.
At Functionize, our goal isn't simply to get you back to "normal." We want to help you understand the body you have today, build on what it's capable of, and create a path toward everything you still want to do tomorrow.
Your sport may change. Your body will change. Your goals may change. But you don't have to stop being an athleteāor stop doing the things that make you feel most like yourself.
Sometimes you just need a new set of eyes, a new plan, and someone who believes there's still plenty of life ahead to train for.
Eiffel certainly seems to think so.
Here's to never retiring from the life you love.
