Archive | Coaching

Congrats to our client Robin Walters who earned a BQ with a 16 minute buffer at the Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon!! She writes,

“I can’t even begin to express my thanks to the GOAT Coach Athena and the entire Marathon Training Academy fam!!

The podcasts, the training, all the resources have taken me from my first marathon in 2020 at 4:19:01 to my fifth today at 3:33:36!!

The course was killer on the legs and the last few miles were brutal but the solid training enabled me to push through to the end. What an amazing thing to be getting faster as I’m getting older! 🙌🏻 Thanks MTA!!”

Congrats to our client Meg who ran her first marathon in 4:10:21!! She writes,

“I’m excited to say that I complete my first marathon!

After 18 weeks of training and with the help of Coach Kris i went into the LA marathon weekend feeling confident and excited to see what i was capable of. I know people say marathons are hard. But y’all…. This was hard! Continue Reading →

Congrats to our coaching client Tarah on successfully completing her first marathon! This is what we love to hear. She writes,

“I reached out to MTA to find a coach that could meet me where I was at and push me a little too – and I found that in coach Athena.

I was coming off a hip injury and lots of physical therapy but had a goal to run my first marathon this year in Maui.

Athena provided me with structure and accountability. I found this to be enormously helpful because I tend to push myself too hard and then *big surprise* get injured! Continue Reading →

Congrats to our coaching client Todd on finishing the Catalina Island Trail Marathon! He writes,

“This is the fastest time I have had at this race in 17 years!!!! And this is the only marathon I have ever run with no cramping!

I think it is totally due to your coaching and especially your advice about fuel and hydration. I would have never believed that hydration was the source of my cramping issue but now I am a believer.

The other interesting thing is that my mile times for the first 9 miles were slower this race than my previous two here but then, from mile 10 on, nearly all of my mile times are faster this time than my previous two races here. Starting slower really worked for me.

It was an amazing day! I felt really good afterwards and now, a day later, I still feel great. Just a little stiff. But no pain anywhere. My plan now is to let my body rest and heal. I don’t plan on doing any long races until September when I plan on running the Air Force Marathon again and I think I have a pretty good shot at a PR there. Thank you so much Coach Carri!”

Thanks to Berenise for sharing her experience with our coaching services! She writes,

My husband surprised me by gifting me 3 months of MTA coaching for Christmas. It came at a perfect time as I was getting ready to run my 8th half marathon.

I was assigned to Coach Lynn, who has an incredible running history and she’s also a nutritionist – she’s impressive! I didn’t know what to expect but coach Lynn quickly helped me identify key goals and I was amazed by all that I learned. Continue Reading →

Congratulations to Kyle D. who ran a perfectly paced 6 minute half PR at the Disney Princess Half in the middle of his marathon training block!

His coach writes, “I’ve had the pleasure of coaching Kyle since October, in that time he’s made great strides in his speed and endurance, boosting his VDOT score several points.

He’s also one of the most disciplined and consistent runners I’ve ever coached (there have been thousands at this point so that is really saying something) Excited to see what lies ahead, he has the Cleveland Marathon up next. Way to go Kyle!” –Coach Kris

Congrats to our coaching client Gareth on running a 29 minute PR, he writes,

“Mesa Marathon in the books. My #3 Marathon and a PR by 29mins!! I couldn’t have nailed this one without an awesome training block under the guidance of Coach Antonio. I really enjoyed the process and mixture of sessions throughout the build up – I leant on the feeling of those tough ones when the race got heavy at Mile 21 yesterday.

Weather wasn’t superb – however the atmosphere and location were spot on! Through the rain and puddles – I kept to the plan we’d discussed and I knew at halfway I was rolling ok. Squally showers kept the temperature low and the feet drenched.

The quads were banged up from the early fast downhill sections, and at Mile 23 needed to dig real deep . . . found something in the tank and kicked it home with a strong last 3 miles to run 3.30.34.

This is my first race with a coach formulating a specific and guided plan and can absolutely testify to its value! Much thanks Coach Antonio and bring on the next PR chase!”

Chris Farrands used our marathon training plan and had three strategy sessions with Coach Nicole. He writes,

“Thank you again for your guidance the last few months. The initial training plan and then getting me linked up with Coach Nicole absolutely made the 2:57 possible.

Last year, in 2022, I ran a 3:50 on the same course.

The training plan held me accountable to not over training. It helped me to keep easy days, easy and hard days hard. The progression and build up worked really well for me. I was healthier throughout the training plan, ate more than the prior year and ran 15-20% fewer miles per week. Continue Reading →

We appreciate our client Jessie Hogue-Morgenstern for writing this blogpost about what it was like to work with an MTA Coach to both BQ and run a blazing fast 3:15 marathon! She writes,

“I started working with Coach Joel right at the start of the pandemic with the goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon (a tale as old as time).

In previous attempts I would get close but then end up injured, so I wanted to try out a coach to help me figure out a solution. On a whim I reached out to MTA’s coaching program because my dad was a big fan of the podcast (and I am now too). Continue Reading →