Have Fun and Enjoy the Experience

Shoutout to our client Christina who ran a new PR of 5:17:39 at the NYC Marathon! She writes,

“I am still a bit in shock about my performance at the NYC Marathon last weekend. It was a good reminder to me that we are stronger and more capable than we believe as long as we put in the work, trust our body and focus on the positive.

It was not necessarily an easy training cycle. I work full time. I have two young children (one is young enough to still be breastfeeding), so a good nights sleep is rare.

There were a lot of early mornings and times when I wanted to hit snooze instead of head outside. There was fatigue, frustration and self doubt. There was also joy, peace and strength. Coach Nicole was instrumental in keeping me on target with a training plan. She was my virtual cheerleader. Continue Reading →

1

My Experience with MTA Coaching

Here’s a testimonial from our client Mark Arceneaux who used MTA Coaching to prepare for the NYC Marathon. He writes,

“Wanted to send a big thank you to MTA and coach Abby for my recent experience with MTA Coaching.

After getting covid in 2021 my next two marathons were a disaster. I thought my marathon career was over but a email from the New York City Marathon in February 2023 told me it wasn’t over yet.

I had thought about a coach in the past but thought how hard could running be and as a 63 year old experience runner, having done over 20 marathons in the last 10 years, why did I need one. Continue Reading →

0

A Marathon Success Story with Chris Farrands

In this episode we bring you a marathon success story with Chris Farrands.

Chris started running three short years ago, lost 90 pounds, and transformed himself into a sub-3 hour marathoner!

Listen as he shares why he decided to take control of his health; the misery he experienced at his first marathon, and the smarter training plan he used for his second marathon.

Continue Reading →

1

Finding Community in the Running Space


In this episode you will hear a live podcast recording at the Richmond Marathon expo. Trevor joins Lindsey Hein, Martinus Evans, Cynthia Vissers, and Dr. Lisa Mitro to talk about ‘finding community in the running space’.

They also share advice for first-time marathoners, favorite mantras and pump-up songs, dealing with post-race blues, how to make the running space more inclusive, and more!

Continue Reading →

0

Running the Marathon of Life: A Journey of Grit and Determination at 60

Our client Maripat Rhood ran her first marathon at the age of 60! She’s pictured here with her daughter at the Marine Corps Marathon. This is her story:

From Maripat Rhood

“For many, the idea of running a marathon can seem like an unattainable dream, especially if you’ve never considered yourself athletic. However, life has a way of surprising us, and sometimes, the most remarkable achievements come when we least expect them.

My own journey into the world of long-distance running began in a rather unconventional way. Continue Reading →

1

A tremendous year in achieving my goals

Congrats to our client James who built up to running five races in just 10 months! He writes,

“This has been a tremendous year in achieving my goals. I ran my first half marathon, first full marathon, and my first 50K . . . as well as a 2nd marathon and a 10 mile race PR.

That’s 5 races in 10 months which is also a huge “first” for me.

All of this was possible because I found MTA and Coach Henry. The MTA podcast helped me learn and understand there are many others new to running and learning just like me. Continue Reading →

0

Seven Questions to Evaluate Your Training

In this episode we reveal seven questions you can use to evaluate your training. These questions reveal the key adjustments, changes, and tweaks you can use to fine tune your training and hit your goals in the marathon. Let’s help you get “dialed in”!

Continue Reading →

0

Fit, Ready, and Smiling

Congrats to our client Sandy Landers on finishing her first marathon! She ran the 2023 Marine Corps Marathon. She writes,

“When I first started listening to MTA I had no intention of ever running a marathon. Running half marathons was good enough. But after listening to the podcast for a few years, the seed was planted (did I have what it takes?).

I started working with Coach Cindy in January 2022 to get my love of running back and to train for another half. It was a rocky start but then I got into a good rhythm.

I enjoyed training with Cindy and signed up for the 2023 Marine Corps Marathon deciding on a run/walk plan. At the same time I started working with Coach Jesse at Metpro to help fuel the running and to loose the post menopause pounds. Continue Reading →

0

Prepared and Confident

Massive congrats to our client Haley from Ireland on finishing 3:13:51 at the Dublin Marathon!! She writes,

“After finishing the Paris marathon (my second marathon) earlier this year in 3:20:04 I felt I’d gone as far as I could on my own so decided to get in touch with the marathon training academy.

Coach Nicole said she had the perfect coach in mind for me and paired me with MTA Coach Kris.

As coach Kris and I started working together from a recovery period post race, I found that incredibly helpful. I was unsure what a down time period should look like. I didn’t want to lose all my fitness but equally didn’t want to overtrain so I could be in the best place to start the training block for my next goal race, the Irish Life Dublin marathon on 29 Oct 2023. I had a really clear goal of running 3:15.
Continue Reading →

0

A Conversation with Kathrine Switzer (Replay Episode)

In this episode we replay a popular interview we did with Kathrine Switzer -trailblazer who broke the gender barrier and became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon with a bib number.

This conversation is a nice follow-up to our last episode about the first women’s Olympic Marathon.

Listen as Kathrine recalls what it was like to run the Boston Marathon in 1967, and shares tips on keeping fit in later life!

Continue Reading →

0

A day of firsts at the Marine Corps Marathon

Wow! What a day at the Marine Corps Marathon and 50k. We’d like to congratulate our coaching clients on going the distance on a hot day in D.C..

Maripat finished her first marathon at the age of 60. She writes,

“When I had my first consultation with MTA and Coach Nicole asked my goal- I told her I wanted to be on their website with “ I finished my first marathon at 60!

Today thanks to Coach Cindy and some hard work (stuck to plan religiously) and MTA, despite record heat I finished the Marine Corps Marathon and share with my daughter!
Training definitely paid off!”

Continue Reading →

0

A Complete Game Changer

Here’s a note from our client Emily who ran sub 3:30 at Chicago!

Before working with Coach Abby I was a total rookie who loosely followed MTA training plans.

I had completed 6 marathons with a PB of 3:49 in September of 2019.

Working with Abby has been a complete game changer. I went from only focusing on weekly mileage and running 6 days a week while lifting full force during training cycles to doing tempo and speed workouts on my local track.

Our original goal was for me to run Chicago in 3:45, but after running a 1:39 half on July 4th we started focusing on a 3:30 goal that would qualify me for Boston.

Thanks to Abby’s excellent coaching, consistency and perfect racing conditions I was able to beat my goal in Chicago with a finishing time of 3:26:44. I am so thankful for Coach Abby and the MTA community that helped me reach my goal and PR by 17 minutes. -Emily W.

0