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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.
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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!”
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.
This is from our client David H. who’s been working with MTA Coach Antonio for the last year. He ran 3:29:11 at Berlin after a busy season of running ultras. He writes,
“MTA Coach Antonio has done an incredible job dealing with my crazy racing schedule and getting me to incorporate more rest, recovery and long slow running into my training that allowed me to do 4 ultras earlier this last year.
This includes getting first place for my age group at the SF Ultra Marathon (which involves running 2 marathons, the first starting at 10:15pm and then running the official marathon at 5:30am!).
Continue Reading →
Here’s a report from our client Irina who earn an amazing PR at the Chicago Marathon this year finishing in 4:01:25. She writes,
“This weekend was an absolute blast. I ran the Chicago Marathon and got a 42 min PR. This was my 5th marathon and I couldn’t be more thrilled with my performance.
Now, let me give you a little background. I’ve been a dedicated listener of your amazing podcast ever since I started running 3 years ago, when I was 35.
My previous 4 marathons were not too shabby for someone with zero athletic experience, finishing between 4:43 and 5:03. But, listening to everyone’s journeys, I’ve had a desire to improve and push myself further.
Enter Marty Gardner’s inspiring story in a July MTA episode. It hit me right in the motivation bone! So, I reached out to MTA and they paired me up with the incredible Coach Cindy.
Big congrats to our client Stephanie Housley who finished as the 3rd female at the Run the Red 50k in Wyoming! She writes,
“Hello! First, thank you all so much for all the amazing things you help others accomplish through hosting your podcast and creating this phenomenally supportive and inspiring community at MTA!! Love it!!
At the beginning of 2023 I decided I would like to run an ultra. I had only ever done 1/2 marathons, and only about 10 of those!
I began training on my own, and got a stress fracture and severely inflamed tendons from over training. It was painful even to walk so I had to pause running entirely. Continue Reading →
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In this episode we speak with Academy member JJ Stark-Modlin. Once upon a time she hated running and was even advised that, because of her injuries, she’d never be able to run a full marathon.
She has since run 27 marathons and dropped her finishing time from 5:06 down to 3:32.
After a ten year journey she qualified for Boston at the Revel Big Cottonwood Marathon in Utah.
Her coach told her “Let the race come to you”.
We’d like to say a huge word of congrats to our client JJ Stark-Modlin on earning a BQ at the Revel Big Cottonwood Marathon! This was an epic 10 year journey in the making. She writes,
“I started running in the winter of 2012, using a Couch to 5K training plan that I found online and built up to my first 5K in May of 2012. I’ve always loved competition and was a competitive artistic roller skater for nearly 20 years prior to retiring and starting to run.
Once, I found racing, I was hooked on running. My family told me that due to my extensive history of injuries from skating, they doubted I would ever be able to run a marathon.
But I loved pushing myself to improve and to increase my distance running, building from a 5K to 10K, then half marathon by the fall of 2012. I was completely hooked researching everything I could about the running world. Continue Reading →
