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July 02, 2017

Runcoach Success Story: Shanley Roach

Written by Jennifer Van Allen
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A lot of people put off pursuing a goal, waiting some time to materialize when work is calm, home life isn’t hectic, and there’s plenty of time to train. Not Shanley Roach. She trained for Grandma’s Marathon, even as she navigated a major life change and a move. “My training wasn't perfect, but I trusted my body and just went for it come race day!”

shanleyroach 1Name: Shanley Roach

Major milestone: I recently just ran my very first marathon, Grandma's Marathon, whoohoo! It was amazing and so much fun and I can't wait to run my next marathon!

What is the secret to your success? Persevering through whatever comes at you in life. A major lesson I learned is that your training is not going to be perfect. Life throws things at you and it’s okay!

What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it? In the month leading up to my race, I graduated from my undergraduate college, moved cities, and started graduate school. I didn't train to as much mileage as I had hoped to do because of all this, but I still tried to run what I could leading up to the race and never gave up even when I didn't think I would make it to race day.

What is the most rewarding part of training? The moment that I increased my weekly training pace. I always considered myself a slower runner, so nothing felt more rewarding than realizing I could bump up my training pace. My long runs were still the same speed, but I was able to run faster during the week and feel comfortable with it. It was a major high point of training!

What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community? Just keep running. And also do some lifting. Your hamstrings, knees, and IT Band  will Thank you.. Make sure your quads and hamstrings/glutes are proportionate in their strength! And Foam roll every day because it seriously will makes a difference after only 2 weeks.

Click here to learn more about the Grandma's Marathon & Half Marathon Training Program.

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Last modified on July 02, 2017
Jennifer Van Allen

Jennifer Van Allen

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