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December 12, 2018

Runcoach Success Story: Andrew

Written by Neely Gracey
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  • At Runcoach, we provide training paces for every single run, and the number one thing we find is that a lot of people run too fast on their recovery days.  This leads to fatigue, illness, and higher risk of injury. As a pro runner, the best thing I do is run very slow and easy on my recovery days. Andrew started relaxing and enjoying his easy miles, getting faster by understanding that the hard days should be hard, and the easy days should be easy helped him qualify for Boston and crush his goals.

  • Major milestone:Screen_Shot_2018-12-12_at_11.57.44_AM
  • Setting an all time PR and qualifying for Boston for the first time fifteen years after I ran my first marathon!
  • I've been running marathons since I was 19 back in 2003. Still, I'd never qualified for Boston and thought my training had plateaued. The Runcoach program helped me gradually add weekly mileage in a sustainable way that helped keep me injury free. The speed and tempo sessions throughout the program helped me sustain my ability to run at a race pace onto of the mileage I was building.
  • I'd used other training programs and had injuries that disrupted my training (plantar fasciitis). Runcoach helped in that many of the runs were slightly slower than I thought I need. The steady accumulation of miles ended up being much more meaningful than the focus I had on just pace alone.
  • I set not one but two personal records this year- 3:14 at the San Francisco Marathon then 3:02 at California International. There's no feeling like maintaining and even increasing your pace in the last six miles of the marathon.
  • Other running communities such as Strava helped me find people with similar running goals so I could follow their training and ask them questions as I went through the program.
  • I considered five or six other training programs before I settled on Runcoach. I have a wife and a young daughter (18 months) who also have very busy schedules! In addition to liking the training itself, I really liked that if my weekly schedule had to change, I could make a few quick adjustments in the app and get a new training calendar generated (as opposed to editing dozens of upcoming sessions in iCalendar).
  • I really like the app. It does seem to double upload many of my Strava runs, however, so I have to delete them. Annoying!
Last modified on December 12, 2018
Neely Gracey

Neely Gracey

Neely was born into this sport, literally. Her dad (Steve Spence, 1992 Olympic marathoner and 1991 World Champs Bronze Medalist) was running the Boston Marathon on the day she was born. She grew up in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania and in 8th grade set some big goals for herself.

While running for Shippensburg University, Neely broke Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) records, won 17 PSAC titles, and was named the conference athlete of the year for every season while at Shippensburg from 2008 to 2011. She is an eight-time NCAA DII Champion and still holds two NCAA records.

In 2016, Neely debuted at the Boston Marathon and was the first American finisher in 2:35. Later that year, she took it a step further with a 2:34 and 8th place finish at the NYC marathon. In 2017, Neely clocked victories at Rock ‘n Roll’s Arizona, New Orleans, and Chicago Half Marathons and was Runner-Up at the USA half marathon and 25k Championship races. She is excited for what the next year will bring as she pauses from her running career to start a family. She ultimately hopes to build towards the 2020 Olympic year.

Today, Neely lives in Boulder, CO with her husband Dillon and their Vizsla, Strider. They are happily entrenched in the running community. Between training, and competing, she enjoys coaching and helping other runners chase their goals!

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