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Runcoach Success Stories

Runcoach Success Stories (87)

Highlighting the successes of our awesome Runcoach athletes

33 Minutes Faster: A Marathon Transformation Story

Major milestone:

I was able to run a marathon 33 minutes faster than my personal best. And it’s all because of the coaching app.

What is the secret to your success? drink

I am terrible at planning and sticking to a strict run schedule. This year I trusted the coach and made sure to follow what he said and just that alone made all the difference.

What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it?

My biggest obstacle was scheduling runs and not knowing what distances my long runs should be. The coach app helped me know that this weekend I would need to run so much and that I should take rest days. I didn’t want to over do it so I made sure to never go over the mileage too much.

What is the most rewarding part of training?

Honestly, the rewarding part was getting all new personal records at almost every run. The most rewarding part was when I was running my marathon I realized I was much better prepared this time, and when I realized I was so close to getting a sub 4 hour marathon (I was over by 33 seconds and I know exactly where those seconds were). Nothing felt better than crossing the finish line knowing I trained for this and it was all worth it

What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community?

Trust the coaches. They absolutely know what they are doing and it shows. I used the Runcoach app twice now. The first time I didn’t fully listen to it. The second time I did and it helped more than I could have hoped for.

Anything else you would like to share?

I registered for the app at the middle of training for a marathon. I realized I was a month behind in my training and I needed guidance. I registered and explained to coach Tom all the different runs I had and my concern that I was behind in my long run distances. Coach Tom immediately adjusted my runs, it was intimidating that I had to start my long runs at 12 miles that weekend but I knew I could do it and with each long run and each daily run I felt more and more confident in my running abilities. I will definitely be using the coach app again next year!



After a Decade Away, Runner Crushes Her Half Marathon

Major milestone:

Age 51: Baltimore Half Marathon, goal 2:30:00, chip time 2:28:57. First race in almost 10 years! Also, very first race over 10k that I did not walk a single step! 

What is the secret to your success? Jessica_Ditto

Coach Tom, and sticking to the plan. I didn't miss a single workout, which was so easy with Coach Tom guiding me the whole way!

What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it?

I wasn't a morning runner, but I work late so I had to make myself get up and go early, often before daylight. Totally worth it though!

What is the most rewarding part of training?

Watching the paces drop, and knowing I can continue to get faster into my 50s and beyond!

What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community?

Listen to your coach! They know what they are doing, and are amazing!

Anything else you would like to share?

I am running a 10k in 3 weeks, and even though I told myself I would never run another full marathon after my last 2 were close to 6 hours, I signed up for a race in April and I am dying to start training for it.

What feedback would you offer on the Runcoach experience? 

This is the best training program/coach I have ever had! Could not be more happy!



From Non-Runner to Marathoner: Crushing a Sub-5 Goal

Major milestone:

First Marathon at 40+!! Non-runner. Goal - sub-5 Actual- 4:52:44. Mind blown!! My half PR- 2:08:23! Simply stoked!shwetha

What is the secret to your success?

Consistency, patience, and grit!!

What is the most rewarding part of training?

Keeping on target range per Runcoach!! Absolutely fantastic plan! Cally you go girl!!

What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community?

Discipline, go easy on days you can’t control.

Anything else you would like to share?

Just immensely grateful for the most realistic and reasonable plan. Awesome job Runcoach!

What feedback would you offer on the Runcoach experience?

Fantastic!! Made my dream come true and with a mind-blowing pace! I acknowledge I am not Kipchoge but definitely more than that! I am a full time professional, mom of two elementary school kids. And yet I did this! Super proud of myself and the running community. My husband played a very supportive role. Just super thankful.



Runcoach Athlete Breaks 5-Minute Mile for the 38th Consecutive Year

Major milestone:Success_story_Ken_Cooper_Resized

Recently ran sub 5:00 in the mile for the 38th consecutive year.

What is the secret to your success?

Commitment to do something every day. Writing each workout in a training log. Having a goal to chase.

What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it? 

Sleep. Staying healthy. Cannot take as many hits as I used to. Have to train smarter. Listen to my body. Incorporate cross training (i.e. bike).

What is the most rewarding part of training? 

I still love the feeling of hitting exhaustion after crushing a tough workout. The level of satisfaction on the cool down is still magical. It still feels amazing hitting it each year.

What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community?

Stay consistent. Set a goal and go after it. Sacrifice for the goal.

Anything else you would like to share?

Set a goal or a number of goals and let people know what you are doing. I have people asking me often how I am doing on cracking 5 mins. It keeps me honest and focused. Dont be afraid of having a crazy aggressive goal. But have achieveable mini-goals along the way so you feel success and stay motivated.

What feedback would you offer on the Runcoach experience?

Trust the training.



Discipline and Routine: NYC United Half Marathon Keys to Success 
Michael_Cook

Major milestone:

NYC United Half Marathon

What is the secret to your success?

Discipline and routine. Working out the same time everyday with the same cadence week in and week out. Monday speed, Tuesday easy, Saturday long run, etc.

What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it? 

To relax, not worrying about missing a workout, or hitting each interval time. Enjoy the process.

What is the most rewarding part of training? 

The race!

What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community?

Play the long game. Don’t get into race shape in a week. Plan it out, create the routine and give yourself time, and mostly celebrate the small wins.



10 Years Later: A New Personal Best

Major milestone:

New 8k PB running 2024 Chicago Shamrock Shuffle (10 years after running the last one and post-kid pause).

What is the secret to your success?Rebecca_Hamid_Success_Story_Blog

Gradual build-up to stay injury-free. Running majority of weekly mileage slow. Pushing limits during weekly tempo run. Scraping and foam rolling. Listen to body first even if that means missing a run here and there or going slower. Focus on better quality sleep and hydration.

What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it? 

Finding the time for base building and marathon build-ups with two young kids and a demanding job. I changed the way I train and now doing most of my miles on my treadmill at home (instead of group runs outside pre-kids).

What is the most rewarding part of training? 

Putting it all into action during a race and seeing the progress made.

What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community?

Choose the training method and volume/running goals that work best for your circumstances.

What feedback would you offer on the Runcoach experience?

Being an experienced runner now training independently, this tool works great to keep me motivated and on track. Having a coach available for questions along the way personalizes the experience further and has helped me when doubts came up along the way.



Breaking Barriers: 17-Minute PR at Big Sur Marathon

Major milestone:

17 minute PR at Big Sur Marathon

What is the secret to your success?

Running two workouts a week helped me get faster and more comfortable with being slightly uncomfortable.

What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it? 

I have a psycho neurological disorder that is as yet undiagnosed. Under stress, I get episodes. Running long distances brings them on but I love to run long distances. It is an art I’m learning to time preventative medication taking while I run. This marathon I was able to stave off episodes until mile 25 when I ducked into a portapotty for 9 minutes to compose myself and wait for the medicine to kick in. My training was enough to have set a 26 minute PR but until I get a diagnosis I also have episodes to contend with when running distance.

What is the most rewarding part of training? 

The mile time trial was rewarding for me. I ran faster than I knew I could. Hitting paces during speed interval, tempo, and threshold runs easily as the training progressed showed me my progress as at first I could not hit the paces prescribed. Long runs always made me feel proud of myself.

What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community?

Runcoach is an excellent program. Having a coach is very helpful. As things come up and you need to adapt the plan, your coach can do that. The unconditional positivity Cally shined on me throughout training really boosted my spirits and confidence. Follow your plan as best as you can but know you don’t have to be perfect. Other aspects of life demand our time and I couldn’t accomplish all my runs. The program still worked to get me to the finish much faster than before.

Anything else you would like to share?

Cally is kind, knowledgeable, encouraging, and a runner I look up to. She’s a wonderful coach. She took the time to adapt my plan many times.

What feedback would you offer on the Runcoach experience?

It’s a great program with great coaches. I would use it again to reach a PR.



A Remarkable Comeback: Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Personal Best

Major milestone:

I began running again about a year and a half ago after a 39 year hiatus. It was after I read about a terrible event in Memphis TN in early September of 2022 that I decided to Finish Liza’s Run, in memory of Eliza Fletcher, a mom and a teacher who was abducted on her morning run. I would learn later that Liza was my college classmate’s cousin.

What is the secret to your success?

I try my best to be consistent, even with a sometimes heavy work travel schedule. I’ve learned to make the best of hotel treadmills which are usually fairly new and very under utilized. I like that it is easy to put in pace times for speed work and most have televisions: I did a 10 mile run while watching the Olympic marathon trials. Of course I prefer running outside, but in an unfamiliar location, where drivers may not be familiar with runners, I hesitate to navigate traffic. Safety first!Success_Story_April

What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it? 

Mental: A humbling experience: I had to accept that I wasn’t going to run a sub 35 minute 10K again. Now, I am grateful to be able to run at 60 and I take pride in what I can still do.  Physical: Not knowing better in the beginning. I ran at the same pace all the time. I made every run into a threshold workout and so I was always sore, nursing niggles and not really improving. 

What is the most rewarding part of training? 

Getting faster and feeling stronger every month!

What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community?

Follow the program as best you can. Run the long slow runs slow - it’s about building legs. Make easy days easy so you can have the energy for speed work. It’s ok to go for a swim workout if you’re really sore from working hard.

Anything else you would like to share?

This program is amazing and Coach Cally always responds quickly to any questions I have. If I hadn’t signed up, I’d still be doing threshold runs every time out, or have gotten hurt. I managed to take nearly 2:12 minutes off my run time in the Cherry Blossom 10 mile last weekend by following the assignments as best I could. Negative splits for the last two miles.

What feedback would you offer on the Runcoach experience?

It’s been a terrific experience! I signed up for Cherry Blossom training and decided to stay for the year. The assignments re- adjust according to your race schedule which is so helpful. Love the inherent flexibility.



How Consistency and Confidence Led to a 10-Minute Marathon PR!

Major milestone:

Personal Best Marathon time--dropped 10 minutes! Also, no leg cramps during the race!

What is the secret to your success?

I believe the secret to my success on this marathon was consistency in training and following the Runcoach assignments faithfully. By doing this I had the confidence on raceday to mitigate my nervousness and relax after the start so that I stayed in control.

What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it? 

My biggest obstacle is myself. I get really nervous before these races often resulting in lack of sleep and a poor performance. The training and the advice in the blogs from the Coach Cally and the other experts have really helped me to have confidence and overcome my fears. Following a routine for me is very important.Marathon_Success_Story

What is the most rewarding part of training? 

The most rewarding part of the training for me is getting through some hard workouts and seeing the improvement even though I didn't think I could even complete the assignment. I decided to just trust the program and stay consistent in the training.

What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community?

I would say my best advice (I am definitely not an expert) is to push yourself to complete all of the assignments. For example, even if your interval times are not as fast or faster than the assignment, if you stick with it, you will notice the improvements as you progress.

Anything else you would like to share?

There are multiple computer training programs out there, but I like the "community feel" of the Runcoach experience and the resources such as the live coach for some expert advice and the articles on various topics that deal with the running experience.



Conquering Setbacks and Achieving PRs with Runcoach

Major milestone:

New 10K PR - 8:50 per mile!

What is the secret to your success?

Sticking to my training plan with Coach Cally is my secret to success. Even when work gets in the way or the workouts don't coincide with the time I have that day to run, I feel completely comfortable adjusting. With Cally's guidance, and this incredible training plan, I feel so supported and I am loving my journey!Jodi_Success

What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it?

I suffered a foot fracture in December of 2022 which led to no running for almost 7 months. I listened to my body and biked, did the elliptical. The hardest part was staying away from running during that time. Patience, and listening to my body, and once cleared, getting back into things slowly and consistently over the last year has led me back to just about my regular race pace. Runcoach and Coach Cally are definitely a big part of my journey!

What is the most rewarding part of training?

The most rewarding part of training is how great it feels to accomplish continued improvement in my running. Equally important are the high fives and kudos from the trainers and especially Cally, and being able to run the NYC Marathon in 2023, while looking forward to running many of the NYRR races this year, including the United Airlines Half Marathon and TCS NYC Marathon with confidence in my ability due to my training program.

What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community?

I would tell other runners not to stress if they cannot complete a specific workout on the assigned day due to other engagements or lack of time. If you have 30 minutes and are assigned 60 minutes of running.. do the 30! Do what you can and if you cannot run a certain day for whatever reason, adjust your schedule and keep moving forward. Trust the process, and your coaches. They are always there for you to answer your questions. You got this!

Anything else you would like to share?

I am so grateful for Coach Cally and this training platform. The support I have received and the guidance and incredible workouts have immeasurably prepared me and made me a much stronger runner.

What feedback would you offer on the Runcoach experience?

I have nothing but positive feedback. I feel so grateful to be trained by my amazing Coach!



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