Kathleen Cason joined runcoach in 2015 with a goal of walking her first half marathon, at the age of 61. After beating her goals, she became a runner, and just finished her fourth half marathon in 2:05.

Kathleen Cason

Major milestone:  I started out with runcoach as a walker. I wanted to improve my fitness and figured setting a big goal would help. So I aimed to walk a half marathon in under 3 hours and started training with Runcoach. I finished that first one in 2:51:26 in October 2015. In January 2016, I started running. I recently completed my 4th half marathon, in 2:05:50. Three things contributed to my improvement: following my runcoach training plan, joining a running group and finding a compatible running partner.

What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it? I started running at age 61. By including strength training, walking, hiking, mindfulness and realistic goals as part of my training, my age has not been as much of a problem. I do try to take steps to avoid injuries.

What is the most rewarding part of training? I feel like I did when I was 25. I can enjoy many of the activities I enjoyed in my youth and had quit doing when I was less fit.

What advice would you give to other members of the runcoach community? Be realistic about goals, follow  your runcoach training as best as possible and email the coaches if something isn't working out. Be patient, take baby steps and have fun. runcoach has pushed me at times but helped me become a runner. The drills and strides assigned before speed and tempo workouts REALLY improved my strength and speed.

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Elliot Norman had a 3:16 marathon PR and a dream of getting a Boston Qualifying time of 3:05. He used Runcoach to train for the Paris Marathon, and finished the race this weekend in 3:00 smashing his previous PR, and accomplishing his goal.

What is the secret to your success? I listen to my body, if I don't think I can do a workout distance or pace I back off. I focus on form and try to think about how life decisions outside of running—in terms of things like diet, alcohol, and sleep— will impact performance.

What’s the biggest obstacle to reaching your goal and how do you overcome it? I think I have struggled in previous marathons to execute my success in shorter races and training runs through the last few miles of the marathon. This feels like a mental hurdle that I was hoping to push through by following an increased mileage plan with Runcoach.

What’s the most rewarding part of your training? Seeing the improvements in my times when it comes to race day and the feeling of satisfaction and achievement on a daily basis from completing my workouts.

What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community? Everyone is different.  Train to your body and your capabilities, adjust your goals based on your progress. Don't ramp up distance or pace too fast, take your time and don't push too hard all the time. You're better off skipping a workout and resting to let yourself heal and recover than to push through and miss a lot more because of injury.

Tell us about your racing success at the Paris Marathon. I started with Runcoach with the goal of making my Boston Qualifying time. After completing the Marine Corps Marathon in 3:16 and having a half-marathon PR of 1:21, I knew I had it in me. But I hadn’t found the right training combo to execute well in the marathon. I tore my calf last May which ruled out my fall marathon and so I reset my goal for the 2017 Paris Marathon. When I registered, I was conservative and estimated a 3:15 finishing time. But after very closely following my prescribed training plan I thought I would be close to the 3:05 I needed to BQ. I knew that time was unlikely to get an entry but seemed like a good goal. At the expo I had to use race results to move up a corral and was actually put in to the sub-3 ‘preferential’ group. I started at the back of the group to ensure I didn’t get wrapped up in a group whose pace was well above my capability and to give myself some room.

It’s a beautiful course starting on the Champs-Élysées with the sun rising on the Arc De Triomphe. It was 50 degrees, with no wind and clear skies. The conditions couldn’t be more perfect and the further in to the race I got, the better I felt. During my training I would stop every 5K at water fountains. So I  walked through the water stops, while this cost me a little time it ensured I was well hydrated and able to refocus on the next few miles ahead. 

As I hit the half-marathon mark in 1:29 I felt good and was starting to think that if I could keep that pace up I had a shot of going sub-3. But I stayed focus on my original goal. I knew there were a lot of miles to go. Paris is a beautiful city but I was focused on being on the ‘green line’ painted to show the shortest way around the course the whole time. As I ticked off the miles waiting for the wall to come I continued to feel good. Having drastically increased my mileage since starting with runcoach, I was more confident and I could visualize those last 9 miles as one of my normal weekday runs. I kept focusing on the sacrifices I’d made and the motivation my family give me to push. I was frantically doing the mental math over the last 6 miles to see if I’d break 3 hours. In the end, I finished in 3:00:25. Still way below what I dreamed and shattering my goal and PR.

Those 26 seconds frustrate me but gives me motivation for Chicago in the fall and hopefully Boston next April. I’ve already put both into Runcoach and after a short break I am excited to start training for them again.    

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Corie Smith

Favorite sport: Marathon 

Major milestone: Reduced per-minute pace and injury rate!

What is the secret to your success? Runcoach, cross training and proper fueling. I've also weaved in Shaklee Pure Performance supplements to help build core nutrition!

What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it? Available time seems to be my biggest struggle. Runcoach has given me a longterm view of training schedule and even helped move schedules around to meet family and work demands.

What is the most rewarding part of training? For sure it's exceeding my target pace for the duration of the run!

What advice would you give to other members of the runcoach community? What and how you fuel is just as critical as sticking to the schedule! Consistency is the key to success!  After running 2 marathons with programs I found online, I was introduced to runcoach via Marine Corp Marathon. Training with the runcoach app, the community of runners and coaches was the accountability I needed to stay motivated through the many months of training. I knew at that point I would always train for marathons using runcoach!

Jason Gordon

Favorite Sport: running

Major milestone: Since my first marathon 5 years ago, I've taken nearly 60 minutes off my finish time. The first time, I crashed and burned to a 4:15 finish. Last fall, I ran 3:23. I wouldn't have thought it was possible for a 45-year old. Conventional wisdom seems to dictate that middle age is when we should ease off of the throttle. I feel like I still have room for improvement. I look forward to seeing who is right.

What’s the secret to your success? Consistency and drive. As cliche as it sounds " just beat yesterday" is always my mindset. Run everyday your supposed to, know your limitations, and work hard to achieve the goals you set.

What’s the biggest obstacle and how do you get over it? Injuries are the biggest obstacle I face. Every training cycle I've completed has taught me something about what I shouldn't do.

What’s the most rewarding part of your training? It's hard to say that achieving a new PR takes a backseat to anything else, but since races are few and far between, I get the most positive feedback from long threshold efforts.

What advice would you give to other members of the runcoach community? Trust the training. Do the work exactly as it is assigned and you will see the benefits within a few weeks. Enjoy the process as much as possible. The long hard training session will wear you down either way. Embrace it, you've earned it. Besides, a rest day is right around the corner. The Runcoach process will make you a stronger runner, period.

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