Runcoach Success Stories

Runcoach Success Stories (79)

Highlighting the successes of our awesome Runcoach athletes

Runcoach Success Story: Joe

Written by Coach Hiruni W January 27, 2019
  • joe_successsstoryJoe is a former linebacker and lineman, who found his running legs in the past year. Through personal and family motivation, he lost 30 pounds, and recenly completed an incredible half marathon at the 2019 Houston Aramco Half Marathon.  Read about Joe's journey to fitness,  and how he found a way to quite the voice that wants to stay in the "comfort zone" below. 


    Major milestone:
  • After an 18 year fitness hiatus, my daughter asked if I could wear a 'skinny suit' at her wedding last year. Being far from 'skinny,' I began a fitness and diet regimen. I got to my goal by the wedding, then decided to keep going and run the Houston Half Marathon. I finished in 2:10, which was awesome for me.
  • I signed up to use RunCoach since the last time I ran a half marathon, I trained for it by myself, and it was very tough. The guided workouts and increase in speed and tempo work, along with the rest and cross training days worked wonders! I felt so great running this half.
  • Laziness, pure and simple. Finding the energy to start. My family and I had a crazy couple of years and I felt no desire to try and get fit. When my daughter handed me a goal, that's what got me moving.
  • Just to be able to say at 57, I did it. And I was pretty proud of my time. I'm a former linebacker and lineman from high school football in Texas, I'm not the typical runner type. But, after losing some 30 pounds, it became much easier as the fitness returned.
  • Watch the Little Voice in your head, that's very loud. It showed up a lot, especially towards the end. "Stay in bed. It's too cold." etc. I found 1,000 excuses to not get up and train, but no good reason, so begrudgingly, I moaned and pouted, and hit the road...grateful in the end that I did.
  • The coaching response was awesome when I had a question. Thank you again. I truly think I would not have been able to do it without the help of RunCoach.
  • I always found it amusing when the coach in the app, monitoring my pace, would say "that last mile was a little spicey..." I found myself pushing to get that response occasionally. Thanks again.


    Jacquie recently ran an incredible sub 3 hour marathon at the 2018 California International MarathonJacquie_RC. She accomplished this feat, while working a demanding full-time job, and fulfilling duties as a mom of three. This super woman shares tips to her success below. 

    Major milestone: Completed sub 3:00 marathon


    What is the secret to your success? Making the time to be consistent in training. And coffee.


    What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it? As a full-time working mom of three, finding time, consistently, to prioritize me and get my workouts done was, and is, a huge obstacle. In taking those 45, 90, or more, minutes, I initially felt some guilt over what I wasn't doing that was still on my day's list. But, after a few weeks I actually felt better every day having taken the time for myself to reach a goal allowed me to look forward to that "me" time.


    What is the most rewarding part of training? Other than that daily dose of endorphins, reaching new intermediate milestones week to week or month to month!


    What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community? Stick with it - getting started on any given workout is the hardest part, so just suit up, get out there and let yourself go.

    Anything else you would like to share?  Alright, so I "found time" for myself to train, but what about all the other stuff in life that needed to get done? Let's be clear, some of the unimportant stuff just didn't, and additionally I had to get comfortable with the fact that it would get done later or in a different way (did the third grade class really need homemade cupcakes, or would those store-bought ones do just fine?).


  • What feedback would you offer on the Runcoach experience? The Runcoach app made for my training and success. Having an overview of the week by email each week provides that look ahead to enable planning on when you'll squeeze your workout in. That alone would not be enough for me - having prompts through the app DURING each workout, especially speed and threshold workouts was critical and made tracking the workouts easy (albeit those speed workouts were hard!).


Runcoach Success Story: Oren

Written by Neely Gracey January 07, 2019
Oren ran his first marathon and felt supported throughout the training program. He discovered that he saw progress in fitness and mental approach too.  He is an amazing example of how you can reach for your personal goals despite the work/life stresses surrounding you.

    7d01b88Marathon-medalMajor milestone: Completed my first Marathon!

    What is the secret to your success? Great training plan and support by Runcoach and the entire team! Hiruni, Ashley, Tom and everyone else. We created a plan that worked and I stuck to it. Was prepared for the highs and also the lows of the race day. Hurray, I'm a Marathon runner!

    What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it? There are always inner and outer obstacles. Inner is always the most challenging, with self motivation, self discipline and "coach-ability". Even on race day. The outer obstacles exist for everyone... Career, family life, physical health all require a great balancing act. Learning comes from persistence, miles and suffering it out (with a smile). I'd try not to look at a single training day or even a week, but always keep the long term goal ahead. For me, it's a process of moving forward, making the most out of the balance of internal and external forces.

    What is the most rewarding part of training? It's really great seeing how seemingly long distances have become easy. A half Marathon? No sweat! Let's blast it out!

    What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community? Training an executing a marathon is a completely different ballgame than shorter distances simply since there is much less tolerance for error on race day. I think my most valuable advice is to learn from the long training sessions (over 30km) during buildup and after every workout what needs to be adjusted and then apply it on the next. Trying a new strategy on race day is too late. Marathon is also very sensitive to execution: Nutrition, pace, and pace consistency. Bottom line, it's easier said than done to have everything under control especially for the first race. While avoiding a meltdown is best, I think it's best to prepare for it, at least mentally. It might and will happen, and you need to have faith to endure even if it lasts for a good part of the race.

    Anything else you would like to share? Training with Runcoach was a positive experience! I've trained with personal coaches for many years, and this was the first time going virtual. I found that the adaptive training plan together with personal email support (on my "entry plan") really works, and is definitely cost-effective.

  • What feedback would you offer on the Runcoach experience? There are several rooms for improvement: - Adaptation of the training programs to the metric system. An example: a workout calling for for 3.2 kms (2 miles) sessions. - Adaption of the website and email literature to the metric system. For example: minutes per mile pace in various communications.


Runcoach Success Story: Brian

Written by Neely Gracey December 14, 2018
Screen_Shot_2018-12-14_at_10.56.44_AMBrian took on a 28 day challenge to run a Personal Best Half Marathon. Brian works for Runner's World and we have partnered with them to bring Runcoach to people like you. Utilizing our program, He saw his fitness and confidence build as race day approached. He ran 1:20, over 2minutes faster than his previous PR, and shared his experience with us. 

Major milestone:

Running my 13.1 mile PR at the Rehoboth Half Marathon on December 8, 2018. 

What is the secret to your success?
Focus. Focus. Focus!I had been signed up for this race with the idea that it could be a PR type of race. Flat and supposedly fast. While I had been doing a lot of my standard training and logging my usual mileage, I felt really stagnant as a runner. I decided to see what I could do by truly focusing on increasing my speed for this distance with about a month out from the race. Though not ideal to overall training, I was hoping that all of my base training could be converted in a short amount of time. With Runcoach's algorithm seeing my recent runs and race times, it legitimately grabbed my training by the collar and gave me a few slaps in the faces. My speed workouts were longer and more challenging. An extra tempo session was throw into the middle of my training weeks to up my mileage, and my long runs stayed the same but felt more demanding because of the work I was doing during the week. In the end, hitting these workouts--or at least 90% of them--got my physically and mentally primed for my race. And I ran a 1:20:41 to take fifth place in the half. It was about two minutes off my half marathon PR... and I could have kept running after the race! 

What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it?
Seeing the schedule of workouts, and how it differed from my general training week, seemed daunting at first. But once I forced myself to get through the first week, I found that as long as I started any workout, I had the ability to finish it feeling strong. 

What is the most rewarding part of training?
Being able to bounce training feedback off the Runcoach staff to see where I could be doing something better. It always felt better when I wasn't sure about something to hear that I was way ahead of (the short) schedule and indicating that I was on a good track. 

What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community?
Don't fear new workouts. They may seem intimidating, but they will break up the monotony of regular training and give you the assurance that you can run farther and faster than you thought possible. 

What feedback would you offer on the Runcoach experience?
Maybe some longer explanation in daily emails on what a specific workout will provide to the runner. What is it building, what is the benefit, etc.


Runcoach Success Story: Neal

Written by Neely Gracey December 12, 2018
    • I have been racing for 15 years, and I think anyone who has been in the sport knows that frustration is part of success. It is never entirely smooth, and when things start going consistently wrong, it is an opportunity for change. Neal shares his story of how things were not working and he kept getting side cramps while racing. He started working with us and, together, we were able to get him back on his feet, running strong, and with new found confidence! Congrats on your sub 2 hour half marathon Neal, and thank you for showing us that change is a good thing!

      Major milestone:Screen_Shot_2018-12-12_at_11.29.35_AM
    • Ran the Rock and Roll Humana Half Marathon under 2 hours, finished at 1:58:52.
    • Staying with my Runcoach training and talking with the coaches.
    • I had cramped on my previous two half marathons so I asked one of the coaches what to do. I was really nervous about cramping again but she told me to try Skratch labs hydration and it worked really well for me. I didn’t cramp and had negative splits throughout the race.
    • Getting stronger each week and feeling more confident that I could reach my goal.
    • Stay with the training and utilize the coaches if you have any issues.
    • I’m excited to start training for my first marathon in 2019.
    • The combination of running and cross training with rest in between helped me to reach my goal, I’m excited about my training for 2019.


  • Runcoach Success Story: Andrew

    Written by Neely Gracey December 12, 2018
    • 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!


    Runcoach Success Story: Joseph

    Written by Neely Gracey November 08, 2018
    Joseph ran his first 26.2 mile race at the Columbus Marathon this fall. He loved the feeling of setting a goal, working hard, and achieving it! We are thrilled to have been a part of his first marathon and believe his message on being consistent in training helps all of us who are reaching for our goals.

    Major milestone:Screen_Shot_2018-11-13_at_4.08.49_PM
    Completing my first marathon!

    What is the secret to your success?
    Consistency, Runcoach app, and the support of friends and family.

    What is the most rewarding part of training?
    The most rewarding part for me was seeing how each week I was hitting new distances and new times.

    What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community?
    Stay consistent with your training, don't let a bad training day ruin other days, and just keep going.

    What feedback would you offer on the Runcoach experience?
    The app was great for my training, It helped keep me consistent and really helped me stay on track towards my goal. The speed and threshold workouts were great.



    Runcoach Success Story: David

    Written by Neely Gracey November 08, 2018
    • I have two that, to me, I would see as my biggest milestones. Loosing weight, and in my first year of running, I am proud to say I completed my first marathon in Dublin, Ireland.
    • I find the secret to my success is creating a balance to my daily and weekly life. I set a weekly plan based on my work schedule and how I will spend my time on days off. Training for races and what types of training I do both in the gym and outside of the gym. I also set myself weekly/monthly goals that I aim to achieve and how I aim to achieve these goals over time.
    • I find that one of my biggest obstacles is training alone, I tend to do my training alone. I do plan on joining a local running club soon. I have noticed it is great to run with others and it can be great motivation for not just yourself but others too.
    • I can be honest and say in the past year I never realised how much stronger I could become both physically and mentally. I become more positive and driven to achieve your goals.
    • The best advice I can give is don’t be afraid to talk to others in the community, and the trainers from Runcoach are always happy to give some great advice. Always remember to tell yourself "I can and I will" and instead of saying to yourself one day I will do this and that, you allow yourself to say "today I will achieve my targets I set out for myself".
    • I find the support from the coaches here is amazing. They are so easy to talk to and share your progress with. A huge thank you to everyone at Runcoach who have supported my training and my progress.
    • I think one of the great things about Runcoach is not only the support and advice they offer personally, but their posts on Instagram can be very inspiring too.


    Runcoach Success Story: Uma

    Written by Neely Gracey November 02, 2018
    Uma is a story if inspiration. She shares the importance of consistency in training, and how following a training plan canScreen_Shot_2018-11-05_at_3.03.46_PM help everyone remain accountable in the pursuit of their goals. But most importantly, Uma shares the benefit of the coach-athlete relationship and we at Runcoach are grateful for all of the runners we get to support.

    Major milestone:
    Marine Corps Marathon 2018 - Ran it in 5:06, which is almost an hour faster than the last two times I ran the same race. 2016 - 6:01 and 2017 - 6:05

    What is the secret to your success?
    Following the schedule given to me by Runcoach, which consisted of speed work, cross training and yoga.

    What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it? Consistent training and training alone combined to form the biggest obstacle for me. I trained alone for the most part, and was lucky enough to run with my local running group for a few of the final long runs. I tried to get over it by committing to reporting my workouts to the coaches at Runcoach and uploading my workouts through the app.

    What is the most rewarding part of training?
    Self awareness - Realizing that I am stronger than I thought - physically and mentally.

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

    Stick to the schedule that the Runcoach app gives you. Report back to the coaches via email. It creates a commitment. Don't skip out on speed work. It was very challenging for me, and I had no track nearby where I felt safe to train alone in the dark hours of the morning. I tried to get in as many speed workouts as I could and that helped a lot to improve my pace.

    Anything else you would like to share?

    I would like to say that the timely encouragement from Coach Cawood and Coach Hiruni went a very long way to help me PR my race. I felt like they were my personal coaches. During a difficult phase during the race, when I wanted to walk the bridge, I told myself that I would not let Coach Cawood and Coach Hiruni down, I would run that bridge. And I did it!

    What feedback would you offer on the Runcoach experience?

    The overall experience was very awesome. I will do it again. The app needs some upgrades. For tempo workouts, I reported warm up, cool down, drills+strides, speed run and cool down separately so coaches could see my pace, but the app did not total them correctly. So I had to delete all of that and enter one aggregate number which did not show the effort I put into the workout.


    Share your story here!



    We reached out to new mom Lauren Stroud, a Texas native, who is aiming to return to marathon racing this January at the 2019 Chevron Houston Marathon. Her preparation for this race will be different than what she is used to, as she rebuilds her endurance and mileage, Lauren will utilize the  adaptive Runcoach training to help take her fitness from where it is now to where she wants it to be in January. With a new baby, Lauren needed a progressive plan and a supportive coaching environment, and we at Runcoach, are thrilled to work together towards her goals. She loves to race, and has her sights set to qualify and compete in the 2020 Olympic Trials Marathon. We wish her the best in this journey.

    Hello everybody!
    Screen_Shot_2018-10-01_at_2.39.53_PM
    I am so excited to run my first Chevron Houston Marathon! I will have a little extra challenge this year, as I gave birth in August, and I'm learning how to manage my time wisely as a mom. My last marathon was in 2016, and while I love to race and get after shorter distances frequently, the marathon is a whole different challenge. 

    I had never heard of Runcoach, but I absolutely love how convenient and easy the app is to use! Runcoach is an app that tailors training for you as an individual. As difficult as it is, I know I have to be patient with my body and my fitness and I believe that using Runcoach this year will help me ease into my training as I balance life as a working mom and runner.

    I started my transition back into training at 3 weeks post partum, and my first run back felt amazing because I missed running so much. I was fortunately able to run up until the day I delivered, but most of my last month of training before delivery consisted of run/walk intervals.

    Here's an example of how last week's training looked:

    Sunday - Long run
    Monday - Easy run
    Tuesday - Short leg turnover workout
    Wednesday - Easy run 
    Thursday - Medium long run
    Friday - rest day
    Saturday - Easy run

    I can't wait to take my fitness to the next level with Runcoach!

    You can follow Lauren's road to the Houston Marathon (and see cute pictures of baby Sadie) on her instagram @Laurun123Screen_Shot_2018-10-01_at_2.40.07_PM



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