Runcoach Success Stories (100)Highlighting the successes of our awesome Runcoach athletes  Helen has persevered through physical set backs and anxiety running on roads, to complete a fast marathon just before her 60th birthday! She shares inspiring advice to "never give up", and "you get what you put into running".Major milestone: Completing a marathon just before my 60th birthday in a time of 4:01:05 following a serious car accident in late 2015 (just after running the DCM) when I didn't think I would ever walk properly again never mind run a marathon!
What is the secret to your success?
Determination and a will to exercise and get back on track. I still have nervousness crossing roads and being afraid that I might fracture my tib and fib again while running on uneven surfaces
What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it?
Fear and loss of confidence which I had no issue with prior to my accident. I just wanted to get back out again with my friends from my running club who had kept in touch with me during my year off from running
What is the most rewarding part of training?
Sense of achievement always when a run is completed. Delighted with my progress and times at my age. Running with a group of friends. Being able to train to participate in races
What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community? You will only get out what you put in! To achieve success running you must run....simple as that! When training for 2018 DCM, I had to go out on occasions when I didn't have company because of my work schedule but I still did it
Anything else you would like to share? Never give up! It is worth the effort to get back if you have been injured, but be patient as you must listen to your body. If you can't run do something else like the bike indoors or cycle outdoors
What feedback would you offer on the Runcoach experience? I've had great chats online with Coach Lindsay!
Published in
Runcoach Success Stories
 Chris made a successful return to running after having a kidney transplant in 2018. He shares how he found a way to pay it forward and run with a purpose. Prepare to be inspired and learn how you can also be the best version of yourself! Major milestone: My major milestone is getting back to running after having a kidney transplant in January of 2018. So far since returning to running I have ran the Veterans Day 10K in DC this past November, and recently the Cherry Blossom 10 miler. This coming Sunday I’ll be running the GW Parkway 10 miler. What is the secret to your success? The secret to my success is more than one thing that I do to run races. First it’s the desire to keep my living donor’s kidney healthy. I run for my wife, kids, my living donor, her family, my friends and family, and for the individuals I put in the back of my shirt during races that are in need of an organ donor. From there it’s diet, rest and meditation. Those three factors are just as important as the mental aspect. I eat a plant-based diet, get my rest and meditate when I can.
What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it?
My goal is to get out and run, right now it’s a basic goal. At times work, family, and my health will prevent a run I have planned. I have to be mindful with the medicine I take that if I start to feel under the weather, I may have to pull back and skip a run. While I may think I can still do it, I’m very in tune with my body. I know others might not like missing a run, and while I may feel that way it’s a brief feeling. I temper it with reminding myself it’s better to miss one run than multiples and a race I may have planned.
What is the most rewarding part of training? The most rewarding part for me in training is getting out for a run considering all that has happened over the past 3 years. When I get close to race day, I’m excited to run with someone who’s in need on my back to show one can live a full life after a transplant. I also hope my last race that I ran with my living donor Ana, showed people after donation they can still achieve great things.
What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community? Enjoy your runs, find joy in them, and when you don’t have the energy or mental strength to run find a purpose in your run. If you can find a way to pay it forward in your runs or races, please do as that’s running with purpose. For me it’s the impact of organ donation and the need for more organ donors. Be a version of your best self.
Anything else you would like to share? For me it’s you can be a living donor as Ana was for me, and go out and run 10 miles. I’m in no means unique either, I know there are other individuals out there that have received a kidney and doing marathons. The real heroes are the donors, and without them we wouldn’t be able to go out and run again. Also, please consider being an organ donor whether living or deceased. Every month 3,000 people are added to the waitlist for a kidney, and every 13 minutes someone dies waiting for a kidney. By becoming an organ donor you can impact not just one person, but multiple lives. Please sign up to become an organ donor: https://www.donatelife.net/register/
What feedback would you offer on the Runcoach experience? The experience and app was helpful to see where I was in my training. Having run cross country when I was younger, I could still gauge how I was doing, but the feedback from the app and training suggestions were helpful in the process of running only my second race since having been on around a 10 year hiatus due to my chronic kidney disease.
Published in
Runcoach Success Stories
Having a goal is one thing. Accomplishing the goal is another. David was able to complete the Seacoast Half Marathon in just under 8:00/mile pace (reach his pre race goal in flying fashion!). This was the first time he had help from a structured training program. Runcoach is now helping David train for a full marathon!
 What is the secret to your success? No one thing in particular, but I do want to give some credit to the Runcoach training schedule I followed for the two months leading up to the race. It was great to have a personalized schedule based on my past running data from Strava -- It gave me a plan I had more confidence in than just winging it on my own, and I did accomplish my goal! What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it?
Time -- still figuring out how find enough time. Wake up earlier seems the only solution I can come up with. Injuries. Fortunately I didn't get any. I think the warm ups suggested by Runcoach helped.
What is the most rewarding part of training?
Seeing progress and thus having the satisfaction that the training is paying off, and being part of communities -- online as well as local offline communities -- of runners supporting each other's goals.
What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community?
If the mileage of the Runcoach training schedule seems to increase too quickly, don't be afraid to back off or skip a session. I followed the training schedule which, besides providing needed structure, got me to do some speed and interval training which was great, but I skipped a run occasionally when I felt like the mileage was too much and my training plan didn't really change and I was still "on target" most of the time.
Anything else you would like to share?
I've only been running for two years and using Runcoach to prepare for the half-marathon last fall was the first time I had tried a more structured training regime with a particular performance goal in mind. That in itself was a milestone for me, and the experience was positive -- enough so that I set another Runcoach goal for a marathon this fall!
What feedback would you offer on the Runcoach experience?
As someone on the free membership, I was happy to use the algorithmically generated training plan based on my goal and running history, but never reached out to the Runcoach coaches. I guess I wasn't sure how make valuable use of that option. Maybe some suggestions on ways to use that resource would motivate me to try that.
Published in
Runcoach Success Stories
Published in
Runcoach Success Stories
Published in
Runcoach Success Stories
Published in
Runcoach Success Stories
Published in
Runcoach Success Stories
Published in
Runcoach Success Stories
 . 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?).
Published in
Runcoach Success Stories
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.
 Major 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.
Published in
Runcoach Success Stories
|
Blog Categories
|
Joe 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. 
movecoach is a brand owned by Focus-N-Fly, Inc Copyright 2026