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Author Archive | Trevor Spencer

Running the Marathon of Life: A Journey of Grit and Determination at 60

By on November 19, 2023 in Coaching, Masters Runner, Success Story

Our client Maripat Rhood ran her first marathon at the age of 60! She’s pictured here with her daughter at the Marine Corps Marathon. This is her story:

From Maripat Rhood

“For many, the idea of running a marathon can seem like an unattainable dream, especially if you’ve never considered yourself athletic. However, life has a way of surprising us, and sometimes, the most remarkable achievements come when we least expect them.

My own journey into the world of long-distance running began in a rather unconventional way. Continue Reading →

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A tremendous year in achieving my goals

By on November 18, 2023 in Coaching, Success Story

Congrats to our client James who built up to running five races in just 10 months! He writes,

“This has been a tremendous year in achieving my goals. I ran my first half marathon, first full marathon, and my first 50K . . . as well as a 2nd marathon and a 10 mile race PR.

That’s 5 races in 10 months which is also a huge “first” for me.

All of this was possible because I found MTA and Coach Henry. The MTA podcast helped me learn and understand there are many others new to running and learning just like me. Continue Reading →

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Prepared and Confident

By on November 8, 2023 in Coaching, Success Story

Massive congrats to our client Haley from Ireland on finishing 3:13:51 at the Dublin Marathon!! She writes,

“After finishing the Paris marathon (my second marathon) earlier this year in 3:20:04 I felt I’d gone as far as I could on my own so decided to get in touch with the marathon training academy.

Coach Nicole said she had the perfect coach in mind for me and paired me with MTA Coach Kris.

As coach Kris and I started working together from a recovery period post race, I found that incredibly helpful. I was unsure what a down time period should look like. I didn’t want to lose all my fitness but equally didn’t want to overtrain so I could be in the best place to start the training block for my next goal race, the Irish Life Dublin marathon on 29 Oct 2023. I had a really clear goal of running 3:15.
Continue Reading →

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A day of firsts at the Marine Corps Marathon

By on October 30, 2023 in Coaching, Success Story

Wow! What a day at the Marine Corps Marathon and 50k. We’d like to congratulate our coaching clients on going the distance on a hot day in D.C..

Maripat finished her first marathon at the age of 60. She writes,

“When I had my first consultation with MTA and Coach Nicole asked my goal- I told her I wanted to be on their website with “ I finished my first marathon at 60!

Today thanks to Coach Cindy and some hard work (stuck to plan religiously) and MTA, despite record heat I finished the Marine Corps Marathon and share with my daughter!
Training definitely paid off!”

Continue Reading →

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A Complete Game Changer

By on October 25, 2023 in Coaching, Success Story

Here’s a note from our client Emily who ran sub 3:30 at Chicago!

Before working with Coach Abby I was a total rookie who loosely followed MTA training plans.

I had completed 6 marathons with a PB of 3:49 in September of 2019.

Working with Abby has been a complete game changer. I went from only focusing on weekly mileage and running 6 days a week while lifting full force during training cycles to doing tempo and speed workouts on my local track.

Our original goal was for me to run Chicago in 3:45, but after running a 1:39 half on July 4th we started focusing on a 3:30 goal that would qualify me for Boston.

Thanks to Abby’s excellent coaching, consistency and perfect racing conditions I was able to beat my goal in Chicago with a finishing time of 3:26:44. I am so thankful for Coach Abby and the MTA community that helped me reach my goal and PR by 17 minutes. -Emily W.

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New PR at the Berlin Marathon

By on October 22, 2023 in Coaching, Success Story

This is from our client David H. who’s been working with MTA Coach Antonio for the last year. He ran 3:29:11 at Berlin after a busy season of running ultras. He writes,

“MTA Coach Antonio has done an incredible job dealing with my crazy racing schedule and getting me to incorporate more rest, recovery and long slow running into my training that allowed me to do 4 ultras earlier this last year.

This includes getting first place for my age group at the SF Ultra Marathon (which involves running 2 marathons, the first starting at 10:15pm and then running the official marathon at 5:30am!).
Continue Reading →

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A Desire to Improve

By on October 16, 2023 in Coaching, PR, Success Story

Here’s a report from our client Irina who earn an amazing PR at the Chicago Marathon this year finishing in 4:01:25. She writes,

“This weekend was an absolute blast. I ran the Chicago Marathon and got a 42 min PR. This was my 5th marathon and I couldn’t be more thrilled with my performance.

Now, let me give you a little background. I’ve been a dedicated listener of your amazing podcast ever since I started running 3 years ago, when I was 35.

My previous 4 marathons were not too shabby for someone with zero athletic experience, finishing between 4:43 and 5:03. But, listening to everyone’s journeys, I’ve had a desire to improve and push myself further.

Enter Marty Gardner’s inspiring story in a July MTA episode. It hit me right in the motivation bone! So, I reached out to MTA and they paired me up with the incredible Coach Cindy.

Continue Reading →

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Live with Scott Jurek at the Boulderthon

By on October 13, 2023 in Elite Runner, Interview, Podcasts, Ultramarathon

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In this episode we share the recording from Trevor’s live interview and Q&A with Scott Jurek at the Boulder Marathon in Boulder, Colorado.

Scott Jurek is one of the most decorated ultramarathoners of all time! He’s also a Boulder local, NYT Bestselling Author, physical therapist, and dad.

Scott answers questions about dealing with race-day nerves, hitting the wall, taking on your first ultra, heat vs. cold therapy, stack height on shoes, stretching for runners . . . and more!

Continue Reading →

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From Injured to 3rd Female Overall

By on October 11, 2023 in Coaching, Success Story, Ultramarathon

Big congrats to our client Stephanie Housley who finished as the 3rd female at the Run the Red 50k in Wyoming! She writes,

“Hello! First, thank you all so much for all the amazing things you help others accomplish through hosting your podcast and creating this phenomenally supportive and inspiring community at MTA!! Love it!!

At the beginning of 2023 I decided I would like to run an ultra. I had only ever done 1/2 marathons, and only about 10 of those!

I began training on my own, and got a stress fracture and severely inflamed tendons from over training. It was painful even to walk so I had to pause running entirely. Continue Reading →

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From a 5:06 Marathon to 3:32 Marathon (BQ)!

By on September 20, 2023 in Coaching, Success Story

We’d like to say a huge word of congrats to our client JJ Stark-Modlin on earning a BQ at the Revel Big Cottonwood Marathon! This was an epic 10 year journey in the making. She writes,

“I started running in the winter of 2012, using a Couch to 5K training plan that I found online and built up to my first 5K in May of 2012. I’ve always loved competition and was a competitive artistic roller skater for nearly 20 years prior to retiring and starting to run.

Once, I found racing, I was hooked on running. My family told me that due to my extensive history of injuries from skating, they doubted I would ever be able to run a marathon.

But I loved pushing myself to improve and to increase my distance running, building from a 5K to 10K, then half marathon by the fall of 2012. I was completely hooked researching everything I could about the running world. Continue Reading →

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Come to Our Live Event in Boulder!

By on September 13, 2023 in update

Trevor will be recording a live podcast interview and Q&A with Ultrarunner Scott Jurek at the Boulderthon in Boulder, Colorado, at 2:00 pm on October 7th 2023. Location = Expo Stage at Pearl and 14th St. Come to Boulder’s signature event with a downtown finish! Use the code MTA20 for 20% off your registration. www.boulderthon.org

Scott Jurek won the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run a record seven straight times. He has also finished first at the 153-mile Spartathlon, the Hardrock 100, and the Badwater 135. In 2015 he set the Appalachian Trail speed record, averaging nearly 50 miles a day over 46 days. He also set the United States all-surface record in the 24-Hour Run with 165.7 miles: 6.5 marathons in one day. Scott is a New York Times-bestselling author of Eat & Run and North.

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Running Doesn’t Have to Suck

By on September 4, 2023 in Mindset, Motivation

Imagine you are training for a marathon and your plan calls for a 20 miler this weekend. Does that sound fun?

Have you noticed that we speak of playing golf, playing tennis, playing hockey, etc., but we don’t say, “I’m playing marathon training”.

In endurance sports we run, we swim, we cycle, we lift weights. We don’t play.

But we should play!

Play is a strong biological drive that helps us children develop and continues into adulthood.

From an article on The Importance of Play for Adults,

Playing is just as important for adults as it is for children. Among its many benefits, adult play can boost your creativity, sharpen your sense of humor, and help you cope better with stress.

The trick is to look at running as “play”. Here are elements that make running fun: Continue Reading →

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