Archive | Coaching

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!”

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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.

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!).
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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 →

Congrats to our client Paul who finished his marathon in 3:25! 🙌 He started working with us specifically to run a sub-3:30 marathon. He writes,

“Morning guys, I had such an awesome time running the Jack and Jill Marathon near Seattle on Saturday.

So grateful to Coach Kris for guiding me through the last five months of training. I’m so proud of my result!

I was only five minutes off BQ so in a few years when I get the itch to challenge myself again, I will let you know, and hopefully if Kris is available and willing I’d love to be coached by her again. Thank you, Paul.”

Congrats to your client Stephen Terni on running a Boston Qualifying time! Here’s what he had to say about working with MTA Coach Jenn,

First, I am sincerely grateful for my coaching experience. I am confident in saying that I would not have qualified for Boston without Jennifer’s advice and support.

I did not have awareness around a handful of bad habits that I have had over the last decade of my running, and Jennifer brought them to light for me. Specifically, her nutrition expertise helped me dial in my race-day nutrition and pre-race regimen to ensure that I didn’t bonk while avoiding gastrointestinal issues.

She also taught me the value of running slow – that was the secret to unlocking higher weekly mileage while balancing recovery. I can truly say I was in the best running shape of my life leading up to the marathon. Continue Reading →

Congrats to our coaching client Christine Pearson who finished the Stumptown Trail Runs 50K in Oregon and won her age group!! Here’s a note she wrote to MTA Coach Athena (posted with permission).

“Well . . . I won my age group. That’s the headline. It was hard, but in a weird way super fun.

The hills kicked my butt and I was thankful to have an excuse to walk and eat. Although my watch didn’t accurately measure the distance, the time is correct: 6:22. I won my age group by an hour.

Thank you very much for your constant support and encouragement. You were in my head A LOT! My husband took a photo of me finishing. Ps- several of my toe nails are in bad shape. It will be a good excuse not to run this week.” -Christine P

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Congrats to our coaching client Nagesh Kolli on running a marathon PR of 4:31:44 at his 6th marathon! He writes,

“It was a great experience working with Coach Antonio to train for my Delaware marathon. I am very thankful for his insight into training, he guided me very well through out the last five months. Under his training I was able achieve a half marathon PR of 1:53:35 PR and a marathon PR 4:31:44. Continue Reading →

Congrats to our client Scott on finishing the Boston Marathon! He writes,

“I finished the Boston Marathon on Monday. A charity runner, I was running the race for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in memory of my Mom.

I’ve run 5 previous marathons but always hit the wall. My goal was to run the Boston hills and still finish strong.

Thanks to Coach Abby’s detailed training schedules and race plan, I finished Boston Strong with my last mile being my fastest and my second fastest marathon time of 4:35, at the age of 55.

Growing up less than 1 mile from Heartbreak Hill, this was a fulfillment of a life long dream. Thank you MTA and Coach Abby!” -Scott

Congrats to our client Candis Ubiles who completed her 5th marathon after dealing with a knee injury. She writes,

“In spring of 2022, I decided to take my 20+ years of casual running to the next level after coming across MTA.

I found the podcasts to be so inspiring as well as informative and once I learned of the coaching through the MTA community, I decided to invest in a coach to prepare me for the Marine Corp Marathon in October 2022.

I was paired with Coach Lynn and was immediately inspired by her caring and thoughtful approach to coaching as well as the example she lives of someone who stays active, has accomplished so much and truly enjoys running as much as I do.

Through this relationship with Coach Lynn, a fire was lit in my life regarding running and I really tapped into what it meant to me (something she has me reflect on often). As I did this, I realized that marathon running was something I wanted in my life long term, not just as a bucket list item to check off. Continue Reading →