A few weeks after I got back from Run For Their Lives, a gentleman named Jorge emailed me asking about personal training. In particular, he was interested in running a personal best at the New York Marathon on November 3, 2013. Most importantly, he wanted to beat 4:40 in the marathon.
Above: Jorge with his finisher’s medal. Read the entire post to see how he did. 🙂
In addition, he wanted to lose some weight, get stronger and become a better runner.
His biggest challenge is that he travels a lot and that sometimes it’s difficult to fit in proper training and nutrition into his schedule. Making time for fitness can be challenging, which is why I knew that it’s very important for me to design him a program that will fit into his lifestyle.
During our consultation, I told him that the best way to do this is for me to write out a plan for the entire 15 weeks and for him to have 10 personal training sessions with me, most likely on weekends whenever he was in town.
As soon as I met Jorge, I knew 100% that I could help him reach his fitness goals. Being a marathon runner myself, I know what it’s like to train for such an event. Training to run 26.2 miles or 42.2km requires a lot of dedication and commitment.
When Jorge and I first started, I developed a 15 week program that he could follow. The plan would consist of a combination of body weight exercises that he could do on his own, gym sessions with me and running. For some of our sessions, we would be running outside and I would be pacing him with my Garmin Forerunner 110.
Above: Jorge smiling during his race.
In the beginning, I made some minor adjustments to his form and breathing techniques in order to make him a more efficient runner. A lot of times, a minor postural and breathing adjustment can make a huge difference in performance. After my adjustments, he appeared to have found running a bit easier because I was pushing the pace during our runs.
I knew that he had to average about 6:24 minutes per km during the entire marathon if he wanted to finish in 4:30.
Therefore, I made it a point to push that pace whenever we ran together.
The success of my clients is my priority because I believe that they can do whatever they put their mind to, provided that they are following the right training plan.
Here are the steps that I took to design Jorge’s plan:
*A consultation which covered what his circumstances and goals are (work, travel, other commitments, etc.)
*Development of the 15 week program based on my client’s circumstances and input
*Follow through on the plan
From the moment that I first started working with Jorge, I knew that he would succeed. He showed amazing determination whenever we ran together even though our sessions were challenging at time.
In the time that I’ve known him, he got stronger and faster. He improved his half marathon personal best from 4 years ago by over a minute. Not only that, but he also ACHIEVED his goal of running a personal best in the FULL MARATHON.
Throughout our time together, I showed him that he is stronger and faster than he believed.
I am extremely proud of Jorge and how far he has come. Here is what Jorge said about training with me:
“My training with Yana was super cool, she really pushed me to my limits and I understood that was the best way to improve. I tried in different ways to improve my time for the last 2 years and thought won’t be possible. With her training plan, I was able to beat my PR and run a nonstop 42.195K for the first time ever.
It is an incredible feeling, I’m very grateful with Yana for believing in me and helping me reach my goal, she gave me back the confidence that I needed to keep working hard.
I travel all the time and for sure without her dedication and commitment this could not be possible.
Gracias Amiga 🙂
Jorge
PR 4:33:48″
It has been a pleasure and a privilege working with Jorge and I am honoured to have been a part of his amazing journey.