Without a doubt, my coaching client Kent Ainscough had a strong showing at the 2015 Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon.
In fact, if you compare his 2014 to his 2015 finish time on Raceday Timing, you will notice that in 2015, he was 28:09 min faster than last year. This equates to approximately a 40 sec per km faster pace in 2015 than he was in 2014.
Above: Kent proudly displays his 2015 marathon finisher medal. Big thumbs up!!
So, what was his secret to chopping nearly a half hour off his marathon time? How was he able to finish strong and show a 40 sec improvement in pace on EVERY SINGLE kilometer over 42.2km?
The answer is simple: It’s what he did between October 12, 2014 and October 11, 2015.
Kent first ran the Goodlife Fitness Victoria Half marathon (21.1km) in 2013. Shortly thereafter, he started training with me (because his girlfriend recommended me) and worked himself up to doing the full marathon in 2014.
In 2014, 16 weeks before the race, I created a “first timer” marathon program for him where my only goal was to help him get across the finish line (and hopefully under 4 hours).
After he finished his first marathon in 3:59:xx, I recognized that he needed a more structured, progressive running program in order to get a faster time in 2015.
Above: Kent’s Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon (42.2km) time in 2014, prior to starting my monthly online running program. He was 616th overall out of all the finishers (1570 finishers total). This put him in the top 39% of the entire field, which is still very good for his first attempt at the distance.
That was when he asked me about my monthly running programs. The advantage to my monthly running programs is that they have a very high degree of customization.
Kent doesn’t have all the weekends off work so the Sunday long run is not always possible for him.
In addition, his work schedule changes every month and I took that into account when designing his monthly running program. I also took his previous running experience into consideration.
As a coach, I believe it’s very important to be fully aware of every potential challenge that a client may face (scheduling, other workouts, vacations, etc.) as well as what their capabilities are. I never gave him more than he could handle and I always made sure to check in with him on how the program is going.
My programs are always adjustable and I believe that his good communication with me and diligence has been the key to his success. Not only that, but he followed my program closely and was always open and honest with me. Kent never complained and he never lost sight of his running goals.
Without a doubt, I knew that Kent was going to run a personal best in the marathon this year. I just could not predict how much faster he would be.
Therefore, I was extremely happy to see him cross the finish line in 3:31:22. Kent looked very strong at the finish and he also walked up and down the stairs as if he never ran a marathon at all (meaning he recovered very quickly). I was very impressed with his recovery time this year.
Above: Kent looking strong in the big race!
His 28:09 min improvement over 42.2km means that he ran every single km on average 40 seconds faster than last year. That’s so amazing!
Above: Kent’s time in the 2015 Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon after following my monthly online running program. As you can see, he was significantly faster. Kent finished 176th overall (out of 1200 finishers total), which put him in the top 15% of all the finishers. Without any doubt, that’s quite an amazing improvement.
Most importantly, Kent was able to run faster while continuing a normal life, including the occasional treat and a vacation. He worked hard and at the same time was able to enjoy his life.
This is what Kent had to say about his journey so far:
“I had procrastinated about entering the Goodlife Half Marathon for years. On a whim and with no running program or practice to speak of, I entered it on the Tuesday before the run. I got a 1:40 on my first half and I was sore and walked funny for about a week after that. My girlfriend had Yana for a training program and had nothing but great things to say about her. I really wanted someone to help me with my running goals and to generally kick my butt during workouts. That is exactly what I got: a running program to fit my schedule, never ending encouragement, new routines, and the stairs….oh God ,all the flights of stairs and the #abparties. I am now fitter, happier, and healthier (and close to qualifying for the Boston Marathon) thanks to Yana.”
Kent’s tremendous improvement also put him into the semi-finals for my Get Fit & Win $1000 challenge. 🙂 I can’t wait to see how he does at the next event!!!
If you also want to run a new personal best, you can find more information about my coaching programs HERE.
Above: Glad to hear Kent had fun. It’s no small feat to accomplish a marathon.
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