We love hearing from athletes how our guidance has helped them master their inner demons and nail a great race. Sometimes it’s reflected in the finishing time, sometimes in how you were able to pace yourself, sometime in how you feel. If you have a similar experience using our guidance, please don’t hesitate to share! Click here to download more info on our race approach. Thanks! ~ Patrick

+++++++++++++++++++++

Dear Coach Patrick,

In 2008, I ran/walk three 5k races, and a half-marathon. After being injured, I stop working out for about two years, because every time I would try again, I would sprain my ankle…

Last April, I bought a Groupon for a gym membership and started taking classes. I felt a bit stronger and started running again… only outside this time, because I understood that the treadmill was actually to blame for my repeated injuries. My goal was to simply be able to run a 5k race. I had never run a 5k from start to finish. I would always reach exhaustion at some point and would have to stop and walk. I came across one of your articles on Active.com and although I am far from running a marathon, I thought that I could benefit from learning more about pacing and people who run long distances. Indeed, I learned that it is important to pace myself down, especially at the beginning of the race, otherwise my HR would go way too high and it would then be almost impossible to go back to a “healthy” HR. That is exactly what I had experienced everytime I had run.

So last Sunday, as it was time for my 5k that I had been training for, I followed your advice. It was particularly frustrating at the beginning seeing everybody passing me but I kept on focusing “don’t do it, keep your pace down, don’t accelerate…” After the second mile, people kept on passing me, I desperately wanted to accelerate but I kept on thinking that the only thing I wanted was to run my 5k. After mile three, I knew it was almost the end. I was feeling fresh and decided to accelerate. I finished my race in less than 40 minutes and more importantly, I ran the whole race. So I want to thank you very very much for helping me achieve my goal. Again, I am far from running a marathon (so I won’t join your website for now), but my success definitely makes me want to reach for more now, especially since I was feeling so well at the end of the race. I wasn’t sore, I wasn’t tired. Now, I am just trying to figuring out if it is best for me to lower my PR or increase my distance…

Thanks again so much for helping people like me & please continue posting videos, articles and advice because, as you can see, people listen and you definitely help people achieve their goals. Thank you!

Best regards,
Marianne