Chicago Marathon 2006
“I first came to John after having trained myself for one year. At the time I had just run a 1:34 half marathon and felt that I had it in me to go much faster, but I was struggling with injury problems and trying to design a training that worked for me.
We met over lunch and discussed in detail my training/racing history, diet and future goals, specifically breaking 3 hours in the marathon. I came away from the meeting motivated and ready to try a six month program leading up to the 2006 Chicago Marathon.
A non-running related knee injury a month later sent me to surgery and sidelined me for three months. I kept in contact with John through my recovery and he offered alot of advice which helped when I finally got back on my feet only four months before the marathon.
Despite the setback I decided to stick with my original goal. John designed a three month plan emphasizing high mileage to rebuild my base fitness and two workouts per week to develop speed. Long story short, my hard work, coupled with John’s experience, guidance and inspiration resulted in a 2:59:02 run in Chicago. I even set a new personal best in the half marathon over the second half of the race and finished feeling fantastic.
I feel like I’ve made a breakthrough under John’s guidance, but most importantly he has helped me to understand how to train properly: when to push, when to back off and when to stay the course. Without him I don’t think I would have made it to the start line, let alone achieved my goal. I have no hesitation in recommending John to anyone who is looking to bring their running to a new level.”