I spent the spring and summer of 2011 training for a fall marathon, where I planned to better my only other marathon effort. Never did I imagine how much better my performance would prove to be.
As a participant of the Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10-Mile race in Darien, IL, I learned about Coach Meghan Kennihan and her personal training programs for runners. I did a little research and liked what I was reading, so I decided to give Coach Meghan a try. Coach Meghan had me fill out a questionnaire and calendar with all of my training exercises for the previous 28 days. I met with Meghan on August 1st. She conducted gait and strength analyses and assessed deficiencies and problems. We discussed my previous 28 days of training, with Meghan pointing out the good and bad of what I was doing. Meghan put together a personalized training program based on my own abilities, strengths, weaknesses and schedule. I was excited and eager to get the ball rolling, as this was my first personal training plan – designed for nobody but me.
Despite being on Coach Meghan's plan for only seven weeks pre-race, I was able to run the Fox Valley Marathon in 3:28:30; a PR by over 41 minutes (that is with me tearing a calf muscle at mile 20!). I was completely amazed. I did not think I could pull off a marathon at that pace. I am not a nay-sayer, I just did not think I was at that level yet. Meghan had her own ideas and made a prediction as to how my performance would be. Not surprisingly, she was spot-on.
Coach Meghan brought everything together and created a plan tailored specifically for me. She considered things like races, vacations, work schedules, etc. She compiled a comprehensive schedule that included my expected training run paces, cross-training as well as rest days. Coach Meghan was supportive in my endeavors, yet critical when she needed to be (I got scolded a couple of times!). When you read magazine articles, talk to runners or just guess on your own as to what you should be doing, the picture is confusing and murky. Coach Meghan makes that picture clear. There is no question; I will be using Coach Meghan when I train for my next race.
Coach Meghan, thank you for getting me to where I am today. I could not have done this without you!
-Mike Trepelas
