I think got a case of the 7 year marathon itch…in my madness I signed up to a marathon as a total non-runner back in 2010 and completed the New York marathon. An amazing achievement in itself I know, but I had a target to hit which sadly I didn’t make. Since then I had been socially running along with my other sports such as netball, hockey and touch rugby completing the odd 10k here and there. I don’t know where it came from, but I in January this year I had 5 months until my new home was ready so I thought now was the perfect time to sort out my marathon time for good…entry to the Edinburgh Marathon 2017 completed.
The whole process was seamless from the initial skype video call to check whether I was the right person to be taking on a marathon with 5 months to go, to the training plans and feedback every week. I can very proudly say that in the whole time I only missed one training session (which was out of my hands) – I honestly never thought an app and a weekly skype feedback video could motivate me to achieve that – through gales, torrential rain and some of the hottest runs, but I did it. Everything was clearly explained in the app for each individual training run and the weeks flew by and my progress increased literally every week.
I got a little niggle in my knee around 3 weeks before the marathon which was a little frustrating, but John was hot on the case with speaking to my physio to know exactly what I should and shouldn’t do and tailored the programme to fit in around this and what can I say….mission accomplished – I hit my target after a very long 7 year wait! Was absolutely delighted and there is no way I would have been able to achieve this without John – his experience and support were second to none.
If anyone was thinking of starting running, entering a race, even just improving fitness, I would be the first person to say John’s your man for the job. I’m based in Jersey so sadly couldn’t ever have any sessions with John in person, but it just goes to show anyone in the world can achieve what I did and more!
Verienne Belcher
