Published by bart yasso on May 18, 2009 02:41 pm
under Letters, Testimonials
One of the great things about working in the running industry and writing the book is the stories I hear. Here’s a great one from Steve that made my day…
Hi Bart,
I read “My Life On The Run” and wanted to thank you for giving me the
tools to run my first marathon at age 55. I have been running for the
past 2 years and had run a couple 10 milers and half marathons but
didn’t feel that I could find a training program that would allow my
body to train for a marathon without breaking down. My wife bought me
your book and I really enjoyed it. I was intrigued by “The Perfect 10
Marathon” that you discussed and decided to give it a try. I live in
Sea Isle City NJ and planned to run in the Ocean Drive Marathon. I
began following your program on 11/10, with the marathon to be run on
3/29(my wife’s birthday-I doubt she’ll be giving me anymore books!). I
did all my training outdoors throughout the winter and even though it
was difficult at times, I was surprised that I was able to keep up. I
was almost as happy that I was able to successfully train for a
marathon than I was in running it.
However, when race day came, it was one of the most rewarding
experiences of my life. I had friends and family members support me
along the way, my daughter even ran across the bridge from Avalon to
Sea Isle at mile 23 with me because she knew I was hitting the wall. I
ran every step of the way and came in under my goal of 5 hours (4:50).
More amazingly, I ran the first 13.1 miles 5 minutes faster than I ran
my last half marathon! It took me about 10 days to recover but I’m out
running again and plan to do the Broad Street Run, the Philadelphia
Distance Run and hopefully the Philadelphia Marathon in November.
Thanks again for sharing your experience and knowledge. It really made
a difference for me.
Steve
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I’m a runner, 35 years old, looking for new information, I read the runners magazine every month, huge fan!!!! and I’m following all your tips for a great 42 k marathon. I already run the Chicago Marathon, last year, I’m going to run the NYC Marathon in November. I hope I’ll be able to improve my time!
Unbelievable comparison to my story. At 55 I too ran my first marathon. My daughter who has run in 3 Boston Marathons (3 hours and 11 min) gave me a training program. Running on roads with snow drifts over my head, and being called crazy by the neighbors, led me to a 4 hr. and 33 min run in the Lincoln Marathon. My daughter also ran the last 6 miles with me as I hit the wall too. She kept saying to me the finish will be worth it. It was the most rewarding thing I have done outside of raising my kids! I hope to run a 4 hr. marathon in Sept.
I’m almost 56, training now for my 1st marathon in israel.
Here, no snow. Very hot and humid long summer so I train 5 times a week at 5 am. Started the plan 3 weeks ago. The marathon will be in 6 Jan 2011.
I wush myself luck! the above stories encourage me.
I’m also almost 56 and training for my first marathon in San Antonio, TX. I’m very encouraged to find that others my age are doing the same thing!
I just ran my first marathon at 57, in Victoria BC. I already had a good base (lots of half marathons), but started training for a full marathon back in June. I had signed up for the half at Victoria, then upgraded to the full at the expo since the training had gone well and I had avoided injury. I had Bart Yasso autograph a copy of his book at the expo, and he said all I needed to do was run a PR, which I thought was good advice for my first marathon. During the race, I made a point of holding myself back for the first half, and then I picked up my speed a little in the second half. The last few miles were hard, but I came in at 3:38, which will do nicely for a PR. It feels great to have tried and succeeded at running a marathon at this point in my life.