I started working with John in the spring of 2011, in preparation for my first marathon. I was turning 40
later that year and wanted to complete a first marathon for my 40th birthday. After recovering from a
ruptured Achilles tendon the year before, this seemed like a good goal to help me maintain my new
found fitness level that I achieved while recovering from my injury. We set a goal of 3 hours and 45
minutes for this first race and after following John’s plan, I was able to complete in 3:42.

Not long after this first race, I decided to do a 2nd marathon, I wanted to get much faster this time
around so we did marathon number 2, with goal to get under 3:25. Again, following the plan, I was able
to do significantly better than this, coming in at about 3.21. This really got me thinking that I had a
chance to qualify for Boston. The qualifying time for my age at that time was 3:15, this was going to be
tough, but John and I discussed and he thought it was possible. He built me another plan that I was able
to follow religiously and I was able to complete my third marathon in 3:13, good enough to qualify for
Boston.

I ran Boston that next year, what an amazing experience. Honestly, I am still shocked that I was able to
qualify at the time I needed, goes to show what an outstanding training plan can accomplish.