Glenn came to me 4 weeks before he was supposed to do his first marathon, the iconic Chicago marathon. He was unable to run because of knee pain and his longest training run to date had been 16 miles. I assured Glenn, with his background of being a sprint triathlete, that he could finish this longer race, despite never running more than 16 miles. Glenn did the exercises he was given weekly as part of the training plan I provided, and in addition, cross trained with swimming, aquajogging, spin biking and elliptical, and received massage and chiropractic adjustments as well. By the week before the race, he was able to do 4 miles with a run/walk ratio of 1 min running to 5 min walking pain free. With his newfound confidence, lots of encouragement, and a positive attitude, he was ready to tackle the marathon.
Glenn was not only running for his own personal goals, he also was running for a charity, Team World Vision. Team World Vision runs for clean water and fullness of life in Africa.
Glenn completed the Chicago marathon on October 11 in 6 hrs 11 min. Glenn stuck to his plan of 1 min run to 5 min walk throughout the race, and when he found himself and 3 of his teammates dragging at mile 18, he convinced them to do the same ratio – and they all completed the race together! And Glenn raised an astonishing $3,100 for Team World Vision!
Glenn texted me after the race “I can’t thank you enough….no way I could have done this without your help! I truly appreciate the personal interest you took in my goal of running my first marathon! THANK YOU!!”
So proud of Glenn and his accomplishment – goes to show what a person can accomplish with perseverance, dedication, and a positive attitude.
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