Posted on April 24, 2015 by Jenny Cromack

Many of our personal training success stories often focus on the amazing about of weight, body fat and inches our clients have lost, after all, this is what many of our clients come to us to achieve. Whilst it is great to recognise these achievements, exercise shouldn’t just be about weight loss it should be about achieving fitness goals or simply just feeling better and good about yourself!

So, this week I’m going to tell you about a fitness related personal training success story.

Last weekend, one of my client’s,  Joe O’Shea, absolutely smashed his first marathon (Manchester Marathon) in a time of 3:07:29. To say I am proud of him is an understatement.

I have trained Joe for a few of years now, when we first met his goals were to improve his physique but also improve his running times and ultimately complete a marathon. As Joe was already into running we focused on improving his run times first, Joe is a very natural, talented runner and his 10k times massively improved. However, over time Joe wanted to focus more on his physique so we changed his training. Endurance sessions required for improving his running times don’t really complement the athletic look Joe was after, so we compromised and still kept a couple of runs in his training plan (for his own sanity!) but also started strength training 3 times per week. This brought about the results we were looking for with his body fat dropping to 8.6% (wow!), and an improvement in his muscle size and definition.

However, after not being able to run a marathon last year due an injury, Joe started to contemplate running a marathon again and wanted to do it under 3:15 (well, that is what we agreed but we both know Joe was really looking for 3:10!) so we decided he should run Manchester Marathon. Having run this before myself, I knew it would be perfect for a good time – it’s flat and no where as near as crowded as a marathon like London or Edinburgh. Plus as it’s just down the motorway  Joe could have his family supporting him there which is a huge boost when you’re running for 26.1 miles!

So, Joe put his heart and soul into his training….as normal. Honestly, I have never met someone who is more determined about getting his sessions in. Even if Joe gets home from work at 9pm he will still hit the gym or get out for a run. I live near Joe and many a time I’ve seen him out running at 930pm! I take my hat off to him.

I think the hardest thing Joe struggled to cope with during his training was trusting his training plan. Running at a slower pace does not come natural to Joe and I know he found it hard to trust that running at a slower pace during his training  would still allow hi to run at the pace he needed to smash a 3:15 marathon! And so, race day came, and that trust in his plan and his dedication to his training paid off with an amazing time of 3:07:29. For a first marathon this is simply amazing! Well done Joe……when’s the next one?!