TOP RUN Performance, LLC

I usually RUN birthday miles on my birthday, but coming back from a trip a little under-the-weather, sleeping poorly last night, and a another trip around the corner next week, I decided simply to listen to my body and can the run today. (Maybe I’ll just walk them later.)

We often hear “AGE IS JUST A NUMBER”, and I believe that 💯 wholeheartedly, and we should definitely NOT let “aging” stop us from aiming for those PR’s! There are MANY runners out there in their 50’s running PR’s. I’ve coached runners well into in their 40’s and 50’s to many PR’s. Sometimes, some of those PR’s also depend on when you started running, and what general fitness you were in when you first started your journey (that’s a topic for a future post), but many definitely come from smarter training, consistency, and hard work! There are many master, grandmaster, and seniormaster athletes running faster with age!! Heck, I ran my fastest 5K, by 32 seconds, at age 52, my fastest half marathon just shy of turning 53, and my second fastest HM at 53 1/2! I also ran my fastest 10K by 8 secs at age 53 1/2.

As the body ages though, there are changes that come along for ALL runners, but especially (born) female athletes, and with that, we MUST listen to our bodies. It’s the only one we got! Priorities often change, like running less miles, taking more recovery days, or simply wanting to run for the LOVE of it and longevity. That’s okay too! In this IG world where everyone is posting their fast times, you’d think it’s all about getting faster and it’s easy to get caught up in the comparison game. I urge you, please do NOT fall into that game! YOUR goals, be it running for longevity, for the love of it, as part of general fitness goals, for PR’s, in every state, for the six stars, to keep a streak going, or any other goal you might have, is just that…YOUR goal!! Like says, “No one cares”! Okay, maybe some do care, but most are just “stalkers” 😂
In the end, they’re YOUR goals and that’s all that should matter to you!

Older, wiser, and with sooooo much peace in my life…

This is 5️⃣6️⃣!!!

All 📷 taken within past month. 😉

As I searched for a spot yesterday to take a post-run picture, it was mostly shady all around. Then I found this one spot of sunshine ☀️ on the wall, and it was so perfect and metaphoric for the way I try to live my life.

We are surrounded by “shadows” and “darkness” daily. Some of it, actually MOST of it, comes from MSM. (I stopped watching the news over 2 years ago and can’t tell you how much more uplifting life is without it! Highly recommended!!!) Some of the “darkness” comes from our own thoughts. Some comes from coworkers, or our own sociaI circles, and most definitely a lot of it comes from the “comparing game” people fall into comparing their lives and/or running to those of others on social media. None of that does us any good! Focus on the good, eliminate the “bad”, and FIND and FOCUS on the LIGHT!! ✨
“In a race that you can't win, slow it down.
Yeah, you only get one go around
'Cause the finish line is six feet in the ground,
In a race you can't win, just slow it down.

In a world full of hate, be a light.
When you do somebody wrong, make it right.
Don't hide in the dark, you were born to shine…
In a world full of hate, be a light! ✨

Yeah, it's hard to live in color
When you just see black and white
In a world full of hate, be a light.✨
- Thomas Rhett (Be a Light)

Happy Sunday, everyone! 😊

to 2015 and the first athlete I ever trained.

LOVE this story! I even got him to run WITHOUT long-sleeves!! 😍😉😂

After training on his own for the 2014 Chicago Marathon (and completed it with a finish time of 4:39:07) this athlete reached out to me to train him for the 2015 Miami Half Marathon with a goal of sub-2:00. After the proper post-marathon recovery period, with an individualized training plan and 8 weeks of training, he crushed his sub-2:00 goal with a of over 10 minutes and a finish time of 1:53:16, and later ran 2 more half marathons in 2015 in the 1:53-1:54 range.

When he got accepted into the again for 2015, I told him, based on his numbers (mostly his paces and heart rate data), that I knew and was 100% sure he could break the 4-hour mark for the marathon, something he just could not believe was even possible. As every runner should trust their coach, he committed to his training. He showed the qualities of a runner with a goal: , , , , and .

Here he is, at the 2015 Chicago Marathon, where he had a 45-minute PR and a finish time of 3:54:34. 💥