I received an email with a link to the following article and I really encourage you to read it.  Its full of interesting facts about the marathon (and most I didn’t know about). Did you know the North Pole had a marathon?

anyway, take a few minutes and read this:

26.2 Fun Facts About Marathons!

The GOOD

-race started at 4:30pm.  It was nice to relax all day and get in plenty of food.

-running at night was FUN.  Of course, the Las Vegas people and lights were very entertaining.

-I met tons of great people..(but, that is usually the case for any race.  Most runners are nice:))

-Decided to enjoy the race and not set a PR goal…instead, just enjoy and have fun!  and that’s what I did.  Finished in 1:40:08

-the course was flat as a pancake (not true for the marathon course, however)

The BAD

-Tons and tons of people.  Took me an hour to walk through Mandalay Bay Hotel to get to the race start which was just ouside that hotel (you couldn’t walk outside as the strip was closed)

-the corrals were one big CLUSTER!

-not many bathrooms at all

-The race went well and an easy to follow course.  The finish is where everything got really bad.  The temperature dropped quickly and I saw many cold and sick marathon finishers.  The gear check pick up was back inside and that was ONE BIG CLUSTER MESS!  you couldn’t even move through the people.  In my opinion, they should have kept gear check outside.

-The strip stayed closed for a long time which made for awful traffic and 2-3hour taxi line wait.  I was lucky enough to have stayed in a hotel next door so was able to walk back, but still had to fight the crowds inside.  It was unbelievable how many people in the hotel.

-the race ran out of water and race medals.  Seriously? how does that happen? especially with a large and usually well organized rock ‘n roll series.

Bottom Line: Glad I did the race and was part of the inagural “run the strip at night” but I would not recommend this race.  If you do want to run it, try to stay at Mandalay Bay or a hotel next door and at least you know you can get back on foot.

Anyone else run this race and have any comments?  Please share.

This is an exact copy of an email I received from my client Chad in Ohio. 

“I hope that this message finds both of you doing well.  This is Chad Sabo writing in from Ohio.  I wanted to personally thank both you and Ben for the amazing Marathon Dominator program that you have created.  This program is rock-solid and guaranteed to transform your marathon performance!  As the name states, the Marathon Dominator program helped me to dominate a tough ING NYC Marathon route with a PR time of 3:19:40!  My goal for this marathon was to qualify for Boston, which I just missed out by 4 minutes and 20 seconds, but this PR finish was nonetheless a rewarding triumph.  Moreover, it was a huge improvement over my performance at last year’s Columbus Marathon where I ran a 3:56:26, which is a 36 minute and 20 second improvement.

Plain and simple, your powerful Marathon Dominator program taught me to be a better runner.  Everything that is included in the design of the program, from the focus on quality over quantity, strength training, nutrition strategies, and rest, was all perfectly timed out to ensure that I was ready to go on race day.  Even when I encountered a slight achilles injury several weeks prior to race day, your support proved to be invaluable.  I thought that I could just be tough and run through the pain that I was experiencing, but your helpful advice and guidance was exactly what I needed to hear so that I didn’t worsen the situation.

Again, thank you for designing such a fabulous program that has changed my running!  I look forward to being able to use the Marathon Dominator program in preparation for my spring marathon, so that I can shatter my Boston age group requirement time.”

The Marathon Dominator Marathon Training Plan  <—–click here to find out more details!

feel free to leave a comment and share your most recent race success!

here are the final stats of the 16 people who started and finished my fat loss program

Total Weight Lost: 88lbs
Total Inches Lost: 44″

This all happened in 3 weeks.  The two biggest losers lost over 10lbs and 4″ of their body.

If you are curious about my program and want to try it for yourself, I have it for sale online here:

Run with Jill Fat Loss Program $20

Nothing restrictive here.  I encourage 3 meals and 2 snacks a day.  If you learn and follow my 7 Rules for Fat Loss you will lose weight and inches.

Many of you ran the Chicago or Portland Marathon yesterday….leave a comment or send me an email and let me know how you did !  I love hearing from you.

Happy Monday!

Chicago looks to be warm and Portland looks to be rainy.

Keep a positive mind and see yourself having a great race.  You are well trained and prepared…GO out, have fun, and kick some butt!

If you’ve already run a marathon and you’re hoping to improve your time, mile repeats are one of the best speed workouts you can do to run a faster marathon

You’ll want to start doing mile repeats once a week, about 8-10 weeks before your race day.

You can do these workouts on a track or measure out a mile distance at a park or on the road.

The first track workout will consist of just 2 one mile repeats. You want to run each repeat 10-15 seconds faster than your goal marathon pace.

Recover with an easy jog for a half-mile in between repeats. Make sure your breathing and heart rate have recovered before you start your next repeat.

Each week add another mile repeat and work your way up to 5-6 repeats total. The goal is to try and maintain the same pace for each repeat. So, don’t go all out on the first one and leave nothing in the tank for the other repeats. Keep your marathon goal pace on each repeat.

If you have any questions about this workout, leave a comment here and I will get back to you.

I loved reading all the twitter and facebook posts.  It was motivating and made me a little envious I wasn’t there.  I did run Boston back in 2005 and absolutely loved the experience.  Also, crossed it off my list and always enjoy new races in new towns.

Anyhow, all the marathon talk today kinda had me thinking of deciding on my next marathon?  how about you?  are you inspired to run a marathon?

I do think its a great experience and recommend to anyone to give it a go.   Yes, it takes dedication and training, but the experience and finish stay with you forever and that makes it all worth it.

That being said, I want to remind you of the two marathon training programs I offer.  With both programs, you get email coaching from me which is the biggest bonus of either programs.  You get sick, travel, or injured and the training program needs to be adjusted and that’s why I’m here for ya.  I can get you through those tough weeks and help you get back on track or stay on track.

Program #1 : First Marathon Made Easy. 16 weeks to a marathon.

this is truly a great program for a first time or beginner marathon.  The program includes the training plan including coached training runs.  Just throw on the headphone and let us coach you through an interval training day.  My friend and coach, Yuri Elkaim, created this program with me 5 months ago and we have over 100 people following the plan.

in fact, here is a couple testimonies I’ve collected from my clients:

“Jill, I liked how the program consisted of 4 days of running.  This allowed me lots of recovery and avoid injury.  With the built in rest days, I was able to run quality miles on my running days.  This program also allowed me to balance work, family, and other obligations all while training for my first marathon.  I can’t believe it, but my dream of completing a marathon is only 6 weeks away.  TAHNK YOU!”

check out the program here:

The second program is the Break Your PR program.  This is also a 16 week program that includes just 4 days of running.  This program is only slightly different from the beginner in that there are more interval training days and an additional long run.  I’ve had beginners and advanced use this program and be very successful.  In fact, my client sent me an email just a few weeks ago after finishing the March 28th Oakland marathon:

“Jill–  wow!  I suprised myself.  This is my 3rd marathon and I had bought your program just to try a new training style (i like your “less is more” philosophy).  I didn’t have a goal to finish faster, I just wanted to feel good and avoid injury.  HOLY smoke… I was 14 minutes faster and I felt great.  I think a combo of your training style and fueling methods is what did it for me. Plus, you helped me get through those weeks I had a crazy travel schedule and missed many runs.  Anyway, just wanted to let you know my results and that I was so happy.  I”m already thinking of the next marathon.  I”m telling all my friends about your program. Thanks Coach.”

Check out Break Your PR here:

So, if you are considering and you want a coached program, one of these might be for you. If you have questions deciding which program fits you best, just send me an email and I’ll help ya out.  runwithjill@gmail.com

Lastly, I’m going to leave you with a Napolean Hill quote:

“Man, alone, has the power to transform his thoughts into physical reality; man, alone, can dream and make his dreams come true”

So many runners today lived their dream of running the Boston Marathon.  I encourage you to think about one of your biggest dreams and start taking steps to make the dream a reality.

To those of you running the race I want to tell you to go have FUN!  You are trained (hopefully), you are ready, you deserve this…..so go out and have FUN.

Most likely you trained hard and stressed yourself out just to get to this race.  NOW its your time to have fun and enjoy what you accomplished!

Go get ‘em!

If so, what is your opinion….good or bad?  I haven’t tried barefoot running myself and not sure I will, but I do want to know from those who have tried it or have converted to the Vibrams.

I recently attended a health expo and had a free evaluation from a chiropractor.  His first comment to me was that I take out the insoles from my shoes.  He then put in a small cushion in the heel of my shoe for a ”heel lift”.  He says shoes and all the padding is what is causing most structural imbalances and injuries in runners.

So,  I did my next few runs in my sole-less shoes and was a bit sore in the ankle and shin area.  Seems like the bottom half of my legs had to do a more work and handle the force of my steps a bit more without the support.

Either way, I haven’t been interested in trying the barefoot thing because I’ve run happily and injury free for many years and feel as though why make a change when all is good.  However, I have heard and keep hearing from many barefooters that they love it.

Please leave me your opinion or experience of barefoot running if you have tried it.

thanks!