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I have been training with Paula for almost 11 years now. She has become one of my closest friends and pushes me every single day. If you know Paula, you know she is not a runner and not a marathon advocate. So when I decided to run the NYC marathon for my 40th birthday, I was terrified to tell her. However, when she found out (through the grapevine because I procrastinated to tell her) she was incredibly supportive and immediately had training ideas for me…crossfit based, of course! Paula researched the Crossfit Endurance program for marathon training, nutrition tips, etc. My goal was to finish, but Paula was more ambitious and pushed me beyond my limits every day (as she has for 11 yrs). Paula encouraged me to always sprint as hard and fast as I possibly could and always held me accountable…even on my weekend runs when she wasn’t standing there with her stopwatch. It was incredible how quickly my mileage increased by running hard and fast sprints, which make you stronger instead of long, slow runs that break you down.
I felt prepared as I flew to NYC to complete the race. Unfortunately, the race was canceled because of hurricane Sandy. I understood why the race was canceled but was disappointed I could not test out Paula’s methodology. The morning the race was supposed to occur, I went to Central Park to run a half marathon. Despite my cocktails the night prior and lack of prerace prep I would normally do, I shaved off my half marathon time by 20 minutes! I ran 13.1 miles in 1 hour 55 minutes. I was thrilled and felt confident I could have run the full marathon under 4 hours, Paula’s goal for me. I would trust Paula to design any training program, regardless of what it is for. She has never let me down, even at times when I questioned her. I would never be the athlete I am today without her by my side.