Dear Wendy,

Some background:  I am a 62 year old active runner who has been occasionally participating in 1/2 ironman events in additional to several half marathons yearly since I turned 50. I have run since high school cross country but did not start swimming or biking until the age of 50.  Before Wendy, I had had no adult coaching.  In addition, I lacked any formal bike or swimming training and my swimming form was horrific. A couple of years ago I decided to try to improve my workout and conditioning programs, as well as gain some specific knowledge on biking and swimming from an expert. 

Coach Wendy is a real talent. I found Wendy on an internet search and she really helped. I was drawn to her initially because of her own impressive background in so many areas. I had never used a coach before so was unclear about how it would all work, but she made the process simple and non-intimidating which was important to me as an older athlete.

When we got started, she asked me many questions about goals. Preparing an inventory of answers and reflections on past successful and not-so-successful races was a useful starting point. She also asked many questions about nutrition, a topic that I had paid no attention to. She studied my exercise patterns on Strava in each sport,and was able to quickly establish a training program from that data in an efficient way. . living in Florida and often training in the middle of the day, I had particular issues with Heat and Hydration and she forced me to confront hydration and nutritional issues which were limiting my capabiltiies head on, often breaking me of old habits, or at least reminding me of the effects of these habits. 

In addition, she analyzed video of my running form and made some helpful suggestions. More important for me, she analyzed video of my swimming technique and provided a rudimentary foundation for me to unlearn bad form and gain much in efficiency. She worked with me through months of building mileage and run length, in a consistent and constructively critical yet encouraging manner. A few bad races led to much post race discussion on mistakes, and importantly, she stayed with me for several periods of injury and helped me back from the first mile when I was able to train again.  There were some PR’s set along the way also, and even 1st in my age group, which was a measurable improvement from my pre-Wendy results.

This culminated in two races I am particularly proud of, the Panama City Half Ironman during the second year of Covid, and a full marathon last December which I completed in 4:30, a good comeback from a tough NY Marathon a month earlier which yielded a disappointing result. 

Here is what I wrote to her at the end of last year:

“I feel my 2022 running was the best ever, thanks to your careful hand “-