“The specificity you need is the consistency of not stopping.” - Coach MK If you want different results, you have to do things differently. We DEFINITELY do things differently around here, and today we show you how different can be better than 'good'. In this episode, seven Fitness Protection runners will tell you all about our unique approach to race preparation as well as the perspective shift that set them up for ultimate success on race day. Coach MK founded Fitness Protection with the mission of making running a truly positive experience by eliminating the shame and pressure that leads to burnout. After 2 months in Maintain, our runners only need 10 weeks to ramp up for a marathon and can race a half-marathon at the drop of a hat. The results exceeded her wildest expectations, and we are beyond excited to share them with you today. You will also hear about our 3 suites of marathon plans and why they are free to subscribers (spoiler alert: the plan isn't the secret sauce. Consistency is).   Show Notes First, The coaches hear from Trisha, who ran the Philadelphia Half Marathon, and from Lana, who ran the Route 66 half, and about how they both surprised themselves on race day with performances that exceeded their expectations despite having basically shown up to YOLO the race. They knew they’d been running consistently, the pressure was off, and they just got to go out there and see what they had in them.    Next, we heard from Emily, who ran her first marathon in Philadelphia a few weeks ago having maintained through summer and started on the Tenacious AF marathon ramp during the month of September. Coach MK talks about why Tenacious is her favorite plan and why the runners training on the Tenacious AF plan deserve to be front and center and always will be. Kristy is another Tenacious AF marathoner who trained for the Amsterdam marathon while also managing an exceedingly busy life of international travel and the schedules of two active teenagers. She still got most of her runs done without burning herself out, showed up on race day, and ran the entire race without stopping and bettered her previous time by several minutes.   Karen ran the Loch Ness marathon in Scotland and Adrienne ran the Mount Desert Island marathon in Maine, just a few weeks apart, both having followed the Dedicated AF training plan. Both races presented a significant challenge in the form of neverending HILLS, and both Karen and Adrienne toughed it out through some difficult patches on race day and finished strong, smiling, and ready for whatever is next. We adore their perspective and the pride with which they describe their accomplishments.    Our final voice memo is from Kara, who jumped into Maintain as soon as we launched the beta test in April and began racking up month after month of consistent running so that she would be ready to run the Pike’s Peak Ascent in August. Even though, as she notes, she lives and trains at sea level in St Louis, MO, she got exactly what she needed to get to the top before the time cutoff and feel fantastic while doing it. Kara is proof positive that the key ingredient to every training journey is the consistency you’ve already accumulated before you start.   Click here to subscribe to our podcast, Running Life, and get more racing and training tips from the coaches!