I want to thank Coach MJ for her help recently and hopefully provide a little encouragement to others looking into or using Athletica. Throughout my life, I have always loved riding my bike and pushing myself as hard as time would allow. Now, as a 60-year-old, with a less-than-perfect lower back, I continue to push myself but being mindful of pushing too hard and putting my training on hold for extended periods.
I recently began a duathlon training plan as I have always wanted to do some running and biking. I was having issues with what I thought was a discrepancy between my run heart rate zones and my run pace zones so I reached out to the folks at Athletica to have a look and advise if they were seeing any issues in the relationship between the two. The two seemed at odds with each other and I could only do what was being prescribed for my heart rate zones and was not at all able to follow the paces prescribed. They appeared to be way out of the realm of what I was capable of and even if possible would be pushing too hard for my back to stay healthy as I have seen before. As a result of not being able to complete the prescribed workouts using the prescribed pace, I was also beginning to get a bit down on myself and my ability to reach a goal I set for myself which is to do my first duathlon this next June.
Coach MJ took a look, determined the issue, and how to correct it in my Athletica profile and I cannot tell you the difference it has made both physically and psychologically! I’m able to follow the prescribed workouts using the pace called for and in turn, complete the day’s run as prescribed, exactly. Resulting in what I hope is the ability to continue to follow the individual prescribed workouts, thus the prescribed plan, and ultimately, success.
This ability to follow the plan as prescribed has also had a big effect on my psyche as well. I was beginning to think that I was just not cut out to do a duathlon since I could not even do the basic runs prescribed by my training plan. However, with Coach MJ’s help getting my profile corrected, I know I can complete my training and finish the duathlon in June!!
I also want to thank everyone at Athletica for creating a program that, for me at least, feels very in tune with what is needed to progress my training! Yes, the workouts are challenging and they should be! But, as I said, with Coach MJ’s help getting my profile corrected, they are just challenging enough to push you but not over the edge! Also, everyone at Athletica has been so helpful and working diligently to put together an AI-based training application that works and works well, and yet, they still are available to personally help out if called for. I have personally seen it in my particular case and numerous times in the forums since I have been using Athletica and I for one am very grateful for them all!
To those using Athletica, I say follow the plan, work hard, learn all you can from the Athletica resources, listen to your body, and reach out when needed. For those looking for a program, I highly recommend Athletica and all it has to offer including knowledge sources, versatility, ease of use, and accuracy.
So, in closing, this old weekend warrior would like to thank Coach MJ for her recent help to get me back on track, and to everyone at Athletica thank you for putting together a great program that is versatile, easy to use, and for me, accurate to use. I cannot wait to see where you all take Athletica from here.