Over a 9 month period, Joe supported me to achieve a number of ambitious sporting goals, through very bespoke training plans, which were adapted around a life of busy work deadlines and three young children! He's helped me develop a very positive outlook to sport, nutrition and general health to be honest. Would highly recommend Joe if you are looking to move to the next level.

In our early coaching conversations, Joe was very interested in my motivation for wanting a coach at this time. We discussed how I wanted to run a marathon to raise funds for CHI Crumlin as my young lad underwent heart surgery in CHI back in Oct '22. I had never done any proper training programme before, but I had some ambitious goals! Joe would have organised a number of coaching calls to talk through the approach for the year, and to start building the fitness in a very controlled and focused way. He would have provided very specific performance training for some Adventure Races earlier in the year, through to 5k, 10 miler, 1/2, 3/4 and of course the Dublin Marathon itself.

I had completed about 15 adventure races in the past, but with some very tailored training, I outperformed anything I had done previously, which was a great start. I felt my general fitness and hitting these goals along the way with Joe helped not only in a sporting context, but with my general health and work performance. I just feel sharper, energetic and confident in all aspect of sport, work and life. Joe set me straight in terms of general day to day nutrition, but his support in terms of nutrition in preparation for race day and during the races was a massive education.

Joe would have also mico-analysed data around sleep, fatigue and form and would have let me know when to back off a bit, or cancel sessions, or slow down (bone of contention with me and Joe during the 'easy' runs!!!). Joe would have proposed my marathon strategy, exact pace and finish time - and I achieved this to within 8 seconds of the projected time. We absolutely maximised my potential to achieve 3:27:22 for the marathon (My own goal was 3:30 and Joe set me a target of 3:27:30). It was incredible how targeted training and a data driven strategy yielded such precise results!

The accountability element to my relationship with Joe was the game changer. Joe would create a 2 to 3 week plan for me on TrainingPeaks, with very bespoke mobility, strength, running and cycling (crosstrain) activities. This would be monitored after the 3 weeks and the next period would be built based on the new insights. I really felt that when the plan was discussed, created and shared - it was then up to me to get it done. There were a number of times on a rainy evening I didn't feel like going for a run, but having that accountability and not wanting to let myself or my coach down was a massive factor to high completion rates, and ultimately great results! I knew if I missed an important long run, I could get a text the following day!! I felt there was an unwritten standard or professionalism that we both wanted to maintain, which is kind of cool.

Joe would have introduced me to lot of new Garmin Data, MyZone (heart rate data) and TrainingPeaks to build and support my training plan. Joe would have asked a lot about my work, days in office, when I could train, family holidays, weekends, etc and then built a programme around that to optimise my training in a very measured way. He would have (micro) analysed and factored in very specific mobility exercised to address some weaknesses from an old knee injury! He would have adapted training plans frequently as new data (e.g. Threshold Pace changes, B Race, C Race results) became available.

Joe would have been very good in adapting the training plan around my work and life. This included running to work & cycling home, organising training around my holidays (and during holidays!), maximising weekends but not sacrificing the important family time, etc. Training for a marathon is a significant investment in time and effort, but even my wife says that it didn't disrupt family life and the obligations that come with having 3 young children that much!!

A list of your events and PB's that you achieved while working with CoachPACT.

Quest Kenmare - PB 4:10:56 (7 out of 80 in O40)

Dublin Series 5K - PB 20:08

Frank Duffy 10 Miler - PB 1:13:43

Half Marathon (Charliville) - PB 1hr 34 mins (previous PB was 1:44)

Marathon - 3:27:22 for the marathon (Goal was sub 3:30)