![\"Finishing](\"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2e49f525bf02ce9657df92/1582040984649-WTKKCX24YY81A02X08EK/36+-+Yolmer+Garcia+%283+43%29.jpeg\")
Finishing strong at the Miami Marathon 2020 with a massive PR of 10:30.
As he finished the 2020 Miami Marathon with a 10+ minute PR, I have been working with Yolmer G. (43) as a trainee for a little bit over a year. When I met him running in the Pompano Beach Airport park, he was a guy who loved to run and did whatever he felt his body allowed him to. He had enough ability to run a few half marathons around 1:42 with not much problem. Not only he wanted to run a full marathon, he had already registered for Miami 2019 and was going to do it, rain-or-shine.
Given the short time before the race, I started working with him on building distance. No time for speed, he had to go with whatever he already had built. In just 10 weeks we were able to build enough for him to complete the race in 4:16:31. Not bad at all, especially with just 10 weeks of focused training, but not even close to his potential. Yolmer is still a very young runner when it comes to running age. Plenty of space for improvement.
He was lucky enough to get into the New York City Marathon for November 2019. We set up a 20-week training program with all the elements for him to get where he needed to be. His biggest challenge was not running too fast. He did the speed work, bridge work, long distance and recovery. A PR was a given, it was a matter of by how much. Unfortunately, Yolmer has severe leg cramping as he god back from the Bronx to Manhattan and his finishing time suffered considerable. Still, he finishes in 3:54:36, a 22-minute PR. An amazing performance regardless, and gutsy given the circumstances.
Then came redeeming time in Miami 2020. A plan was set to destroy the NY PR and maybe get close to a BQ. At the start of the program, he received the amazing news that he was accepted to the Berlin 2020 Marathon, so we adjusted the plan to take it easier in Miami, have a more enjoyable run in which he could build the confidence that he is able to finish strong and without cramping, so he can have self-assurance going into Berlin. Despite a bumpy last month of training, when life and work got in the way of training, Yolmer was able to set a 10:30 PR in Miami, finishing in 3:43:36 without cramping.
From Miami 2019 to Miami 2020, Yolmer improved his PR by 32:55 and he hasn’t run his fastest marathon quite yet. I have no doubt that a BQ of 3:15 is just around the corner. Maybe even closer that he or I think. Berlin 2020? I know he’ll try.
UPDATE: Yolmer ran the 305 Half Marathon in Miami Beach on March 1st, and set up another PR by finishing in 1:35:50 despite taking it easy the three weeks in between and not doing any specific training towards this race. The sky is the limit with a runner like this one.
Love this!!!! Congratulations 🎊 👏🏿 ❤️