MBS Fitness

Q: Why should I join a formal marathon training program?
A: There are several reasons individuals, like you, join a formal training program. First, training programs are designed to help you achieve your specific goal by drawing from the experience of a coach who has successful trained others with a similar goal. Therefore, you are more likely to reach your goal, optimize the time you spend training, and minimize your risk of injury. Secondly, a formal program provides the camaraderie of a community of people (whether it be online or in-person) that is going through the same experiences. Joining a group has been shown to provide motivation and keep the training interesting. We all know it's easier to go to the gym if you are working out with someone else. Finally, a training program provides a structured framework to help you know what to do at each stage of your training so you successfully complete your goal. It provides a big picture plan so you run your best on race day.

Q: Why should I join an MBS Fitness marathon training program? How is it different than any other marathon training programs?
A: When joining an MBS Fitness marathon training program, you can be assured you are getting the best program available. The programs are designed by Coach Marie Murphy, a former Olympic marathoner and now an experienced coach. Coach Murphy's record as a professional athlete is impeccable. Since having run for Ireland in the 1988 Olympics, she has recently come back to marathon racing winning the 2004 More Marathon and completing the 2004 Dublin City Marathon in 3:03. She has also been successful in shorter distances holding the US Master's 800m title and Master's 2 mile relay. As a coach, she has trained more than 1000 athletes and is the founder and director of the Susan Love M.D. Marathon Training Program, which raises funds for breast cancer research. Therefore, you can have confidence the programs work and will help you run your best marathon. Please click here for testimonials about Coach Murphy and the MBS Fitness programs.

With the MBS Fitness marathon training program you receive a program that is tailored around your individual goal, fitness level and schedule. Each regimen ensures you train to your full capacity and get the most from your workouts, by providing you a specific pace, time and distance for each workout. This program is NOT a generic training program you find free on many websites. Each workout is designed to complement the other workouts throughout the whole training program.

The MBS Fitness marathon training program also monitors your compliance to the recommended regimen and throughout the program adjusts your regimen for optimum results. It also provides a tracking tool and gives you detailed analysis of your workouts. Click here to take a tour of what we offer and see the difference yourself.

Q: How long is MBS Fitness' marathon training program?
A: The MBS Fitness marathon training programs range from 21 to 26 weeks. The length depends on when you sign-up and the date of the race you are planning to run. The regimen is broken into multiple phases including a pre-conditioning, conditioning, strength, endurance, tapering and recovery phase during this time period. You will not be able to join if you are trying to signup with less than 21 weeks before your targeted race.

Q: If my race is within 21 weeks from today can I still join?
A: No. You will have to choose a race that is more than 21 weeks from when you able to complete a fitness evaluation. Twenty-one weeks is the minimum amount of time required to train you to run your best marathon.

Q: How much time and how many days must I commit to each week to successfully complete the marathon training program? Is there a minimum amount of time I must commit to?
A: Your regimen will recommend that you workout the same number of days per week throughout the program. During the registration process, you will need to select the number of days you can consistently train throughout the twenty plus weeks for the program. You will need to be able to commit to train at least four (4) days a week.

The number of hours required will increase as you progress through the program. Six to nine weeks before your selected race, your regimen will recommend you spend the greatest amount of time training. You will need to commit at least six (6) hours of training during this period. Your results will be directly dependent on the amount of training you do. However, the marathon training program is flexible and will optimize your performance given the amount of time you have available to train.

Q: Can anyone join the marathon training program?
A: MBS Fitness is committed to providing the highest quality fitness training programs. We care about the athlete that joins our programs, which were designed with the athlete's best interest in mind.

You must be at least 18 years old to join.

Also, we believe that an athlete must be at a certain level of fitness in order to successfully and safely run a marathon. Therefore, we require any athlete joining our marathon training program to complete a fitness evaluation, which involves running 1.5 miles at his/her best effort. If you complete the fitness evaluation and do not qualify, the fee you paid for the program will be fully refunded.

Technical Questions about Online Coaching

Q: How do I sign up?
A: Sign-up is easy. Click here to join. If you have additional questions about joining, please either email your question to info@mbsfitness.com or call 818.413.0780.

Q: Are my Internet transactions secure?
A: All registration and credit card transactions are encrypted and transmitted through a secured site to our payment gateway and merchant bank partners. Our encryption certificate is issued by GeoTrust. MBS Fitness transmits your credit card information to our payment gateway partner and merchant bank and does not store that information on any of our servers.

The default login to your fitness program used when you access your training regimen is NOT secure. However, you can login into your account using a secure connection by logging on using https://secure.mbsrunner.com/mtp/login.aspx.

Q: Does Online Coaching work with MAC and PCs?
A: Online Coaching marathon training program is not dependent on a particular computer and will work on both MAC and PC compatible computers. For best results, use Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6.0. Other browsers may support features similar to IE 6.0 and may therefore look differently than designed.