Candice Cuthbert has been running recreationally for a couple of years. You know how it is, not much focus in the week but waking up for a few 5km or 10km races on a random Saturday morning...

...She had also ventured into a couple of sprint triathlons during this time. 

The bug was clearly biting and Candice was getting a bit more serious and dreaming of some bigger goals after finishing her first half marathon at Two Oceans 2017. 

The Running Bug Was Starting To Bite...

Being a good friend of both Devlin and Shona (who work here at Coach Parry), the next obvious choice was for her to join the Coach Parry Online Training Club. 

In somewhat of a not-so-subtle way, Devlin and Shona gifted Candice with an annual subscription to the Coach Parry Online Training Club for her birthday in August 2018. (Which by the way is a great gift; if you're lost for ideas for Christmas presents get in touch with us!)

Candice and a couple of friends aimed to do their first marathon in November 2018. 

Using the Coach Parry plan, they trained hard and they made a weekend of it heading down to the Cape to do the Winelands Marathon in November 2018. 

Much to Candice’s surprise, she managed to run a much better time than she had set for herself and had run a qualifying time for the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon. After some deliberation (although I doubt it was that much up for contention) Candice decided to go for it! Two Oceans Ultra 2019* it was! 

“Training for Two Oceans was tough but I loved it, and I ran my first ultra 5 and a half months later!

The race was tough but thanks to a good friend dragging me to the finish line, I made it!”  

Not so shabby for someone who had only really started taking running seriously a couple of months beforehand (and with a Two Ocean route change up Ou Kaapse Weg rather than Chapmans Peak!)

Fast forward a few months and naturally, Candice’s next goal was to do the “real” Two Oceans route in April 2020...

Still on the Coach Parry plan, she managed to do her qualifying marathon at Vaal Marathon and then COVID struck. 

No more races meant no more Two Oceans.

Covid Times Called For A Change In Training

As for many other runners in South Africa in this time, training was difficult due to the COVID hard lockdown and restrictions placed on the country. 

Candice took the opportunity to join the Coach Parry live strength classes all through lockdown and was extremely consistent with these. 

Along with that, as Coach Parry had advised many other athletes during COVID lockdown, she set her goals to improve her 5km and 10km times. 

Consistency and lots of live strength classes later; in September 2020 Candice was able to PB her 5km from 28:33...

...To 25:40. 

The training continued thereafter with the goal of a 10km PB in sight. October 2020 Cape Town Virtual Marathon brought the occasion and Candice rose to it in all the ways... 

...She ran 54:46, taking almost 3 minutes off her previous 10km PB!

Just imagine what she would’ve been able to run in an actual race situation!

The Secret To Candice's Running Success

I love this story because it speaks to consistency. 

We’re not just talking about getting up day after day, but when you build training blocks on training blocks; consistency compounds. 

You’re able to achieve so many things once thought impossible (I promise you if you ask Candice if she thought she would finish Two Oceans when she had 12kms to go and she’ll tell you no ways, but she did!). 

After building green blocks and blocks of consistent training she has managed to achieve even more than that with consistent improvements in a time when the world has gone somewhat mad! What a difference a year (and a bit) of consistency can make! 

“I would say the hardest part would have been to get back on the road after lockdown; however, with Coach Parry home training I was able to keep my fitness up and focus on strength.”

Candice’s future goals are to improve and hopefully PB her 21km time and  then to tackle her 2nd Two Ocean Marathon (with the original route of course!) 

Here’s to you Candice! And for being an amazing example to us all of how consistency wins! Coach Parry is excited to be a part of your journey!

*for your info, Two Oceans Ultra is 56km race held in Cape Town South Africa