The first thing that stands out about Laura is that she asks questions and listens. She quickly identified that it wasn't my lack of effort that was holding me back, it was that I was standing in my own way. Laura knew that my legs could tackle an aggressive workout, but that my brain wouldn't let me, so she gave me plenty of "wins" when I first started training with her. This was huge in helping me build my confidence for the next step - chipping away at my goal. I have goals in mind, but we both knew that I needed to work on my mental game before really digging in. Laura is a magician and figured out exactly where the line was to help me make both mental and physical gains. She was kind and gentle in her approach, but also made me work really hard. The hard work is paying off. Laura has a very holistic approach with her athletes. She takes care to ensure that we are not over-training. She pushes us to get enough sleep, recovery and fuel. She knows that running without cross-training or strength isn't doing anyone any favors and can prescribe strength workouts to complement the training cycle. She builds the strength out during the base phase of running, but once a goal race is getting close, the exercises are geared more for injury prevention. Going into my goal race I am feeling strong and not over-cooked! Laura creates a friendly, inclusive environment. She is plugged in to her athletes who thrive on solo runs and who longs for a running buddy. She helps to introduce athletes and creates group running opportunities. The community that she has created is supportive and a joy to be a part of. It feels good to be in a supportive community. Laura works really hard behind the scenes to find fitness platforms that make executing the plan seamless. There are no vague or cumbersome excel spreadsheets! Workouts are programmed directly into our Garmins / Coros and all that we have to do is hit "go" and run what the watch tells us to. We don't have to count repeats or do mental math while holding paces. Her strength workouts are also in a very user-friendly App and have videos to accompany the strength exercises. She makes it so easy for her athletes to do what is asked of us. Laura has heart. She wants her athletes to reach their full potential and you can tell in the care that she takes with emails and check-ins. I feel so supported and seen. There might not be a comment on every single run, but I will often find an encouraging comment on the hard workouts or difficult long runs. Laura is also able to explain the hows and whys behind our plan. I appreciate that she takes the time to explain the process. It feels very collaborative. Before I signed up with Laura I was feeling lost and was losing my love for running. The turn-around was swift. The love is back and I am right where I want to be. I am excited to put in the work and see how far I can go. I'm so grateful that she is my coach.

"I have been writing my own training plans for years. I did my research, found some generic plans, tweaked them for me and went with it. I had success in finishing races as well as some strong PRs. I hadn’t run a marathon in 7 years and wanted to get that sub-4. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to come up with a schedule, so I reached out to Laura, who I had followed on Instagram for a few years. She chatted and felt like we clicked. Laura is great to work with; we came up with a great plan for a hilly course and I nailed it. After that race, I realized why people liked the marathon so we are going for another BIG goal this spring. She tweaks my plan when I have a long day at work or the weather isn’t cooperating. She is supportive and always responds quickly. I really enjoy the monthly check-ins to see how training is going. I am so glad I took this leap to work with her. Takes planning stress away from me, I just gotta show up!"

"Running a Marathon was something I’ve always wanted to accomplish and I knew that I needed help to get to the finish line! After seeing Laura’s running journey online, I knew she would be the best coach to get me there. She was really open to my non-existent (ha!) running background, my hectic schedule as a retail Store Manager and my commitments as a Mother. She was really helpful in making me understand running fundamentals and the importance of CONSISTENCY! I always knew that she would hold me accountable, which is exactly what I needed! What I love about Coach L is how understanding she was when the challenges of life would arise and cause disruptions in my training. She was always honest with me and kept firm on what I needed to do to accomplish my goals. The overall training was tailored to my needs as an “athlete”, it was simple to follow and challenged me just enough to keep me motivated but still improve as I went along. It’s an added bonus that she’s super inspirational with all the goals she sets and accomplish for herself! And yes, I did end up getting my finisher medal for the 2021’s Chicago Marathon!"

"Partnering with coach Laura from Filla Endurance has been my first time with a running coach and it has surpassed my expectations. I looked into a coach to help me gain speed and train smarter. My goal was to PR a half then roll into marathon training. Her plan has pushed me but not too much. I have done work outs I have never done before. She helped me improve my form to help avoid injury. I am grateful for the open communication about progress or struggles. Coach Laura has so much knowledge I feel like I barely scratched the surface. I also love that she has quarterly zoom events for clients to gain more knowledge pertaining to running."

"I reached out to Laura Filla after finding out I was accepted in the lottery for the Chicago 2022 Marathon. She listened to my history and my goals, and put together a training plan that not only pushed me, but also kept me feeling strong and healthy throughout. I had followed Laura's IG for a while and was inspired by her journey as a fellow running mother. I finished the Chicago marathon feeling better than I expected and had such a great time running through the city - all thanks to Laura!"

Laura's the best! She really understands my strengths and weaknesses as a runner, and made a fantastic (but darn hard!!) plan to elevate my performance. I used to have no differentiation between hard days and easy days, thinking that more is more all the time. It turned out that running at medium to hard intensity every single run isn't going to make you faster! I loved how Laura stresses on the importance of easy runs and they actually allowed me to be at my peak performance on hard days. She also shows you dynamic warm up moves that help you run injury free, and speed drills that activates your muscles before hammering the track workouts. She is also an awesome communicator when you need adjustments. During my training cycle I had a hectic schedule, including a full week at Disney World and a subsequent nasty cold that hit my during taper week - she handled it all. She helped me reduce volume and adjust mileage so my body was not overloaded. I was able to still get the training I needed and felt completely in control when race day came. Overall, 10/10 would recommend Laura to everyone! I already advertised Filla Endurance to my circle of running buddies 🙂