RRCA coaching certification class Part 2

And I'm back with the second post from my RRCA certification trip in Des Moines, Iowa. We left off with me finishing my first day in Iowa just bike riding around and touring the city. If you didn't read that post please check it out here. This post will talk more about the class and the things that I learned. The third post in this series (you see how I made it a series) will be about the wonderful people I met and the new friendships that I made. So let's get started!

The first day of class was the longest and covered the majority of the course material. We started at 8am and met our three teachers who all coach (or previously coached) high school, college and recreational runners. After each teacher gave a brief overview of their background and experience we dove right into our books. 

You can't tell from the picture but the book is mighty thick

First we discussed the different types of runners and how to anticipate their needs. I was quite excited to discover that I am considered an experienced runner. I'm sure this wouldn't surprise many of you reading this but I still viewed myself as somewhat of a novice (yeah I know, not even close). After we discussed types of runners we delved deep into training plans and the different types of workouts for new, experienced and elite runners. This was the real meat and potatoes of the course and the area that I was looking forward to the most. Intervals seemed to be a very hot topic and though I personally don't like them, I now see that they are an integral part of a training plan if someone wants to get faster. 

We talked a bit about the science or physiology of running. This topic wasn't as long as I thought it would be but still provided some good general knowledge. Then came the topic of nutrition and the way runners need to properly fuel their bodies.The only thing that I didn't like about this part was that some of the teachers kind of minimized certain diets. The three main ones that were discussed were the Paleo, Gluten-free and Vegan diets. Not every diet is for everyone but if someone finds something that works for them (and their doctor is okay with it) then why not go that route? One of the teachers made fun of the Gluten-free diet, not realizing that one of the students in the class has a serious wheat allergy. Not cool.

After that we had a lunch break and started introducing ourselves to our fellow classmates. Since I was in the front row (yes I'm THAT person) I went early. If people didn't remember my name they remembered my introduction when I said that my two daughters have a thirteen year age gap. I got a lot of WOAH sounds from that. :) Once we finished up the nutrition section we ended the first day. After class there was a dinner social for all the people in the convention to mingle and meet one another. You could see the entire city from the windows of the banquet hall. 

The next two days of lecture were a bit of a struggle. Topics ranged from managing injuries to creating a business to dealing with moments of frustration in training. Not that the topics weren't interesting but the way the class was set up kind of made the day drag on. The first day we stayed in class for eight hours with breaks. For the following two days class was broken up into two segments with a longer break for lunch. The longer lunch breaks were so that we could hear all the guest speakers.

Though I did enjoy some of the talks, I would've preferred compiling the sessions all together and getting it done earlier in the day. 

Friday and Saturday morning I joined the morning run group at 6:30am. We ran about 3.5 miles around downtown and came back for a light breakfast and a sweet medal. 

This was Friday when the run was nice and the breeze felt good.

This was Saturday when it was 30 degrees with wind and pouring rain. I took this picture after breakfast on the way back to my hotel. I was drenched to the bone and shivering. Not even the hot cup of coffee that I quickly chugged was able to warm me up. Needless to say I did not take a picture of my medal that morning. 

For the very last part of class we were broken up into groups and had to come up with training plans for three different case studies. My group took quite a while to come up with a plan but not because we didn't get along. I think we were just trying to figure out the best approach for our case study. We all worked really well together and each person had great ideas that we tried to incorporate into a plan. 

By the end of the class my mind was swirling from all the information that I attained in the three days. On the plane ride home I went back over the book and took more notes on things that I thought were important for the test. All in all I thought the class was alright and fairly broad. I knew that we wouldn't be going into too much detail about any one topic but there were things I would've liked to discuss a bit more.

Now comes to studying and taking the test. I've already started working on the test and let me tell you something! This test is no joke! You have to have an 85% to pass, there are 100 questions and it is open book. One of my classmates (and new friend) had already completed the test before I even started and was nice enough to give me fair warning of the craziness that I would encounter. Thankfully she passed! Now I just have to finish the test. Once the test is completed we immediately receive our score so as soon as I click that submit button, I'll know if I'm officially a coach or not. Fingers crossed I should be able to complete the entire test by the end of this weekend.

Wish me luck!


Stay tuned for part three...