Making new friends (RRCA coaching Part 3)

I know that you've been waiting with bated breath for the third installment of my RRCA Iowa trip. Sorry for the delay, the days always seem to speed along faster than I can catch up. In part two I talked about the subjects that we learned and how our days were structured. You can check it out here. For this post I'm going to talk about the wonderful people I met and the new friendships that I made. Aside from learning how to be a coach, this class was a great opportunity to mingle with other runners and bond over our running stories. So let's get to it!

I wanted to make sure that I participated in as many events outside of the classes as I could. The first night there was a welcome reception with appetizers and drinks. After I got my food I noticed that there was an african-american woman sitting at a table by herself. I was so excited to see another woman of color at the event that I made my way to the table.

Anytime I go anywhere I am always on the look out for other women who look like me. So often in my life I have embarked on hobbies and activities that had very few people of color. It's never made me stop doing the things that I love but it just makes me feel more at ease when there's someone else that I have a little something in common with. 

Shaquita, Me and Sarah

Shaquita (pictured above) and I started talking and hit it off. She's the president of her running club and was attending the convention to bring back some useful information for her club members. She wanted to attend the coaching class but was unable to because the class was sold out. She's been running a number of years and has a goal to get a race medal in every state. So far with what she's already done and what she plans on doing this year, she is well on her way.

Sarah (pictured above) came to our table and sat down to join in our conversation. I immediately noticed that Sarah was also in the coaching class with me, so we shared some of our thoughts about the first day of class. Sarah is a working mom with two kids (boy and girl) and started her own local running group. I always admire women with kids who work and run because it's not easy juggling all of that at once. So yeah, she's a BOSS!

After the welcome reception Shaquita, Sarah and I went to a Mexican restaurant and continued our conversation. Both ladies were so easy to talk to and it felt as though we were rekindling old friendships rather than making new ones. We talked about our introductions to running and our love for race bling. I learned about Sarah's motivation for becoming a running coach and marveled at Shaquita's list of 200 races that she's running in this year alone. Okay, it's not actually 200 but it is a lot. Our conversations were never strained and we never had to fish for a topic to discuss. Don't you just love that when you meet someone new?

Me, Celeste and Melanie

During my second day in class I met Celeste (pictured above), whom I found out (after eavesdropping on her conversation) is also a blogger. Go check out her blog at: Confessions of a former fat girl. She's been blogging since 2009 so I asked for any tips that she might have for me. Celeste and her husband lost a combined 100 lbs. with diet and exercise. She works at a gym and in addition to getting her coaching certification she is also working on getting her certification for personal training. We hit it off immediately and exchanged phone numbers, blog addresses, Twitter and Instagram names. You gotta love a fellow blogger!

That same day I met Melanie (pictured about) who was also taking the coaching class. Her face was very familiar to me and I approached her thinking that she is the writer of a blog that I read before. Turns out she isn't the person I thought but that introduction lead us to striking up a conversation. Melanie is hilarious and has boundless energy. She's an actress, singer, runner and running shoe enthusiast. She had me cracking up as she shared her inner dialogue about all the random activities that occurred during the weekend. 

I met other classmates and convention attendees but I kept chatting and hanging out with these ladies. It's been a little over one week and so far I have still managed to keep in contact with each person. Sarah ran in a green M&M costume because of a challenge that she gave her running group members. Shaquita has already run in three races and I'm sure the next one is right around the corner. Celeste has also run three races, completed her coaching test (okay!) and is studying for her personal training certification. Melanie has an acting job that she started immediately after the convention and will be doing that for a number of months before heading back home. 

By far meeting all of these women was the highlight of my trip! :)