This past weekend, I traveled to Minneapolis to attend the RRCA (Road Runner’s Club of America) coaching certification clinic. Since I started coaching five years ago, I have always wanted to get certified to coach. I did get my coaching minor in college–along with my double major of physical education and health education, so those degrees have definitely helped me, but there were things that I wanted to know specifically about training those for running anything from the 5K up to the marathon, owning your own coaching business, and working with athletes of all ages and abilities.
All the logistics finally worked for me to attend a session this spring, and I’m so glad I finally got to do this. During this two-day course, we covered all sorts of topics from running at altitude to how to structure training plans with the appropriate micro-cycles in each one of them to how to adapt the body to new loads of stress when training. I learned several new things, but I also got confirmation that I’m doing a lot of things right and structuring my plans so that my athletes have a great deal of success while working with me.
Our instructor, Cari, was so great. She did an awesome jog presenting the information, making it clear to understand, filling in with stories of her own, and keeping us very engaged. It was clear she has a passion for what she does and has successfully coached many of her own athletes.
I would highly recommend this training for anyone who is interested in coaching in any aspect whether it is for a Couch to 5K program, a training group through a gym, coaching individually, or you simply want to know more about structuring your own training plans. There is a great deal of information at this Level 1 training, and you can always go on to learn more at the second level.
