My Journey Continues

Sunday, January 08, 2017 · Mike Davis

Good morning,

I am on chatting this morning from the Hampton Inn in somewhere Virginia. After the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) Certification II course yesterday, I decided to hit the road and head back to North Carolina. After an hour or so into my drive, I stopped for dinner and was told the roads ahead, had not be cleaned of snow and the conditions were bad. After some discussion, I thought it best to stay the night and take my chances in the morning. My friends to the north would probably laugh at the conditions, but down here even the slightest hint of snow or ice, is problematic. My only reason for wanting to get home, was because of my desire to get to church, but that is not worth the stress. Missing church is not a big deal, but it is an important part of my week and always a priority more than anything else. My problem now is I am not sure the road conditions are any better.

The RRCA Level II class was great and I am really excited to start the process. Over the next 30 days, I must take a test that is focused on building training plans for runners (obviously), and then over a 2-year period, I must complete 15 to or so modules and corresponding tests. After all of that is complete, the Level II certification will be complete. Without a doubt, this particular certification will provide total depth and knowledge for coaching runners of all levels. The RRCA Level I is a great way to enter the running coach realm and I am proud that NFLR has 8 certified coaches. Over time my goal is to get all our coaches to Level II, but that will take time. My goal is to get the modules done in as short a time possible, but that will be a challenge with my current education load.

A really cool thing about the course yesterday was meeting so many other great coaches and being able to hear what all they are doing. After getting through the initial nervousness, I then settled in to some great discussions on the why’s of different approaches to working with training plans and runners. One of the case studies we all had to do, focused on a woman that appeared to have unattainable goals. She wanted to go from a PR marathon of 4:40 to sub 4. Everyone in the class was pretty much expressed that they needed to tell the woman right off that her goal was not possible and that she should just focus on improvement. While the class (including me), were pretty much in agreement, I sensed the instructor (Randy), was not. As I listened to others explain how they would convince this woman to give up her unrealistic goal, I shared a different approach. I suggested that instead of telling the woman, she should dismiss her goal, maybe we should design the initial training plan based on her goal and then let the training itself determine what the goal ends up being. Randy preferred that approach and I think we all, to include me, learned a new approach to those that have goals that we feel are unattainable. It is very common as a coach to have someone come to us that wants to complete some goal that does not seem reasonable and most of us quickly want to dismiss it. While honesty may seem best, it may be better for the runner to try and then let the training be the deliverer of the actual capability. The coach may be accurate in the initial assessment however, people often feel better when they are given a chance and can see based their training results. Then they are more willing to adjust their goals. There may also be some that are successful and coach Mike Davis may have been wrong about his initial assessment! Giving someone a training plan based on their goals should not be a problem. The problem comes if the training plan is not adjusted to however the runner is actually doing. The training should dictate the result.

So, my trek to DC was worth the effort and I am excited about the great things that this certification will provide NFLR! Hopefully after my drive back this morning, I will feel the same way! Tomorrow I begin college and that will be crazy! Life is full of challenges as well adjustments and this is certainly the case for me right now. I am excited for the challenges and am trying to embrace the adjustments. I am certainly a better guy than I was last Sunday and will be a better guy (and coach), by this time next week. For me it is all about my faith and the path that it dictates. It is easy to walk away from a challenge but, that only makes it easier repeatedly. Embracing what my faith dictates is far more important than anything else I do. The path is littered with doubt, bad advice, fear, and other detractors, but if my eyes are focused up, I will accomplish great things. Pretty deep! J

Time to hit the road and hope that all is well ahead of me! Have a great Sunday and stay faithful!

God Bless!

Mike