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Riding the Rails to Knowledge

Good morning!

I am on an Amtrak train that left Southern Pines NC this morning around 7am and will arrive in nations capital (Washington DC) just before 3pm. I am headed to the Ideafit Personal Trainer conference in Alexandria Virginia. The college I attend is sending a group of us, and most of the group is traveling tomorrow, however I signed up for an all-day class tomorrow and that meant I had to get there day earlier. I looked at a couple options for getting there and found out that I could take the train, and if you know me, you know my love for the trains, so it made great sense for me to ride the rail! It is kind of funny that it will take longer by train than auto, but it is much more relaxing. I have coffee, my computer, a book and all the amenities of a train (food car and restrooms). So far, I am really enjoying it!

Since leaving the military, my journey has taken me Sandhills Community College, where I am furthering my education in exercise science. My desire is to develop my knowledge in all aspects of functional fitness and combine it with my training as a running coach. This will enable NFLR provide the best personal coaching. Finding a running coach is getting easier these days, finding a running coach that actually cares about all aspects of your personal running is not nearly as easy. Thankfully I have found a great college that offers the programs that compliment my coaching education, and this has allowed for me to further my coaching development. One of the tenants of NFLR is “continuous education,” and both Kathy and I are grateful for this opportunity.

Monday in our Group Exercise Instruction class, we had to do a 5-minute practical that consisted of warmup exercises to the beat of workout music. This warmup is supposed to be a prelude to a group fitness class on whatever we want to lead for our final practical. My final practical will be to lead a group fitness class on “Functional Strength & Mobility for Runners.” So, Monday’s practical was a 4-minute warmup for those muscles that will be focused on when I do the 30 minute class in May. Dancing is definitely not a strong suit for me, so movement to a beat is a real challenge for me. I got it done and was happy with my grade, but I certainly have a lot of room for improvement! However, I am excited to use this opportunity to develop a group fitness class for runners, that NFLR may one day utilize.

So, I am enjoying the challenges of growing as a coach and as a person. I am also enjoying this time on the train a lot! Tomorrow I will be in a class all day on Stability and Mobility and then over the next days I will be in various other shorter classes. All really cool opportunities!

Have a great day and take the train when you can!

God Bless!


Coach Mike

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Running tip from the coach

Your posture can make running harder or easier. Good posture is developed physically and nuerogically.