Man, what a long weekend, but how amazing it was. Not only did I get to listen to Bobby McGee, but also Bob Seebahor and Ian Murray, all tops in the field in Triathlon, running, sports nutrition and fitness. My mind is spinning in so many directions and full of so much new information it is somewhat overwhelming. Some of the important things I did get out of this conference were:
1. How much I don't know and need to learn
2. How important it is for me if I become a coach is to beable to fully explain the physiological reasons why our bodies perform the way they do in each and every exercise we do. If I can't explain why I am prescribing an exercise to an athlete and beable to explain why it is beneficial to them at this point in their plan then I shouldn't be coaching. I approached this with nursing, I made sure my nursing students could completely understand how the liver functioned, how the heart worked, etc.. because if they didn't know the basics how would they know how a medication would work in the patients body or even how a disease process was affecting a patients body. I think being coach is similar to be a teacher in that way.
3. Most importantly is that I think I can be a good coach, actually I think I could be a really good coach. I have a way to go with regards to knowing my shit ( I know some) but I think with my personality and my ability to relate to people and still push them in the right direction, based on who I saw this weekend and networked this weekend I can do this.
I am a sponge right now and want to talk to my coach, my other friends who are coaches, I want to talk to them about their philosophies and i want to learn more, lots more. Something I didn't think I could do, I know think I can, how great is that.
On a side note I got to spend some time with my friend Ali who moved from the North Shore to Boston and it was so great to catch up with her. I am so psyched about her becoming a coach herself and also signing up for her first olympic triathlon this spring. She has a lot of motivation and a lot of talent that hasn't been touched yet, maybe she'll let me coach her as my first guinea pig ( just kidding) however, I do believe she has a great future in triathlon.
I also got to spend sometime with Mary ( IronMatron). Unfortunately the conference didn't allow a ton of time for socialization perse, being in class from 8a-9p for me on friday and 8-4 on saturday and 8-12 on sunday, throw in workouts and trying to get some food in ,not tons of time to chat, however we ended up in the gym together this morning and at least got to talk for an hour. Very motivating and very inspirational to listen to her and I'm very excited about her new coaching business. Even though I don't know her very well I get a good sense of what type of coach she will be and anyone would be lucky to have her guiding them through there specific training programs. Good luck Mary, I hope I get to see you more often and chat more.
Anyway, its now time to just relax tonight and then its back to the books this week to finish my exam and hopefully everything will go well and in a few weeks I'll hear I'm a level 1 coach. I'm excited about getting back to a good block of training this week, I feel very motivated and refreshed, WOOT, WOOT. Bring it I say, Bring it.
I so agree with the now I realize how much I don't know thought! Great conference (for the most part. :)
ReplyDeleteI think the hardest thing is to know why you are prescribing a workout AND conveying the why to the athlete in lay terms that makes sense to them and motivate them.
So much to learn.
It was great to meet you and chat! Sorry I yammered for like a hour straight... :)