Certifiable

After doing the RRCA coaching class back at the beginning of the month, I've been very busy and spent a lot of time on the road.  But in order to be certified, I have to take and submit the test before June 1st, so this morning I actually took the time to go and do it.  The pass mark is 80%, and happily I scored 99%.  I already have my First Aid and CPR certifications, so I am now officially an RRCA certified running coach.

But while I agree with many of the principles underlying the RRCA approach to training (like the different training phases and hard-easy approach), I do not agree with others, in particular the slow training paces.  While I have no problem with the idea of doing training runs slower than race pace, I am not a fan of slowing down to the degree that they advocate.

So when I sat down earlier this week to lay out my San Antonio marathon training plan, I simply took the bits I agreed with, allied them to things that I know work well from past experience, and discarded the rest.  The class did give me a great framework to pull the plan together though, and I now know exactly how far and how fast I should be running each training run from June thru to the race in November.

In other news, a few weeks ago I got a great deal on a new hi-definition 3D television, and today I actually got around to mounting it on the wall.  That was one item on my honey-do list that I didn't mind doing!!!  It really didn't take much work with a good stud finder, and it amazes me that people pay hundreds of dollars to have it done for them.  We've had our old projection TV for nearly 10 years, and it was definitely time for a replacement.  I also got a deal on a 3D blu-ray player, and tonight we all sat around with some funky glasses and watched some 3D movies.

It was pretty cool - and our living room looks a lot bigger.