Certified IRONMAN COACH: The Journey

As I firstly read, about one year ago, that the Institution of Ironman USA

is going to offer a course for becoming Ironman Coach with a discount of 100 USD I immediatly subscribed and paid. Not because I had too much money, but because I had a feeling.

I did not have the entire amount availabe - 600 USD - and I asked if it is possible to pay 50% at that moment and 50% about three months later. Unfortunately they could not offer that option. So, I gave up some food and I did not subscribed anymore for races and somehow I paid the 600 USD. The course start was announced to be somewhere at mid of August 2015. They still had to manage technical issues.

Life and things got ugly for me,  I regreted about giving so much money for an on-line course about I just could guess it will be OK ..... but it was done, no refunds possible. Ironman has a cruel politic about "no refunds" or, if they accept some situations after all, the disadvantages are huge for the client.

A very agitated period of time continued to ruin my life, I "lost" my job after being 3,5 months in sickness leaving, I "had to" move out, I started a new job which I "lost it" after 3 weeks, I've got sick again. In the new home I had huge troubles with communication options, no phone possibilites and no decent internet connections. I find myself alone, sick, without any work, little money and a ruined life.
(About "loosing" the 2 jobs there is a very interesting fact actually: I hated them! From the first day, even before I started each time, but at that time I choose to take the chance for a next step, so the movie of my life just goes on and someday I will be able to see and understand why things happend how they happened. There is always an explanation!)

It was absolutely impossible to study the course which I started on 1st of September and the deadline from the moment you loged in was 90 days. In November I wrote to them in USA and I tried to explain the "life sucks at the moment" and I really need a postponed deadline as I am not able to have internet connection. I requested three months, they gave me two months. 

Sick again, new issues occured, I move out again, winter was over all including my soul and abilities and everything. Mid of January I left home for one month and I was busy with administrative stuff back in Bucharest, I returned to Austria sick. Very sick. 

So, to be shorter:

End of January was the deadline for the 1st assessment. I wrote again to them in USA begging for one month longer. They gave it to me! (I always said: "The rules are good, but there are always special situations! If you do not try, if you do not ask for, you will never know if you would became it! I've reached here incredible things in a long and ugly story with the Austrian authorities. Just because I asked and asked for and because I explained. The point is: you have to know exactly how badly you want something and thad "badly" will push you to try impossible things!) But I took the risk to attend the 1st assessment as I knew from Bucharest I will have no chance to do it and I also knew I may have two attemptions. I did not succeded to get the minimum of 75%. No wonder.

But I did not give up the idea to try again.

I wrote again to Ironman explaining the entire picture and I was surprised to get a new postponed deadline. 

I never begged in my life .... until this story! I didn't even had a strange feeling, I suppose all my senses were paralized for months .... I just dared to ask, to request, to explain and to beg getting a chance, not getting a favour! Afterall there were 600 USD paid and they would have had lost anything by helping me out and letting me to try. This was my approach.

Mid of March I've got better and I started to read again the entire stuff I began in September!

The course is very extensive! You cannot imagine how extensive it is really (anatomy, nutrition, fueling, endurance pshychology, physiology, body evaluation, mental evaluation, risks, injuries, training plans, communication, marketing, business issues, exercises, swim techniques, bike, run, equipment, strength & conditioning etc. etc. 12 large chapters!). But in the same time it is verye well structured, very logical and very detailed. It is a combination of theory and praxis. 

The two folders you see in the picture are just a part of the entire stuff. I would appreciate to be about 70% - excepting all the videos you cannot keep it, this is why you just need a fantastic internet connection for attending this course!

If you ask me: excellent course! But of course, it is like in every other domain: you get the information. What you are doing with it it is YOUR business! 

Coaching is more than training, everybody should know this. An additional reason why coaching is more expensive than training, but it takes time to find the difference.

It is a vocation, not just a job or a profession. The vocation is not something you can learn. You have it or not. Attending a journalismus school will not tranform you into a journalist, it is the same principle here! Professions regarding teaching or coaching or healing or entertaining are not just professions, they are vocations! Medicine doctors, teachers, coachers, artists .... these are vocations, not jobs!

29th of March I decided to give the 2nd try for the first assessment. You have this right for a second try. If you get the 75% then you get the right for the 2nd part of the assessment.

There are 50 questions with multiple or single answers.

You get the result at the end of the 50 questions.

This time I've got 90% score and I've got immediately a detailed e-mail  from USA with the second part of the assessment.

About 20+ questions. Composition style. A very intelligent test and also very extensive.

But now I had a new issue: my deadline, the ultimative deadline for my course was 31st of March. So, two days longer and that it is, no chances anymore! 

At that moment I began to WANT BY ANY PRICE TO SUCCEED!!

It was like a long race which I started not very convinced I will be able to finish it, but after swimming, after cycling and after 75% of the run leg I started to know that I will finish the race and I started to want to finish the race!! And I finished it after all!!! and I took it like a life lesson to be avoided in the future :-)
29th to 30th of March it was a sleepless night. I have read, studied, searched, tried to understand things I never understood before, I wrote - it is a 16 pages word document where you have to write down your "compositions" -.

30th of March: I had a breakfast and I returned to my room. I didn't leave it the entire day. Internet connection issues occured. I realized I will not be able to send my final assessment in the next 24 hours. Now it was a race!

30th to 31st of March I slept about 3 hours. Internet connection was very bad. I could not vizualize the videos and I could not see the stuff ..... I went out for 2 hours for a ride. I was terrible tired. I hated my room and the entire space and papers and everything.

I returned home and sent an E-Mail to Ironman contact person, Jennifer. I wrote her that I have some troubles with the internet connection and I would like to know if the troubles are coming from their system. 

Due to the 6 hours time difference her reply came later. In the mean time I did not give up to try and to try again to go further with my test. After 2 days and one night I had about 40% solved. No chance to be ready in time, it was so frustrating!!

I was so close to .... catch A DREAM .... because in the meantime the entire story became a dream! I cannot explain why. It was like someone, a guardian engel was watching and keeping me awake in the whole story. It was a sudden feeling. I neved experienced something like that in my entire life, not even for the most difficult exams during high school!

As I've read the reply for Jennifer such that yes, they did some updates to the entire system and because of the troubles they extended my deadline with 2 weeks ..... I thought I do not understand well. I wrote back asking if it is for real ..... her reply came next day, but that night I had the 3rd sleepless night, studying, reading, writing and so on!!

The test is fascinating and this was the motivation. It is interesting even for me who I never thought I could be interested in such of stuff! Not even to read! But the philosophy part gives you the feeling it is about you, as human being. Or I am maybe too emotional.

Between 1st and 7th of April I did not find any peace. I worked days and nights, I ate el fugitivo, I struggled to find a comfortable position for reading and writing, my bud was tired, my eyes were sleepy, but my soul was awake and excited.

I have no idea how I managed the entire period of time!

6th of April:

I went to bed in the morning at about 4 a.m. All questions were replied. 18 pages of text. I hardly slept for 3-4 hours, I had a breakfast, I had a lot of big butterflies in my stomach .... but I was afraid to send the assessment!!

I left home for a 2 hours ride. I returned and I started to read again. I even ordered a color printer in order to print everything I wanted. The printer was very important, I have to say this. 

The only thing I would evaluate negatively about the course is about the design. All screens are on black background. If you take a print screen and want to print it you need a lot of ink. This is a lot of waste, a lot of money. Not good.

I said to my friend: "It is ready, but I cannot send it, you know? I am too excited. I go back to my room, I read again everything I wrote, I correct it and I send it. I have to finish this story otherwise I will go crazy, I am too tired, I cannot anymore!" I hopped she would like to read all my work, I would have find a little of peace to know somebodyelse is reading it, to be sure the English is fair enough.

So I returned to my chaos and I started to read my assessment. It was about 9 p.m. After 10 minutes I felt I CANNOT ANYMORE, I let everything in stand by and I went to bed. The room is tiny, so the bed was just 20 cm behind me :-), no long journey!!

7th of April 2016

I wake up in the morning at 6 and I started to read my assessment.

12:31 - SENT!

I also thanked them for the entire support during the course! I have to say that it was not easy, but after all they seemed to understand a special situation and they offered me the desired and requested chance to try for "winning".

Then I left instantly the room doing some household work and for the next 2-3 days I avoided to stay any longer in that room. All over spreaded documents, papers, test segments, pencils .....
 Then I took my bike for a ride and I also took a run in the wonderful sunny day ...... I FELT FREE, AFRAID and EXCITED.

I've got an E-Mail from Ironman University. The final result will be send in about one week. Seven Days waiting ..... what a challenge!! You need at least 80% to pass the examination. If you have 75% and some issues are not clear, you get in e-mail being asked for clarifications.

So ..... it is 3:20 a.m. and I count the hours ..... still about 75 hours to wait ....

In the meanwhile yesterday I started my education with Vital Akademy in Linz for becoming Dipl. Fitness & Health Trainer + Masseur.

  HERE THE RESULT, which came 4 days earlier!