Week In Review

Well since the last time i stopped by alot gas transpired. Tuesday marked our first day of practice, it began with morning physicals...a pain in the butt. You fill out the same exact papers each time, nothing changes and the doctor seems to always walk in about two hours late. When all was said and done tho I was proclaimed healthy (maybe not tip-top shape) but healthy enough to compete and practice. Following th team physicals was a brief time in between where i came back to the room and rested up a lil; following that I headed down to the track for our 3 mile assesment! So when i made it down to the track we all hopped in the whip and made our way down to Mosley Park. A usual spot for a few cross country meets and practices. Took a nice warm-up followd by drills and stretching. Nothing great happened my teamates Justin Miller better known as J-Mills and Brandon Miller (B. Miller) lead the whole thing lol J ended up grabbing that 1st place finish and I think i shocked a couple people finishing up in 3rd lol out of 5. From there it was straight to the train station and off to work.

wedneday marked our 2nd day and our first 2-a-day it rained that morning so st

Gettin things Kranked Up!

Tomorrow marks Clark Atlanta University's X/C team's first official practice. So bright and early tomorrow morning I'm going to be out in the Atlanta heat...they dont call it hot-lanta for nothing...running in a 3mile assessment...HA HA! lol Lets just say im gonna be in the zone...thats the only place I have any choice to be...I usually take the Fall and cross-country season as a big mental practice and preparation for me for the spring when things really get LIVE.
I really dont see it in my near future of me ever being extremely competitive in cross-country...not because im not a competitive individual because I believe that in order to even be apart of this sport you have to want to win at everything you do...but simply because im too passionate about my hurdles lmao and also for the realization that many sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and throwers never really transition well into the longer events. So dont expect me at a university near you running the steeple chase or anything :-)
This time of the season like i mention is a huge mental portion...its also a relaxing experience for your body, I recently purchased a yoga dvd for athletes Yoga Complete For Athletes by bodywidsom media and its really helping with my flexibility which is essential for any athlete especially hurdlers and sprinters and it also helps the mental aspects...being able to relax your body and focus your energy. If you havent noticed yet I have a huge belief that if you can dream it you can definitely achieve it! I recently read on Lolo Jones website how she will talk to herself before getting into the blocks...definitely had to take time out and try that technique and believe it or not it really works. I think you have so much going on in your head so if you dont focus on one thing you get cluttered in alot of things. So thanks Lolo definitely helped me out in my drills...trail toe and leading with that knee.


QUOTE: "Gray skies are just clouds passing over." -Frank Gifford

THE RETURN

As you can see I'm back again to take the blogger world by storm lol. Hopefully this time I can stay diligent in writing daily and making this blog a stop for you in your daily internet endeavors.

Update:

Well since the last time I wrote alot has changed. I am now a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity inc. Shout out to all the bruhs around the world! My season did not continue in the way that it started mainly due to the afformentioned statement. Pledging is hard but fair you have to go through the storm to enjoy the brighter days. With that much being said the spring of 2008 on the track is now in the past and its time to move forward the best way that I know how! Strong & Steady dedicated and willing to do whatever it takes to make myself the best in my event. This time around I plan on keeping you all updated on my everyday endeavors both on and off the track...and I will also be bringing you the video diary of Rashad coming soon lol.
As of now im going to get back to this beautiful opening ceremony for the olympics. Shout Outs to the US olympic team good luck to each and everyone of you all. Good Luck to David Oliver the King, Terrance Trammell reppin for tha A and David Payne...make it happen in the hurdles!

Triple T's (Team Time Trial)

So today was a great day! lol We are preparing for an indoor track meet on the 2nd of February our 1st and only of the season. So...in order to show everyone where they were at and in order to get the seeding for the meet we had a inter-squad track meet today, I had to run the 60m, the 200, and the dreaded 4x4 lol. For those of you who don't know my logic behind the 400...I despise it lol booty lock is not Shad's friend at all so I try my best and avoid it by any means necessary. Now don't get me wrong if I was chosen to run on the A-Team 4X4 i would be down for the cause...but I wouldn't be hype about the whole situation. So...we get to the track and warm up...I actually warmed up with the sprinters today I think that might have helped, the sprinters warm ups are most times like mini-workouts but my coach had been talking to me about my warm up routine last year when I was healthy and said that it was not thorough enough to totally prepare the muscles for the job at hand. So actually during the warm up one of our assistant coaches was calling out the heats and what not. I ended up being in the last heat of three which included myself and one other teammate, because we only had for timers. First heat was basically the weakest as far as competition second was strongest...so then it was my time. I was a little nervous I must admit because I havent had alot of block or sprint work Ive just been trying to work on my struggle in the hurdles. My start in the prelims was not the greatest I exploded but fell out of the blocks just a little and had to recover but as I transitioned into my drive I felt myself start to pull and dipped it at the line to run the fastest preliminary.

So after the prelims I took a jog around the facility in order to stay warm until the final..."I was trying to simulate the meet as best as I could so that competition is not a shock next weekend". My quad was a little tight so I was mainly trying to work that out before the final...so by the time the final came back around my body began to feel good again the ladies went first followed by the finals men got down in the blocks and in anticipation of the gun I jumped the first...second time around I got bogged down in the blocks a little bit and had to make it up in the last 15-20 meters to pull it out in the end. :-) great morale booster for me...no more than 10 minutes later it was time for the 200...I was a little hesitant about running the 2 actually but hey duty calls, I ended up coming out strong in the curve from lane two and made up the stagger, but in the last 15 meters of the race I tensed up and got drawn back to 3rd! Mental mistakes tsk tsk tsk....my relaxation is something I really need to work on so this week will be basically blocks, strength and speed conditioning along with work on that last 50m of my 200. Hopefully this week Ill get my breakthrough in the hurdles too!

So the 4x4 was the last race of the day I was set to run 3rd and basically had my mindset on just chilling and running for form...but our second leg is the fastest 400 runner on the team and brought us back from 3rd of 3 to second and with our exchange I broke into the lead with one of our freshman mid-distance guys right behind me. I knew that he wouldnt make a move to early and if he did he wouldnt have anything left in the last 100 and I was proved right...I allowed him to come up within like the last 150 then pulled away on the home stretch to run probably a....53 LMAO!!! just bad enough to hopefully make them realize I don't want to run on the 4x4 :-) overall today was a pretty nice little eye-opener. Hopefully I can do well in the 60 on Saturday and pull out something in the 200. Ill keep ya posted till then PEACE!

Almost At My Lowest

Well it has been quite awhile since i last posted to my blog and I have really been working on managing my time in order to post more...but that task for me is easier said than done. Many of you may not know but yesterday was actually my twentieth birthday...I most say I really enjoyed myself my favorite gift was a poster of the 1968 Olympic games where Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood on the podium with fist raised to symbolize black power. Its hanging above my tv in my dorm as we speak!

Well I can't say that today was as enjoyable...as many of you know I am a collegiate track & field athlete, today's practice was one that I can only pray I forget really soon. Ive been running the high hurdles for about 5 years now and my transition from high school to college on the hurdles has been one of the most nerve-wrecking experiences imaginable! Today just added to those experiences...our first meet is on the 2nd of Feb. and I am dying to run the 55mh but I currently cannot even approach the 2nd hurdle which poses an almost impossible chance of me being able to compete in the coming meet. Thus far my coach and I have come to the conclusion that I am not aggressive enough, a bit uncontrolled and without my correct rhythm...when aggressive I lose control....when in control i lose aggression and when both are on...there is no rhythm. I have never experience such a struggle in my track and field career...I've prayed...humbled myself and put in so much work and still I am unable to see results. My mind is exhausted and totally frustrated at this point. Im searching for answers but there seems to be no solutions college was supposed to be my moment to hone my talent and progress but i have seemingly digressed to the point where hurdling has become an on going internal struggle within myself...I cant figure out if the problem is that I had become used to having someone to drive me and compete with in highschool or that it may be all mental... I am just praying that the struggle ends soon.

Merry Chirstmas

What Is A Fartlick!

Now most people who are not distance runners or track and field atheletes would probably look at the title of this post and think what in the Hell! Thats the same exact thing that I think everytime that I find out that my coach, tells us we have to run one. Today was only my second time in my collegiate career where i was faced with the infamous Fartlick. Now im not sure if im spelling the word correctly but if anyone has the correct spelling hit me up. The name and the spelling were the least of my worries this morning. So let me explain to all my readers what im actually talking about. Coach designates an area (today it was the perimeter of our softball field along with a small section of the track perimeter along with an hill that leads to a corner of the field). In most cases she will tell us to start by jogging and then she will have her whistle and as you run when she blows you begin to sprint when the whistle is blown again you return to your regular pace. Today was just a lil different, coach couldnt find the whistle so she set up two areas where we had to sprint. One area being that incline that i mentioned a lil earlier. Hopefully ive been able to paint a rather descent mental image, this workout goes on for 30 minute straight! The whole time im thinking to myself, damn I hurdle what am I doing out here lol, then i begin to weigh my options...maybe if im running and i roll my ankle then...but what if i roll my ankle and it does more than sprains it! Then theres always the option of just falling and staying down...but then ill look like a complete ass, and im too fly for that. So my ego and my testosterone keep me going. My coach and I talk about it all the time tho, and she tells me over and over again how much this endurance work is going to pay off and I saw the results last year, im also taking this time to work on my mechanics. Im not a distance runner so I really dont stand too much of a chance competing with the guys on my team who actually recieve money to run things like the 3200 and the steeplechase so I just try and work on mechanics like lifting, staying high in the hips, fully cycling my legs so on and so forth. But i cannot wait until its time to hit the hurdles. I think ill go out on my own a lil later this week and work on a few things. Until next time....(SUPERMAN DAT H*!)