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*!)

IM BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whats been good my fellow bloggers...Me I've just been at home chilling for summer break and working out in the weight room. My foot has been healed and Im back at school now running my A** off literally. My teamates and I moved into our new dorms on Monday to find some ridiculous wall and fixture problems (all kinds of stuff in here are broken). I had a good trip nice time to chill with my mom because i wont see her for a while. This summer Ive been bowling my butt off and now im attempting to find a bowling center here in atlanta relatively close to the school so that I can join a league and work on my game. *I just love to compete*



You're probably not too interested in what ive been doing since ive been here but guess what! Here it is:



Monday: Moved into my room and shopped for food and other things with mom (No Practice)

Tuesday: Woke up and hit up the cafe with the team, then headed down to coaches' office and sat in a boring meeting about NCAA requirements and all that. *Needed info but boring meeting* Came back to the room until 2 when we were scheduled to get our physicals. Waited in the line for not 1, not 2, but 3 long warm hours lol. Finally when all that was done we hit the track. Now im not here for track practice so Im really out of my element. Coach tells us we're gonna have a relatively light practice so we hit up a warm up run around the block that most of us ran pretty hard, thinking that it would be our first days workout...SYKE *remember that light practice she told us about* that wouldve been it but we come back and stretch, complete are drills in tha beautiful ATL summer heat lol. Then we're told to head to the start finish line for a 2 mile assesment. *Definately not a hurdlers workout But I am here for cross country and I love my coach to death because she doesnt have to have me here on scholarship lol. So i get to the line with no lip and just push out the 2 miles. Not too bad but it all comes with the territory.

Wednesday: 6 am workout with assistant coach lewis...10x400 in 1:40 descent workout working on getting our bodies back where they should be. Headed to the cafe for breakfast couldnt eat a thing jus wanted to sip on tha ice cold water lol. Came back to the room and Ive been knocked out cold from like 8-12. Getting ready as I type to head back out for the 2 o'clock practice with coach Paige. Wish me luck!

RESERVATION REWARDS (SCAM)!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was online today checking my banking account and what not and for the past few months this 10.00 charge has been being deducted from my money. The first couple incidents i shook it off and figured i had spent it somewhere at school or something but recently the withdrawal has been coming when almost all my funds in my account are gone and its causing an overdraft. SO IM PISSED as in red-blooded African American male would be when i see my money is being depleted by something im not even using and plus im having to pay these shi**Y overdraft fees. So I call wachovia and they send me through to the fraud center or watnot and the guy is like OoOo this fee comes from so and so and when you make a purchase and yada yada yada. Basically you purchase something from an online source (not sure if it has anything to do with ebay or amazon) and if you choose to secure the payment you automatically sign up with these people without knowing for a 30-day trial and if you dont cancel within the 30 days then youre practically paying them for nothing. So he gives me a number and i call and cancel these payments and they refund my 10 bucks but this is definately a lesson for me to check out all tha damn fine-print!

AT&T USA Outdoor Championships and A lil of whats going on

Still havent seen tha race, Im quite dissapointed. Talked to my coach who was there from the 1st round of qualifying until finals...how lucky. She gave me a few details about what happened and everything and I was practically in awe. Its crazy that Ron and Allen didnt make it to Worlds but its real kool to know that David Oliver and Trammell are in there. Its amazing that I met the USA Champ only a few months ago...WOW! and Now he's going to Worlds maybe ill get a chance to compete with these guys in a few years. If you all havent noticed by now i have some extremely big dreams. Im back home from vacation and back in the weight room and on the track on a daily basis again. The goal for this year and the upcoming Spring track season is to be in the best shape EVER and be more explosive and more controlled. Thats where the weights come in, today ill be knocking out alot of plyos for that explosion and ive started to be more controlled with my lifting and my breathing while i lift so that i get the most out of the workouts. If it all pays off maybe ill be able to be a lil D.O. or Trammell by the time the season comes around lol (body wise). Im looking forward to hittin up a few indoor meets in the fall too if i have a car when i get back to school...so everybody pray for me to stay healthy and for a sucessful sophmore year.

You Cant Tell Me Nothing

For those of you who havent seen it yet, tha new kanye and hype williams in my opinion is FIYAH! Give this man anotha grammy please!

First verse: I had a dream i could buy my way to heave, awoke and spent it on a necklace.

Sorry to the 3-4 people who stop by!

Been away for a minute I guess lol. Im currently on vacation in Fla. with my cousins just coolin it. Still been on my track grind, even though it is quite hard to diet down here. Lots and lots of fried food and what not. They clown me and say Ive converted to Islam since ive left and gone to school....(no offense to any of my Muslim viewers...if i have any...that'd be a diverse crowd :-)
But otha than that its been subway subway...firehouse subs...and other semi healthy dinners and lunches i guess. Im trying to stay on top of things. My little cousin runs AAU track so I always have somewhere to run when she goes to practice. Just stopping in to holla at my daily readers...Ive left you all hanging for a while. Ill be back on periodically to keep you all updated. LOOKING FOR A JOB SO ANYONE IN THE TALLAHASSE AREA THATS HIRING...HOLLA HOLLA HOLLA AT ME. Until the next time !PEACE!

Back In Tha Blocks

Went up to my old high school where Ive been getting my workouts in and put it down yesterday and today. I have that satisfactory soreness lol, went today and had a relatively light day, or so i thought. The workout just compounded what i did yesterday and all I can say is I feel great in a crazy kinda way. After hitting the weights i asked my old coach if I could get a few block starts in because he and the incoming boys for the football team were getting their forty times. So wat better time to hit up the blocks, I may have thought wrong...my legs were the typical gelatin after a nice lil workout and i could definately tell immediately as i started puttin my spikes on and getting a lil warm up. So its been a while since ive been in the blocks and I had to get reaquainted, i was really uncomfortable so i figure i need to get back out there tommorow and work on going over the 1st hurdle out of blocks. But I think i did 8-9 starts with the younger cats running the 40. Not a whole lot of competition at all unless i got caught in the blocks (coach would call em up to the line "my set position" and as soon as they were there they were gone lol) but even in those cases i was able to suck up the cats next to me. Most times I shut it down before 40...after a few i started tryna get the feel for my form and everything then i got kinda tired (IT SUCKS BEING OUT OF SHAPE) thats when my form started to fail when it should have been my main focus. But it was nice lil work, tommorow hopefully i can get over a couple of hurdles....TILL THEN PEACE

Adidas Classic 2007 - Male 110m Hurdles

Got the vid of sunday's race

Adidas Track Classic

Got an opportunity to watch the Adidas Track Classic today, and this is probably the first time Ive been able to watch the entire meet, I usually come in sometime after the hurdles or something that I want to watch. But this time around I was able to catch the entire venue and I must say I loved it. Gotta make sure I get a front row seat down to Cali in few years (if ya know what i mean) and for those who dont! Im talking about an opportunity to run.

Im gonna go ahead and start where the meet started for those who didnt get a chance to watch,
100 Meters Men: Great prelims caught Dwight Phillips tearin up the track for a change probably getting in a lil strength work for the long jump, he's pretty quick tho so I may be wrong and he may be trying something new. Mo Greene kinda shocked me with his performance I hope its not another injury couldnt stand to see him plagued with that for another year. Tyson Gay really made his mark today, he's been in the background as a sprinter for so long but I think he's really putting his mark on the sprints. 9.79 was the time....pretty strong statement too bad the wind wasnt legal.

Got a chance to see the beautiful Lisa Barber run too, what a sight those women are so cut and just talented as hell, but back to the action Torri Edwards came out hard, I believe i remember her being out for some drug that they have since then made legal a few years back. She struck out today. Wish I couldve gotten the chance to see Joanna Hayes run today she's also a hell of a hurdler along with one hell of a woman! But instead I got to see Michelle Perry, Virginia Powell and tha one chick from Canada who ususually puts it down, (know her name just dont feel like looking for the correct spelling..Philicia i think but...) Powell has one hell of a start and just powers down the track but Michelle Perry came back and got her with a lil of that good ol experience and form.

Men's 200 was stacked I think it was like only one cat who wasnt from the U.S. in the race Spearmon put it down for tha light-skinned bright-skinned brothas lol. Gotta shout out Lashawn Merritt for puttin it down also, for a 400 meter runner he held his own, gonna be a great year in the 200 from my perspective, especially afta putting in Hussain Bolt from Jamaica. 400 meters was another nice race to watch I think anytime Jeremy Wariner hits tha track on or off television people are gonna flock because everyone is waiting for the record to fall, the great MJ might not be having it WHO KNOWS.

The MAIN EVENT in my eyes lol the great 110 Meter Hurdles. That race had me on the edge of my seat I love it lol. Saw David Oliver and Ron Bramlett out there reppin for the Bloggers lol (I swear reading the blog of elite hurdlers and then seeing them on t.v. makes me feel like I know someone famous lol) But Trammell got out strong and pushed the field, Oliver had a lil trouble with the first hurdle but got things back on track really soon along with David Payne it looked for a minute like it was going to be a repeat of Doha when Payne and Oliver caught Trammell late in the race but Trammell pulled it out and ran another nice time for the season. Crazy thing happen in the beginning of the race with Aries Merritt his BLOCK BROKE!!!!!! WHAT lol my man mustve been coming with that heat out of the blocks. His didnt slide, the just BROKE the whole pedal just snapped off. He was HOT! walked down and talked to the announcer after Trammell had his recap. Talk about something crazy, I wonder if thats ever happened before.

1. Terrence Trammell-13.17

2. David Payne-13.28

3. David Oliver-13.29

4. Ryan Wilson-13.38

5. Ron Bramlett-13.52

6. Antwon Hicks-13.64

7. Aubrey Herring-13.98

Overall this was a great meet in my eyes, definately gotta catch the next televised event "Reebok Grand Prix" 06/02/07 ESPN 2 at 11:00 eastern.

Congrats and Thank You to all the runners who came out and put down some great performances and excellent entertainment for all the Track and Field atheletes and "TRACKHEADS"

WHOA!

Got on my blog today and checked the hit counter and even I was shocked! Either I have a stalker or I actually got a few fans in the past few days. The counter has gone from like 48-74 drastic jump if I may say so myself, I guess somebody thinks what im writing about is a lil interesting because I know i havent looked at it 26 times in the past day lol. Hopefully ive got some new fans and if so WELCOME TO MY BLOG! Hope I keep you around for a while.

Gary Guyton Big Hit - Georgia Tech

Gary lays tha wood to this cat REPPIN FOR BI, who woulda thought that sumone from lil ol hinesville would get a lick like that on ESPN

Puttin In The Work

Hit the track yesterday to start working on getting back to where I was before I hurt my toe. Didnt do too much just knocked out two warm-up laps then started stretching. It was actually the first time ive run on the track since i was out. Felt pretty good, I just have to build my lungs back up, cross country helped me develop alot of endurance this year too bad I gotta go through that again, I think I might hit up a 20-30 minute run in the morning. But back to yesterday, stretched and knocked out my drills broke a sweat lol. Then I set the hurdles up on the reg. marks and 5-stepped working on form and keeping everything tight with my hips up and staying on my toes. Being out for a lil while helped everything sink in that my coach had been telling me about during the season. The workout went like this 5x5 36' hurdles, 3x5 39', and like 4/5 over the 42's. Finished up and knew that I had to do something to see where i was at with my speedwork so i knocked out a 150 for form and control. If I wasnt just getting back on the track I'd be getting away with murder with that workout.

Hit tha weightroom today but my body was just feening for the track but I stayed away to give my legs a lil rest so that i can gradually get back on the track everday.

Liu Xiang Training

Since I didnt log anything for today i figured id post the most essential aspects of athletics PRACTICE BABY! To be the best you have to practice like you want to be the best.

GOD OF WAR II

I know that this is my third post of the night but hey! this one is probably the best one in my opinion. I got home and chilled with my homeboi Mike and I look over my shoulder and see the game and ask him what its about. I thought it was like a mortal combat type game and Im really not into those Im more into the Madden and what-not. So he was like you gotta borrow it and see for yourself. Well.............for the past 3-4 nights Ive been up til around 4 in the morning playing this game. OMG its probably the best thing since GTA I love it and i just cant get enough. Its so gruesome and just reminds me of 300 (a great movie if i may say so) you slay everything from wolves to huge cyclopses. Not to mention ITS TWO DISCS I have yet to begin, this so far has been one of the highlights of my summer break. Anyone who's reading this should definately check this game out....5 STARS BABY!