NYC

Time for an update.

So my second meet of the year was at the Brown Invitational in Rhode Island. I won with a 14.31 and i was pretty pissed of course. it was 50 degrees outside and drizzling so ofcourse i was mad about that as well.

My third race cam last night at the New Balance NYC meet in Ichan Stadium. In my prelim race i ran a horrendus 14.93. I smashed hurdles with my lead leg (like ive been doing all year) and i was forced to literaly "jump" a couple hurdles.

Even still i finished 9th and though id mad the finals. that wasnt to be the case though because they decided to only bring 8 back to the finals (even though they were running 2 heat finals in every other event). so i spoke with the meet director and she allowed me to run in the final. i am very thankful for that because there was no way i could go home with a 14.93.

so i had lane 1 in the finals and ran a clean 13.83. i was sitting in about 3rd place until the last 2 hurdles when i really made a surge for the line. as usual i had a mediocre start and had to get back in to the race towards the end.

I sprinted thru the line, dipped, but finished second to the winner who ran 13.82.

so 13.83 is nothing special but at least i had a clean race and sprinted through the line. i still have tons to work on, mainly my start, so im feeling pretty confident about the season.

my next 2 meets are in Puerto Rico. i have a Grand Prix meet (the 2nd anual) in Ponce on the 17th and then our national meet the following week.

I am looking to hit the A standard (13.55) by the end of the month, so hopefully i put some nice races together down there. the weather should be beautiful as always, and the track is fast so there should be no excuses.

We are going to start doing somre serious speed work pretty soon so i should see a nice drop in my times soon.

many of you (15 fans) might not know this but im not really in "May" shape because, like last year, i started training seriously in January and so had to do alot of base and conditioning work in the months that i should been doing transition and race-prep work.

so for those wondering why im running 14.3 and 14.9 in May thats why. its because im still playing catch up.

the meet yesterday in NYC was really a spur of the moment meet that i wasnt sure if i was gonna run at and i have to thank the guys from the Greater Boston Track Club for submitting my entry and also providing transportation to and from the meet. They are some nice guys who really love the sport and even though many arent aiming to run at the Olympics or any big meets like i am they still go out there and train their asses off for the love of the sport. very nice to see no in day, especially with all the scandals the sport has seen over the past few years.

but anyways, thats all for now.

Ill try to update this again after the grand prix meet this saturday with the results and hopefully some video.

Mt. Sac

So i didnt run as well as id hoped. I stopped the clock at 14.23. I felt good and my warm up left me feeling as if id run great but it wasnt to be. I was set to run the the 1st heat, which was the olympic developmental heat. I was in lane 3 and there was a left leg lead-leg hurdler in lane two, we bumped arms going over hurdle 1 and again over hurdle 2. he was disrupted and pulled up and so did i. i knocked the 4th hurdle down so i wouldnt crash into it while slowing down and it popped up and struck me in the right knee. i got a big scartch on my knee now but its nothing that will hinder my performance in the future. i was allowed to run in the second heat so i was still able to get a full race in which im thankful for.

so anyway, i ran 14.23. its my fastest opener though it should have been faster. i got out too strong and ran up on the first hurdle too much which caused me to clear it higher and completely threw off my rythm. over hurdle 7 i was way out of the race and put it into cruise mode and decided to jog through the line.

although this is embarassing i will still post the video for all my 15 fans to see.

i could have been upset, but in all honesty im not. this was my first race since Pan Ams back in July (9 months) and i still ran a PR for my first meet.

I will not be running at Penn relays becasue the field is filled with guys that have already dropped times this season. its not a big deal though because this allowed me to train again. had i gone to Penns i would have arrived in Boston on Tuesday, trained for the day and then headed to Philly on Wednesday. Instead i got to train the entire week and will be running in Rhode Island on sunday.

The race should go much better and ill be sure to update the blog afterwards.

here is the video, i am the one closest to the screen.

season starts

I did not get a chance to run at A&T. I had a minor injury, my left shin was bothering me a lot so coach decided we would take two weeks off from running hard on it. In those two weeks i saw a great physio and did lots of lifting. I thought taking 2 weeks off from running was a bit extreme, but coach didnt want to risk a stress fracture.

So that's why I was not able to run. But now I'm good and I'm ready to start my season at Mt. Sac this weekend. I fly out Wednesday and I run on Sunday. I feel pretty confident so I plan on running my fastest opener by far. That's not saying much seeing as my fastest opener is only 14.3 haha but I plan on running a good half a second faster than that.

After Mt. Sac i have Penn Relays. And then 2 meets in Puerto Rico in mid May. My goal is to run the 13.55 A standard by May and even though i havent competed yet, i feel im on pace to do that.

My technique feels better than ever and im am without a doubt carrying more speed over the hurdles(most important part of hurdling) but my turnover is not as good as its been in the past. The season is just starting and i have a long summer, so im sure my turnover will come as the season progresses.

Ill update this with the results on Sunday or Monday after i run.

Ready to start competing

Ok i can finally update this thing.

So training has been going great. Ive felt really good at practice except for the last 2 days at tha track. Ive had a pretty serious shin splint on my left leg (trail leg) and it stems from bad form. Coach decided that we would use this week as a de-loading week and give my body some rest.

I will be opening up at NC A&T on April 5Th and i feel ready to go. I feel as if i am already better than i was last year. I am very confident about this season. I am finally hurdling correctly.

the biggest focus we've had this year is running off the hurdle. In the past i was simply clearing the hurdles but i was not running off of them. therefore i was having to re-accelerate after every hurdle.

Am am now focusing on getting tall once i have landed and making sure my hips dont drop. you need to have a very active landing.

its a bit complicated if you dont know the event but its a HUGE flaw in my running. and i feel it is going to contribute a whole lot to my times this year.

I have also been focusing on alot of other things but for the most part this is my biggest flaw.

I am surprised i have ran so well in the past seeing as i was on my own for the most part. it is such a big difference when you have someone out there everyday. You need the immediate feedback in order to get better. in the past i was recording my practices and then reviewing them later that night, but by the time i had done that i had already ingrained the bad technique for that entire practice.

i think the biggest factor in succeeding in this sport is finding a good coach and im lucky to have found one. everyday i am learning something new at practice and im sure it will show this season.

ill update this again after my first meet and continue to update it as the season progresses.