So yesterday 12/30 was my last practice of 2008. I ran at the track and lifted afterward as usual.
At the track I ran 2 of my fastest times in practice, and am right on pace to meet my goals for this indoor season. After the usual hurdle practice, i ran 2 flys, and 3 block starts to 18m. I was feeling pretty good so i asked if i could run one more to 30 meters in which i did and ran 3.85 which i supposed is decent after a full workout.
In the weight room i was still feeling good and was able to match my previous max on the Power Clean at 264.5 pounds (120KG) I then squatted 3x6 at 250 and got some pretty good depth on all reps.
I feel i could power clean 130 were i to come in fresh, but that will never be the case so ill jsut have to work up to getting it after a full practice.
Here are the goals i set for myself in October when i started training.
1. gain 15 pounds- this would have been 193. Instead i weighed 190 yesterday and so i was off by 3 pounds. Still pretty good i believe.
2. power clean 300 pounds. This was a goal that was a bit much. Gaining that much on my power clean would have been nearly impossible, the goal maybe should have been 286.6 (130kg) and if that were the case i feel i would have accomplished it. I instead power cleaned 264, which was my previous max, and cleaned 250+ on 4 occasions.
3. Bench 315 pounds. I havent done this, but will attempt my max on Saturday Jan 3rd after my track meet. My current best on the year is 295 which i posted some weeks back
4. Vetical jump 40" - I never got a real opportunity to do this, but after practice on a random day we had a Vertec machine at the facility i was at and i jumped 38". We will test this in Jan. BEFORE a workout to get the proper results.
So i feel things went pretty well this fall. Most importantly i broke my previous 60 hurdle record 2 times during my second meet, and my practice times show that im ready to break my records again.
The weight room work is only their to compliment my track work. So long as i am running faster on the track, the weight room doesnt matter.
here is a video of my 264 power clean attempted last night.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
A visit to 4th Grade
So on December 11th i was privileged enough to visit a local elementary school in Needham, MA. A good friend of my coach, Mrs. HB :) teaches 4th grade and asked if i would be so kind as to stop by and visit her class. It was to be nothing formal, i didnt have to prepare a speech or come dressed in a suit, but simply show up and answer some questions. Of course i said yes and got excited because i love kids.
Mrs. HBs class had done a project on the Olympics and had learned about many of the different sports and athletes. To their surprise Mrs. HB knew an actual OLYMPIAN!! OMG! so ofcourse they were excited to see me. She wrote a small report on me and talked me up in the weeks prior to my showing up, but she didnt inform them that i would actually be stopping by one day. The day before i was supposed to show up though it slips and so the word gets out that i would be coming to class. You can read about how it "slipped" at her blog
So anyways, we know im not huge superstar (yet) but she talked me up and they were really excited to see me. Sure theyd never heard of me but i was excited to visit them because i remember when i was little i always looked up to the older kids and always enjoyed when i got to meet an elite athlete, so i knew they would enjoy my visiting.
I stopped by with a training partner of mine Shane (muscly-amrs (in my Mr. Herbert from Family guy voice)) and from the moment we walked in the door it was a blast. The kids went crazy! The first thing i heard was HE'S HUGE!! haha which of course made me laugh. I stood at the front of the class with Mr. Muscly arms and we answered questions. A couple minutes into it a second class came in and sat down right in front of me to join in on the fun!
They asked me a wide variety of questions such as How tall are you? how high do you jump? do you know how fast you are? one kid asked me if id met Usain Bolt, and ofcourse i though it was cool that these kids even knew who Bolt was. Track and Field is not a very big sport in the US and to see how these 4th graders knew who Usain Bolt was, was pretty cool. They asked a million and 1 questions, most of which made me laugh.
My favorite question though was "What do you do when youre not training". Now i dont have a part-time job because my coach and I decided that the best way to improve was to go at this Full-Time, so when im not training i usually just sit on the computer, eat, and watch TV. So i told the kids i usually just sit around and eat alot. lol. but that wasnt good enough! So i said ok, ill walk you through my day.
I wake up, i eat breakfast, i sit on the internet.... and one of the kids stops me and says "you dont brush your teeth???" hahha and of course i bust out laughing, she also says "you dont make your bed" another HAHA. so i have to restart while laughing and say OK. I wake up, i brush my teeth, i make my bed, i eat breakfast......etc. I thought that was pretty funny.
The entire time was a good laugh. Kids ask the funniest questions and i had a great time. After the questions were asked i signed about a gazillion autographs. i signed pieces of paper, shoes, hats, teddy bears, you name it! lol
We finished off with a couple videos of me going over hurdles and they were impressed. They all begged me to come back and visit them next year when they are in 5th grade, and i sure wouldnt mind. So Mrs. HB let me know!!
Today Mrs. HB (Stephanie) stopped by the gym where i train and brought Shane and I a delicious Honey Baked Ham as a special thank you for visiting the class. The Ham was given to us maybe 2 hours ago and its just about GONE. I love that Honey Baked Ham!
She also brought in a bunch of pictures that the kids drew for me and Shane saying thank you! Here are a couple!
The first on is of Mrs. HB (Stephanie), Shane (Muscly-arms), and Myself rocking the ballin Gold medal that one of her students made for me. And the second two are beautiful drawings of me going over a hurdle.
Thanks alot Stephanie for inviting me! and thanks to the Kids as well for being so much fun!
Mrs. HBs class had done a project on the Olympics and had learned about many of the different sports and athletes. To their surprise Mrs. HB knew an actual OLYMPIAN!! OMG! so ofcourse they were excited to see me. She wrote a small report on me and talked me up in the weeks prior to my showing up, but she didnt inform them that i would actually be stopping by one day. The day before i was supposed to show up though it slips and so the word gets out that i would be coming to class. You can read about how it "slipped" at her blog
So anyways, we know im not huge superstar (yet) but she talked me up and they were really excited to see me. Sure theyd never heard of me but i was excited to visit them because i remember when i was little i always looked up to the older kids and always enjoyed when i got to meet an elite athlete, so i knew they would enjoy my visiting.
I stopped by with a training partner of mine Shane (muscly-amrs (in my Mr. Herbert from Family guy voice)) and from the moment we walked in the door it was a blast. The kids went crazy! The first thing i heard was HE'S HUGE!! haha which of course made me laugh. I stood at the front of the class with Mr. Muscly arms and we answered questions. A couple minutes into it a second class came in and sat down right in front of me to join in on the fun!
They asked me a wide variety of questions such as How tall are you? how high do you jump? do you know how fast you are? one kid asked me if id met Usain Bolt, and ofcourse i though it was cool that these kids even knew who Bolt was. Track and Field is not a very big sport in the US and to see how these 4th graders knew who Usain Bolt was, was pretty cool. They asked a million and 1 questions, most of which made me laugh.
My favorite question though was "What do you do when youre not training". Now i dont have a part-time job because my coach and I decided that the best way to improve was to go at this Full-Time, so when im not training i usually just sit on the computer, eat, and watch TV. So i told the kids i usually just sit around and eat alot. lol. but that wasnt good enough! So i said ok, ill walk you through my day.
I wake up, i eat breakfast, i sit on the internet.... and one of the kids stops me and says "you dont brush your teeth???" hahha and of course i bust out laughing, she also says "you dont make your bed" another HAHA. so i have to restart while laughing and say OK. I wake up, i brush my teeth, i make my bed, i eat breakfast......etc. I thought that was pretty funny.
The entire time was a good laugh. Kids ask the funniest questions and i had a great time. After the questions were asked i signed about a gazillion autographs. i signed pieces of paper, shoes, hats, teddy bears, you name it! lol
We finished off with a couple videos of me going over hurdles and they were impressed. They all begged me to come back and visit them next year when they are in 5th grade, and i sure wouldnt mind. So Mrs. HB let me know!!
Today Mrs. HB (Stephanie) stopped by the gym where i train and brought Shane and I a delicious Honey Baked Ham as a special thank you for visiting the class. The Ham was given to us maybe 2 hours ago and its just about GONE. I love that Honey Baked Ham!
She also brought in a bunch of pictures that the kids drew for me and Shane saying thank you! Here are a couple!
The first on is of Mrs. HB (Stephanie), Shane (Muscly-arms), and Myself rocking the ballin Gold medal that one of her students made for me. And the second two are beautiful drawings of me going over a hurdle.
Thanks alot Stephanie for inviting me! and thanks to the Kids as well for being so much fun!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Harvard Open
Ran my second indoor meet of the season on Saturday at the Harvard Open. I set a new PR twice and broke 7.85 as planned.
The prelim round was 7.91 and the final was 7.83. I won both races by about half a second so im sure had i had a bit of competition i could have broken 7.80.
Either way i am happy with the results and it seems i am on the right track to meeting my goals for the season. I will not run again until January though but will train everyday except 3 (vacation) so i plan on picking up where i left off.
In other news, i power cleaned 253 pounds the other day. that puts me only ten pounds under my previous best, and i weighed 191 today :)
here is the Prelim race and the Final from the Harvard Open on Saturday December 15th
The prelim round was 7.91 and the final was 7.83. I won both races by about half a second so im sure had i had a bit of competition i could have broken 7.80.
Either way i am happy with the results and it seems i am on the right track to meeting my goals for the season. I will not run again until January though but will train everyday except 3 (vacation) so i plan on picking up where i left off.
In other news, i power cleaned 253 pounds the other day. that puts me only ten pounds under my previous best, and i weighed 191 today :)
here is the Prelim race and the Final from the Harvard Open on Saturday December 15th
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Northeastern Husky Carnival
So today i ran my first indoor meet since 2006. It was at the Northeastern Husky Carnival. I represented Greater Boston Track Club and things went pretty good.
I did not run a miraculous time, but i did run my fastest opener ever. My time was 7.46 in the prelims, and 7.42 in the finals.
Nothing special but that puts me in the 7.9s (60 conversion) to start the season.
In college, i was horrible at the 60 hurdles, on breaking 8.00 on maybe 2 or 3 occasions. Today i would have broken 8 twice so its not a bad start. And seeing as its only December 6th i cant complain.
Now im not content with 7.9s but seeing as ive never ran this early and i accomplished something i rarely did in college, i am happy.
In practice ive been working on my first 8 steps but sadly i did not execute very well today. My block clearance is good and my first 4 steps are good, but around the 6th step i open up too much and start to over-stride. Yes it is possible to over stride this early in the race because i am doing it.
Things have been getting better in practice but i didnt put it together in my race.
I run again next saturday and ill look to execute better next time.
Also, i am officially 190 pounds. I was 188 for a while but this week i stayed above 190 all week so im happy.
In the weight room i havent done anything too impressive but my numbers are decent for now.
I am power cleaning 242 pretty easy (havent gone any higher), and my bench was at 285 about a week or week and a half ago.
I also did a couple pull ups with 100 added pounds and got up to 305 with the squats.
305 is the most ive done since HS so im happy with that as well.
sometime this week ill try to post a video of my weight room and or track workouts.
I did not run a miraculous time, but i did run my fastest opener ever. My time was 7.46 in the prelims, and 7.42 in the finals.
Nothing special but that puts me in the 7.9s (60 conversion) to start the season.
In college, i was horrible at the 60 hurdles, on breaking 8.00 on maybe 2 or 3 occasions. Today i would have broken 8 twice so its not a bad start. And seeing as its only December 6th i cant complain.
Now im not content with 7.9s but seeing as ive never ran this early and i accomplished something i rarely did in college, i am happy.
In practice ive been working on my first 8 steps but sadly i did not execute very well today. My block clearance is good and my first 4 steps are good, but around the 6th step i open up too much and start to over-stride. Yes it is possible to over stride this early in the race because i am doing it.
Things have been getting better in practice but i didnt put it together in my race.
I run again next saturday and ill look to execute better next time.
Also, i am officially 190 pounds. I was 188 for a while but this week i stayed above 190 all week so im happy.
In the weight room i havent done anything too impressive but my numbers are decent for now.
I am power cleaning 242 pretty easy (havent gone any higher), and my bench was at 285 about a week or week and a half ago.
I also did a couple pull ups with 100 added pounds and got up to 305 with the squats.
305 is the most ive done since HS so im happy with that as well.
sometime this week ill try to post a video of my weight room and or track workouts.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
November Update
Things have been going pretty well. Started going over hurdles about 2 weeks ago and things picked up pretty much where they left off in August.
Right now we are trying to fix my start. We have been recording every practice and reveiwing in extra slow motion to pick up the errors in my running.
there are many errors but we are fixing them and things are coming along well.
its pretty cool to see the progress in your technique and running when you view footage from last year, last month, and today.
i wont be challenging the world indoor record anytime soon but things have definitely improved since my college indoor days.
my first meet will be on December 6th and the Reggie Lewis Center (the track i train at) and it should be fun.
ive been really eager to get back to competing cause i find that life is pretty boring when im not running.
In other news, my brother Alex recently had his first child on November 19, 2008. He and his fiance Thaymmie had a beautiful baby boy whom they named Adrian William Cotto
He was born 8.1lbs, 19.5 inches on 10:57am :) woop woop! i am an uncle for the first time! i will not be spending time with my family this thanksgiving because i dont want to interrupt training, but i will be flying down to Ft. Lauterdale for Christmas to see the new baby and spend time with my Brother his fiance, my mom (whom i havent seen in a year) and hopefully my sister if she decides to go down :)
congrats to Alex and Thaymmie for bringing a beautiful baby boy into this world.
Right now we are trying to fix my start. We have been recording every practice and reveiwing in extra slow motion to pick up the errors in my running.
there are many errors but we are fixing them and things are coming along well.
its pretty cool to see the progress in your technique and running when you view footage from last year, last month, and today.
i wont be challenging the world indoor record anytime soon but things have definitely improved since my college indoor days.
my first meet will be on December 6th and the Reggie Lewis Center (the track i train at) and it should be fun.
ive been really eager to get back to competing cause i find that life is pretty boring when im not running.
In other news, my brother Alex recently had his first child on November 19, 2008. He and his fiance Thaymmie had a beautiful baby boy whom they named Adrian William Cotto
He was born 8.1lbs, 19.5 inches on 10:57am :) woop woop! i am an uncle for the first time! i will not be spending time with my family this thanksgiving because i dont want to interrupt training, but i will be flying down to Ft. Lauterdale for Christmas to see the new baby and spend time with my Brother his fiance, my mom (whom i havent seen in a year) and hopefully my sister if she decides to go down :)
congrats to Alex and Thaymmie for bringing a beautiful baby boy into this world.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween!
So its Halloween and i have no plans for the night. I love Halloween but i think im gonna take this year off. Last year i went to downtown Greenville in NC because they are always getting crazy down there, but nothing like that happens up here in the north so im just gonna sit back and relax.
Training is going well. Im in surprisingly good shape. Im starting off the season pretty strong too so im happy.
On the track ive been doing 102, 20s, and 30s with spikes and in flats. Havent touched a hurdle and i probably wont for a while.
Coach runs his fall program like no other coach i know. He likes to start off short and fast and gradually extend as the season progresses.
Its interesting and i feel good for the most part so things are going well.
Other than training i havent been doing much. Just sit around on the PC and EAT. Then run, lift weights, and come home to do the same. Its a pretty simple life but im just focused on running faster so its all good.
Ive been eating close to 4000 calories a day in an effort to weigh 195 in Jan. and its tough. The eating isnt hard, but gaining the weight is. In the first week i gained like 4 pounds but havent gained much since lol. I currently weigh 184 but i seem to have stop gaining so i guess ima have to start eating even MORE which isnt easy because my funds are limited.
Anyways so far things are looking good and i hope they continue to get better.
Training is going well. Im in surprisingly good shape. Im starting off the season pretty strong too so im happy.
On the track ive been doing 102, 20s, and 30s with spikes and in flats. Havent touched a hurdle and i probably wont for a while.
Coach runs his fall program like no other coach i know. He likes to start off short and fast and gradually extend as the season progresses.
Its interesting and i feel good for the most part so things are going well.
Other than training i havent been doing much. Just sit around on the PC and EAT. Then run, lift weights, and come home to do the same. Its a pretty simple life but im just focused on running faster so its all good.
Ive been eating close to 4000 calories a day in an effort to weigh 195 in Jan. and its tough. The eating isnt hard, but gaining the weight is. In the first week i gained like 4 pounds but havent gained much since lol. I currently weigh 184 but i seem to have stop gaining so i guess ima have to start eating even MORE which isnt easy because my funds are limited.
Anyways so far things are looking good and i hope they continue to get better.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Back to training
I'm back in Boston (Waltham) and ive started training again.
We'll be taking it slow the next couple weeks, with running being simply strides one day off one day off and lifting (minor) everyday.
Yesterday was the first day, i did a full warm up and then ran ten 100 meter strides. I then did a core workout and called it a day.
today i didnt run but did some upper body lifts in the weight room
I weighed 178 yesterday and today the same. my goal is 195 so ill be eating 3500 cals a day for about two weeks and then jack it up to at least 4500/day
ill begin sprinting in 2 weeks (10s, 20s and 30s) and around Nov 15th will begin going over hurdles again.
So far so good, im really excited for the coming season. Im still not in my "ideal" situation but im in the best environment ive ever been in so im happy. im broke, but i have nothing to worry about except waking up and training so i should see lots of good results.
We'll be taking it slow the next couple weeks, with running being simply strides one day off one day off and lifting (minor) everyday.
Yesterday was the first day, i did a full warm up and then ran ten 100 meter strides. I then did a core workout and called it a day.
today i didnt run but did some upper body lifts in the weight room
I weighed 178 yesterday and today the same. my goal is 195 so ill be eating 3500 cals a day for about two weeks and then jack it up to at least 4500/day
ill begin sprinting in 2 weeks (10s, 20s and 30s) and around Nov 15th will begin going over hurdles again.
So far so good, im really excited for the coming season. Im still not in my "ideal" situation but im in the best environment ive ever been in so im happy. im broke, but i have nothing to worry about except waking up and training so i should see lots of good results.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Relaxing in Florida
So i havent been up to much lately. been in Florida for 2 weeks visiting friends and family.
I stopped by my uncle Angels house as soon as i got here and he sat and told me how proud he was of me. He told me i was all over the news (spanish news) and telemundo and univision. He called some other family members over and all of a sudden there was 20 people in his living room. It was nice seeing them all and seeing how happy they were that a family member of theirs was in the Olympics.
I also drove down to Ft. Lauderdale to go to my Brothers fiances baby shower. she is 7.5 months and expects to have a baby boy in November. It was nice to see them as well. They were proud of me competing in the Olympics as well.
Before i leave i might head to Disney world and ill also be meeting a sister of mine. She is my dads daughter and ive never met her so that should be interesting. She is 20 or 21 years old i believe so i guess we have alot to catch up on.
I head back to Boston on October 1st and begin fall training on the 2nd (i believe). Im read to start training, i feel ill have an incredible indoor season and i cant wait to get that started.
My indoor season will start in December and ill get in maybe 10 races before outdoor.
Ill update this when i get back to Boston and begin training. Ill also try to update the blog more often because i finally have a computer thanks to Thaymmie (brothers fiance) who gave me her old one when they bought new Macbooks. :) thanks
I stopped by my uncle Angels house as soon as i got here and he sat and told me how proud he was of me. He told me i was all over the news (spanish news) and telemundo and univision. He called some other family members over and all of a sudden there was 20 people in his living room. It was nice seeing them all and seeing how happy they were that a family member of theirs was in the Olympics.
I also drove down to Ft. Lauderdale to go to my Brothers fiances baby shower. she is 7.5 months and expects to have a baby boy in November. It was nice to see them as well. They were proud of me competing in the Olympics as well.
Before i leave i might head to Disney world and ill also be meeting a sister of mine. She is my dads daughter and ive never met her so that should be interesting. She is 20 or 21 years old i believe so i guess we have alot to catch up on.
I head back to Boston on October 1st and begin fall training on the 2nd (i believe). Im read to start training, i feel ill have an incredible indoor season and i cant wait to get that started.
My indoor season will start in December and ill get in maybe 10 races before outdoor.
Ill update this when i get back to Boston and begin training. Ill also try to update the blog more often because i finally have a computer thanks to Thaymmie (brothers fiance) who gave me her old one when they bought new Macbooks. :) thanks
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Same ol' $!@@ just a different day
so I have some more drama with PR.
while over in China for the month of August I had no way to raise money for rent. I was actually told I might have two meets before the olympics but of course that was false.
So now I've returned, expecting my little $800 check to be in the mail, but of course its not.
then I'm told it was mailed 3 days ago, then that it was mailed yesterday, and now finally that it won't be mailed until I show proof of what I've done with the last 3 months of funding.
they ofcourse were spent on rent, since thats exactly how much I pay. But now all of a sudden there are new rules. I need dates, receipts, and my landlord address in order for it to be legit.
then mayybbeee they'll mail the check for august before holloween. LOL
so it starts all over again.
last year upon returning from Pan-Ams I was in the same exact spot.
I was told my rent would be paid and that a check would be sent. but of course it never was. EVER. I seriously never ever received it. and what's worse is that I actually believed it would be sent, so I overdrafted my bank account in order to pay for it, and since I never received the check I never put the money back in my account. DAMN.
so you can pretty much guess that my credit is horrible.
so I guess I'll be looking for full time work again. If you know of anybody hiring please let me know.
thanks
/rant
while over in China for the month of August I had no way to raise money for rent. I was actually told I might have two meets before the olympics but of course that was false.
So now I've returned, expecting my little $800 check to be in the mail, but of course its not.
then I'm told it was mailed 3 days ago, then that it was mailed yesterday, and now finally that it won't be mailed until I show proof of what I've done with the last 3 months of funding.
they ofcourse were spent on rent, since thats exactly how much I pay. But now all of a sudden there are new rules. I need dates, receipts, and my landlord address in order for it to be legit.
then mayybbeee they'll mail the check for august before holloween. LOL
so it starts all over again.
last year upon returning from Pan-Ams I was in the same exact spot.
I was told my rent would be paid and that a check would be sent. but of course it never was. EVER. I seriously never ever received it. and what's worse is that I actually believed it would be sent, so I overdrafted my bank account in order to pay for it, and since I never received the check I never put the money back in my account. DAMN.
so you can pretty much guess that my credit is horrible.
so I guess I'll be looking for full time work again. If you know of anybody hiring please let me know.
thanks
/rant
Friday, August 29, 2008
Back in Boston
So I'm back home finally. the olympics were great but after a month in China I am happy to be back home.
Im taking about a month and a half off from training and ill resume in mid October.
I plan on competing in a full indoor season in 09' it'll be my first one since 2005. I was never a great 60 hurdle guy but I think thats about to change.
I've set a couple goals for myself and here they are.
1. gain 15 pounds. I'd like to be 195 going into my indoor season and I think its possible seeing as ill be hitting the weight room harder than ever this fall.
2. power clean 300 pounds. my current best is 264 but that was while power cleaning on and off during college. this goal isn't the most important thing, but I'd just like to be able to say I can clean 300
3. Bench 315 pounds. this is another goal that isn't the most important thing but ice always wanted to be able to put 3 plates on each side. my current best is 305 so I'm sure getting to 315 shouldn't be a problem.
4. Vetical jump 40" - this isn't very important either, its just something I'd like to say I can do. my current best is 36-36.5.
track goals.
Indoor- run 7.65 or better
Outdoor- Make World Championship Final
My 4 year goal is to win Gold at the 2012 games in London, and the work starts now.
ill update things as fall training gets started.
Im taking about a month and a half off from training and ill resume in mid October.
I plan on competing in a full indoor season in 09' it'll be my first one since 2005. I was never a great 60 hurdle guy but I think thats about to change.
I've set a couple goals for myself and here they are.
1. gain 15 pounds. I'd like to be 195 going into my indoor season and I think its possible seeing as ill be hitting the weight room harder than ever this fall.
2. power clean 300 pounds. my current best is 264 but that was while power cleaning on and off during college. this goal isn't the most important thing, but I'd just like to be able to say I can clean 300
3. Bench 315 pounds. this is another goal that isn't the most important thing but ice always wanted to be able to put 3 plates on each side. my current best is 305 so I'm sure getting to 315 shouldn't be a problem.
4. Vetical jump 40" - this isn't very important either, its just something I'd like to say I can do. my current best is 36-36.5.
track goals.
Indoor- run 7.65 or better
Outdoor- Make World Championship Final
My 4 year goal is to win Gold at the 2012 games in London, and the work starts now.
ill update things as fall training gets started.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
End of my Olympics
So i just ran in round 2. It was worse than the first and i have no excuse. I just did not have it in me.
I had been feeling GREAT in the practices leading up to my rounds, but during warm up today and yesterday i just didn't feel as good. I wasnt as sharp, i wasnt as smooth and it showed.......
So my Olympics are over and im pissed. im sure everyone will congratulate me on making it this far but it seriously is not much of an accomplishment.
I have way higher standards than this, and running 13.72 and 13.73 at the biggest meet of my life, is nothing to be proud about. To those who dont train day in and day out to be here, it might seem like i accomplished something great, but i didnt.
This is my LIFE. I wake up, eat, shit, train, and sleep. every-single-day. I live like a straight up bum in order to continue training. And all for nothing. I made it to the olympics and got my ass handed to me by a bunch of guys whom i know arent better than me. I am proud to have made it here, but i honestly expected better. I am extremely disappointed.
so thanks in advance for trying to cheer me up, but just know that it wont do good. I put in so much hard work, and i know i should have done better.
So now what?
Now i take some time off.
regroup, and decide what the hell i want to do with my life. Continue living off $800 a month for the next 4 years? or find real work and live like a regular?
id like to make it to world championships next year. my goal would be to make the final but at this point im not sure.
I am greatful for having made it here, and i will cherish this experience for the rest of my life. But i honestly expected more.
thanks for all the support! im sorry i didnt run as well as i should have, and im sorry you had to read my bitter rant, but i promise that if i decide to run at London 2012 i will bring home a medal.
I had been feeling GREAT in the practices leading up to my rounds, but during warm up today and yesterday i just didn't feel as good. I wasnt as sharp, i wasnt as smooth and it showed.......
So my Olympics are over and im pissed. im sure everyone will congratulate me on making it this far but it seriously is not much of an accomplishment.
I have way higher standards than this, and running 13.72 and 13.73 at the biggest meet of my life, is nothing to be proud about. To those who dont train day in and day out to be here, it might seem like i accomplished something great, but i didnt.
This is my LIFE. I wake up, eat, shit, train, and sleep. every-single-day. I live like a straight up bum in order to continue training. And all for nothing. I made it to the olympics and got my ass handed to me by a bunch of guys whom i know arent better than me. I am proud to have made it here, but i honestly expected better. I am extremely disappointed.
so thanks in advance for trying to cheer me up, but just know that it wont do good. I put in so much hard work, and i know i should have done better.
So now what?
Now i take some time off.
regroup, and decide what the hell i want to do with my life. Continue living off $800 a month for the next 4 years? or find real work and live like a regular?
id like to make it to world championships next year. my goal would be to make the final but at this point im not sure.
I am greatful for having made it here, and i will cherish this experience for the rest of my life. But i honestly expected more.
thanks for all the support! im sorry i didnt run as well as i should have, and im sorry you had to read my bitter rant, but i promise that if i decide to run at London 2012 i will bring home a medal.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Round 1
So i ran like straight up sh$% in the opening round!
I got a decent reaction in .14 and a pretty good start but faded as the race progressed.
I seriously just went through the motions. I did nothing good. My trail leg was just coming through on its own, lazy, slow, wide. I looked like straight sh&#.
But i made it to the next round. Lucky me! I ran 13.72 and finished horribly in my heat!
I am in a horrible mood but i am going to put it past me and look toward tomorrow.
i know i am in MUCH better shape than i showed today.
Round two is August 19th at 8:30pm. I plan on making up for what i did today..
we'll see what happens.
And happy birthday to my brother who turned 25 today! We are the same age every year for 10 days, but he is now once again older. haha
Happy Birthday Alex!
I got a decent reaction in .14 and a pretty good start but faded as the race progressed.
I seriously just went through the motions. I did nothing good. My trail leg was just coming through on its own, lazy, slow, wide. I looked like straight sh&#.
But i made it to the next round. Lucky me! I ran 13.72 and finished horribly in my heat!
I am in a horrible mood but i am going to put it past me and look toward tomorrow.
i know i am in MUCH better shape than i showed today.
Round two is August 19th at 8:30pm. I plan on making up for what i did today..
we'll see what happens.
And happy birthday to my brother who turned 25 today! We are the same age every year for 10 days, but he is now once again older. haha
Happy Birthday Alex!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
24th Birthday
So yesterday was my 24Th Birthday and it was the best one yet.
As those who follow track and field know, the Olympics started on August 8th 2008, so i had the biggest birthday party ever! Not really but we did march in the opening ceremonies so ill consider that my party.
it was a pretty good time. that march really hurts your body though. i now understand why the "big timers" choose not to participate. it isn't because they are too good for it, its simply that it takes a serious toll on your body.
anyways it was a good time, i recorded an hours worth of it but my battery died just before they lit the torch. i took tons of pictures as well.
my birthday seemed like 36hrs because we are 12hrs ahead in Beijing, but i was getting birthday wishes on the 9th due to the delay back home.
this morning we (the 5 track athletes) woke up and headed to the Nike hospitality center to get some more stuff. we got a couple pair of shoes, some nice spikes, and some shirts and hats. it was a pretty good time, i got to play some xbox 360 and do some damage on the ping-pong table while we waited around.
i run in 8 days and now its crunch time. tomorrow is the most important workout of my entire stay in China so ill be going hard. i am feeling very confident about my running right now, and am expecting big things in the rounds.
thanks to everyone who's been sending me emails and messages online it really means alot to have some support.
ill update the blog as i get closer to my rounds!
here are a couple pics!
As those who follow track and field know, the Olympics started on August 8th 2008, so i had the biggest birthday party ever! Not really but we did march in the opening ceremonies so ill consider that my party.
it was a pretty good time. that march really hurts your body though. i now understand why the "big timers" choose not to participate. it isn't because they are too good for it, its simply that it takes a serious toll on your body.
anyways it was a good time, i recorded an hours worth of it but my battery died just before they lit the torch. i took tons of pictures as well.
my birthday seemed like 36hrs because we are 12hrs ahead in Beijing, but i was getting birthday wishes on the 9th due to the delay back home.
this morning we (the 5 track athletes) woke up and headed to the Nike hospitality center to get some more stuff. we got a couple pair of shoes, some nice spikes, and some shirts and hats. it was a pretty good time, i got to play some xbox 360 and do some damage on the ping-pong table while we waited around.
i run in 8 days and now its crunch time. tomorrow is the most important workout of my entire stay in China so ill be going hard. i am feeling very confident about my running right now, and am expecting big things in the rounds.
thanks to everyone who's been sending me emails and messages online it really means alot to have some support.
ill update the blog as i get closer to my rounds!
here are a couple pics!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Life so far in the village
So ive been at the village for a couple days and ive been having a pretty good time.
the flight took forever, 13hrs from Newark, NJ. i was a walking zombie, on auto-pilot the first day we arrived. since then ive been pretty good. ive been waking up pretty early and going to bed around 11-12.
there are 22 total Puerto Rican athletes here. 5 on the track team. my teammates are David Freeman (1500m) Felix Martinez (400m) Javier Culson (400h) and Carol Rodriguez (1,2,400ms)
we have a scheduled visit to the great wall of china on sunday so that should be pretty nice. so far we havent done too much site seeing other than the city itself. we (david, felix, and I) visited a local shopping area 2 days in a row and it was pretty crazy. there is an electronics store on every corner!! i am by far the tallest person walking the streets of china haha. all the locals look at us as if we were aliens! not the out of the country kind but the out of this world kind.
they are all pretty cool though, they all want to take pictures and get our autographs ofcourse so thats cool.
the weather conditions here ARE just as bad as they claimed. the sky is always cloudy and there is always smog. this morning for the first time i saw blue sky. the clouds were broken up a little around 630am after a full night of rain.
I have been taking lots of pictures and recording lots of video here. i have 740+ pictures left on my digital camera and i expect to use all of them before i leave.
i will try to upload some pictures if i get a chance, and ill try to upload competition footage later in the month, when the games start!
thats all for now. China is pretty awesome and im having a good time. ill update the blog a little later in the week, hopefully with some nice pictures as well.
the flight took forever, 13hrs from Newark, NJ. i was a walking zombie, on auto-pilot the first day we arrived. since then ive been pretty good. ive been waking up pretty early and going to bed around 11-12.
there are 22 total Puerto Rican athletes here. 5 on the track team. my teammates are David Freeman (1500m) Felix Martinez (400m) Javier Culson (400h) and Carol Rodriguez (1,2,400ms)
we have a scheduled visit to the great wall of china on sunday so that should be pretty nice. so far we havent done too much site seeing other than the city itself. we (david, felix, and I) visited a local shopping area 2 days in a row and it was pretty crazy. there is an electronics store on every corner!! i am by far the tallest person walking the streets of china haha. all the locals look at us as if we were aliens! not the out of the country kind but the out of this world kind.
they are all pretty cool though, they all want to take pictures and get our autographs ofcourse so thats cool.
the weather conditions here ARE just as bad as they claimed. the sky is always cloudy and there is always smog. this morning for the first time i saw blue sky. the clouds were broken up a little around 630am after a full night of rain.
I have been taking lots of pictures and recording lots of video here. i have 740+ pictures left on my digital camera and i expect to use all of them before i leave.
i will try to upload some pictures if i get a chance, and ill try to upload competition footage later in the month, when the games start!
thats all for now. China is pretty awesome and im having a good time. ill update the blog a little later in the week, hopefully with some nice pictures as well.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Going to the Olympics!!
Quick update.
I qualified for the olympics. here is a quick update on my last couple meets.
Vancouver- 14.33 (2nd) i smashed 3 hurdles with my lead leg back to back and well, i ran slow
Ottawa- 13.64 ran a new PR against NO competition. 2nd place was 14.4x by a highschool kid over the 39"
CAC Games Colombia- Prelims 13.61- my best race of the year minus my smacking a hurdle with my lead leg. This would have been my A qualifier had i not ran into that hurdle.
Finals- 13.55w finished 3rd and ran the A standard finally even though the wind was a little over the limit.
USATF Club Nationals- Prelims 14.08 -1.2w ran pretty bad and it showed..
Finals- 13.85 -2.5w. ran a decent race but i hit hurdles 5 and 6 and almost got caught. i finished first but the time was not very good.
i am done with races until the olympics but so far everything has gone as planned this year. i am on the EXACT pace coach planned at the beginning of the season. If things go as planned i should set a pretty nice PR before the summer is out.
so im off to the olympics :)
its been a rough and bumpy ride but despite everything i have arrived and im happy.
This is just the beginning though. I will run my first indoor race since 2005 in 2009 and that should be something nice to look forward too.
so next year i will be full time and an offical Professional Athlete. training should go alot easier and my times should drop pretty quickly.
i have alot of people to thank for getting me here.
firstly GOD. I have prayed for the opportunity for many years and he has provided me it. i am very thankful for my blessings and i plan to take full advantage of the gifts that God has given me.
Mom- she has always supported me no matter what. half the time she didnt know what event i ran but she always told me i was gonna make it. over the years things like that sink in, and im 100% positive that had i not had her encouragement and positive words over the years, i would have never continued to pursue my passion in track and field.
Flash- my first track and field coach and the guy who introduced me to the hurdles. thanks alot coach, i would have never known i had this talent had you not inspired me at an early age.
Coach Good- Coach Good was my high school track coach when i moved to NC. he was so enthusiastic about the sport and went out of his way to make sure i ran. when i arrived the school didnt have a indoor track program. I asked coach to take me to a couple meets though and he happily did so. that year i finished 2nd at states indoor and ran 7.46. that run was the ONLY reason i was able to compete at ECU on an athletic scholarship, and its crazy to think that had coach never went out of his way to help me out i would have never got the opportunity to run in college and would without a doubt not be running today. Thanks Coach!
Coach Carson- Bill Carson was my head coach at ECU. he didnt coacht me in the hurdles but he did a wonderful job at coaching me as a 400 runner. i always compain that had i gone to a powerhouse hurdle school like SC or tennessee, id be so much further in my career. the fact is though, that i didnt and Carson took a HUGE chance at bringing me on the team after a year and a half of not training for track and field. so for that i have to be thankful, he took a chance on me and i am eternaly greatful.
Coach McGill- Coach Steve McGill runs the wonderful hurdlesfirst website and many people dont know but he has helped me very much over the years. Last year when i was training on my own in Greenville, NC Coach supervised my workouts through emails and watching videos of my practice sessions. He reminded me of Coach Flash in that he really saw something in me and thought i could be an incredible hurdler one day. Hes a great coach and i have to thank him for inspiring me to keep at it last year when i was getting $0 funding from Puerto Rico and wanted on many occassions to give up on track.
Coach Valle- Carl Valle is my current coach. its weird how we met but i believe everything happens for a reason and im greatful to have found such a wonderful coach as Carl. He knows more about track than anyone ive ever met and is guiding me in every aspect of my life, not just athletics. we have big dreams for the future, and im sure we will accomplish much together. After 2 years of not improving, i PRed 3 times in less than 7 months with Carl. We have lots more to come though so stay tuned.
Obviously i have to thank all of my family and friends because they've all supported me and pushed me to be where i am today.
Im sure there are people ive forgotten to mention but in an effort to not make this post even LONGER i had to speak on those whom have had the biggest impact.
so thanks to everyone who ever believe and supported me!
i hope to make everyone proud at the olympics!
I qualified for the olympics. here is a quick update on my last couple meets.
Vancouver- 14.33 (2nd) i smashed 3 hurdles with my lead leg back to back and well, i ran slow
Ottawa- 13.64 ran a new PR against NO competition. 2nd place was 14.4x by a highschool kid over the 39"
CAC Games Colombia- Prelims 13.61- my best race of the year minus my smacking a hurdle with my lead leg. This would have been my A qualifier had i not ran into that hurdle.
Finals- 13.55w finished 3rd and ran the A standard finally even though the wind was a little over the limit.
USATF Club Nationals- Prelims 14.08 -1.2w ran pretty bad and it showed..
Finals- 13.85 -2.5w. ran a decent race but i hit hurdles 5 and 6 and almost got caught. i finished first but the time was not very good.
i am done with races until the olympics but so far everything has gone as planned this year. i am on the EXACT pace coach planned at the beginning of the season. If things go as planned i should set a pretty nice PR before the summer is out.
so im off to the olympics :)
its been a rough and bumpy ride but despite everything i have arrived and im happy.
This is just the beginning though. I will run my first indoor race since 2005 in 2009 and that should be something nice to look forward too.
so next year i will be full time and an offical Professional Athlete. training should go alot easier and my times should drop pretty quickly.
i have alot of people to thank for getting me here.
firstly GOD. I have prayed for the opportunity for many years and he has provided me it. i am very thankful for my blessings and i plan to take full advantage of the gifts that God has given me.
Mom- she has always supported me no matter what. half the time she didnt know what event i ran but she always told me i was gonna make it. over the years things like that sink in, and im 100% positive that had i not had her encouragement and positive words over the years, i would have never continued to pursue my passion in track and field.
Flash- my first track and field coach and the guy who introduced me to the hurdles. thanks alot coach, i would have never known i had this talent had you not inspired me at an early age.
Coach Good- Coach Good was my high school track coach when i moved to NC. he was so enthusiastic about the sport and went out of his way to make sure i ran. when i arrived the school didnt have a indoor track program. I asked coach to take me to a couple meets though and he happily did so. that year i finished 2nd at states indoor and ran 7.46. that run was the ONLY reason i was able to compete at ECU on an athletic scholarship, and its crazy to think that had coach never went out of his way to help me out i would have never got the opportunity to run in college and would without a doubt not be running today. Thanks Coach!
Coach Carson- Bill Carson was my head coach at ECU. he didnt coacht me in the hurdles but he did a wonderful job at coaching me as a 400 runner. i always compain that had i gone to a powerhouse hurdle school like SC or tennessee, id be so much further in my career. the fact is though, that i didnt and Carson took a HUGE chance at bringing me on the team after a year and a half of not training for track and field. so for that i have to be thankful, he took a chance on me and i am eternaly greatful.
Coach McGill- Coach Steve McGill runs the wonderful hurdlesfirst website and many people dont know but he has helped me very much over the years. Last year when i was training on my own in Greenville, NC Coach supervised my workouts through emails and watching videos of my practice sessions. He reminded me of Coach Flash in that he really saw something in me and thought i could be an incredible hurdler one day. Hes a great coach and i have to thank him for inspiring me to keep at it last year when i was getting $0 funding from Puerto Rico and wanted on many occassions to give up on track.
Coach Valle- Carl Valle is my current coach. its weird how we met but i believe everything happens for a reason and im greatful to have found such a wonderful coach as Carl. He knows more about track than anyone ive ever met and is guiding me in every aspect of my life, not just athletics. we have big dreams for the future, and im sure we will accomplish much together. After 2 years of not improving, i PRed 3 times in less than 7 months with Carl. We have lots more to come though so stay tuned.
Obviously i have to thank all of my family and friends because they've all supported me and pushed me to be where i am today.
Im sure there are people ive forgotten to mention but in an effort to not make this post even LONGER i had to speak on those whom have had the biggest impact.
so thanks to everyone who ever believe and supported me!
i hope to make everyone proud at the olympics!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
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.
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.
Friday, April 25, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, April 14, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, March 17, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, February 11, 2008
2008
Hello to the 15 people that have read my blog. haha.
ALOT has changed for me since my alst update. So lets go down the list of what is happening in my life.
1) I graduated college on December 14th, 2007. Definitely the happiest moment of my life. HS graduated was nothing special but damn i was happy to be done with college. After 5 1/2 long years i did it :D it was free so i cant complain.
2) I moved to Boston, MA.
So i live in Boston MA now. Its a crazy story how it happened but its working out. I am a Mechanical Design Detailer at a company called TK Engineering. The company designs and details Jet Engines for GE.
So far i like Boston. Its not 70 degrees like im used to but its not bad.
3) I found a coach.
I honestly think everything happens for a reason. And how lucky did i get to have found a coach when i moved up here to Boston. His name is Carl Valle and he knows his shit. So for the first time i have a coach. Its just me him and another kid everyday so i am getting lots of attention and we are fixing alot of the mistakes that i developed over the years.
The plan was to train with Steve McGill in Raleigh but of course that was not possible. I pretty much had to move to Boston because i had a pretty nice job offer and could not afford to sit in NC and wait and hope for something better to come along. It sucks i was not able to train with him, because i had honestly been looking foward to it for so long. He is a very much under-rated coach and i was hoping we could do big things together.
but it all happens for a reason and im sure this was no different.
So Boston has been treating me well, work is great, and im training again.
Life is pretty good right now and hopefully will continue to get better.
Not sure how often ill get to post on here but ill try to keep it pretty regular for my 15 fans! :)
-Cotto
ALOT has changed for me since my alst update. So lets go down the list of what is happening in my life.
1) I graduated college on December 14th, 2007. Definitely the happiest moment of my life. HS graduated was nothing special but damn i was happy to be done with college. After 5 1/2 long years i did it :D it was free so i cant complain.
2) I moved to Boston, MA.
So i live in Boston MA now. Its a crazy story how it happened but its working out. I am a Mechanical Design Detailer at a company called TK Engineering. The company designs and details Jet Engines for GE.
So far i like Boston. Its not 70 degrees like im used to but its not bad.
3) I found a coach.
I honestly think everything happens for a reason. And how lucky did i get to have found a coach when i moved up here to Boston. His name is Carl Valle and he knows his shit. So for the first time i have a coach. Its just me him and another kid everyday so i am getting lots of attention and we are fixing alot of the mistakes that i developed over the years.
The plan was to train with Steve McGill in Raleigh but of course that was not possible. I pretty much had to move to Boston because i had a pretty nice job offer and could not afford to sit in NC and wait and hope for something better to come along. It sucks i was not able to train with him, because i had honestly been looking foward to it for so long. He is a very much under-rated coach and i was hoping we could do big things together.
but it all happens for a reason and im sure this was no different.
So Boston has been treating me well, work is great, and im training again.
Life is pretty good right now and hopefully will continue to get better.
Not sure how often ill get to post on here but ill try to keep it pretty regular for my 15 fans! :)
-Cotto
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