Season has come to an end

So the season is over. It ended pretty well though. I placed 3rd at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. I was obviously aiming for first, but i simply was not able to put it together. But i am happy for at least picking up another medal for Puerto Rico. It was very important that i do so, and i got the job done.

Mayaguez was cool. Id never been to the city but it was nice. Its mostly country, and its nice to get away from the big crazy city of San Juan every now and then.

I also ran on the 4x100 meter relay. We fell short, as we were not able to medal, but we had some of the stiffest competition and we held our own so we are content for now. Our sticks still need some improvement, but for not having any real "studs" on our relay, i feel we run pretty damn good. We ran 39.18 which is just shy of the National Record we ran in Ponce back in May. I believe our relay finished top 10 in the world as far as National Teams are concerned, so that is good too.

I would love to be competing right now. But in all honestly i an kind of drained. I will take a 2 month break, and head back to training in October. Only thing is ill be with a new coach and training partner.

The Athletic Director at the school i train at has decided we can no longer use the facilities. Its a risk i took in moving to Raleigh, because i knew there was a very good possibility we could be in this situation, but its a risk and a choice i dont regret.

After speaking with coach McGill, we both decided it would be best i find a new coach and training group. NOT because we cant get the job done in Raleigh, but because things would be incredibly difficult under our current situation. On top of McGill being a coach he is a full time English teacher. We could try to practice at a local track (NC STATE, ST. Augustines) but we feel it would only be a matter of time before we ran into the same situation, and where kicked off the grounds.

Coach feels i should be in a more stable situation, where i can get the attention i need and have access to the facilities necessary to reach the top. This is the thing i like most about coach. He is not too "proud" he doesnt care who is taking credit for his athletes success, or if they achieve success under his supervision, he simply wants his athletes to succeed and is TRULY truly happy when they do.

I am currently looking to move to Los Angeles to train with Coach Larry Wade, and former American record holder Dominique Arnold. After speaking with Coach Wade, and Coach McGill, we've decided he would be the best fit. He has the knowledge of the event, the sport, the business side, and as everything in place for an athlete to reach his potential. Id have one of the very best in a training partner, and all the facilities necessary to succeed in the sport.

At the current moment i am looking to get there by September, get comfortable, get to know some people, and start training for 2011 in October.

So although i planned on being in Raleigh with Coach McGIll for the rest of my athletic career, it seems i will be heading out again. But i learned a lot and i am grateful for having had the opportunity to finally make it down here. Although things didnt go as planned i still feel i had a pretty decent season.

National Record in the 110 High Hurdles-13.54 seconds
Personal best in the 100 Meter Dash- 10.37
National Record in the 4x100 Meter Relay- 39.15
Ibero American GOLD
Central American And Caribbean Championships BRONZE
World Indoor Champ Semi-Finalist
World Champ A standard (110HH)
Olympic A Standard (110HH)

I am a very optimistic, and so i am expecting everything to work out for the best. If all goes as planned, i will be updating the blog in a month with more details on the move.

Ibero-American Champ

I am the 2010 Ibermo-American Champ!

First an update on whats been happening..

After the meet at Duke, i traveled back to NC A&T to run a not very pleasing 13.67 in the hurdles. I then traveled to Mt. Sac Relays in California to run a very disappointing 13.73.

At NC A&T i ran the 100 meter dash for the first time EVER and ran 10.65 in the prelims, and 10.55 in the finals. I knew i could run a lot faster because in the first race i popped up after 10 meters, and in the final i sat in the blocks and had to chase everyone down. So i decided id run the 100 again at Mt. Sac to see if i could improve upon the 10.55. I ended up running a 10.37 with a perfect start and so i was very pleased. I have not ran the 100 since though, because running the 100 causes problems with my 110 hurdles. In the 100 meter dash you want to have a very high knee lift so as to gain lots of ground with every stride. But the hurdles limit you to only 3 strides every 9 or so meters, and getting your knees very high is the LAST thing you wanna do. And so my 100 meter running days are over.. For this year at least. I will run the 100 again next year, but only through April. My goal next year will be to break the standing record of 10.28 seconds in Puerto Rico. I am pretty sure i can do it, i just need to get a couple more opportunities.

After Mt. Sac i headed to Puerto Rico for 4 weeks and then Spain for another week. In Puerto Rico i ran at the Ponce Grand Prix, and ran a very horrible 13.8 to finish 5th in the hurdles. I also ran the 4x100 meter relay (first leg) and we ran a National Record of 39.15 seconds. I will continue to run the 4x100 meter relay as we are certain we can get well into the 38s and we are looking forward to running at some bigger meets such as the Pan Am Games, World Champs, and of course the Olympics... While in Puerto Rico i also competed at our National Track meet, where i won the hurdles in 13.73 seconds.

From Puerto Rico i headed to San Fernando, Spain for the Ibero-American Championships. The meet is held every other year and this was my first year competing. In the semi-final i cruised to a second place finish behind Spains jackson Quinonez and a time of 13.84 seconds. I tried to focus on technique and used it more so as a practice session than a race.

The final was the following day and i had to put all thinking aside and simple compete. I was first out of the block and over the first 4 hurdles (as usual) but over the 5th and into the 6th i did what i have been doing all year long. I ran up on the hurdle and made an adjustment in midflight to keep from crashing the hurdle, and it allowed the pact to catch up. I did my best to stay ahead and ended up crossing the line in 13.54s for Gold and a New National Record.

I had been addressing the mid-race issues before heading to Puerto Rico, but while in Puerto Rico i was forced to train by myself with no coach and so i still have yet to fix the issues. So although i have made some progress, i still have a lot of room for improvement and so i am not content!

I am finally back in Raleigh with Coach McGill and things are getting back on track. I am finally getting that immediate feedback during practice sessions and these issue are getting fixed.

Next on the agenda is a local meet at UNC Charlotte. Its not a big meet, nor is it a very fast track, but its another opportunity to get over 10 hurdles and work towards my goals. After Friday i have no guaranteed meets other then the very important Central American and Caribbean Championships in late July, that will be hosted by Puerto Rico.

The goal is Gold there, and so its time to get it in.

Duke Invitational

I ran at 2 different meets this past weekend. On Friday i headed to NC A&T to compete at the Aggie Relays. I headed up there with a training partner Carrington Queen. He ran in the first heat and in the prelim he crossed the finish line in 14.9x seconds, and the first thing that crossed my mind was "thats wrong". I brushed it off though and figured theyd quickly fix it as im sure they knew we werent running that slow. My prelim went off after his, I ran a decent race felt good technically wise but stopped the clock in 14.73 seconds. I knew immediately something was truly wrong with the timing system. I know what a slow time feels like, and despite the -2.5 wind i knew i wasnt capable of running so slow without making some serious errors. Last year in Colombia i did a complete front flip and ran half a second faster than 14.7 so i knew something was off. I thought about speaking with someone at the meet about it but decided not too. I knew not much would come from it so i just left it alone. The final was supposed to be run on Saturday at Noon but we decided to not run as we didnt wanna take a chance with another faulty system.

On Saturday i got the opportunity to race 2 more times, this time at the Duke Invitational. Im not a big fan of this track as it is very "spongy" and not suited for the sprints, but i figured they would at least have their timing system in check.

I ran a decent prelim in 13.87 seconds. I hit hurdle 6 nearly stumbled but was able to keep it together across the finish line. Hurdle 6 has been causing me problems lately but we are taking the proper steps towards fixing that. In the final i ran 13.62 for the win but felt it was a very bad race. My technique was not what it was in Raleigh last week and my last 2 hurdles in particular were just extremely slow. The only good thing i did in the race was compete, as i was neck and neck with Jamaican hurdler Eric Keddo over the 8th hurdle, but was able to keep my cool coming off the 10th to secure the win, as Eric pressed, hit the hurdle and crashed.

I actually learned from last weeks race not to rush. I knew it was gonna come down to the last 2 hurdles and the sprint to the finish line, so i just kept my cool over the second half and allowed that to keep me from making mistakes. Overall it was a pretty ugly race, but coach and I are pleased with how things are shaping up. We know i have a lot of room for improvement and whats even better is that we are certain most of my improvements will come within the next couple months.

I race again this weekend at NC A&T. I hope this time around the timing system is fixed.

Ready For Outdoors

World Indoor Champs didn't go so well, but i came away with a lot. I was finally able to piece together the technique coach has been teaching me since September and i finally got the hang of it. I wasn't too disappointed with the results at WIC because i know that was not the technique id been learning all year. I honestly did nothing right over there, yet my very first week back it all clicked again. Just goes to show that i really do need a good hurdle coach out there reminding me of the things i need to do. I am finally grasping things though so next time i have to travel 5 weeks and be without coaching i should be good to go.

After world champs i wanted to get away and just relax without thinking about or training for track for a couple days. So i decided to head to Ft. Lauderdale and visit my Brother Alex. It was a good time and i enjoyed spending time with my nephew. He is 16 months now and is running around getting into whatever he can get into. He likes to hide in the cupboards beneath the kitchen counter, and hide cell phones and keys in various places around the apartment. He is a cute kid and i hope i can head back to FL to visit before 2011.

While in Florida i did not train a single day but decided to compete at a meet down in Miami. I figured i might as well stay somewhat active and i figured running over 10 hurdles would be a good way to do so. I didnt run anything special but it was nice to get out there, and it was also nice to have my brother at the meet. It might actually be the first meet he'd ever seen me run at.

As soon as i arrived back in NC i headed straight to practice from the airport and jumped right into things. We had 8x110 meter runs in 12.4 seconds and i was very surprised to see that i was able to finish the workout without feeling as if i was out of shape. I had never been so happy to arrive in Raleigh, NC and practice made me feel even better, because it showed me i could pick up where i left off in February.

Last weekend coach had me run at the Raleigh Relays, and i will continue to run as many weekends as i can. My prelim race was on Friday, we had beautiful weather, and for the first time i raced with the technique id been learning during the Fall. My start was not as aggressive as i would like, but we are making some minor adjustments to it and i wasnt comfortable going all out to the first hurdle. But i did manage to do a lot of other things correct. I felt good until mid race and when i found myself standing up off the hurdle and forgetting to lean. I felt i was clear of the field and so i put it on cruise control and did my usual (horrible habit) jog to the finish line. I crossed the line in 1st place with a time of 13.74 which is without a doubt the fastest ive ever ran in March.

The final did not go so well because i didnt keep my composure midway down the track. I am used to getting a great start and being out in front, but as i was still not comfortable with the adjustmens i wasnt able to get out as aggresivley as id like. I was neck and neck with Drew Brunson over 4 hurdles but i tried pressing over the 5th and finally reverted to old and (bad) techniques over the 6th. I started standing up over top of the hurdle and my lead-leg hamstring came down on the hurdle. It a was clear sign that I wasnt executing what id been taught, but it was a good lesson learned that i have to keep my cool in tight situations. I pulled up at hurdle 6 and continued to walk down and move hurdles with my hand to finally cross the finish line in 21.8 seconds. I was given a DQ though because you are not allowed to push hurdles over with your hands lol.

I wasnt upset with it though and neither was coach because we finally saw a lot of things executed correctly in a race. Coach also realized that i hadn't even started training for 10 hurdles as i had just finished with my indoor season.

I also ran on a 4x100 meter relay at Raleigh Relays (my first 4x1 ever) and we finished 2nd in 40.32. It is not an especially fast time, but is very impressive when you realize that 3 of the legs are hurdlers, and we got no more than 10 minutes worth of relay-exchange practice in. I was very pleased and im certain we will run under 40 seconds and we ever decide to run it again.

So i am very happy that the outdoor season is here, and im feeling confident about the way things are going and where they are heading. Indoor did not go as planned, but it is behind me, i learned a lot from it, and am now focused on this outdoor season.

I run this Friday and Saturday and NC A&T, ill be running the 110 hurdles and for the first time ever the 100 meter dash. We finally have great weather again in NC so im looking forward to a great weekend.

Here is the Prelim race (13.74)

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

And this is the 4x1 relays (40.32, Lane 2)

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Yet another change in plans

After speaking with a couple people down in Puerto Rico, I've decided I will still run at World Champs in March. I am NOT in the shape I hoped to be right now (because of freezing weather) but I am still in pretty good shape.

So far all year Coach McGills time trials have been within 0.05s of my actual FAT times. In late December my time trials were consistently 7.8x and i ran 7.84 in my first meet with about 90% effort. The 60 Dash trials were always 6.8low and 6.7high and i ran 6.85 and 6.83 in the dash. If his timing skills are still on par then i am currently well under 7.70 in the 60 hurdles.

In practice coach gives us two whistles. The first is SET and the second is GO. He starts the clock as he blows the whistle, and stops the clock when one stride clears the finish line.

When you start the watch off of movement you will get varying degrees of accuracy because the timer is starting anywhere from .2 to .3 seconds late. Same goes when one person starts the athletes and another times the athletes. The timer is having to react to the starter just like the athletes, which causes a loss in accuracy.

Through trial and error we have found that having the person timing, be the person giving the commands gives the most consistent times and also brings us as close to FAT as we can get without setting up the actual electronic equipment.

The last meet i planned for this indoor season was to be at Vtech on the 19th and 20th of the month. After emailing them though i found out that only unattached athletes who currently train at the school are allowed to compete in the meet. So I wont get a chance to compete again before the championships.

I will instead head to Puerto Rico to train in the warm weather for 2 weeks before i head to Qatar. I might run at a meet in Puerto Rico next weekend, if i get down there in time. But seeing as they dont run the shorter distances, it will be over a full flight of 10 hurdles and 110 meters. Should be interesting to see what i can do.

So I guess im still on for this indoor season. I will be going pretty hard these next 3 weeks in practice and although this indoor season did not go according to plan, i still plan on doing big things when i get to Qatar.

Indoor Update

Sorry i haven't updated the blog in a while. I didn't have anything interesting going on. But here is a quick rundown of whats been happening.

Practice has been pretty great. I hit a major breakthrough last week in practice. All the new technique i have been practicing finally clicked. My 7 step approach is pretty incredible, even when is "OFF" its faster then my 8 step from years past.

I competed twice this year. The first was at UNC where i ran a pretty easy 7.84 in the prelims, and a faulty 7.87 in the finals. I also ran the 60 dash for the first time ever and clocked 6.85 which i though was decent.

For my second meet we drove up to Liberty in Virginia. I ran 4 races within LITERALLY 10 minutes. The setup was 60H, 60D, 60D final, 60H final. I took 4 victories but none of the times were very impressive. I was all over the place in the 60 hurdles smashing hurdles to run 8.17 in the prelim and 8.15 in the finals. In the 60 dash I got out for about 20 meters and then cruised to the finish for a 6.99. In the finals i gave a good effort to run 6.83 but it felt horrible and i was certain it was 6.9x seconds, it would have been one of those runs where had it been a time-trial in practice i would have told coach he did a bad job timing. After the meet we drove in a foot of snow for 6 hours because we weren't trying to risk spinning out or crashing in some random VA town.

My plans for the year were to run at UNC, Millrose, Boston, Tyson Invitational, and VA Tech in late February before heading to World Indoor Champs in March. I am certain this would have been enough to put me in decent shape to make the final at world indoors. From years past you needed a low 7.6 in the semis to make the final, and we were planing to be running consistent 7.5s by then.

But things changed. I did not get invited to Millrose, Boston Indoor Games, nor Tyson Invitational. I literally BEGGED to get into the meets, and having finished 3rd at the Millrose Games, and Boston last year i figured i should have no problems getting in, but that was not the case. I have no agent and meet directors refuse to negotiate with the athletes themselves... as if i was asking for anything more than a lane. Last year i payed for my own flight (with 3 days notice), and my own lodging while in Boston, though i did stay at the meet hotel in NYC. I would have very easily done the same this year, but as i said Meet Directors do no talk with athletes themselves and so i did not run. What was worse is that BOTH meets had a lane open. Makes no sense right? An athlete will pay his own way, you don't have to put him in a hotel, and yet they would still rather leave the lane open.

After coming to the realization that i would not run at those meets i decided i would run at UNC 3 times and VTech to prepare for world indoors. BUT we hit another hurdle.

At UNCs first meet over 30 unattached athletes did not pay their entry fee. So UNC decided they would not let unattached athletes run at their next 2 meets (which are always available to open athletes). The reason being because athletes weren't paying their entry fees.

But is this really the athletes fault? They know who did and who didn't pay, so why not prevent those athletes from competing, rather than ALL open athletes? It is not my fault that the staff was incompetent and allowed athletes to run who hadn't paid. UNC did, allow many unattached athletes to run at the following meet though, but i unfourtunatley was not one of the select few to be accepted. I ran into the meet director the day before the meet and he pretended as if he would try to find me an open lane, but of course he did not. Maybe had he told me a week in advance (as he did with the many other unattached athletes) i wouldn't have had to waste time and money in driving to Virginia. Pretty shitty, but such is life.

They are hosting a meet this weekend, which is always available to open athletes, but they've decided to allow only college athletes to compete. I am certain i will see unattached athletes compete though.

On top of not being able to compete we were hit with a snow storm here in NC. Even when the snow finally melted it was too cold to get any kind of fast training sessions in. I asked Puerto Rico if they would be kind enough to fly me down there so i could at least train in the warm weather before heading to World Indoors but i have yet to receive word from them.

So i have decided to cancel my indoor season, and start focusing on outdoors. This will give us plenty of time to allow this new technique to sink in, will hopefully allow the warm weather to return to NC, and will also get us out of "rush" mode, which is what we will have been in trying to make up for 5 weeks of cold weather.

I made the standard last year for World Indoor Champs, but will no longer be traveling to championship meets if i am not in medal contention or at the VERY LEAST in position to make the final. The days of traveling for the sake of traveling are over. If i will not be able to compete with the best i will not compete at all. May sound shallow or selfish, but i dont train 6 days a week 10 months out of the year, live off what averages out to be $4 an hour, to get a free trip across the world. I am training to be the best, and until i am able to compete stride for stride with the best, i will not be competing.

So although my indoor season did not go as planned i am still looking forward to a good year. I am still in a great situation with a great coach and as soon as these uncontrollable factors get out of the way, we will be good to go.

I dont have anything special lined up for Outdoors but here is what it will look like.

Open my season at NC A&T
Mt. Sac Relays
Puerto Rico Nationals
Ponce Grand Prix
Ibero American games in Spain
Central American Championships in Puerto Rico.

I will update the blog if any major changes happen. If not, then i will update it before my first outdoor meet.