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.
