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

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

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.

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.