AAAG Track Festival

Whew! Whats up bloggers. The past few days have been pretty hectic getting back to Florida and settling back into the groove of things, so the weekend recap is a little late. Lets rewind to Saturday...Race day! I was pretty excited to be running again and so soon. Its better to run races in either a consistent rhythm or quick spurts back to back. That way your body will start to get adjusted to racing quickly. Usually with these type of schedules you can produce consistent times and will eventually see a big drop in time.

The meet was scheduled to start at 8am Saturday morning. I still hadn't fully registered so I decided to get up early and head out before the first gun went off. Some meets I've run in have had registration prior to the meet start then they cut it off so I wasn't trying to risk traveling 400 miles to sit and watch a meet due to a late arrival and registration. Of course, to my surprise I arrived around 8 and the meet hadn't started so I had plenty of time to register. I quickly found that the meet was in a bit of some trouble, organizationally, and that it could be a long day! And BOY WAS IT A LONG ONE!!! After the initial race being delayed about an hour, preceeding the next 5 treacherous hours waiting around for my race, I'd had about enough. Long story short, due to the small group of athletes competing in the 400 hurdle event they decided to move the race to straight finals on Sunday. For some reason I didn't hear that announcement so by the time I noticed they skipped my event I was a bit frustrated.

The meet director Eric Merriweather attempted to accomodate me by allowing me to jump in the 200 since I was prepared to run and had already warmed up well. In the check-in area we received our lane assignments and we ready to head to the track any minute. At this time I was pretty excited to jump in a fun race where I would just enjoy competing and try to put down a decent 200 time. As the clerk called the open/masters sections to the front she said, "ok, we're gonna run you all tomorrow. you will go to straight finals tomorrow afternoon." WHAT, R U SERIOUS!!!!!

I really couldn't believe it. Two races both moved to the following day. To say the least I was pretty upset. At the track for 6 hours or something and hadn't run a single race. I could have been running around the city seeing the sights and enjoying myself, lol. Things happen, and you have to accept it so I after I relaxed a bit I wasnt too dissappointed. I just wish I could have used that time for something productive.
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The next day I got up and went through more of the same. I ended up running at around 5pm, but thankfully I did have a chance to run. The race went well! I ended up winning and ran a decent time considering the circumstances and delays. I had a much better block start thanks to a few of my teammates who helped me a bit with blocks before I left. I attacked each hurdle all the way down the back stretch and felt like I was moving very well. Going into the curve (hurdle 6) I pressed forward and surged a bit. I had had trouble going into hurdle six all season and I was finally conquering it. I ran straight over the hurdle with my opposite leg, but since I didn't hesitate or think about messing up I didn't chop my steps. I proceeded around to H7 and cleared it with my natural leg, then came back on H8 and switched. Down the home straightaway I came, and using as much arm action I could muster. I cleared the last two hurdles to sprint to an acceptable time for me at this point in the season. Of course it wasn't a PB (personal best) but it was a solid race from start to finish, and I'll take that as an experience race. I say that because it is sometimes better to get your structure and base down in a race before you run super fast and have no time to fix it. Im learning my race, the pattern Im comfortable with, and how to be comfortable at each stage of the race. That is one thing I will come away with this year versus my previous years where I would run without any concrete understanding of the race and all its critical points (or areas of interest).

After the meet I had a chance to chat with a few young guys that also ran the 400 hurdles. They were all pretty positive and seemed eager to do well and reach their goals, so I have no doubt that they will accomplish them with dedication and hard work. All in all I was pleased with the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed my time in the HUGE city of Atlanta.

Again, I want to thank Mr. Merriweather for getting me into the meet and working with me throughout the time there. He was a cool guy and we shared a few laughs together waiting around at the track. A big thanks also goes out to my cousin Turiq for taking such good care of me. This is the life of...me, DK.