Sometimes You Have To Just Get Down and Pray

This post is for everyone who realizes that we dont walk this earth alone, and for anyone who needs that little word of hope to find faith.

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you havereceived it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24)

The scripture posted above is one that lately I have instilled in my mind and my heart. Life is filled with hard relentless times. For some of us it is our mission to be knocked down in order to prove to someone else that brushing the dirt off and standing tall again is as easy as staying down and sulking in your sadness. I truly believe that God has a blessing for each and every person on this earth, it is only by choice that they never recieve it. Those who allow the devil to hold them in the mindset of sorrow and discontent, turn their face away from the greatness ahead of them.

I have seen some dark hours in the past few years, fear that I may not have the finances to attend school, the sorrow in losing a loved one, the frustration in failure on the track and in the classroom, and the list goes on. But the one thing that I have realized through each of these misfortunes is that the struggle only leads to glory.

So for anyone out there reading this post, just make sure to never give up. The darkest moment is before the sunrise. Pray with confidence and you will be rewarded, never allow your situation to deferr your faith and in the end you will see your prayers manifest beyond anything you may have imagined.

Under Construction!

It has been quite a while since my last post, the reason being there hasn't been very much to talk about. The collegiate track and field season ended...long long ago and for the most part any meets that I participated in during the summer were not very competitive and only served as practice sessions working on a few things that I want to focus on with the upcoming season. The only other things that are taking up time now a days are lifting sessions, watching video, working and spending time with the ones I love.

As you can see from the picture above, ya boi has been out trying to get a tan lol...not really but I did spend my fourth of july weekend down in Panama City Fla. with my lovely girlfriend and her family. I must say that I did enjoy the time away from the real world.

My lifting sessions are going quite well my main focus is taking the strength acquired in the weight room and transferring it over to my agression and power on the track. This upcoming season I plan to switch from 8 to 7 strides to the first hurdle, I dont believe that it should pose much of a problem being that I actually start that way in my other races and I believe that I achieve a stronge push from my right leg. So I will keep you all updated on the progress with that as the indoor season comes around in late fall. By then I would like to be 178-180lbs and grow a couple of inches (dont actually believe thats going to happen but...hey I might get lucky).

P.S. not only am I under construction so is this blog so look forward to some new additions in the coming days.

Just Watching the Time Go By

There really hasn't been too much to post about here lately. I've just been training and working not much else to do. I have been checking out the mens ncaa rankings and start list for ncaa nationals. The hurdles are stacked with ronnie ash and jason richardson leading the field. It should be a real good race though with Richardson running his last collegiate race and with Ash representing for the HBCU's.
I've also been keeping up with the NBA finals which is not very characteristic of me, I'm not a huge basketball fan but I haven't had the opportunity to watch like I have been for the past few weeks. Though Orlando is down 0-2 in the series I believe they'll be able to pull it out at home and grab the momentum to even out the series. I would have liked to see the Cavs in the finals, lebron is quite the beast on the court. Unfortunately basketball isn't an individual sport in his case and without the supporting staff its sad to say lebron may not be able to do it on his own.

You gotta love the commercials with Lebron and Kobe tho, lol priceless.

On the track side of things I caught Prefontaine at work yesterday, it was definitely a great meet, even the distance events provided some edge of your seat action. Lashawn Merritt is killin every distance in between 2 and 400 meters its going to be nice to see when he and jeremy hop bak on the track together at Worlds.

Kongrats to the Klass of 2009

A big special kongratulations goes out to the young lady below. My younger cousin, more like a little sister Tamara Taylor. Kongrats and take your beauty and intelligence out into the World.

JeJu Sauna and Wellbeing

What more can I say other than...THIS PlACE IS GREAT. Last night our friends had the wonderful idea to come out to this 24 hour spa, and when I tell you it was a great idea, please believe me. The spa has 6 large saunas consisting of 3 moderately heated, 1 warm, and 1 extremely hot sauna, not to mention a cold sauna.

The detail and design of each of the saunas was impeccable consisting of beautiful stones composing pictoral designs unseen anywhere else. Each individual sauna served a certain purpose whether it was cleansing the circulatory system or releasing tension within muscles.

Not to mention the three warm, hot, and cold water tubs. So you know your boi dable in all of those. Great experience for only 25 dollars per person. If you're here in the Atlanta area you should definitely take a little time to be refreshed and replenished.

In other news I completed my first Emory All-Comers meet tuesday,it was not totally what I expected but it did allow me to get an opportunity to run which is always a good thing. But the field was not what it has been in weeks prior...and that's a bit of an understatement (I was the only 110 hurdler competing Tuesday) so..I ended up running in the same heat with a womens 100mh and a masters 80mh. Not a lot to gauge from I believe my start and finish suffered a bit due to the circumstances but I ended up finishing 2nd in 15.60 I closed on the 100 mh at hurdle 7 and just slacked off on 8 and 9. Poor execution but I'm not going to beat myself about it due to circumstances. Ill have an update for next week.

As I type I'm about to hit the road and head down to Hinesville, Ga my hometown. I'm going to be down there for my little cousin's graduation. Congrats to her its always an accomplishment to see our generations making steps to success in the real world. I believe that its extremely important to celebrate and reward accomplishments like these, because in society the high school dropout rate is way to high!!! So congrats to all the graduates high school and collegiate of 2009.

Season Update

Well its been a moment since i last posted so here are a few updates:

UGA Invitational:
110 mH not much to say about this race due to a bit of traffic and a little miscommunication we arrived about 5minutes before the start of the hurdles and I happened to be in Heat-1. I pretty much hopped on the track got a run out or two and did my thing. One problem that i did encounter was a mishap that almost landed me on my face out of the blocks. I believe that other than that the race was a good as it gets without a proper warm-up. Still working on the mechanics of my lead arm and from what I felt it may have been a little better last weekend.

400 mH after the highs I really wasnt up for anymore running, and really wanted to call it a day due to my misfortunes. But just as everything else is in Track and Field it was basikally mind over matter that landed me back on the track for a performance in the intermediates that I'm not all that excited about but nonetheless the work that I put in, in that race seems to all ways show prevelance in my shorter races.

Since the meet last weekend I have konstructed my new lifting program for the summer thanks to a few articles from coacheseducation.com. The workout is really geared towards building on my fast twitch muscles and developing the explosion that I did not show too much of until the end of the season. I have taken this week off of the track to begin the training regiment and will be back on starting monday next week in prep. for the All-Comers meet hosted by the ATL Track Club and Emory University. So make sure to google and see if you all cant find a few results.

Training has really been fun this week minus the sore muscles that come along with getting back into the weight room, my goal for the summer is to take a High School program by the name of Bigger, Faster, Stronger and apply it to myself. The goal is to come back into the fall exactly that "Bigger, Faster, and Stronger" in top hurdling form and in top olympic prospective form.

Bungee Cord: Update 04/28/09

No I did not venture into adrenaline junkie land to go bungee jumping. But my experience did include a bungee cord and adrenaline. If you're a track and field athelete u know by now that todays workout included a little resistance running with the cord. Not my cup of tea on anyday because anyone who has worked witha resistance cord can attest that it is a pretty dangerous ordeal (I.e. Being dragged, suffering track burn to the umpteenth degree and just sheer embarrassment.)None of which occured with me today but all of which were going through my mind.
So just when I think that I'm in the clear "pulling" all of a sudden I hear something coming up in me extremely quickly.

At this moment in time there are 2 things that cross my mind. 1.) Damn I must be running really slow 2.) Man glester is coming extremely fast
Neither applied, by now u are probably wondering what this amazingly fast windbreaking sound is...yup you guessed it...the bungee cord. Before I realized that my back was stinging like hell along with both calve muscles and my left cheek (buttocks that is). I can only imagine the agony of my african american ancestors taking more than on lashes like that.

So now as I type this to you my left calve muscle is sore and a lil swollen not to mention cold from the ice, and I'm wondering if I will ever choose to work with the bungee again. On a lighter not the rest of my practice went very well progress is coming along with the adjustments to my lead arm and its making hurdling a lot easier. So ill get with you guys soon until then be blessed.

Update: 04/27/09

So I don't have much to write about but all my favorite bloggers, seem to have the same issue that I do. So I figure ill update you guys on my current status and what not. This weekend is Regionals at Morehouse College Ill be participating in both hurdle events along with the 4x400 relay. Training hasn't been all that bad today was a lot of hurdle endurance.

The mood around here is pretty light right now not much going on. The season has ended for most of my teammates and they have begun to return uniforms. Out of maybe the 27 people that compose our team there will about 9 people running this weekend. I'm a little opposed to that but that's their own choice.Team dedication or athletic dedication is not a major concern for me at the moment.

I spoke with my training partner Glester Thorpe today about training plans for the summer and it looks like ya boi will be continuing his season after the UGA invitational, if I do not qualify at Regionals or UGA I will not be attending the national competition in Texas.I am a competitor so that is still an attainable goal.

But that's all I have for now. Check me soon!

SIAC Championship Post-Meet/Season Review

The championships concluded saturday evening, I participated in the finals of the 4x4 in which we placed 5 with a time of 3:20. A drop of 5 seconds would allow us to make our way down to texas. I actually think that it is a possibility everyone on our relay is capable of dropping that times that we need. Unfortunately I missed the finals in the 110 hurdles by one qualifying position. Thus conceiving my new mindset "I will never miss a final in the 110 hurdles again"!

My hurdles race actually wasn't all that bad and is a good start for the second portion of my season campaign. My next competition will take place on May 2 back at Morehouse College again! I pray that next season our schedule provides a little more diversity and a change in competition. The remaining runners will end out their season along with myself on the 9th at the University of Georgia which will serve as a last chance meet for those division 2 athletes who have not qualified for the championships.As of now I still plan to keep running after the collegiate season here in the city at a couple of meets sponsored by Emory.

I would like to congratulate David Weeks for his qualifying mark of 53.05 in the 400 hurdles (the 6th fastest time in the nation for D-II athletes.)

On another note I strained or bruised a muscle in the lower portion of my left foot on tuesday while practicing. I'm not sure as to what it is exactly I just know it was a pretty serious pain that I had running through the line after my last flight of hurdles. It had a bit of swelling but the majority has gone down and ya boi plans to practice again today and see how things feel.

Happy Birthday To My Love/The Definition of Track and Field

First things first! Happy B-day to my best friend and wife-2-be Aynsley Jenet Kent my professional photographer (hasn't been on her job lately) lol.

Rashad Grigsby defines track and field as a test of mental trials and tribulations.

You may ask why I'm defining the sport...well I learned the definition today. As you all know from my prior post today was the opening round of the 400 hurdles and the 4x100. Neither of which went well for me...I believe that its necessary to expound on the good things just as well as the bad. The 400 hurdles for another consecutive meet has been a learning experience; last week my downfall was going out slow, this week I went out strong and hit the wall coming out of the last curve. It wasn't an unexpected outcome but I was unable to cope and deal with it the way that I had planned. To make a long story short today was another step backwards 58.91 nearly 2 seconds slower than my inaugural attempt at the long hurdles. What more can I say, I have a lot more learning to do I guess.

The 4x100 wasn't much better simply put I got the team DQ'ed. I was disqualified for what seemed to me to be a legal start unfortunately the officials thought otherwise.

That's my inspiration for this post, track and field is a man's mental chess match. An athlete cannot let minor checks within the game blind him from the larger strategy to win the war. We have our good, and we have our bad days in the sport of track and field. But we must always remember to look past that and focus on the bigger plan. I have two more opportunities to qualify to run saturday so I have to allow the past to be the past and focus on my races to come. My main focus being the high hurdles is what is going to be the forefront tomorrow. But today I'm stuck with my head hanging because I took away some of my teammates chances to run saturday in the finals. I apologize for my mistakes and accept full responsibility.

Tomorrow is a new day!!! If its God's will it will be a good one.

SIAC Conference Championships

This weekend marks the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's track and field championships. No where far from home for me but just as special with this being my first actual conference since being here at Clark. My first year I was injured witha broken toe, my sophmore year I was left at home due to season inactivity so now I'm her and more ready than ever.
Tomorrow is when the action pops off with the 400 hurdles at 4:40 its goin to take a strong start from me and relaxation out of the last curve. Then we have prelims of the 4x100 (pop off leg). Hopefully ill be able to post some pics and vids.

As of now were about to hit the opening lap for the opening festivities...lol. Ill make sure to keep you all posted!

Happy Easter Day

In this time of celebration please remember the reason for the season!

Gem of the Hills Post-Meet/AUC Meet 04/07/09

Well its been about 4 days since the last meet and were right back on the track down at Morehouse College in Atlanta,Ga (across the street) lol. 57.65 I believe was what I posted in the 400 hurdles last week...first time ever, no blocks, two days of practice. They're back on the agenda for ya boi today wish me luck. The highs didn't turn out the way I would have preferred but just like always I found something to draw from. I had a lot of technical lead arm issues that I plan on working on in todays race.If you haven't noticed I have not posted any times yet this season...(And until I run something I almost satisfied with) I won't.
50.03...Leg in the 4x4 really wanted to run 49..sumthan so I'm not totally satisfied but that's what today is for.
The weather here at the moment is pretty descent. If you live in the Atlanta area u know we had snow flurries yesterday so sixty degree weather is great. There's a bit of wind on the home stretch but nothing that practice hasn't prepared me for.
Ill make sure I post back soon...bout to hit the track!

Back on the Road Again

Its been a minute since my last post 2 meets have passed. Morehouse was not the greatest weekend this season but it did have its bright spots.The weather being one, and conditioning being the other. Overall the meet ran slow...it was in conjunction with some of the local high schools in the area so that was expected. My hurdles suffered due to my own technical malfunctions, I'm not sure if it is a common problem for hurdlers but I began to accelerate and technically I lost control. Very frustrating to finally see improvements in the latter portions of my race and not be able to handle it.

Last weekend was another bit of a bust...just like our opener we were rained out once again. I tend to be a little upset in these situations, simply because each meet is an opportunity to run a faster time. Faster times extend my season into late May...that's where I want to be. Texas preferrably!

This weekend looks to be a promising one, workouts have gon well and I believe that I'm set to run fast times. I also adopted a new challenge for the weekend...ie the 400 hurdles. I've dreaded this day for a while now 2yrs to be exact but I'm ready to take on the responsibility and I feel that my body is conditioned well enough also. So who knows how this may go, trust that I will have an update for you guys soon.

In other news I am currently looking for a new job life is pretty kool...I go to class, go chill, practice and most days head home. Way different from my previous schedule of scholl, practice, work, sleep (WACK) that schedule sucked. But now with all this free time there is no money...no money with me and bills is definitely no good! stay tuned for more new there. My girlfriend and personal photographer will not be attending the meet this weekend but will be celebrating her 22nd birthday in the coming weeks, if I get a chance ill make sure to get some pics from the celebration.

Todays agenda is pretty chill after concluding classes, ill probably head home for a nap and scrounge up a bite to eat, then come back down to campus, talk with coach and take a good ol ice bath this afternoon. Then later on during the night myself and my linebrothers will be strolling to raise proceeds for St. Jude.
After that engagement ill be heading straight to the krib to rest up for this weekends task.

Shouts out to FirstToTheFinish (www.fttf.com) I ordered my new Zoom Powercats great shipping and nike always comes with that fiyah when we talk about track spikes and just shoes in general. But just like the old saying goes its not the clothes (shoes in this case) that make the man. Ill make sure I stay true to that one and make the new shoes not only look good but produce some good-looking times.

Morehouse College Pre-Race Post

Morehouse College Relays...Today marks day 2 of this prestigious event and tomorrow marks the day that I hit the track attempting to set it ablaze. This week I basically going to keep everything bundled to myself as far as expectations. No need to really speak on the race.
On another note this entire week has been a bit of hell...Monday, Tuesday and partly Wednesday i was suffering from a small stint ( i guess you can call it small) of food poisoning. I spent most of my week retracing what i had eaten in the days prior; I later found out about 6 or 7 of my teammates were also suffering from my symptoms. If you have never had food poisoning you really don't want to experience it...its a mix of the flu and being in a car accident is all that Ill say.
If you have a better explanation then, I'd love to hear them; there is not too much more that I have to post on just wish me luck on tomorrow. Here's the lineup: 11omh, 100, 200, 4x400, 4x100 another jam packed workout session...

CHAMPIONS VIEW EACH CHALLENGE NOT AS AN INSURMOUNTABLE HURDLE, BUT AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ANOTHER VICTORY!!!

P.S.: Stay tuned for tomorrow's post race update...pictures & media will be provided by my personal photographer and #1.5 fan (mom dukes holds the top spot) Ms. Aynsley Kent! lol

SC State Bulldog Invite Post Meet

Rainy and cold but overall another good meet. This was another meet where progress was the overall biggest factor. At this point in my season I am not worried about top meet performer, or winning a t-shirt (because that's all the recognition u get)the only thing on my mind is running the time needed for me to qualify for the D-II national meet. And that means making the necessary adjustments after every race to make the next better than the last! A theory and a mindset that should be applied to all things in life.
Like I mentioned in my prior post this weekends race was all about being agressive, technique was out the door this time around but...out of mind did not mean out of sight! A little backwards but u get the just. My start out of the blocks this week was a lot stronger than last weeks and it felt as if I pulled from the field around hurdle two and led until about 8 where I faded and fell back to 3rd in my heat, aggression proved to be a much needed factor but there's still work to do. Any great hurdler will tell you that hurdling is a bit like sewing ( I can almost guarantee that just like myself a lot of great hurdlers have never sewn) it takes more than just one thread to put together the complex but beautiful pieces that seamtress compose. Like Coach Brooks Johnson said training an athlete is like a complex jazz piece u have ur simple underlying melody and your complex patterns. Way too much to explain one thing but whatever, things are coming together for me and now its time to build on the foundation.
My 100 meter race proved to be another race that's coming along gradually even though my drive phase was a bit stronger it still needs work, I have to take myself out of the hurdle mentality and place myself in the sprint mentality...more agression keeping the head down and driving down the track.
4x100-baton drop...
4x200-(I)got disqualified??? How in the hell does this happen right? Well we checked in nearly 3 times and before our heat the heats were modified and combined when we were asked to check in again I show w/o my 3 other members to check in and she scratches us...so I'm like WHAT WHY! And then they DQ me lol I ws a bit heated about the issue but my fiasco got the team put back in the race I was just unable to run...buncha bs if u ask me. We are there to compete and any competitor should be passionate about it...my passion got me DQ'ed I figure that every race is important even if it isn't the hurdles so I put forth the same effort for each.
I was reinstated for the 4x400 and popped it off running for my life out of lane 7...that's pretty much all I can say 2nd in our heat due to a baton fumble but hey...next week is a new week so stay tuned.

Welcome Back to The Burg/ SC State Invitational Pre-Meet

As of RIGHT NOW! I am on my way back to my birthplace Orangeburg, SC home of the SC State Bulldogs...I believe. Today is going to be a big day for yours trully, it marks the second meet of the season, an opportunity to perform in the presence of my father and a bit of a homecoming(not really).
Here are the day's duties: 4x100 (a basic warmup w/in the hurdle warmup); my MAIN EVENT the 110 hurdles (definately planning to make the necessary improvements in order to drop a good time) I plan on running an aggressive race today...technique will take the backseat I'm pretty confident that at this time in the season I should be technically sound enough to let that take the backseat. I've been practing hurdles and perfecting technique without the necessary aggression for 2 years so now this year and today mark the agression phase (check the post meet for the results).
Next on the agenda is the 100: agression again...explosive out of the blocks and drive down the track working on arm drive and turnover...I plan on running a half-descent race today show em that hurdlers are some of the best sprinters on the track.Following the 100 I believe I get a bit of a break until the 4x200: this race is all about rhythm and strength I'll probably be popping this one off to my preference because it allows me to work on that block start and drive phase for the hurdles. Even though the two drive phases from the hurdles and the 200 are quite different they compliment each other well. The 200 calls for a drive phase that is made up of about 8-10 strong power strides in order for the slingshot effect out of the curve...in comparison the drive phase to the first hurdle is 8 strong aggressive steps which build the runners momentum in order for the desired attack on the first hurdle. Hurdles (strong,fast,powerful) 200(strong, gradual, powerful, building).
To cap off the evening ill be running a leg on the 4x400: conditioning...Conditioning...CONDITIONING. Nuff said
The weather conditions are quite different from last weekends warm coastal weather forecast predict that it top out at about 55 with a 60% chance of light showers. Crappy conditions but the track is still 400 meters, the hurdles are still 42inches and the distance is still 110 meters so I have to execute the same as I would if it was 85 and sunshine. I'm about to call it a trip tho and get some z's during the bus ride.

Decathletes

I had a little time on my hands so I figured I would shout out to all the decathletes in the athletic world. Now the decathalon is an event that I've known about I guess for the majority of my track and field career. One of my homebois and big brother figures teddrick brown was a decathlete at Albany State University. All I ever heard about was how grueling it was but the point I want to get across is how talented these men and women (heptathletes) are. To think they train in 8 and 10 of the events that u or I run and eventually reach a level of mastery.
That's something that I think needs a little recognition, for someone to train in my event which is one of the most technical events on the track and for some of them to even be halfway competitive is Wild!
In our most recent track meet my teamate jameel jenkins (sorry if I screwed the name lol) participated in 8 events...in one meet! I didn't see this kat until I began to warm-up for the 4x400 lol he was a lil darker and looked tired as all hell lmao.so this is my shout out to each of those athletes who spend an entire meet running back and forth from track-to pit- to ring keep holding it down. Your team points, hard-work, and talent are deserving of the utmost respect.

Savannah State University: Post Meet Synapsis

To say the least I am exhausted! EXHAUSTED lol Today proved to be a very productive day a 4x1,the highs, the 100, the long jump (approach), the 4x200, and to bring the day to an end that good ol 4x400.
I guess ill run it down after laying out the days festivities, by this time you probably are thinking...is this guy really a collegiate runner or was he at a high school meet lmao
Well to begin we got to the meet around 11 first race being at 12...excuse my english but it be dat way sometimes lol so there wasn't a lot of lolligaggin going on with me, it was time to go to work.My warmup went relatively well not too much to complain about there I warmed up with my relay teamates which was a little different than our regular hurdle warm-up routine nonetheless it got the job done :-). The 4x100 popped off and katz were dropping like flies, we were placed in lane 8 (shitty) and before I got the baton at 3rd the guy in lane six was down, my teamate at 2nd leg tweaked a hammy so our handoff went from a 4x100 hand back exchange to an open in fear of running out of the zone, after getting the baton I had to make up a bit of a stagger (how from lane 8) lmao but we finished well not sure of the place I didn't really care; the hurdles were up next can u feel the excitement. So I knocked out a few strides and started going over the hurdles to get the muscles ready. I ended up in the second heat in lane 5 not bad at all my first 6 hurdles looked really well techniquely I have found more than a few flaws though or simply imperfections that can be perfected through practice. Definately wasn't aggressive enough down the straight or out of the blocks it was a little more cautious than anything so the plan for the next meet is to explode out of the blocks run aggresive and controlled putting the two together will definately drive me down the track at the speed that I need. I also need to drive the lead down over the hurdle I caught myself without the slight bend in the knee that goes hand in hand with great hurdlers. Another thing that I felt was that my arm drive was a bit weak further down the track definately a determining factor in running fast times.Moving on...that was followed up by the 100 which was strictly for block and power work mission achieved here but still a few things to point out and work on in practice arms and knee-drive.Two things that I tried to implement in my leg of the 4x200 which had me bak in the blocks...arms and knees were good but my shoulders where hunched out of the blocks another very small but technical portion of my race that needs tweaking...4x400 went well overall I haven't seen any tape but I went balls to the wall cuz if you know me I hate that damn race...I was supposed to pop off the b team but moments before the race I was switched to 3rd for the A either way I was forced to run hard (coaches gameplan) but overall this meet was a definite opener next week will be quite a different race day.On a lighter note I got to see my Mom Dukes :-) haven't seen her since my birthday in january and trust she brought the goodies I got a new laptop today and I have brownies on DECK!!! Lol until the next post get at me! The road to olympia has begun u can catch me on vacation in texas on the 23 of May if you don't know what that date means yet u will soon

Savannah State University Tiger Invitation Pre Meet

This week has been an extremely long one for me. I've been away from the computer and haven't had the energy to type up anything on the crackberry because I've been under the weather for the entire week, but I am feeling much better at the moment. Definately preparing myself mentally and physically for the debut this weekend. As I type I am in the university training room chilling (literally) in the ice tub getting the legs all set for tomorrow.

Overall the week has been pretty extensive training wise, monday I sat out due to sickness, tuesday we had weight pulls and both wednesday and thursday we hit the hurdles hard so you can imagine how the legs are feeling right now.The bus rolls out early tomorrow morning so ill see if I have the energy to update if not consider me out! Till then keep khillin I know I will lol.

Fort Valley State University

Now I would like to start off by letting all the readers know...that I was not in an actual tornado but...it was a pretty cool picture to use to explain my first track meet yesterday. My team and I traveled to Fort Valley, Ga to compete in our season opener which turned out to be the exact opposite. The travel down from Atlanta was filled with rain and minor thunderstorms and not much changed when we finally arrived. We ran down in Peach county (never heard of it...note that i am a native of GA) high school in the middle of nowhere just as the image above shows lol. The track wasnt in horrible shape but was located basically in the middle of nowheresville I actually could spot a barn off in the distance.

So i hop off the bus to get a couple of laps in and I felt really good overall the best that I have felt my entire collegiate career before a competition. Training has been very extensive and i accredit that to my Training partner and Coach Pamela Page. So I hopped back on the bus to stay out of the rain and rest a little before my actual warm up...soon after all of the jumpers and throwers who were out warming up come back to the bus due to lightning in the distance...soon after we here tornado warnings and are transported to the gym where we waited about an hour and left shortly after to come back to Atlanta.

Pretty interesting....I know; I'm actually a little upset about the situation because this sets me one meet behind in the attempt to qualify for Nationals...but we will just go back out to practice monday...(if it ever stops snowing) and revamp the gameplan for next weekend.