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.