I learned some major things about being an athlete this indoor season. My goals that I set for myself were not attained but the things I did gain from this indoor season are worth more than that, and will help me far into my life plans. I was hit with yet another road block in my path, but this road block for once was not a major road block. It was a minor road block, or speed bump I should say. My goal for this indoor season was to go to indoor nationals. That was the ultimate goal and I do not believe I was that far off that goal, but I am not ashamed to say I FAILED. I was not successful in completing this goal.
My indoor season started off well, I dropped a personal record my first three 60 meter runs out. I didn’t get to run indoor track my freshman year of college because of my back injury that had plagued me. I can sit here and say MY BACK DID NOT BUG ME ONCE THIS YEAR. It was actually not the fall of my indoor season. This showed me that the hard work and time I put into fighting this back injury finally has paid off. The stretching at night, the countless extra exercises in the weight room, and never skipping hurdle mobility drills paid off. It may sound extra cliche but hard work pays off, if you put your all into it than you will eventually see results.
I also learned that I can not make mistakes in my routine that got me to the point where I was. The week of big 12 I focused so much on the race and the big meet coming up that I forgot to drink plenty water to keep myself hydrated. To make mattters worse I already do not like to eat or drink to much on meet day which resulted in one super dehydrated athlete. The result of that was a cramp at 30 meters that I attempted to run though further causing a hamstring strain. At the time this seemed like the end of the world for me. This was the second time I was hurt at big 12′s and it sucked to have something go wrong again. Everything seemed just right – my mother came to see me run, and the conference championships were at my home track. It did not pan out the way I wanted. I will bounce back because I know that I have to be patient and wait for my time.
On another good note I wanted to start establishing myself as a sprinter to watchout for at meets in the NCAA, and I would say I got this process moving forward. It is by no means where I want my presence to be at but again I must be patient. I did make it known that I will not be a pushover. I never lost any races to another collegiate athlete. I won one of the meets and at the other two I lost to Ivory Williams in one meet who ran the worlds fastest time of the year. At the other meet I lost to Ibrahim Kabia who made the final at the world indoor championships. I can not be to upset about those two losses.
Times for the Year
Cyclone Open
Heat – 6.85
Final -6.76
Bill Bergan Invitational
Heat – 6.81
Final – 6.72 (put me 18th in the NCAA at the time)
Cyclone Classic
Heat – 6.76
Final – 6.74
(original image by cylones.com)
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Although you didn’t hit your goal you still had a great indoor season. You battled a lot of adversity from last year. Although you encountered some more God doesn’t give you more than you can handle so I know you will bounce back like you always do. Failure is the opportunity for a fresh start with more knowledge. Now you have more knowledge than ever and you can make the best of your fresh start. Keep workin’ hard kid.