Monday 2/28/05

Went to classes for the last time this week:) But it sucks because that means I'm going to be behind next week, but oh well...at least I'm missing out on class for a good reason. But I did a lot of packing. Coach told us to bring one track back and one bag with all of our other things in it. He said that it wasn't a "fashion show...but a track meet". Haha, I ending up having 4 bags, I can't help it..I wanted to make sure I had enough of everything:) I'm very much a girlie girl when it comes to clothes. At practice this afternoon we worked on blocks, and worked on blocks, and worked on blocks. Next week I'm going to start writing down specifically what we are doing.

Tuesday 3/1/05

We left around 8:30 am. It was super SUPER cold this morning. I wonder if it will be warmer in TN? There is 9 of us going to Nationals...so we took one of the vans (yeah...you know how bad that sucks). Sooo...needless to say we had some major team bonding going on for the 14 hour drive. So we headed out...and me being the caffenie addicict that I am (hot tea...NOT COFFEE...gross) we had to make quite a few restroom stops for me :) While we were doing all of that driving I read two books, three magazines and have the order of the songs on my MP3 memorized. I also thought a lot about my races coming up. I'm not really all that nervous, just excited to get there and get running. I'm sure once I step on the track, the nerves will hit me. We drove all the way to Winchester, KY. My teammate Lynn and I swam and sat in the sauna at the hotel that night. It was cool after sitting in that stupid van all dayyyyy. Hit the sack pretty early...I feel asleep durning the Real World...

Wednesday 3/2/05

Woke up and had a pretty good breakfast at the hotel. We left around 9:00am for Johnson City. Which meant MORRRRRRREEEEEEEE driving. We FINALLY got there a little after 1:00pm...I'm thrilled. Lynn was my rommie for this whole Nationals thing. She's cool, a triple and long jump specialist from Flordia. Her nickname is "slacker", but she truely is an awesome athlete and teammate. So me and her unpack, and basically sat there not knowing what to do next. we wander around the hotel, it's pretty nice a lot of other teams are there too. Then we go to the gym to work out. I did the ellipitical trainner for an hour and then sat in the hot tub for a while. Felt good to get a workout in. Just hung out that night, I actually read a lot.

Thursday 3/3/05

Wow I can't belive that I run tomorrow!!! I'm so nervous and excited at the same time. I just want to get on the track and race!!! I have never been this excited to get to a meet. I went to Wal-Mart durning the day. Got a few snacks...and a Napoleon Dynamite poster...I love that kid. I'm a HUGE Tennesse Vols fan, so being here as been so awesome...to see EVERYONE basically wearing the Big Orange :) We ate a late lunch at Quizzones...I've never ate there before (yeah...small town girl), but it was really good. Then we went to some freakin' huge race track there. I'm not really that into raceing, but it was cool. Then, FINALLY we got to the mini DOME. It was tight, but I still think I liked Iowa better, nothing against the Mini Dome. We did a shake out and got used to the feel of the track. I cant wait till tomorrow!!!

Friday 3/4/05 *HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....ME!!!*

Well...it's finally here. And as luck would have it...it's also my BIRTHDAY!!! Cool huh? I can't think of any better place to be than running at Nationals. I actually got some good present...a new pair of Nike Shox and some clothes from my fav store Forever 21. But its time to worry about the important things : running. I ate the usually two blueberry muffins, a glass of chocolate milk and 2 cups of hot green tea. We left a little before 11, and when we got there I just kinda walked around, chilled waiting for time to get ready. We had a racewalker...walk...and he was doing so awesome. But they DQed him, total crap!!! They said he "bent his knee"...he would of gotton 7th place!!! (It's alright Kevin!) Then I ran...I got 2nd in my heat (7.25) I was very very pleased with my race, I came out of the blocks very powerful. Then things went downhill. I ended up getting 14th overall...top 12 go to simi's. I admit it, when I read the list...I felt those blueberry muffins come up...I thought I was going to puke. It was a total mental and physical blow. I feel like all of my hard work has gone down the tube. All of the extra time put in on the track was a total waste. Maybe I should just give this whole thing up? Maybe it's some kind of joke...maybe I'm some kind of joke...who am I kidding. The sport that I love more than anything it kicking my ass!!! I ran my absloute best and hardest...and it got me nowhere. I'm so ashamed and embarassed for myself, just because I had expected so much more for myself. But hey, everyone else ran faster that day. And I tip my hat to them. God has put so many dreams in my heart, and I'm not going to give up. I know I can do it, I won conference, and I have faith that more is in my future. Hard work does pay off...it may not show right now...but it will soon enough. But I guess 14th at Nationals isn't a total faliure. So many other things are so much worse, this is just fuel for my fire. By the end of the day I was totally zonked, just wore out...but my teammates are preformed awesome. Lynn ended up getting 5th in the long jump and was named All-American, which is awesome. And Flordia (Terrance Rhodes) advanced to the finals of the 200m. We ate at Ryan's that right, and the people there came out and sang to me...embarassing...but I made it through. Man, that night I feel alseep before my head hit the pillow.

Saturday 3/5/05

I headed out with my rents that morning. I'm still upset about my preformace...I just expect nothing but the best for myself. I DID NOT come this far to do this badly...but I have to accept it and move on. We left little after 9:00am...I slept a lot. Wore my new Nike's they're cool. I don't feel any older today, but it will deferently be a Birthday that I will soon not forget.

Sunday 3/6/05

Finally back!!! Kinda glad...I didn't realize how much I missed everything till I got back here. Went to the gym today and worked out, and then I went out for 25 min. jog because it was super nice here today. So I got a big workout in today, which made me feel good after sitting in a car for what seemed like a week. Worked on homework for hours on end...

From here on out I'm going to write down my workouts...just leading up to National's we didin't hit it "hard-core", but now that Outdoor is around the corner, I'm sure that I'll have plunty to write. I'd last off like to give a shout out to everyone that qualified for Nationals: Kenyatta Rolle, Javion Jones, LaQuinta Curry, Shantelle Reynolds, Lynn Dettenwanger, Wendell Collie, Tarrence Rhodes, and Kevin Conrey; congrats to everyone and job well done!!! Good luck to everyone that has Nationals or whatever else is going on this week :)

Until next time-

Linze