Change of Plan
The following is an excerpt from my bio on my website:
This past year I decided that I wanted to sprint again, not only because I am good at it, but because I have a passion for it. I knew that the only way I should step back on the track is if I believed I deserved to be there, because there is no substitute for believing in yourself. I was able to set personal bests this year in both the 100 meters and the long jump and I feel that I am in a great place both mentally and physically to prepare for the 2008 season and the Olympic Games in Beijing.
I began this season with a set of goals and expectations for myself. This year I was going to be the athlete that I truly wanted to be, and I was going to set out to accomplish what I thought I was capable of. These days, many people know me as a long jumper. That’s what they see me as and for a few years that’s all I really did. But in college I was a sprinter that jumped. I was good at the long jump but I was really only successful because I was fast and I trained primarily as a sprinter throughout my college career. What forced me into becoming “just a jumper” out of college was because I was told by many people that it would be better to choose and focus on becoming great at one thing instead of just being good at a few. At that time it seemed easier to be great at the long jump. I already had won a U.S. title in the long jump and as everyone knows, the sprints are very deep in the U.S. so the logical choice seemed to be that I should stick to jumping.
Last year I made a decision to go back to being the athlete that I felt like on the inside. I felt like I was a great sprinter and I didn’t want to give that up and watch people I competed against all throughout college be successful at the professional level and feel like I could be as well. Not to mention the fact that not sprinting had not turned me into a better jumper. Not at all. So last year I began to make the transition and even though I had decided that was the route I wanted to go, I still didn’t have the perfect situation. I had a “jump-oriented” coach and I was still training primarily as a jumper, which is a bit different than the training you would do if you were an elite sprinter. Nonetheless, I was able to run under my PR 4 different times last year, the fastest being in the prelims at Nationals where I ran 11.10. That puts me in the top 10 in the U.S and it’s not even my main event! The problem was I ran it in the prelims.
My sprinting last year was far from consistent, which was my biggest problem. I had no race model and my start was shaky and unpredictable. But running those times showed me that I was capable of doing so much more. If I could run that fast doing so many things wrong and training the way I did, I knew that putting more focus on my race, learning to start properly, and having the training to get through the rounds would put me right where I needed to be. So that’s how I began this year, with a focus on being a great sprinter again and the desire to run at the Olympic Trials and truly feel like I belonged and that I was just as capable as any of the runners out there. The long jump was still part of the equation, but not my focus. I know I possess the tools to jump far and improving my sprinting would just add to the arsenal so I was going back to being a sprinter that jumped.
The point of me sharing all of this history and internal dialogue is because what I had set out to accomplish and my plan for the Trials is not going to be what I thought it was. I will not be running the 100 meters at the Olympic Trials; I will only be Long Jumping. It may seem like a simple enough decision, but it most definitely was not. I shared the long version with you because people might have been under the assumption that I was running the 100 just because I could. Shoot, I have the A standard, why not? Who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky and make the final. Except that wasn’t my mentality at all. I trained this year to be able to step out on the track and believe that I could make the team in the 100 meters. I have participated in events before, I wasn’t interested in that. People may look at that event and see how deep we are and how many talented sprinters we have, and think that it would have been a ridiculous long shot. All I know is that when I won my NCAA title in the 200 meters back in 2001 I entered that meet with the 23rd fastest time. There were 24 competitors. Long shot or not, all I need is an opportunity.
But the reality is what it is. Four rounds of racing require a certain level of fitness. Today was my first practice on a track in a month. (warm-up and strides—yay for small victories!) I have a little over four weeks to get back as much as I can. I may have it and I may not but testing it there and finding out that I don’t will be too late. I also would have no races until Trials—so basically I open up in the 100 meters then. Is that impossible? No. It’s just not very smart. And the reason it wouldn’t be very smart is because I am blessed to be talented in 2 different events and if trying to run the 100 takes everything I have, I have nothing left for the long jump. Being fit enough to take 6 jumps is different. Still hard, but different. Making the team in the Long Jump is going to require the absolute best that I have. I’ll have to jump a PR and so I know that I must do whatever I can to give myself the best opportunity for that.
So this incredibly long-winded post is to say that my focus is on the long jump. I wish it could be different but my coach has a plan and I need to follow it and believe in it. There is no point in being greedy and ending up with a sub-par effort by stretching myself too thin. I am already calling in my fair share of favors and blessings to find a way of being prepared to give a max effort in one event after this setback so I will be grateful for that opportunity.
post comment
.. Trackback
sup boo?
10:05 PM, May 27, 2008
.. Posted by Starr
imma argue with you on not running the 100m. life is a gamble. you win some and you loose some. its not being greedy on doing both. its the will to be successful. inf you go in the race with a humbling heart all things are possible. so get back on that horse and ride it out. dont take the safe road. live and except the success or failure that lies ahead so you will never look back i say, i wish i ran. instead, with the obsticles of life in my face and i gave it my best. i have faith in you. this is an olympic year!!! now go puke in practice!! BOO
Do it scared
12:58 PM, May 28, 2008
.. Posted by brooklynrunz
you know how ppl say, I gave it my all. I gave it 100%? That concept is scary to me because. Do you know what that would look like? Bent over at the finish line, puking, and in serious pain. I remember I had to run a 10k with sore hamstrings. I felt that they would tear at any moment because they were so tight. But I told God that I was going to do my best...and I set a PR! You have been blessed with the great talent in 2 events. Pray about it. Leave no regrets on the track. And if you must do what you have to do, whether that is doing 2 events or not, do it even if you are scared about the outcome.
Bri just concentrarte
2:28 PM, May 31, 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
You can get one of the spots you need one good jump
God's gift to you
3:13 AM, June 4, 2008
.. Posted by Anonymous
B. Glenn
I would like to first state good luck in Eugene! I wish all the best for you in your quest to make the Oly team. Secondly, I am so inspired by your commitment to reach that goal you have continued to strive for through all the ups and downs that track and field can take us through (injuries etc.). Sometimes reading your blogs makes me wonder why I gave up my dream to get the the trials. Being an NCAA All-American in the sprints and ranked in the top 20 in the US in the 100m in 1996,1997,1998, I hoped and dreamed to get the A standard for the trials only to run 10.11 (Wind aided) and get knocked out of the top 32 with my existing legal 10.21. A week later while training to correct some technical flaws the injury bug hit (severe ankle injury). It took me almost 3 months of rehab to get full use of my ankle as Atlanta came and gone. I had no alternative at that point only to watch it on TV. That moment sat with me for years, I had so much potential (as do most of the sprinters in the US) but you have your moment on the stage in the Long Jump go for it and jump far, if you have to push beyond your PR then push! This moment in Eugene is one to cherish you have the sound mentality to excel and achieve. God has blessed you with the ability to substitute due to your range in talent! Thank you B. Glenn for being instrumental to those of us who dreamed the reality you are living, I will be tuned in to watch. Godspeed!!
thanks
2:18 PM, June 4, 2008
.. Posted by missbri
that was a great message...
i appreciate all the support!
Frustrating, but...
2:08 PM, June 8, 2008
.. Posted by hmurphy
at the same time, I've always felt more confident after dropping down to specialize in one event instead of two. How are you feeling about this change?
{ Last Page } { Page 7 of 53 } { Next Page }
|
About Me
•
•
•
« September 2008 »
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | |
Recent Entries
• quick update...
• surrounded by love
• I'm off to Eugene!
• Totally committed
• TESTING. 1...2...3...
|
