Blogs : Eric Simmons

And it was a great week.

Last week was indeed a pretty good week. I've been done with school for about 2 and half weeks, so last week was my first "track only" week. We were relatively light on monday with only a shakeout run and some weights due to the athletic banquet at 6:30 p.m. At the banquet, i received the track half of our MVP award as Ahmad took the honors for the field. I also received the team GPA award. To end the night, I took home the "Laker Award", which goes to the top student-athlete in the entire athletic department. I don't really get "giddy" for a lot of things, but to say I was happy was a bit of an understatement as I felt my 5 years of hard work on the track and in the class finally meant something all because I held a shiny trophy and shook some hands. The award really hit home when I was told by the assistant basketball coach that the vote selected me was unamimous. It made me feel respected and proud that the 5 years I spent representing this school was seen as having a positive impact.

Last week on the track, I pretty much did next to nothing. On tuesday, I did 1x150 in 15.7 and did a 2 mile run. On wednesday, I did blocks. Thursday, I did another 2 mile run and Friday, I did absolutely zero. Actually, on thursday, I filled my car up at a malfunctioning gas pump. This allowed me to fill my car up for the low low price of $13.82. Go ahead and be jealous people.

On Saturday, we ran at the Division II South Region track meet. The meet featured the likes of Fort Valley, Albany State, Morehouse, Harding, Alabama Huntsville, and Clark Atlanta. There were several people who are on the performance list in many different events, so this was kind of like a dress rehearsal for nationals. I ran the 4x1, the 4, the 2, and the 4x4. the 4x1 was the epitome of disaster as the stick never made it around the track. Right after the 4x1 was the 400. Up until this race, my fastest this year was 47.80 because I couldn't get the first 200 right. This race though, was different. I went in with the mentality that I would run fast to the 200 and see what happened after that. I got to the 200 in 21.6 and felt pretty good. A guy from Fort Valley pulled up to me, but I was able to pull away from him with about 50 meters left. I checked the results and my time read 47.03, which is an improvement over my personal best of 47.12. The time has me listed 9th on the performance list and that should get me into nationals. I felt great entering the race from the rest during the week, and although I did not get that 46 I've been gunning for, you will never hear me say anything bad about a PR.

Seeing as I had less than an hours rest between any of my events, the 200 was mediocre at best. I think I was the first person to ever catch the infamous "buttlock" before the race even began. I felt like a 2x4 in the blocks and never really got going, finishing with a time of 21.81 for 4th. In the 4x4, I felt the same way. I split 47.5 and felt like what I imagine a car would feel like with a malfunctioning transmission, sputtering and unable to shift gears at time.

Now, we begin to play the infamous waiting game to see who makes it to nationals. Right now, we have me, Ahmad, Kim, Allison, Keisha, and Jon all on the performance list, meaning we could potentially have our largest representation ever at a championship meet. Now, I'll just take these next 2 and half weeks to get in some solid training, some rest, and hopefully I can hit that 46 at nationals and earn some All-American honors. I think that would be a good way to end my career.

Oh, and I graduate Saturday. Guess I should start thinking about the real world huh?

Congrats

8:36 AM, May 7, 2008 .. Posted by tr400

Graduating college is a big deal man. Please take the time to enjoy the moment and relish in the journey that got you there. As far as track goes that 46 is in the bag, write it down, say it, and do it.

In health and riches.

Untitled Comment

12:21 AM, May 8, 2008 .. Posted by ULMSpeeddemon

Congrats on the Pr. Another blessing from God. Keep it up and remain focus and 46 is right there.