I've been having a great time out in Des Moines, interacting with the fans and really just celebrating the fact that I'm at the US Championships. I had a pretty full day yesterday, a great interview with NBC, talked to a group of kids with the Win With Integrity program, an on-air interview with a local radio station, an autograph signing session and of course practice.My family drove nine hours from Denver to Des Moines and arrived yesterday. An RV full of the clan, you know my number one fan, my mom was excited to be here as always.
Today though, it was time to get to business. I ran the first of three rounds today and it is blazing hot in Des Moines, reminds me of being home in Orlando.
I was in the third of four heats and the gameplan for today was to go out and use as minimal amount of effort as possible to make it to the next round. I also noticed that all day the starter seemed to be holding the runners in the set position longer than usual, so I made it my point to sit in the blocks and not worry about trying to get out. They had to restart the previous heat a couple of times and a runner was thrown out the race for a false start, so I definitely wasn't going to be a dummy and not learn from someone else previous mistake.
The gun went off and I just got in to a very comfortable hurdling rhythm and survived without any mishaps and advanced on to tomorrow's semi final. The race was probably one of the easiest and most relaxed I have ever felt. We are running into some very stiff headwinds, but that's never something I concern myself with. Like I've said before, I prefer it this way as opposed to with a tail wind. I ran 13.58 (-2.1w) and have the fastest time going in to the semis.
Tomorrow at 12:30 central time, I will go off in one of two semi final heats, looking for a spot in the final. If all goes well, I'll be in the final looking for a shot at regaining the crown of national champion.
The semi final will air on ESPN from 1-2:30pm eastern and the final will be televised on NBC from 3-4pm eastern. Tune in!
Check out the race from the preliminary heat here:
CLICK HERE FOR RACE VIDEO
2 comments:
Keep up the good work!! Good luck. Blessings :)
Congratulations on your win today. I was truly impressed that you were able to recover after hitting the first hurdle and STILL get that fabulous time! It's not often that Des Moines gets to see world-class talent. Hope you return for future races.
All the best.
M.
Post a Comment