Saturday, August 28, 2010

Back At It Again...

There aren't very many meets I haven't been to during some stage of my career, but this is the first time I have ever been to the competition in Rieti, Italy.

It's a small town where the people are nice and laid back, they literally wait on you hand and foot and make sure everything is OK. Anything I've needed or wanted has been taken care of, the hospitality they have extended to us has been an A+.

I've been here for a few days now, had a couple of good workouts that were light and straight to the point.
This meet fell at a great time for me. I didn't want to sit around for nearly three weeks without competing between Zurich and Split. I was trying to find a race to go to that wasn't too close to Zurich or too close to the race at Continental Cup. I need every last one of those days to get back fresh after I compete, right now the days of me doing two races a week like I use to are over for the time being.

I don't think people understand the toll our bodies go through hurdling. At close to 210 pounds, at the velocity I run, multiplying my body weight probably four times coming off 42'' barriers, ten times in a race, that's a lot of weight coming down on that lead leg. That's only the competition aspect of it, not counting training. Needless to say, ice baths and massage therapists are my best friends! I probably get rubbed out three times a week and take an ice bath four times a week.

This meet out here in Rieti has startlists comparable to that of a Diamond League meet. The races are going to be great. The weather out here is nice as well and the facility has very good warm up areas. We all should be nice and loose for competition.

The 110 hurdle meet record is 13.07 held by Colin Jackson, I think he set it in 1994. If I have a good day, I think that I should be able to challenge this mark. It would be cool to add another meet record to my list.

I really hope the crowd will be loud and energetic, I love when they are. It was so loud in Zurich before the race, then we got down to get in our blocks, the crowd fell dead silent. It threw me off for real. I had to check back in mentally at the start!

I will update sometime after the competition. I really appreciate the support from you guys, the enthusiasm you show for me and my accomplishments definitely make me feel great. There's a lot of you guys that have been riding with me since way back in '07 when I started this blog and I had a personal best of 13.20 and the mission was 12.87 before I changed it a year later.

It is funny when I've been being interviewed lately and they ask me why I put that as a mission. I tell them because I couldn't think of anything else to put for a title and they look at me funny, maybe next time I should tell them that I was feeling a little like Nostradamus LMAO! They ask me if I thought I could run that time back when I started it and I say "not in a million years!" I never would have thought I would come remotely close to it, but hard work and sacrifice definitely pays off, especially when you combine it with maturing mentally as well.

If you believe it, you can see yourself doing it, you can definitely achieve it!! Always believe in yourself, no matter what people may say.

When I made my decision to accept my scholarship from Howard, people were telling me that it wasn't a place that I could succeed athletically and doing a lot of negative recruiting. I told them I could be good no matter where I attended school and I really believed it.

When I started running in '05, bouncing rent checks every month and working 30+ hours a week at Niketown, I turned down opportunities from two NFL teams right after the '05 draft to sign a rookie free agent deal and come to camp. Two of my training partners at the time said that was a stupid decision and they would have done it if they had the opportunity. I told them I was going to make it in track and field and I wholeheartedly believed I could.

Of course it was hard, but like the Olympic Creed reads "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."

At the end of the day, my early struggles make me appreciate my late triumphs so much and I'm definitely a fighter! I always credit my mental toughness as a reason I am successful and I have an undying belief in ME!

I know the direction of my posts start off one way and may end up in a whole 'nother universe LOL, I just get to typing and whatever comes out, come out. I don't proof read what I write either, but I do correct spelling, that red line that comes underneath the words is very annoying to me. I just type what I am feeling at the moment so please excuse my grammatical errors along with the scatterbrain-ness (if that's a word) of this post. Thanks for reading though.

10 comments:

Nellie said...

Very nice post and the ending is cute and random. Can't wait to read your update at the meet. Good luck!!

Dr.RF said...

"Scatterbrain-ness" must provide good practice opportunities for mental toughness. Great season! But, don't leave my man Joel hanging like that.
DR.RF

Terry B. said...

Man to be completely Honest I Started running track at the end of 07 but officially 08 and I started off doing hurdles because you were the first athlete I saw. All I remember thinking was This Dude is INSANE its impossible for anyone to be better than him.! Before I knew I it was analyzing everything you did so that I can one day be as great as you. Then when you won the Olympic Trails And they began to tell a little bit of your life Story I was even more amazed because I have a VERY similar situation.! LONG STORY SHORT You are an inspiration to not only athletes like me but just people in general.! Keep doing ya thang man, I'm a huge fan I hope to race you one day.!

P.S. Me and one of my best friends Have been waiting on you to break the WR for 2 years now..lol

Go ahead and get it done brotha.!!

Terry B.

Terry B. said...

Man to be completely Honest I Started running track at the end of 07 but officially 08 and I started off doing hurdles because you were the first athlete I saw. All I remember thinking was This Dude is INSANE its impossible for anyone to be better than him.! Before I knew I it was analyzing everything you did so that I can one day be as great as you. Then when you won the Olympic Trails And they began to tell a little bit of your life Story I was even more amazed because I have a VERY similar situation.! LONG STORY SHORT You are an inspiration to not only athletes like me but just people in general.! Keep doing ya thang man, I'm a huge fan I hope to race you one day.!

P.S. Me and one of my best friends Have been waiting on you to break the WR for 2 years now..lol

Go ahead and get it done brotha.!!

Terry B.

ejheat said...

I wish you would have more blog posts like this one from time to time! It's been a while since I really felt in my heart, knowing you quite well, that you really had some real true heartfelt things on your mind that you wanted to share with everyone on your blog! 2 years for me on your blog & many comments from me, & this blog post made me very emotional & you know why! Your blog father has spoken!!!!

As you know, & some other of your blog readers that have been on here for a while know, that my days commenting on your blog are greatly reduced because of how hard & painful it is for me to type because of my neurological dystonia condition! So, for me to type to anyone shows how much I really, truly care about that person! My right hand is a mess & people would be shocked if they knew what I go through just to get ready & go out into the world & then function as well as I do for the 7-10 days per month on average that I actually get out, as well as, do things for others despite my awful pain because I truly care & that includes strangers that I meet when I'm out somewhere! I've helped 2 kids lately in ways that made them so happy & that was just God putting me in the right place at the right time to help them & it felt so good to do that despite my pain! Everytime I get out & go somewhere I appreciate it so much & enjoy it to the fullest & thank God! I don't take anything for granted living with this dystonia & my other associated health problems! I keep fighting & fighting this horrific dystonia disease just like you mentioned in this blog post with your quote! I amaze myself sometimes at how I keep going! That red line is always under dystonia because our world, especially in this country, still is so clueless when it comes to knowing dystonia exists, that it comes up as a red line word not knowing what dystonia is or thinking it's spelled wrong! That is extremely annoying & upsetting to me!!!! I'm exhausted & in pain from typing but it's been a while since I commented on your blog so congrats on all your incredible accomplishments so far in 2010 with still more to go! DO it up BIG today in Italy! Me & Coach E got our Italy boots on, since Italy is boot shaped, to kick your OOM-PA-PA even faster out of the DO box & over those 10 hurdles! That's the bottom line because me & big booty Coach E said so!!!!

Eric

Claude said...

David, I dont know if any of your regular "blog-mates" have had the opportunity to meet you in person. I've known you since your freshman year at Howard, I first knew you as a fledgling young athlete with potential who was a very pleasant young man who would go far if he had a mind to do so. You have fulfilled everything me and the rest of the "5th Man TAC" crowd saw in you those first years. On a personal level, I've watched you grow from that "kid wearing those horrible blue and white argyle socks" to a mature young adult whose head is screwed on right. Your growth as an athlete has been great but your growth as a person has been far greater. This track track season is kind of like everything you've worked for coming together and reaching a certain "karmatic fruition." Best of luck in the race today from one Angel-Bison(East High-Howard U) to another.

Ms.Mia said...

Hey, I'm watching now. I hope I didnt miss you run. I just woke up. LOL Its 12PM here in the states. I'm watching on http://www.veetle.com/index.php/channel/view#4c7999f3ea64e
I just saw Nesta Carter give his flowers away twice. When you win what do you do when you get yours? LOL

Ms.Mia said...

Man I wish I spoke Italian. I cant understand a word the commentator is saying. =( Oh well. At least I can see you run. LOL

Ms.Mia said...

Ok. 13:01 I see you..... Ok I'm going back to sleep now. Have a good day. lol

LaLa said...

I like reading your posts when they cover a bunch of different thoughts, it's never boring. Italy is my favorite place in the world right now. How did you like the food??

It's interesting to learn the NFL was after you, Track is truly where you belong and I'm glad you made the choices you made. Take care of yourself.