Taking Baby Steps...

Everybody that knows the "Big Guy", knows that emotion is something that I RARELY show, but yesterday was an instance that I couldn't control and felt like posting about.

While I was out at the track for a training session yesterday, I wasn't too sure how things were really going to shake out. I went out with what I wanted to get done in my mind, but you know how when you plan something out in your head, it rarely goes as planned. Things end up looking a whole lot better "on paper" than they actually turn out in reality.

With this said, I wanted to get back to some serious hurdling in training. All of us athletes know that the hardest thing to overcome in regards to a serious injury is actually the mental part of it. Tears, bone breaks, sprains and strains all heal with time, but it's something about the process that takes place between your left earlobe and right earlobe that is the hardest to get past.

I have been training and working out very hard, but I had yet to take it up a couple of notches because I was apprehensive about the possibility of a re-injury, but I ended up just saying to hell with it, it's no better time to see what I'm feeling like than right now.

I placed 16 hurdles up on the woman's spacing and told myself lets see what happens. I started out five stepping, just to see if something would go wrong. I was good doing that for two reps, then I made a decision to spike it up and let's hit it. I was able to go full speed on my calf for multiple reps, spiked up, three stepping and it felt like I had never left.

When I got through the first rep, about 150 meters from where I started, I got a little teary eyed. Yeah, you read that right.

This might have been the happiest I felt on a track EVER. I wasn't emotional in winning and Olympic medal, winning U.S. championships, running sub 13 seconds, making my first team, whatever you can name. In all of those situations, I was still able to compete. Even if I came fourth at the games, never made a team, never had an all-time performance, I was still able to compete. Being injured and not able to do what it is you want to do, is harder to overcome than any on track performance fault. At least when you're able to compete, there is always another race tomorrow to get it right.

Anyone that's been hurt knows that when you get over that first hurdle post-injury is the biggest step, giving you the confidence that you will be OK. During the workout, I was running out of gas around hurdle 12, but that was the least of my concerns. My hands were shaking while I was trying to send Brooks an email informing him on what I was able to do.

Even with all these off track issues, air conditioning going out at my house AND my car, my main computer being on the fritz, my Blackberry is tripping and personal heartache, I will keep my eyes deadlocked on what it is I need to do to make a successful comeback. Everything is looking right on track.

Bottom line is: I LOVE MY SPORT