My First Season as a Sprinter.
My BB.COM profile has been pretty much inactive for the past few months. Ever since I started sprinting in January of 2008 the emphasis I placed on going to gym and tracking my strength and growth has shifted to running faster times in the 10o meter dash.
The goal which I had up on my BB profile since 2007 was to participate in the UWI Intercampus games in 2009. I am happy to say that I accomplished that goal and came 3rd in the 100 meter finals with a less than impressive time of 11.03 seconds. It was surely was not the best I could have done, as I had stumbled on my fourth step off of the line and had to recover. However I am guessing that I would have been able to run at least 10.9 or maybe 10.89 which would have been more than enough for 2nd place.
Over-all my first full season as a sprinter has been a good learning experience. I had a few obstacles and hurdles which I fought with throughout the season. Things began to go wrong when I purchased a pair of track spikes which were too small for my feet. The first thing it did was give me a nasty blister on my left foot. As the season progressed my beloved shoes went on to give me calluses on the balls of both of my feet, more blisters and generally make it painful to run for the rest of the season (luckily I’ve since then bought a new pair).
I also got a couple injuries; first, from falling off of a bike and bruising up my leg badly and then by hurting my shin after I kicked someone who pissed me off a couple times. Also my ankles got sore for unknown reasons and stayed sore up until just before UWI games. To top it off I strained my left hamstring two weeks before the St. Lucia National Championships which I was really looking forward too. Still injured I managed a controversial 3rd place in that race, (officials said 4th) running well over 11 seconds. I should also mention that I foolishly decided to stop doing weight training in February, (which is probably why I got injured).
In retrospect however, all things considered it was a fair season. Had conditions been more favorable, and had I trained until the end of the season, had I had a proper coach and followed a proper yearly program and had I not gotten injured I could have run 10.7 seconds or lower. Unfortunately "would’ve could’ve should’ve" is not a mantra I particularly subscribe to. The reality is that 11.03 was my fastest recorded electronic time. I ran a couple meets before that which I am sure were faster but I never got the electronic times for those since they were not finals.
…But next season will be better. My new goal is now posted on my profile, 10.4 before the end of next year’s season. I have better shoes, mistakes I’ve learned from and lots of plans. We’ll see what happens. Ironically I was going through my blog and I realized I had an entry about runners and their leg strength, and now I’m one of them, such is life.
