Tomorrow is the Beginning of the Rest of My Life

5:06pm

5.25.11

Pre Race Thoughts

Tomorrow is the beginning of the rest of my life. Well my track life at least. Tomorrow is my 3rd NCAA East Regionals appearance in 5 years and this is the most important one. Tomorrow sums up 5 years of ups, downs and sacrifices. It also will sum of 5 years of mental, physical and spiritual battles. Coupled with coaching changes, injuries that reignited my love for my craft and the reintroduction of me. This has by far been my best season. they say good things come to those that wait. It feels like it took an eternity to get to this moment in time. As cliche as this may sound, its all true. All in all, I know that everything happens for a reason. This is the perfect time for me to showcase what I have learned and to overcome myself, the doubts, the times I wanted to give up and the 2 hamstring injuries that almost stole my love for track & field.

Over this year I have learned a lot about myself. My teammates say that I'm old. but I'm aged like fine wine. I believe that my age has been a great advantage for me on the track this season. My experience and knowledge of track and field has grown over the years. I have a bette understanding of how to my body works and how my body responds to certain types of training. This season, I am in the best shape of my life. I have never been so focused, determined and anxious to get better. There has never been a time in my career where I had truly had the will to be the best as I do now. This meet tomorrow will showcase what I have learned over these past 5 years. Yet, I know I still have more to learn.

Truthfully, the two main reasons for me coming back and competing in my final season were my team and my dream of going pro. Through all the unsuccessful tries of winning a conference championship, I still believed that above all, NOT winning a conference championship was the best thing for my career. Some may say that I'm crazy for feeling this way but I believe that all of the knowledge, experience and success that I have acquired with out winning one is just a powerful as being a multiple conference champion. Going pro has always been my dream since I was a little kid. My dream of becoming the best and being recognized as the best is so rewarding to me. I pray that I will NEVER lose the hunger I have now.

To me, nothing is more powerful than learning from those who have been around for a long time. I had guys like Dirty, Davion and Jackie (former teammates) to teach me how to both be a competitor and a man. Learning to be a competitor and a man go hand in hand. Learning how to practice, compete and live with integrity and discipline is to me what makes you a true champion. Aside from the medals, ribbons and recognition, being able to hone these traits are immensely important to making the transition from adolescent hood to manhood.

Tomorrow is the day that everything comes to fruition. What I have learned, what I haven't learned and what I have taught myself. I'm both excited and anxious to lace up my spikes, put on my VCU, black and gold and fly. Tomorrow I run for my family, my team and my dreams. George Washington once said, "No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving something behind." I pray that when my time is done on the track, I will have left something behind for someone to take hold of and run with.

Signing off,

-d