BITTERSWEET EXPERIENCE

I have been in Eugene, Oregon for the USA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships aka World Trials since this past Tuesday. After a few days of reflection upon my performance on the first day of competition where I participated on the senior women 10,000m race, I came to the conclusion that the experience can be best describe as a "Bittersweet Experience"

I came to the national meet expecting to to leave the track with a personal best. Instead I left the track with tired legs, last place finish, and a time that was 2 minutes slower than predicted. The question is, how and why did this have to happen on the most important day of the season? The answers can be many, but after putting the puzzle together Im sure I overworked myself (overtrained) the last two weeks leading to the championships. Looking back, I know that in the previous 12 days I was very excited to be back to sea level and have a training partner that Im sure I over did it on my easy days. As much as I would like to blame someone else, I know it was my own decisions that led me to such a poor performance. A performance that I never expected to have on my first ever USA Outdoor National Championships.

At TrackTown Pizza with Coach Martin and his Family

As you can imagine, my spirits were not in good shape, but after a few days of reflection there is only one thing that I can put into practice "Live and Learn" and "Make the best out of the experiece" after all, that is what life is all about "Experience". Even tough this was the bitter part of my experience in Eugene, I get to go home with a much sweeter outcome.

With the fastest man in the USA~Second fastest in the World

~ Tayson Gay~

Thanks to Kara Goucher who finished 2nd place in the 10,000m and in the process hit the A standard for worlds, I get to be on the USA World Championship Marathon Team for Dageu South Korea on August 27th. Yes, my 3rd World Championship Marathon Team! One of the main reasons that keep me in the sport is this~ The oportunnity to represent the USA in the second major event in athletics and hopefully in the near future the Olympics.

With Abdi at TrackTown Pizza

Many great things came out of my stay in Eugene. Enjoyed being and spectator and a fan. Seeing everyone compete and giving it a shot to earn a spot on the world team is simply inspiring. As a fan I enjoyed yelling and screaming my heart out. As an athlete I feel for the ones that came up short of reaching a dream. Im excited to go back home to prepared for the next challenge: a very hot and humid marathon at the World Championships in Dageu, South Korea.

~Men's 800m 1st and 2nd place finishers~

Nick Symmonds and Khadevis Robinson

A BIG SUCCESS

The 2010-2011 After School Tutoring program has come to an end and to celebrate the big success we decided to have a pizza party. I would like to thank the immigrant resource center for providing pizza and drinks for the kids. Also, big thanks Norma Gomez and Phil Archuleta main volunteers for all their help.





Im so happy to announce that tutoring had a significant impact on the students final grades. 100% of the students tutored improved their grades by more than 20%. We had kids who at the beggining of the program had 2s with 4s being the highest and ended up with 3+ and 4s. Most importantly all of them learned to appreciate and enjoy having after school homework.




One of the many things I enjoy about the program was the way each kid would get involve by helping and guiding other kids. They all became really close and good friends. Also, I really had a blast on our running activities like the XC, Indoor, and Outdoor competitions.




For sure, a great program with a lot of success. It is our intention to keep the program going for the next school year. Teachers, parents, tutors and myself are so proud of our children. Great job everyone!!! You all Rock!!! Here is the link to all the pictures from our last day!

Last Day Pizza Party