Monday, September 17, 2007

Zurich & Brussels (2007)

After leaving Japan I was suppose to head home to Cincinnati, but instead went off to run in some more meetings. I hopped on a plane from Osaka and headed to Switzerland where I would compete in the famous Zurich meeting. I have come to notice in Europe they don't call these events track meets, instead they are meetings. Once I arrived in Switzerland, there was an extreme difference in temperature from Japan. I had left 100 degree weather and now I would be in 55 degree weather. I wasn't prepared for this shocker, but it was nice to have at least one pair of long pants and a jacket with me.
My body was extremely tired from what it went through in Japan, and I ended up two days before the meet with extreme back pain/tightness. I tried to get some treatment and prepare for the meet. The crowd at Zurich was wonderful, even with the weather being quite chilly, nothing would have stopped them from coming. Seriously people had on leather coats, scarves, gloves and winter coats. I was told that this is how the weather is n Europe in September. The end result of the race was me placing sixth with a time of 51.54. I was disappointed but also realized I wasn't feeling at a 100 percent. I decided not to run at the next meet in Italy and rest my body for the next meet in Brussels.

I had never been to Belgium before and sort of had mixed notions about it. What the area would be like, the people and even the food. I wanted to make sure that I tried a Belgium Waffle. Hey did you know that french fries come from Belgium....hahah not France. From what I was able to see Belgium was a great city. The people were so excited to see all the athletes there and the meeting was sold out. It is always amazing to me to see how many people support track and field in Europe. It's kind of like attending a Bengals game. I step out into the stadium and look into the crowd in amazement. So many people.....so many faces.
Wow!!!! I wanted to do better at this meet, since the last performance was not what I expected. I came into the meet more focused and I was going to give my all. I got 4th at this meet which was a Golden League meet, almost got third. I was unable to hold on the last 30 meter of the race, my body started to fatigue but my time as back down, 50.76. These experiences are quite nice. I get a chance to see different cultures, other athletes from around the world and of course race against the best. I have 1 race left and then it is home sweet home...wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!

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