Unrelated: I had a nice vacation...

Okay...October has been up and down.
Everyday at practice I have had a nagging Achilles pain, but once I get going it eases away. Therefore, I have been backing off of a lot of workouts. Still, I keep thinking "man I hope I don't have Dragila-type injury." I have been icing and resting it, but I think I might have to get a seriously checked out (something I am reluctant to do). Well that's the the "down", now for the up. This week I had the opportunity to take a "break" and travel home to Cincinnati and visit Washington, D.C.

First off, I want to say thank you to all the gracious hosts along the trip. Second, I had a blast. Two of my college teammates celebrated their Olympic triumphs in Cincinnati and I was honored to be present. They received a very warm welcome at halftime of the UC Homecoming Game. They also threw a huge party (for which I became the de facto promoter). I had fun, we all danced the night away and took allloooottt of pictures. It really reminded me of the "old times" when all we did was run/jump, win and celebrate. After the party was over I took a few days to recover with some light jogs and tempo running. The injury seemed to worsen with these workouts. Oh well.

David decided he was interested in going to Washington, D.C. to hang out with some more teammates at the Howard Homecoming (here is a place where I can spiral off a huge tangential storyline). Basically, another former UC Bearcat's Dad is the newly crowned president of Howard University. If you don't know much about Howard, it suffices to say that is called the "Black Harvard" (that's according to my History of Ed. Prof Dr. K). No matter what, it was a great trip and a great University. The students were filled with pride and I took pride in being their Guest. David was quite familiar with the area (well somewhat) and showed me around Georgetown and DC. Dr. Ribeau took great care of us while we were there, making sure we had a chance to experience all of the facets of the Howard experience. I was very grateful for the time I had to spend with old teammates and lifetime friends.

When that was over with, I got back to Champaign Monday morning with my eyes affixed on the prize. After seeing what spoils the victors had, I was ready to get back to work. It was a struggle getting back into the swing of things. But, like everything else in my life--its a process. And the key to a process is not the end result, but the steps along the way. It's early, I gotta keep working to build my strength and endurance. But, I have come to the realization that my time is upon me. Thanks for checking in. Next post...less explanatory, more pole vault stuff. Welcome back.