http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/home Recent lwheels Posts en-us “If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” -Red Adair  As we aim to professionalize our sport we must first take action to professionalize ourselves. We have spent too much time costing ourselves the future we are destined for by refusing to educate ourselves and demand changes to make athlete friendly improvements to our sport. We are still in the process of defining what it means to be a “Professional Track & Field Athlete” but I assure you that there is more to it than training daily and winning medals. We must ditch the attitude that if we have done this nothing else is required of us. No more of the mindset that anything we choose to do outside of working out and winning races is a privilege we are bestowing on others. As an example, the US Olympic team was asked to complete a survey regarding the competence of the Olympic staff on August 31st. After numerous reminders, on October 19th a plea was sent with hopes of getting the nu Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:37:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/an_investment_in_knowledge_pays_the_best_interest/12423691 http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/an_investment_in_knowledge_pays_the_best_interest/12423691 An investment in knowledge pays the best interest... http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/an_investment_in_knowledge_pays_the_best_interest/12423691 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png Last night twitter timelines were flooded with "I am honored to be an Olympian but, #rule40 #wedemandchange" and it has many asking questions. What exactly is this rule40 and what sort of change is being demanded? Here's a summary of what the movement means to me.First a you need to know the players:Athletes: Olympians and those aspiring to being OlympiansIOC: International governing body over the entire OlympicsNOC: National Organizing Committee for a particular country in my case USOCIOC sponsors: those giving enough money to the IOC to have 'Official sponsor of the Olympic Games' displayed in their advertisingUSOC sponsors: those giving enough money to the USOC to have 'Official sponsor of the Team USA'' displayed in their advertisingPersonal sponsors: resources or funding secured by the athlete for personal useJob: any work in addition to full time training to become an Olympian in order to be able live day to day or to supplement additional monies needed after securing Mon, 30 Jul 2012 17:41:56 -0400 http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/understanding_why_wedemandchange/11335204 http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/understanding_why_wedemandchange/11335204 Understanding why #wedemandchange http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/understanding_why_wedemandchange/11335204 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png Made it to Monaco!The picture posted is the view from our balcony, amazing right!? I am sitting on that balcony as I type and can't help but be grateful. I've finally had time to process how the trials unfolded for me and what I want for myself for the remainder of the year. You guys know I tell it ALL good or bad and I must say initially being selected to the relay was a tough pill for me to swallow. God is funny sometimes... I find it a little more than ironic that having been a direct part of the botched hand offs of the previous two games, I find myself on a 3rd team for solely the relay. Talk about a chance at redemption... As a competitor you are always going to feel that pang when your split up into the A and B team. Having routinely been an 'A' team member and knowing that despite my current 'B' team position I am still the 'Vet' of the group required some self reflection on how I got here and what I can do to make this a positive experience. I seen it where the ' Mon, 16 Jul 2012 11:34:24 -0400 http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/golden_opportunity/11229586 http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/golden_opportunity/11229586 Golden Opportunity! http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/golden_opportunity/11229586 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png Made it to Monaco!The picture posted is the view from our balcony, amazing right!? I am sitting on that balcony as I type and can't help but be grateful. I've finally had time to process how the trials unfolded for me and what I want for myself for the remainder of the year. You guys know I tell it ALL good or bad and I must say initially being selected to the relay was a tough pill for me to swallow. God is funny sometimes... I find it a little more than ironic that having been a direct part of the botched hand offs of the previous two games, I find myself on a 3rd team for solely the relay. Talk about a chance at redemption... As a competitor you are always going to feel that pang when your split up into the A and B team. Having routinely been an 'A' team member and knowing that despite my current 'B' team position I am still the 'Vet' of the group required some self reflection on how I got here and what I can do to make this a positive experience. I seen it where the ' Mon, 16 Jul 2012 11:27:55 -0400 http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/golden_opportunity/11229514 http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/golden_opportunity/11229514 Golden opportunity! http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/golden_opportunity/11229514 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png This has been a really cool year for me! Without knowing the result of what will happen this Friday and Saturday I am already more appreciative of this opportunity than either of my previous 2 Olympic trials or any other milestone in my life up to this point for that matter.Of course I am walking into it with the anxiety of not knowing how it will all play out but this time I'm confident that no matter the result I will not regret the process to get here.In 2004 I had nothing to loose. Ignorance truly was bliss. Though I wanted to do well I didn't have the pressure of disappointing if I didn't because there was no baseline. 2008 it was my job. Track is what I chose as a profession and with it came the implied expectation that I do at least as well as the previous time. Feeling extreme pressure to deliver,I pulled it off. Battling my way back from injury and starting to have trouble with fluctuations in my weight I exercised a little discipline, got in the zone managed to get in the best shape o Wed, 20 Jun 2012 18:51:24 -0400 http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/third_times_already_a_charm/11056289 http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/third_times_already_a_charm/11056289 Third time's already a charm! http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/third_times_already_a_charm/11056289 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png Hey Everyone!! Less than 2 weeks away from the start of my season and I wanted to make sure everyone had the schedule so they can plan and/or pray accordingly! Hopefully you can make it to watch one live but if not your prayers on that day are appreciated. The only event that will be televised is the Olympic Trials but the schedule has not been posted yet please check www.usatf.org for the schedule as it gets closer to the date. Thanks so much for supporting me on the road to London!! April 14th: University of Miami Coral Gables,FL  4x1 4:00pm and 100 5:40pmApril 21st: Mt. Sac. Relays Walnut,CA 4x1 and 200April 28th: Penn Relays, Philadelphia,PA 4x1May 5th: Guadalupe 100mMay 13th: Brazil 200mMay 16th: Brazil 100mMay 20th: Brazil 100mMay 26th: OFFJune 2nd: Clermont,FL 100mJune 9th: OFFJune 16th: OFFJune 22-July 1: OLYMPIC TRIALS Eugene,OR 100 and 200m Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:33:44 -0400 http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/2012_race_schedule/10473166 http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/2012_race_schedule/10473166 2012 Race Schedule http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/2012_race_schedule/10473166 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png Happy 2012 with just short of 6 months until the Olympic trials it is officially crunch time! With my summer being cut short I began my training August 29th which puts me at 19 weeks into training this week. I am still in sunny Miami Florida with Amy Deem training at the University of Miami. Fall training went well and I am looking forward to the indoor season to use as preparation for the outdoor season. We took a more traditional approach this fall pulling out some workouts from my college days. Two of the neatest additions to my training this fall have been Bikram yoga and chef Debbie. Bikram Yoga is the newest addition to my cross training regimen and I love it!! 90 minutes in a room that averages about 105 degrees trying to get my body in positions that just aren’t natural for a sprinter. It has definitely helped my flexibility and transferred over to the track by allowing me more range of motion. With weight loss being a priority this fall I was lucky enough to cross paths with a fellow professiona Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:07:24 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/lets_race/9144019 http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/lets_race/9144019 Let's Race! http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/lwheels/article/lets_race/9144019 http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png