Freakin New York!!

So, I went to New York last weekend for the Adidas Grand Prix, and it was utter sweetness. As for as the meet went, I wasn't too happy with my performance, but it is what it is. I did the 3-Event challenge which had shot put, long jump, and hurdles. In addition to myself, the field included Kasey Hill, Hyleas Fountain, and Jessica Ennis. My marks were 12.35, 6.28,13.84. The shot was so off that we don't even talk about that. We now know what was up and will not repeat that again. While long jump and hurdles were not too too off my pb's, much better would have been appreciated, but again, it is what it is.
Now on to the good stuff!! I was reunited with some former teammates, Gina Gull! aka G-Baby aka Geena Gall and Tiffany Ofifi aka Triflin Tiff aka Tiffany Ofili. SOOO. MUUUUCH. FUUUUUN. I love these girls, and we hadn't seen each other since we went our separate ways back in September. Much needed reunion. Kasey and I hung with these chicas most of the weekend, and it was great.
The highlight of my weekend was Saturday night by far! I don't think i've laughed as much as I did that night in a looooooong time. J Neezy aka Lil Jenni aka Jenni Neville, the infamous Skylar Andrews, Tiff's cuz, Obi, and Skylar's friend, Sheldon, also joined in the fun. J Neezy is doing an internship in NY and Skylar is working in the city. From utter hotel silliness/craziness to a 2am Coldstone Creamery run in TImes Square to 4am girls talk, this night was great. It was extremely much needed seeing as I live in Kansas where there is not much to do nor any black people (no exaggeration). ::sigh:: so yeah, great weekend:)

Gotzis Heptathlon

This is a bit late, but I went to Gotzis, Austria back in late May for the 2010 Hypo-Meeting. This was by far the best competition I had been in. I think the main thing was that the contested events were strictly multi events, the decathlon and heptathlon, so I could really see the appreciation of the fans for what I do. Since almost all of my multi's have been in the US, I was used to getting up at the crack of dawn and having a scattering of parents and lost fans watching my events. This was far from that case. The fans truly loved you. They understood the hard work that goes into the multi events and loved cheering you on every step of the way.
I arrived in Gotzis on Monday, May 24, and went straight to the track to get my practice done before I ate. When I walked into the stadium, I was quite taken aback by the modest appearance of what was home to the biggest multi meet in the world. While the surface was good, overall, it looked similar to many high school tracks i've run on. Noting this, I was even more excited to compete here because I knew that the meet days were going to looking completely different. Also, with only one grandstand, it made the track extremely intimate. It almost as if the fans were right there competing with you--very cool.
After a short practice, I returned back to my "hotel" to get settled. While the oversee athletes stayed in a hotel a couple of miles away, the US and Canadian athletes had the wonderful pleasure of staying at a quiet bed and breakfast type place hidden away in a nearby neighborhood. Staying at the bed and breakfast made such a difference in my experience. The owners knew everyone in our group by name and jumped at the chance to make our stay pleasurable. The food was AMAZING. I want to say that everything had about a pound of butter in it, and I probably gained a good (mostly bad) 5 pounds which I tried to lose soon after I returned to the states. My roomie in Gotzis was Canadian heptathlete, Jessica Zelinka--real cool girl. So yeah, as the week progressed, the other athletes and myself basically practiced, played some intense games of Phase Ten (if you don't know, now you know!), chilled, and prepared ourselves for the sweetness which was the Gotzis Hypo-Meeting.
As far as sight-seeing goes, I was able to go to a town center type place on my rest day, Thursday. It was pretty cool just walking around as seeing the culture of another country. However, I didn't like how I had to pay 50 cents (euro) to use the bathroom--still a cool experience:)

Finally, the day of the meet came, and I was very excited. My body had been feeling good the entire week, practices had been good, and mentally, I was ALL good. My coach was unable to be with me due to his collegiate coaching responsibilities, but we had gone over all my cues beforehand, and Hyleas Fountain's coach, Lynn Smith was more than willing to assist me. I will not go into super detail about the competition because frankly, I don't feel like it. However, my marks were: 14.00,1.82,13.62,25.07;6.29,37.62, 2:21.17. First day weather was good with sun and high 60's. Second day weather was very rainy with mid 50's. Despite the second day weather, I was having the time of my life because I was at freaking Goetzis. Overall, I ended up with a PB of 6000 which was my first time over 6000, so i was pleased. I also received the 2010 Rookie Award for the heptathlon, so that was pretty cool too. The comp was rather sloppy, but I've learned to take PB's whenever you get them. With these international competitions, in addition to trying to do well, I am just trying to get the experiences under my belt, so I can become more and more comfortable, and in the end, compete better. I am getting a better grip on my bearings with each competition, so that is good. So yeah, this meet was incredible, and i CANNOT wait to have many more extraordinary experiences there:)